Chapter 29
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
“Another meeting, Princess?” Alpha Mark asked as he tapped his fingers on the circular conference table.
I flicked my gaze to his face and took a deep, cleansing breath before speaking. “Alpha Torin will be released tonight. Spending time in the dungeon is an extreme punishment, and it’s unfair.”
Alpha Henry cleared his throat and adjusted his position on the leather chair.
“Princess, you must see our side. Time in the dungeon was necessary to calm down the kingdom’s people.
All chaos broke free before your return when we learned that the Alpha is your other mate.
Bonding with two supernaturals is unacceptable.
” He defensively raised his hands as soon as he saw me open my mouth.
“We know you didn’t bond to both of them.
One is your fated mate, and the other man must have chosen you. ”
Henry’s gaze traveled to Hayden seated next to me. But my bodyguard appeared unfazed. His body was relaxed, legs spread wide underneath the table, arms dropped to the sides.
“Alpha Torin must have exchanged blood somehow with the princess and…” Mark said and swallowed hard. “He must have mated with her.”
Blood rushed to my face, and my pulse quickened, but I refused to lower my gaze.
I looked Mark straight in his eyes.
“Don’t you think I’d know if I exchanged blood with a mate?” I deadpanned.
Mark dared to smile.
“All I’m saying,” Henry said, and his gaze darted between me and my dad, “is that Torin has a motive to mate with you to get to the throne. He could compel you, and you wouldn’t even know how he manipulated you, Princess.”
I turned my head to look at the King. This was the right time for him to ruin the reputation and trust he had built for the last thirty years, as long as he told the truth.
Dad’s gaze fell to the table. For a long moment, he stayed silent.
“There is something I must confess,” Dad said and looked at each of the four Alphas seated around the table. “Princess Breanna’s biological mother is not the Queen.”
Four pairs of eyes grew big. The air thickened. Tension swirled among us, suffocating me.
“Who is the Princess’s mother?” Alpha Leo asked and ran his hand over his buzz-cut hair.
“Her name is Willa. She’s a witch and my fated mate,” Dad said in a low voice. “I’m mentioning that because, as you know, witch’s minds can’t be compelled. Alpha Torin can’t compel Anna.”
Mark’s face twisted into a frown. “But Torin could threaten the Princess or get her to do his bidding differently. He’s half vampire and can’t be trusted—”
“That’s enough,” I said in a rather loud voice.
“Stop looking for ways to harm Torin, make an example of him, and punish him. He is, indeed, half vampire, and I’m half witch.
Would you send me to the dungeons as well?
After all, the dark witch destroyed some of the kingdom not too long ago.
Do you believe all witches are dark? Are all vampires murderers and bad people?
The werewolves don’t seem much better if our dungeons are any evidence. ”
Mark didn’t seem to care that I had magic in my veins. He’d only gone after Torin once more. What was he trying to do?
I couldn’t stop myself now. I slammed my hand on the hard wooden surface, making everyone jolt in their seats.
“Alpha Torin will be released tonight,” I said, mimicking Dad’s voice.
But my demands were not enough. I could see it in the Alphas’ eyes. More distrust toward me had built there, probably starting when I’d brought the vampire spy’s mate into the kingdom and then when I went on a short vacation.
Now I advocated for another vampire to be released. I could see how everything I’d done and stood for could be misinterpreted, but I wouldn’t let them mistreat Torin only because of his heritage.
“I’ll personally ask the Alpha to return the sword to the King tonight,” I said, hoping I could appease them.
“It’s not only about the sword, Princess,” Mark said, and I wanted to pull my hair out.
“Even though it appears that our King kept important information from us, as now we know that you’re a supernatural,”—Mark looked at Dad, and a cunning smile spread on his lips—“Torin is the vampire Queen’s best weapon against us.
If he gets in her hands, it’s game over for us.
He’s stronger and deadlier than us and will kill us upon the vampire Queen’s orders. ”
Alpha Henry nodded. “We won’t allow you to complete your mating with him as he could never be our King.
Regardless of whether he is your fated or chosen mate.
I’m truly sorry for imposing this on you, as you may feel that we’re intruding in your personal life.
But you’re our future Queen. Half witch or not, you’re our King’s only heir, thus you have a responsibility to the kingdom. ”
I sucked in a deep breath, but before speaking, Mark interrupted again.
“I suggest you move on and complete the mating and marking ritual with Hayden as soon as possible. We need our future Queen and King to lead us to a war with the vampire Queen,” he said, leaning back in his creaking chair.
Dad looked at me with wary eyes. He hadn’t overruled his Alphas, signaling to me he agreed with them.
“Anna, it’s true that we need you to start preparing for the war with the vampire Queen.
You need to be crowned, and your mate will become the King.
We need a unified front and the support of all warriors and packs.
” Dad looked around the room. “My injury wouldn’t allow me to withstand a direct fight with the vampire Queen.
I can’t wield the sword the same way as I did before the Queen stuck her silver sword in my shoulder. ”
They wouldn’t vote for me to be the next Queen if I didn’t have a werewolf King next to me—that became clear.
Dad didn’t have my back, and Hayden stayed quiet the entire time.
“We need to restore the people’s confidence in the royals by having you mated and marked by Hayden, Anna. I’m sorry if that’s not what you want, but that’s what’s good for the kingdom. The vampire Queen is coming. We need to be ready,” Dad said.
I glanced at Hayden. His hand gripped the armrest, his knuckles turning white.
My heart wanted Torin. The invisible pull to the man went beyond the mate bond. But my mind reminded me that the Alphas were right to fear Torin as the vampire Queen’s strongest weapon. I had a duty to the kingdom, and I had to fulfill my responsibility as its Princess and future Queen.
“Why do I have to follow someone else’s plan for my life? Why can’t I carve my own path?” I muttered to myself.
Frustration bubbled inside me, threatening to explode. It wasn’t fair I had to do their bidding because I was born royal.
My eyes met with the cold gaze of Alpha Mark. I refused to cower in front of the men. I raised my chin, meeting his glare with one of my own.
“You expect me to be your puppet, to fight your battles for you, but I won’t do it,” I said, my voice ringing clear in the silence. “I will not be used for your agendas.”
“You think you have a choice?” Mark said with a clenched jaw, probably trying not to bare his canines at me in front of the King.
The heavy weight on my shoulders pressed harder, constricting my lungs. The thought of being forced to fulfill some predetermined destiny made my blood boil. My eyes began to swell with tears as I thought of the impossible situation I found myself in.
From the moment I was born, I was destined to one day become their ruler, to lead them into battle, and take down their enemy.
But as I looked around at the scheming faces surrounding me, I knew I could never be the Queen they wanted me to be.
I couldn’t be their pawn.
The group fell silent, stunned by my sudden outburst. Their eyes remained on me, scrutinizing me from head to toe. Despite the tension in the air, I refused to falter. Standing up for what I believed in was the only way to find my true identity and where I belonged.
The Alphas began whispering among themselves as I stood there, defiant and unyielding. A few nodded in agreement, while others looked at me with disdain.
With a deep breath, I turned away and exited the boardroom.
First I headed to my bedroom to drop off the two witch books on the shelf, and then I descended the stairs and walked out of the manor.
I wanted to see Torin. He’d looked so defeated as he was taken to the dungeons.
He knew he couldn’t have fought the warriors and caused more disapproval among the Alphas and the King.
I almost wished he had.
I nodded at the guards in the dungeon and strode inside. The stench of death immediately hit my nostrils, and bile rose into my throat.
As I gulped for air, the scents of soot, ash, rust, and blood entered my mouth, and I tasted acid. I was going to be sick.
I walked past prison cells in the dimmed hallway. The gray bricks were cracked and damp. Black mold and other unidentified stuff grew on the walls.
I squeezed my eyes shut momentarily as I passed by the torture chamber. I didn’t dare look through the square opening in the massive metal door.
But when I reached the next door where the vampire spy was held, I peeked through.
Even though it was a shadowy cell, I could recognize the unmoving body on the ground. I stifled the gasps that threatened to escape my mouth.
The death stench must have come from this cell. The vampire spy was dead.
But what shuddered my body wasn’t the sight of him, but the way he was left with a silver dagger sticking out of his chest and a snapped neck bent awkwardly to the side.
They’d just left his body there to rot.
I would be a Queen to such a cruel group of Alphas, and the thought twisted my stomach with nausea and pain.
Whimpering and grunting sounds drew my attention, and I halted to listen. Someone was breathing heavily as if he were in pain. I sprinted to Torin’s cell door. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone else in there.
The guards that were supposed to be stationed at the door were gone. I peered through the small opening, and a cold wave passed through my body.
“Torin?” I shouted.
He lay on the ground, his chest rising and falling rapidly. The shallow breaths he took must have hurt him. Every time he inhaled, he let out a small whimper.
“Torin? Wake up.”
His eyes were closed. I scanned his body for any wounds, as much as I could see from a distance and in the dim cell. The only blood I saw trickled out of his mouth and nose.
The blue veins on his forearm and neck were popping, throbbing, and very prominent. The sight of Torin reminded me of his pack member Jason. He was first tortured and then injected with silver by the vampire Queen, ensuring a slow and painful death.
Torin did not respond to me. I dashed to the dungeon front doors and shouted at the guard to open Torin’s cell immediately. They followed me back inside, wide-eyed, and opened the door for me.
“One of you must get the royal doctor,” I ordered, but the two men just stood around Torin, watching him in horror. “Now!”