*Maddox*
I remember that something is different before I even open my eyes. The long drive, the fight, the amazing sex… I slept well last night because I am back home in my castle, in a comfortable bed, with the woman I love.
But she is angry with me, and I honestly can’t blame her, though I was hopeful that explaining the situation would help her to get past it.
It didn’t, though, and seducing her was probably not the best way to go at the time. I just couldn’t help it. She is so beautiful, and every time I am around her, I struggle to keep my hands off her.
I know the moment I roll over and face her, we will have to move into discussion mode, and I hate that. I don’t want to talk about the queen contest or the other women or how it’s supposed to make her feel. I just want her to trust me when I say that I love her and leave it at that.
But it can’t be helped, so with a deep breath, I roll over to tell her good morning.
And find an empty bed.
“Fuck,” I mumble, knowing it is not like Isla to get up before me, especially now that she’s pregnant. No, the fact that she’s not here probably means she didn’t sleep well. It probably means that she’s out with Poppy somewhere walking through the gardens, talking about what an arrogant dick I am.
Unless….
“Isla? Where are you?” I use the mind-link to reach out to her, hoping that she answers me. If she’s run off again, I swear to the Moon Goddess herself I’ll—
“I’m having breakfast,” she says. “Corinna invited me to dine with her. We’re in the small dining hall down the hallway from her room.”
I relax slightly, knowing she hasn’t left the castle. At least, I assume she’s not lying to me. I am pretty sure that Commander Pepelos would’ve caught her if she’d tried to sneak out anyway. That guy really seems to be on top of things. Something about him just lets me know that I can trust him.
“Are you still planning on leaving right away?” she asks me. Even through the mind-link, I can hear the tension in her voice.
I glance at the clock. It’s almost 8:30, which means I slept in for me. Especially on a day like today when I needed to leave before the sun came up to even make it back on time to accomplish what needed to be done that day.
“I’m not sure,” I tell her. I squeeze the bridge of my nose, sighing loudly. I think of all of the things I need to do, but I don’t want to go running off when clearly she is still bothered.
“Well, let me know,” she says. “I don’t want to keep fighting with you either, but you have to know that what you’re doing is really shitty, Maddox.”
Anger boils up inside of me for a second. I’m not used to anyone speaking to me that way. She is a subordinate, and she has no right to call me out for doing whatever the hell I want.
At the same time, she is the woman I love. I don’t want her to be hurting. So if she feels disrespected by the choices I have made, I really can’t get too bent out of shape about that.
“I understand your perspective,” I tell her. “I’m sorry that you feel that way. However, given the circumstances, I made the choice that I did, and this is the result. We will work through it.”
She is silent, and that makes me think that she is just stewing. After quite a long pause, she says, “I know I can’t change your mind, but if this doesn’t end up the way that you want it to, you have to accept responsibility.”
“I always accept responsibility for my actions,” I remind her. Rebecca’s face flashes before my eyes. Sometimes I accept responsibility for other people’s actions as well.
As I get up to shower, I use the mind-link to contact Commander Pepelos. Seth is too far away for me to access this way, so I have to speak to someone nearby who probably has already gotten an account of what has transpired on the battlefield that morning. I have left my cell phone that I decided not to destroy after last night’s issues with Seth so that he can report back here, a task I usually take on myself when I am present on the battlefield.
“How is the situation at the front?” I ask the commander as the hot water washes over me.
“Good morning, Alpha,” he says respectfully in my head. He is not one of those overly chipper morning people who often drive me insane, and I appreciate that. “I’m glad that you asked. I have some very good news.”
I steel myself for what he’s about to say. I had explained to my Beta before I left in such a rush to get here late last night that I did not want anything major to happen on the battlefront while I was away. Judging by Commander Pepelos’s words, that might not quite be what happened.
“What is it?” I ask him, bracing myself slightly against the shower wall.
“Alpha Geofrey surrendered this morning. He has been taken into custody by our forces, as has Luna Elaine. The other Alphas who took up sides with him are negotiating with Alpha Charlton and Alpha Jason right now. They know nothing will be official until you return to the front, but they want to get the details of their surrender negotiated. The other Alphas are asking to pay tribute money rather than to be taken prisoner.”
“Fuck,” I say aloud so that he cannot hear me. I leave for a few hours, and this happens? It’s as if Seth was completely unaware of the fact that I was trying to drag this war out for a lot longer period of time. Otherwise….
I can’t even finish the thought. It seems so selfish to keep fighting when we don’t need to because I don’t want to face the very thing I was mad at Isla about for dreading, but that’s the truth of the matter. I don’t want to have to deal with all of those women invading my castle, so I wanted this war to continue. If it’s over, I will be forced to return here as soon as negotiations are over and face the consequences of my agreement.
“Alpha? Are you there?” Commander Pepelos says in my head.
“Yes,” I say sternly. “All right. I will return to the front shortly to take part in the negotiations. Make sure that Beta Seth has Geofrey and Elaine returned here as quickly as possible. I don’t want anyone in Geofrey’s family or anyone that is loyal to him to take over that pack as Alpha so have military leaders go to help the people for now.”
Once again, I’d need to find another Alpha to replace a disloyal one. I needed to get a better grasp on the situation in my own pack where everyone thought it was okay to just do what they wanted, as if each pack was a sovereign entity. It was a carry-over from my father’s days as Alpha where wars waged quite a bit, but it wasn’t conducive to a stable kingdom, so I needed to get it under control.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Commander Pepelos told me. “Also, Alpha Charlton called wanting to know when the Alphas can expect to be able to send their daughters to the castle.”
I tip my face up to the water and let it hit me right in the face as I think about his question. I suppose “never” will not be a satisfactory answer. “Let him know that the staff is still preparing the castle for their arrival.” I wonder if Commander Pepelos only knows this information about the upcoming queen consort because of Alpha Charlton’s question or if he has also caught wind of it through the staff.
“Yes, sir,” he says, respectfully. “Is there anything else?”
I can’t think of anything else that he can handle for me. “No, thank you,” I tell him. “You’ve been most hopeful as always.”
“It is a pleasure to serve you, Your Majesty,” he responds, and even though I am in the middle of a lot of turmoil and upheaval, I am glad to have competent people on my staff who can get their jobs done with little direction.
Commander Pepelos is going places.
I get out of the shower, dry off, and get dressed in clean clothes I keep in Isla’s room. When I walk out into the bedroom from the bathroom, surprisingly, she is there.
Her arms are folded as she sits on the edge of the bed, which has been made. Thankfully, Poppy is gone now, so at least I don’t have to face the maid who likely tidied the room.
“Hi,” I say to her, not sure what else I can say.
“I don’t like this.” She is straight and to the point. “I think it’s hurtful, dangerous, and unnecessary. But you are the king, and if this is what you’ve deemed necessary, then who am I to argue with you?”
I am grateful that she seems reluctant to fight. “It’s just for show,” I tell her again. I walk over to her, sit down beside her, and wrap my arm around her shoulder, pulling her against me. “I love you, Isla. I don’t love anyone else. I don’t want anyone else, and I don’t want to have anything to do with any of this, but it is what it is. We’ll get through it.” I press my lips to the top of her head and hear her sniffling again.
I don’t regret the contest I agreed to. It got me what I wanted militarily without me having to go to a lot of trouble to get it. But I do regret that my actions hurt Isla. I know now I was wrong to think she wouldn’t find out. It seems like she always has a way of finding out everything.
Damn that Poppy!
“Be careful out there,” Isla warns me.
“The fighting seems to have ended,” I assure her. “I don’t think you’ll have much to worry about as far as me getting hurt or killed.”
“Good,” she says, and I hear relief in her voice. “Because… if this queen contest turns out the way I fear it will, and all of these girls come in and fawn all over you, driving me mad, you should know that you will have a great chance of getting hurt or killed—by me.”
She looks up at me with a teasing twinkle in her eye, and I know she’s just joking. She would never hurt me. But she’s also not going to stick around and let me torture her by parading all of these other women in her face either. So… she just might be right.
If I ever lose Isla… that will definitely kill me.