Ryatt
Maddox rises from his chair, casually sipping coffee from a mug. He sets it down, checks his watch, then fixes me with an annoyed look. “Is there a reason you’re in here?”
I glance around the room. It’s a wood paneled and slightly dated office with incredible views of the water. My gaze settles on Isaac, who’s left eye is nearly swollen shut, and I give him a cocky smirk before looking back at his father.
I slightly bow my head before meeting Maddox’s eyes again. “Your wife brought me here.”
He stares at me unblinking for several seconds before blowing out his breath and sitting back down.
Isaac looks from Maddox to me. “You’re a prisoner. You’re not allowed in the main house.”
I shrug, crossing my arms over my aching chest. “This is where I was told to go.”
Isaac sits on the edge of a solid wood desk and glances behind him at the old maps scattered across it. I get a brief view of the mountains and the names of small pack territories before he roughly turns them over, glaring at me.
I step away from the door, trying my best to hide the pain I’m in. “Are those maps current?”
“That’s none of your business,” Isaac remarks, glowering at me.
“They’re current,” Maddox says, his tone laced with boredom as he sits back down. “We were just discussing possible access points of your kind into Crescent Falls and the surrounding territories.”
Isaac narrows his eyes at his father before shifting his focus back to me expectantly.
“There are none,” I tell him. It’s the honest truth.
“How did Alpha King Kane send his troops into our kingdom last summer?” Maddox pours himself another cup of coffee. Steam rises into the air, shimmering in the midmorning sun. His sharp green eyes meet mine, but he’s unusually calm and collected.
That makes me more than a little nervous compared to his hot-headed son.
I can anticipate Isaac’s moves. Isaac has a short fuse and even shorter patience, but his face remains a calculated mask of steel as he looks between me and his dad.
Maddox, however, remains calm and collected, not a single emotion flaring behind his eyes.
King Kane hated Maddox. He never met the man, but his mystics and oracles constantly spied on Crescent Falls and reported back to Kane with stories of the king who almost lost his throne. By law, the Alpha King of Crescent Falls must have an heir by the time he turned thirty, otherwise the throne would be up for grabs.
Kane saw Maddox as a worthy opponent in the great game of divide and conquer, but Kane had yet to harness the power he needed to create tears through the veil. That came later, and by then, Isaac was on the throne and the kind of king Kane was weary of.
Isaac was young and bloodthirsty, and so was the army he raised to fight against Kane when the time came.
I explain this to Maddox and Isaac, telling them everything I know about Kane’s spying and the army he spent decades enslaving and training, fueling them with powers stolen by the last of the Shadowsyngers, Westfall included.
Then the prophecy ignited at Ella’s birth. The beasts would fly again. The queen would return, taking back her rightful throne.
“There is a river that cuts Eastonia in two,” I explain, now sitting in one of the armchairs across from Maddox. “Rifthold sits to the south-east. It encompasses a vast land–forest, desert, grass covered plains. It eventually meets the ocean, but I’ve never traveled that far.” I glance at the carafe of coffee on the table between us. Maddox watches my every move as I painfully lean forward to pour myself a cup. His eyes linger on the tattoos that snake up my forearms to my shoulders. He lingers on the pale silver scar on my shoulder–his daughter's teeth marks.
Maybe Isla was right about the shirt.
The thought of Ella creeps back into my mind. Ella, and the baby. I clear my throat, trying not to think about it right now. “Kane used my powers to open the holes in the veil. The mountain spring was large enough to send armies through.”
“You helped him do it?” Isaac asks. He’s leaning over the desk taking notes on a piece of paper, likely writing down everything I’ve said, word for word.
I turn my attention back to Maddox, who's watching me acutely.
“I had to find my mate,” I say without a shred of hesitation, “before he did.”
Maddox slowly sets down his coffee mug. “What did he want from her?”
“Her power,” I answer. I look at Isaac. “His, too, had he known about everything the Alpha King is capable of.”
Isaac narrows his eyes at me but doesn’t say anything. So, the extent of his powers are a secret. I wonder how much his own mate knows.
I look back at Maddox. “My people are considered rogues. I only joined my father’s–Kane's forces as a ploy to get to Ella and your family before it was too late. I taunted you, Isaac, to make you aware of the threat. I needed you at your full potential.”
“What kind of game are you playing, Kane?”
“That’s not my name,” I say in a near whisper. Ryatt Kane, Prince of Eastonia, was never my true identity. First, I detested it. When I returned to King Kane at least, then a grown man with my own packs behind me, I allowed him to call me as such if only to gain access to his inner circle and start unraveling his army from within. I knew he sired me. At least, I thought that was the case. But now I know the truth. “Kane wasn’t really my father. My mother was a breeder and a witch, a slave. My father….” I can’t finish the words. “My name,” I push out, “Is Ryatt Westfall, Alpha King of the Roguelands, the Shadow King of Veiled Valley.” I lick my lips, finding them dry and tasteless despite the coffee I’ve been sipping on. “My people–my kingdom is not a threat to Crescent Falls. My packs… they’ll be facing worse in the coming months, I’m afraid.”
“What do you mean?” Isaac asks. He leaves his perch on the desk and edges closer.
“Kane had loyal followers. Alphas of lands in southern Eastonia. Brutal men–men willing to wage war against each other for the right of the title of Alpha King. I must return to defend the Roguelands.” I look at Isaac. “I will be far too busy to deal with your precious kingdom, Your Highness.”
He catches my mocking tone and scowls. “And you’re sure only you and Ella are capable of crossing the Veil?”
“There’s one other person,” I say, leaning back in my chair. “But he resides here.”
Isaac looks at me carefully. I slowly rake my gaze down from his face to his hands as I bring my coffee to my lips.
Maddox catches this exchange and looks at his son. “You can cross, can’t you?”
“He doesn’t know how,” I say, my lips curving into a menacing smile. I shouldn’t be baiting Isaac, but I can’t help it. I know men like him. Cunning, sharply intelligent. I know he likes this game he’s playing with me. Who is bigger, who is stronger, who is a more capable king?
“What reason would I have to want your kingdom?” he laughs. “Based on what Cassian said, you lack basic amenities such as electricity. The veil keeps you trapped in a time long lost to us here in Crescent Falls.”
‘We have power, Isaac,” I say softly. “Power your own people have let dwindle away. You may be wolves still, of course. But we don’t keep our extra gifts a secret in Eastonia.”
This strikes a chord with Isaac. Maddox, however, shifts the conversation before Isaac and I can start hurling the insults on the tips of our tongues.
“You’ll go back to Eastonia,” he says simply, calmly.
“As soon as I’m able, yes.”
“And Ella will stay here.”
The air in the room thickens. I let out my breath, looking down into the mug of coffee. “It would be the safest thing for her and the baby–”
“The baby?” Isaac says, shock softening his features. “She’s pregnant?”
“But,” I cut in, ignoring the looks on each of their faces, “Ella will not, and has not, listened to anything I have to say about her safety since the moment I met her. She will come back to Eastonia with me because it’s what she wants to do, and Ella does… Ella does what Ella wants to do.”
Silence settles between the three of us for several seconds before Maddox laughs. I look up at him, surprised.
“You must really be her mate, then.”
Isaac rolls his eyes and walks to the window.
“I am,” I say.
“I’m sorry,” Isaac chuckles.
I narrow my eyes at him. “I didn’t have a choice in the matter, obviously. These things are destined by powers out of our control. Had it been up to me, I would have chosen someone docile and submissive. Someone who smiles at me from time to time and doesn’t–doesn’t take pleasure in pushing all of my buttons.”
Maddox raises his brows, chuckling to himself.
“You won’t find that in this family,” Isaac sighs as he sips his coffee, his eyes on the ocean.
“I love her,” I say to Maddox, and Maddox alone. The only time I ever told Ella how I really felt was when I was dying in her arms. But I need her father to know more than anything. “Everything I do from this day forward is for her, and our daughter. I am allied with you, and the Alpha King, by blood.”
“How far along is she?” Isaac asks, suspicion shining behind his eyes.
I don’t know how I know we’re having a daughter. The knowledge has just been there, lingering in my mind, tugging on the broken bond I share with Ella. I shrug because I’m not sure of the answer.
“What must be done in the meantime?” Maddox asks after a long, heavy pause.
“I–what is that?” I rise from my chair to look over the top of Maddox’s head, my eyes glued to the water.
“What?” Isaac says as Maddox rises. The two men turn to face the window as I hurry over, resisting the urge to press my hands to the glass.
“That fucking giant boat,” I hiss. I’d seen one earlier and thought it was a trick of my mind.
“The cargo ship?” Isaac glances at me.
“How is something that large powered?”
“Good Goddess,” Maddox groans, turning from the window. “Here we go.”
Something glimmers behind Isaac’s eyes. “An engine. Have you ever seen one?”
***
“They weigh over 200,000 tons,” Isaac says. He points to the picture of a cargo ship he sketched on a piece of paper. We’ve been talking for an hour, mostly about boats, and planes, and cars. Things we don’t have in Eastonia, at least not like the massive boat built like a city and used to trade goods all across his lands.
Maddox is asleep in one of the arm chairs.
I have successfully won them over. I think.
Well, Ella will be pleased, I’m sure.
Now we can focus on getting home, if that’s what she wants.
The door to the office opens, and Ella and Isla walk in. They both look around, and Isla heaves a sigh of relief while pinching the bridge of her nose.
Ella looks at us, but her eyes narrow suspiciously as she steps into the room. “What are you doing?”
“Did you expect one of us to be maimed beyond repair?” Isaac chuckles.
“You,” she says, rolling her eyes. She glances at her father, who is awake now, furrowing her brows. “What the hell is going on in here?”
Isla nears the desk and pulls one of the sketches toward her. She arches a brow, her golden hair dusting over her cheeks. “Really, Isaac, boats?”
“What else do men talk about?” Isaac grumbles, gathering the pages. He glances at me briefly before clearing his throat. “A week, then?”
“A week,” I say.
“Until what?” Isla looks between us.
“Until they shift and fight to the death over me,” Ella snaps, her cheeks flaring with color. She’s feeling better, and seeing color stain her cheeks and that angry look in her eyes tells me everything is fine. She’s fine; the baby is fine.
I meet Isla’s eyes very briefly. Her expression softens as she nods to me, a silent understanding passing between us.
All is well.
I feel like I can breathe again as Ella steps to my side.
“No one is fighting to the death,” Isla breathes, crossing her arms over her chest as she looks over at her mate. “This is just a… family vacation.”
I have no idea what that means, but Ella knits her fingers in mine and tugs me away. No one stops us as we leave the office. Warriors aren’t posted nearby, waiting to take me back to my room.
We leave the main house but stop on the bridge. She turns to me, reaching into the pocket of her pants. “Here,” she says softly, placing something in my hand.
I look down, and the soft breeze unravels a strange strip of glossy paper. Black and white images stare up at me.
“That’s her,” she says, pointing. “That’s our baby.”
“She’s very odd looking–”
She swats my arm, but giggles, and the sound of her laugh ignites a spark deep in my chest, the very place where our bond should be. She has tears in her eyes when she looks up at me, but she’s smiling, and her eyes crease with mingled desperation and pure joy.
I caress her cheek, leaning down until our noses are touching.
“We did it,” she whispers, closing her eyes. “We did it, Ryatt.”
“There’s so much left to do, Princess.” I brush my lips over hers, and then I kiss her. I kiss her like it’s the first time. Like we’re back in that cottage in the Roguelands and every touch is new. I pull her close, cradling the back of her head as I swipe my tongue over her lower lip, begging her to open up to me.
But Ella pulls away, tears rolling down her cheeks. “We need to talk about this, Ryatt.”
That warm feeling in my chest cracks and withers away, replaced by the dread I’ve been keeping tamped down.
“We need to talk about Westfall.”
But a shout from the main house rings through the air. We turn, and I squint into the glare of the sun as warriors dart into the house, a few of them shifting.
“Stay here,” I command.
But Isla’s voice carries over the window.
“Someone find the healer! It’s Maddy!”