“Stop,” I warned but he did not heed my warning.
“You know he never wanted to be king. You are going to be a king he would be proud -“
“Orion -“
“Killian, stop killing yourself over this,” my beta said. “Seth is dead and you have to accept it. No witch can bring him back to life so stop!”
“I never said -“
“I am not daft. I know you need the witches for more than the throne.” Perception. A gift and a flaw.
“I am not trying to bring him back to life.” Necromancy was taboo. “I am trying to find out who killed him.”
“The royal physician ruled it a suicide.” The physician also died the next day.
Seth found the constraints of the royal family too much to bear. He wanted freedom and craved to be an explorer but as the Alpha Prince, his duties were cut out for him before his birth. He wanted freedom, not death.
Although his death was ruled a suicide, the monarchy announced he died of a strange disease but no one believed it. It was easier to believe I, the monster of the monarchy, killed him than for people to believe a strange illness killed a healthy royal wolf.
“Killian -” Orion started.
“Let’s forget this conversation.” I stood. “I have to see my mate and make sure the old hag has not pulled any trick.”
I promised to protect Amethyst. She was on the run from something she refused to tell me but I planned to keep my word. She would be protected but who would protect her from me?
“You have a lot of audacity talking bad about the future king, Mary.” A voice reached me as I approached the corner to the main palace.
That voice was familiar. It belonged to a person that filled my thoughts for the past twenty-four hours, a person that took away my nightmares for the first time since my brother’s death.
“What? Don’t you know your supposed ‘mate’ murdered his brother to become king?” Those words never failed to squeeze my heart.
“You are arrogant,” the queen said. Those words again.
On instinct, I knew she didn’t like me. Not everyone had to like me but I would gain nothing from making this woman my enemy.
“So I’ve been told,” I responded with a smile. “It’s an honour to stand before you.” The words were flat and insincere even to my ears. It was more of a chore to stand before her than an honour. I didn’t miss the fact that she kept me standing despite the empty seats in the room.
“Let’s not beat around the bush. I’ve called you here because rumour has it that you are Killian’s mate.” Her smile dropped. “Is this true?”
“By the will of the goddess, it is.” I forced myself to hang my head in deference.
“She’s lying,” Scarlett shouted. The queen put her hand on her knees to silence her.
“Do you plan on mating with him?” The question took me off guard. If we were mates, there was no reason for us not to mate.
Mates rejecting each other seldom happened. Of course, my case had to be different, but it was the truth. When the goddess makes a perfect person just for you, it is hard to let them go.
“Yes.” My tone was resolute.
Our sham of a mating already started so there was no way for me to back out now. I didn’t even want to back out. What sane woman would back out of the opportunity to be the queen of her people?
“Do you love Killian?” I blinked at the question. I pressed my lips firmly together to keep them from curling.
Love was such a useless emotion, one that would never fit into my arrangement with the prince. He was not a man to be loved and I was not a person capable of love. He was more of a business partner than a love interest, a business partner that clarified that I would never be good enough for his affection.
“We only met yesterday.” I decided on a half-truth. “It would be near impossible to fall in love with a man I just met but we are mates and Killian is such a sweet man.” I let out a dreamy sigh, my lips pulling up at the sides as Scarlett scowled. “I don’t love him but I am falling in love with him. Fast.”
“That’s good.” The queen’s smile returned. “Since you feel this way, it would be easy for you to leave him.” Her smile turned cruel. I would think she was Killian’s mother if I didn’t know better. They both had similar cruel and nerve-wracking smiles.
“I – I beg your pardon.” Her smile deepened as I stuttered. “I don’t understand.”
“You seem like a smart girl so you must know the position Killian is in as regards the throne,” the queen spoke with a drawl, spelling the words out for me.
“He is going to be king,” I muttered.
“Yes, but he would be a powerless king if he does not mate with the right woman.” My heart stuttered and I didn’t know why.
I knew the direction of this conversation and it was something I expected to hear sooner or later but why did my insides tighten as the queen continued?
“Scarlett here, as the world knows, has been betrothed to
Killian for some months now and he has called off all arrangements for their wedding since he found you.” I swallowed as the red-haired girl sat up straighter with a haughty air around her.
It was like without her, he could not get the throne, which we all knew was false. The goddess ordained the family of the first wolves to rule over all her creation. Kilian was the last of that bloodline so without him, we would not have a monarch. No matter what happened, he would take the throne. It became his birthright upon the death of Prince Seth II.
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