*Isaac*
Fogs wraps around the outer walls of the castle’s estate, my home, the home of my family, and now my wife. Despite early summer coming into full bloom, the air is chilled. Either that, or it’s just my skin prickling with icy heartbreak as I stand at the gate and look back at the front porch, where several women and children are standing, all of them dressed for bed in the early hours of the morning.
Ben and Emery’s children rub their eyes and sniffle, swiping their tear stained cheeks against Trinity’s nightgown.
I wonder about her and Rosie often. Trinity left Elijah, her mate and the Alpha of Moorn, behind over a week ago now to come here, seeking safety for herself and her daughter at his command. The grief of their separation has been written all over her face since she arrived at the castle under the guise of helping with wedding preparations. Does she wish she were there now, at the frontlines, with him?
But she’s the Luna of that small territory, and Rosie is their only heir. Their pack moved into the tent city outside the castle walls that stretches all the way into the village, and larger city beyond, seeking sanctuary, as many other of the smaller, outlying packs have done in recent days. I’ve never seen so many people in my life–most of them children, young mothers, the elderly who cannot fight.
Every man and woman capable and willing, regardless of their training as warriors, was called to action. Many signed up to follow my armies, leaving their lives behind to defend their kingdom and homeland.
I owe them everything. I’ve placed that responsibility in my mate’s hands, and I trust her with it.
I look at Maddy in the small crowd congregated on the porch. Her fingers are knitted in Ella’s and Hannah’s hands as she looks right back at me and nods, her eyes shining with tears. Does she know how I feel about her without me needing to say it? I whispered it over her skin all night long, unable to truly voice it, knowing I’d crack and break, and right now I must be strong.
Not only for her and her future, but for my kingdom and its wellbeing and safety.
My mom stands on one of the lower steps, wringing her hands as she looks at the group of us standing at the gate. My dad grips one of the iron bars as he looks at her, some unsaid conversation passing between them through the minklind. The look on Mom’s face shatters as tears begin to roll down her cheeks.
I find myself gritting my teeth, feeling like all of this heartbreak is entirely my fault.
I turn back to my wife, my mate, and find her giving me a soft, knowing smile. She nods to me again, her smile stretching wider and her eyes glowing unshed tears.
“I love you,” I say down the mindlink, but I know it’s fruitless. We’d tried to use the mindlink last night, but although her wolf is back, some of those powers still lay dormant. She could feel the tug of my words, at least, but nothing had been clear enough to understand.
That would come in time.
I prayed I’d be there to witness it.
“The twelve packs have moved out with their Alphas. It’s our turn,” Cassian says nearby, his voice low and pained. The heavy, humid air between us ripples with an electric tension as he glances at the porch where Hannah stands looking just as broken as the rest of them. “I’m going to lose it if we don’t start moving now, Alpha.”
I’m still looking at Maddy as I clap Cassian on the back and squeeze his shoulder. The royal army, warriors trained under the crown and part of my familial pack, have been walking past us for several minutes, most of them in their wolf forms, while some others ride in vehicles carting supplies.
It’s a long journey to Moorn, but we’ll be there tomorrow morning, and then it’s time to defeat the man I’d been destined to face. The man who’d appeared in office out of thin air, a power shared between us. Kane, who hasn’t shown his face, or uttered a single, since he left me that odd piece of paper.
I look away from the porch and follow behind my warriors as their Alpha and their king.
* * *
*Maddy*
“I want to go home,” eight-year old Katie says as we sit ideally in the formal sitting room on the first floor. I twirl one of her black curls around my finger as she rests in my lap, her head pressed against my chest. “I want my parents.”
Her small, pained voice cuts through me as I absently watch Isla pace back and forth in front of the windows. None of us have dressed for the day. I’m in one of Isaac button down shirts, something soft and pliable I imagine he’d wear to bed on a chilly night, and brown leggings. I rest my bare feet on an ottoman while I rock the girl side to side, trying not to cry myself. Ben and Emery, her parents, left together this morning with their warriors from their pack, Obsidian Temple.
Obsidian Temple’s territory is far too close to the front lines for their children to remain. Their pack members, those not fighting, have been set up in the tent city in the village nearby.
I wonder if they’d be more comfortable there with their friends, but Isla is their aunt, and Ella their cousin. They’re family. They’re mine now, too.
Katie’s sniffling eases as she falls asleep in my arms, her weight a comforting burden on my chest.
The doors to the sitting room open to the foyer, and a handful of guards–warriors from the ranks of the royal army, specially chosen to stay behind to guard the castle and its inhabitants–stand in wait for any kind of potential threat. I watch as a maid comes into the room and speaks softly with Isla, who motions to me and the sleeping child in my lap.
I allow the maid to pick Katie up and return her to the rooms she shares with her three other siblings. Katie’s head lulls against the young maid’s shoulder. I feel a pang of incredible sadness for the girl, knowing I’d lost my mother when I was only a few years older than her.
I know how it feels, but Katie still has hope.
Ella comes to sit next to me, her eyes hollow and void of emotion. None of us have spoken or touched the food laid out us for breakfast. It doesn’t feel real that the men are gone. I’m sure it won’t feel real until we start receiving news of the first battles, if it comes to that. Ella strokes her gold pendant over and over.
I open my mouth to say something to her, anything to break the silence, when Louisa and Elodie come into the room.
I’d forgotten they were here, but now that they stand in the doorway, it feels like all the air has been sucked from the room.
“Such a dismal lot of women. How incredibly boring you are,” Louisa says in a rasping, cruel voice. “And to think we came all this way to see my dearest daughter wed to the king and take part in the festivities that would follow. Hmph.” She crosses her narrow arms beneath her breasts and glares from Isla to me. “Oh, dear, are you dreadfully upset that the man you tricked into marriage has gone off to war? You poor, poor thing.” Louisa’s faux sympathy elicits a cackling laugh from Elodie.
“Have the two of you finished packing?” Isla asks, ignoring Louisa’s tone.
“Pack? To go where? Back to Celestoria?” Elodie feigns sudden fear, gripping Louisa’s arm. “What if the train tracks are attached on our way? Or our car is assaulted by–”
“Celestoria is in the opposite direction of the conflict,” Isla breathes, not bothering to hide her annoyance. “The king made it clear that since neither of you are being prosecuted, something of which you should be very grateful for, your welcome is over, and it’s time for you to leave. We have too much to do right now to continue hosting guests.”
“Spoken like the Luna you are,” Louisa smiles, her eyes drifting from Isla to me. “Unlike the lying wench your son was seduced into marrying under false pretenses.”
I stand, my cheeks flaming with sudden fury. “Get out.”
“You don’t deny it, then, do you?” Louisa turns back to a fuming Isla. “Do you know who she is, Queen Isla? Who she really is? That she’s a bastard child of a fallen Alpha and his teenage niece?”
“Get out of here,” Isla says, her voice so low I can barely hear her over the guards now coming into the room, alerted by our raised voices.
But I pay them no mind. I look from Isla to Louisa in utter confusion.
“Ah, but you do know, don’t you? Your mate was the one who had her brought to Celestoria in the first place, far away from you. Isn’t that right?”
“Isla, what is she talking about?” I ask. Ella stands up beside me, looking at her mother with furrowed brows.
Isla looks at us, her mouth parted and cheeks stained a fiery red. She turns back to Louisa, steeling her expression. “I could never confirm it.”
“Oh,” Louisa grins, laughing. “But that’s why your mate brought us here, isn’t it? To get the full story before you allowed your precious son to marry someone far, far below his rank. He wanted to confirm she came from an Alphas bloodline, didn’t he? And because the wedding was allowed to continue….” She trails off, her eyes landing on mine again. “You never had anyone in the world. You’ve always been alone, since birth. You should have amounted to nothing. That was your fate, and I tried to keep it that way as best I could, you miserable, disgusting, worthless bitch.”
Ella gasps, clutching my arm.
“Get out of this castle,” I grind out, trembling with rage. “Get out!”
“What a way to speak to the woman who had to raise you.” She tilts her chin and looks down her nose at me. “Do you know what your father said to me before he died? He so badly wanted a child from me, someone of his own blood, and it was his deepest regret that he never had his own children. He only had you, and you obviously weren’t good enough!”
Pain seeps into my already broken heart and festers somewhere deep. I turn to the guards, willing myself not to cry or believe her vicious words. “I command you to escort them out of the castle and off the grounds. Take them to the train station, and do not leave them until they are on the next train out of this kingdom.” I turn to Louisa and Elodie, my voice trembling as I continue, “I am the Luna, and I will see to it that if either of you show your faces here again, I will have you hanged. You are banished from this kingdom from here forward!”
Elodie pales, taking a step back, but Louisa stands firm. “I hope your husband doesn’t come home to you, and you live just as miserable an existence as I have.” She whirls, her skirts rustling as she shoves past the guards and stomps out of the room, Elodie hustling behind her.
The doors close, and I sink into a chair, holding my head in my hands. A choked sob breaks free from my lips, and suddenly, I’m overcome with emotion. Why must she lie to hurt me so deeply? Hasn’t she done enough damage?
Ella lays her hand on my back as I sob until I’m incapable of producing any more tears.
“I should have told you,” Isla says nearby, her voice quivering. “I should have told you the truth the day I met you, Maddy.”
I lift my head and look up at her through my fingers. “W-what?”
“Isaac wasn’t the only one looking for you all those years,” she says, her eyes watering. “I made a mistake a long time ago, and if I’d demanded–” Her voice cracks and she sucks in a breath. “I didn’t know the kind of life you lived until recently. And I am so, so sorry. It’s my fault.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, a crushing weight settling deep in my chest.