Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
Instead of gaining an ally, I started sweating as more stress built up in my chest from the presence of the unpredictable Alpha Mark.
The weight of Torin’s impending response felt like an anchor on my chest, but no muscle twitched on Torin’s face.
“Princess Breanna, as the future Queen, can’t ever ignore another one of us in trouble.”
Although Torin chose my corner, I couldn’t help but grimace at his words. They reminded me of the tall, thick wall between him and me.
I glanced at Mark and didn’t like the glimmer in his eyes. Some emotion I couldn’t decipher brewed behind his gaze, making me more fidgety.
Torin and I didn’t exchange a word in the kingdom or spend time together, so why would Mark use me to trigger the Alpha?
Unless Mark had noticed more in Salem’s graveyard than I suspected.
But Mark couldn’t have known Torin was my other mate.
If he got Torin angry about something that had to do with me, then Torin’s vampire side could emerge at the meeting.
That was all it would take to have Torin stripped of his title and banished.
I only reached one conclusion about Mark’s agenda—he hated vampires extra hard since recently they’d tortured him in London. Mark wanted to remove Torin from the kingdom as he was a part of our enemy.
And I was caught in the middle.
Unless…Mark had something personal against Torin that went beyond simply being a vampire. But Mark’s pack territory was on the East Coast, and Torin’s was on the opposite side of the country. How could these men be connected?
“Anyway, Princess Breanna, congratulations on finding your mate,” Alpha Leo from the Crimson Canines pack in the Midwest chimed in, ending the standoff between Torin and Mark.
I didn’t remember him smiling so much before while I lived here.
According to Dad, Leo was a military man and a great strategist. His face was shaved, and he wore tactical green pants and a black rash-guard shirt as if he were ready for training at any time.
Or was he always prepared for the enemy attack?
“Thank you,” I said and hoped he would leave it at that.
But he only smiled wider, and I held my breath.
“I was glad to learn your fated mate is Hayden. Our future Queen will be well protected by her werewolf mate,” Alpha Leo said in a steady voice.
The Alpha’s subtle words held disguised meanings I didn’t like.
I swallowed hard, remembering Dad’s words. The Alphas would only accept me as a human Queen when I had a werewolf King.
Not a half-vampire one.
It was the perfect moment to unleash my hot temper and throw a cup of hot coffee at the Alpha’s head. Instead, I took another breath.
I couldn’t blame the Alphas and the pack members for thinking and feeling this way. As kids, they were taught to be wary of anyone different from them, and not accepting them was a survival instinct.
But Torin was different.
I needed to control the meeting, even when my stomach knotted. “I called for this meeting to discuss the dark witch’s attack on the kingdom.”
“She wants your jewelry, doesn’t she?” Mark said and shrugged, and I pinched my leg underneath the table.
The pain distracted me from my initial reaction of copying my dad’s fist slamming on the table.
I was sure everyone could detect the wild pounding of my heart against its cage, but I managed to keep my voice steady and stern, just like Dad had taught me. The Alphas had speed and strength I couldn’t match, but I had wits and firsthand training.
I sent a stern look to Mark and then let my gaze travel to Dad, who had his genuine smile on and remained quiet.
Mark bowed his head and nodded my way—that was his apology. Then he started rocking back and forth in his leather chair, and I wondered when he’d fall off.
“As I was saying, the dark witch threatened to bring an army, but we’re unsure who that would be,” I said.
“We’ll need to evacuate the people to safety and attract the witch to a single location to contain the fight as much as possible.
She can cast spells with wind, fire, water, and earth.
It’ll be helpful if the location is not particularly flammable. ”
“The ballroom is made of marble,” Dad said.
I nodded. The room was all stone, marble, and empty.
“Is her army going to be vampires since she teams up with them sometimes?” Alpha Michael from the Claw pack of the Frontier region asked.
His cowboy outfit put a smile on my face. I was sure he wore his usual pointy brown boots and had a heavy metal buckle on the waist of his blue jeans. I imagined him wearing one of those waist holsters for pistols from the Western movies Dad liked to watch.
“Well, it can’t be the human hunters. They would never side with another supernatural. If they don’t agree with something, they’ll stay away from us, letting us fight our battles,” Dad said. “But the vampires, if it’s in their best interest, could aid the dark witch.”
“It just doesn’t feel right. I thought Cordelia wasn’t fond of werewolves and vampires,” I said.
She wanted revenge against both species for starting the witch trials in the country after the witches refused to be enslaved by the vampires and the werewolves. After all, the vampires couldn’t compel the witches to do their bidding.
Would Cordelia side with vampires to attack the werewolves, but then what? How would she turn around to defeat the vampires?
“Something doesn’t feel right. I don’t think it’ll be an army of vampires. But I’ve been mulling over another idea,” I said.
As if Torin had read my mind, he pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and unfolded it on the conference table. It was the sketch he’d drawn of the vicious hellhound creature that had shown up in his forest.
Torin passed the paper around the table, and each person studied it. Torin had already informed them of the creature’s abilities.
“Maybe the dark witch can corrupt such creatures with her dark magic, turning them demonic looking. But where would she find the creatures?” I asked.
Any hope that the Alphas would know about the vicious creature was extinguished by the look on the men’s faces. Their eyes grew big, and eyebrows rose.
“The creature is certainly not from the mortal realm, and although we know of other realms, none of us know how to find the portals to them. Perhaps the dark witch knows,” Alpha Leo said and shrugged.
“There could be a connection between the creature and the dark witch, as the Princess said,” Alpha Henry said.
At least we all agreed on something. But the prospect of Cordelia marching into the kingdom with an army of hundreds of these creatures that breathed fire made goose bumps rise on my forearms.
“If Cordelia can control the creatures, then all of our arrows and daggers should aim at her. If we take out the person who controls them, the fight will soon be over,” Torin said in his deep voice, and I fought the urge to smile at him.
I was responsible for the people and property in the kingdom. I’d brought Cordelia’s wrath onto us and swore I’d protect them.
“We’ll have to find a good place for the people to hide,” I said.
“Most people have safe rooms in their houses, and our library has a large safe room, too,” Mark said.
“They won’t be so safe since the creature breathes fire. All houses and buildings on the territory would burn since the framing is constructed from wood.”
Dad made an “umph” sound in his throat beside me, and I glanced at him. His dark eyes were set on the table, and he seemed deep in thought.
An unsettling feeling formed in my stomach, and I made a mental note to talk more to Dad about this issue. We had to find a way to protect our people.
“My King,” Mark spoke, and my dad’s gaze finally lifted to him. “Another issue on the agenda is the Princess’s full mating with Hayden.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. Again with that topic. Mark was up to something, and as he spoke, he watched Torin closely.
My dad glanced at me.
“Yes, the mating and marking ritual will be held as soon as we win our battle against Cordelia,” Dad said, and I gulped.
Torin’s body tensed, and sweat drops formed on his temples, like the cold condensation of the glass of water in front of him. He’d been keeping his cool all this time, but I was sure that even the scent of his mate was stirring his vampire to emerge.
The other Alphas expressed their congratulations one more time while my stomach churned.
But Mark didn’t stop talking. “As soon as the marking is complete, the Princess will be crowned the next Queen, and we can finally declare war on the vampire Queen.”
“It’s been long overdue,” Alpha Michael added.
“Hayden is a great warrior,” Alpha Leo said.
As they took turns to bolster Hayden’s ability and excitement about finishing the war my dad started thirty years ago, their words kept adding fuel to Torin’s fire. The men spoke loudly while Torin kept adjusting his position in the chair.
As I couldn’t take a turn to speak, I thumped my hand against the table so loud that it burned, but it had the expected effect. Silence broke over the room, and curious gazes snapped my way.
“The mating ritual will be postponed. I must talk to my father privately first. Hayden also needs time to recover. Then I’ll inform you of the next steps,” I said.
Alpha Leo cleared his throat. “Of course, Hayden needs time. But your mating is a matter that affects the entire kingdom, Princess. The kingdom has been on the edge of a serious vampire attack for thirty years. We don’t need mating drama, but stability,” Alpha Leo said with a sincere smile.
“The date of the mating will be announced later. Anyway, we have a more pressing matter now,” the King said in his authoritative voice reserved for his Alphas.
The Alphas nodded.
Torin’s foot tapped furiously under the table, and I wanted to reach out and touch his knee. Suddenly, all eyes turned on him. His clenched jaw, corded neck, and restlessness raised eyebrows in the boardroom.
Please don’t flash your crimson eyes, Torin.