*Maddox*
Breakfast is awkward. Sitting across the table from Alpha Charlton and Alpha Jason, I can’t help but think about everything Trinity told me the night before. I want to kill both of them, but I must abstain from doing so. After all, at the moment, they are pretending to want to be on my side. Both of them are talking like they want me to win the war, as if they are prepared to help.
But if what Trinity told me is the truth, that means it will come at a price. I am eating my eggs, waiting for one of them to bring up the topic of a queen consort again. Since all of the other Alphas are having breakfast elsewhere, and this is just Alpha Charlton, his extended family, Seth, and I, no one has mentioned it yet.
That doesn’t stop Jason from bringing up another touchy subject. “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to warn you last night,” he begins, broaching the subject carefully. “Trinity has certainly begun to look a lot like her older cousin these past years.”
I am not sure how I’m meant to respond to that, so I only nod.
“The first time I saw her after several months of being away from her, it startled me to no end,” Luna Patrician, Alpha Charlton’s wife says. She also looks remarkably like her daughter, but the gray in her hair and the extra weight she’s added, especially since Rebecca’s death, make her look different enough from my wife that I am not startled whenever I see her.
I still don’t like to look into her eyes, though.
“Her hair just turned red all by itself,” Luna Blanka says. It’s a lie, and everyone at the table knows it. Even Seth, though I didn’t mention to him that they’d made the girl dye her hair in an effort to fool me.
“It’s so lovely that shade,” Luna Patrician offers. “Rebecca’s hair was always so beautiful as well. I used to brush it for hours when she was a little girl.” Reminiscing brings a tear to her eye. Her husband pats her hand in a comforting manner.
I say nothing.
What is there to say? I also used to brush Rebecca’s hair for hours. It was soothing to her. The memory floods back to me. It’s something I haven’t thought about in a very long time. I try to picture Isla to get the image out of my head, but it’s difficult.
Isla and Rebecca were so very different in so many ways. It’s hard to believe that I could love them both…. But I do.
Alpha Charlton clears his throat. “This might be the last civilized breakfast we have for a while. I hear that the enemy forces are moving in against your lines of defense, Alpha Maddox. I received a report this morning.
Both of the Lunas gasp, as if they had no idea war might mean fighting.
I’ve received the same intel, but mine is more specific. I know exactly how many warriors have moved forward, where they are located, and what the chances are that they will attack. I’m not worried at the moment. My forces still outnumber theirs for the moment.
“Yes, as soon as I have a chance to meet with the other Alphas, I plan to move out,” I tell them. “I need to make sure everyone is in position. I am hoping to have some more of you join in and fall in behind us, but if I can’t count on those numbers, I’ll need to find another way to ensure that we are ready for whatever Alpha Geofrey and his allies bring our way.”
The two Alphas exchange a look that makes me think something is going on in the mind-link. It is Alpha Jason who finally speaks. “I believe that some of the Alphas mentioned to you last night a way to ensure that all of us are willing to join you.”
For the first time, I look up from my breakfast. I clear my throat and glance around the table. “They may have mentioned something,” I admit.
“It’s not a bad idea,” Alpha Charlton chimes in. “Plenty of the Alphas have daughters who would make good Luna Queens.”
I stare at him, dumbfounded, for several moments. “I am astounded to hear you say that you think I should consider taking another wife,” I tell the father of my dead wife.
An uncomfortable look settles over his face as his skin pales and his eyes shift back and forth of their own accord. “Well, it’s only… you need an heir. And you and I have always been close, Alpha Maddox. I want what’s best for you, and what is best for the kingdom.”
“And you think me taking another wife, one who is not my mate the way that your daughter so clearly was, is what’s best for me? Or is that solely what’s best for the kingdom?” I ask him.
I am starting to get agitated, and it is clear in my tone as I speak. I hear Seth’s voice fill my mind. “Calm down, Alpha. Remember what we talked about.”
I do. I remember what we talked about last night, but that doesn’t make it easy to sit here and tell these people what they think they want to hear.
“Your Majesty,” Alpha Jason begins, “we are only saying, we believe that what the other Alphas want is to know that they have an opportunity to see one of their own daughters come to power. Now that the throne is vacant, they would just like for the chance to be presented to them. That’s all.”
I stare at him for a long moment. Most of the time, whenever I keep my eyes fixed on another person’s gaze for so long, they break, but he does not. I would be impressed if I didn’t loathe him so much right now.
“I will consider it.” I wipe my mouth and set my napkin aside. “For now, I would like to get on with meeting regarding the war efforts. It would be nice if we could stick to the topic of what to do about the rebellion and not discuss putting together some sort of pageant that’s meant to make me consider taking another wife after all of these years.”
“Yes, of course, Your Highness,” Alpha Charlton says. “I’ve asked the other Alphas to gather in the war room. The only issue is… some of them have said they will refuse to back your war efforts at all unless they can see you are legitimately attempting to provide the kingdom with an heir.”
I am in the process of scooting my chair back to stand when he makes that last statement, and my eyes nearly bulge from my skull. “An attempt to provide the kingdom with an heir?” I repeat. “I’m sure that you all know, as do the other Alphas, that I have taken a breeder. I am doing my best to provide the kingdom with an heir.”
“With all due respect to both you and the woman in question,” Alpha Jason begins, and I can tell by his weak tone that he knows he’s treading on thin ice, “it is our understanding that the woman is not the sort of girl one would usually use for a breeder, that she’s not the daughter of a true Alpha.”
“I explained this to the others last night,” I say, still hearing Seth’s voice in my head as he tries to calm me down. “Her father was an Alpha in another kingdom before he came here. He is an Alpha. He was one before, and now he is one again. I don’t believe I have to explain myself to any of you.”
They exchange another nervous glance, trying to determine who will speak. It is Alpha Charlton’s turn to insult me while attempting not to insult me now. “Alpha King Maddox, of course, you don’t have to explain yourself to any of us, but if you want the other Alphas to come in on your side in the war, you must understand that they do not feel that this explanation for the girl’s lineage is good enough. They want your heir to be of royal blood or to be the daughter of an Alpha from one of our packs, not some foreign land you refuse to name.”
“Royal blood?” I repeat.
They both nod, and Alpha Jason says, “As you know, my wife is the granddaughter of the Alpha King of Solstinia.”
I had forgotten that was the case. Solstinia is still a kingdom, so it has that on Maatua. It’s also not been cursed, stricken by natural disasters, and essentially had its population wiped out. On paper, it sounds like Trinity’s royal bloodline is superior to Isla’s, though Trinity likely isn’t considered to be a princess.
Isla could one day be queen—if there was an island left to be the queen of.
My eyes wander over to her, sitting at the other end of the table, next to the Luna Queen. She hasn’t said a word this entire time, mostly because she is a speak-when-spoken-to kind of person, not one to just babble on like many girls her age.
She has a quiet presence about her, a silent grace. It’s a bit captivating, and even though I’m not sure I can trust her, I can think of worse people to be potentially tied to in a lie. If I tell them that I might consider marrying her—or one of the other Alpha’s daughters—will they shut up and help me fight this rebellion?
It’s risky, though. If Isla catches wind of what they are proposing, she’ll be crushed, and it’s not the sort of thing I can say to her over the phone. No, I would need to take a trip back to the castle to explain to her what I’m doing, why I am doing it, and why she doesn’t need to worry.
But then, one look at Trinity, and I have no doubt Isla wouldn’t believe me.
Not that she necessarily knows what Rebecca looked like.
It’s all very complex, and right now, I feel like I have enough pent-up aggression inside of me that I could single-handedly defeat Alpha Geofrey’s forces.
“I will consider it. That’s all I can say for now,” I tell them.
I don’t wait to see if they are giving each other that glance again. I stand and head for the door. I am aware of where Alpha Charlton’s war room is, so I make my way there.
All of the other Alphas are already gathered there when we enter—me, Alpha Charlton, Alpha Jason, and my Beta.
I shouldn’t be too surprised when it’s Alpha Evan who addresses me first. “Let’s cut right to the chase, Alpha King Maddox. We are ready to help you fight the rebellion. But we need to know first. Will you agree to the queen consort?”
I take a deep breath and give them my response.