*Maddox*
I sit in the backseat with Isla on the way back to the castle, holding her as close against me as the seatbelts will allow. She is exhausted and dozes off. Mystica, who is sitting on her other side, assures me that she’s fine, she’s just sleeping, but I worry anyway. Seeing her so still again makes my heart rate increase. The idea that she might not open her eyes again is terrifying.
My eyes focus out the window as I try to decide what to do when I get back to the castle. We clearly have enemies that need to be dealt with, but I also need to be careful.
Alpha Jordan is a powerful man. I knew that before he even arrived at the castle, but in the last few weeks since he’s been there, the information I have received from my contacts in other regions have confirmed that he is influential to the Alphas who are already at odds with my plans for the kingdom.
While the outcry against me allegedly stem around the fact that I am not planning to produce an heir, that isn’t their true problem with me, and now that I am in a position where an heir could be imminent, their fear has begun to take over. They’ve started to calculate moves against me that will reveal their true intentions—to take the kingdom from me by force.
What these rival Alphas fail to realize that there would only be room for one of them at the top of the food chain when this is all over, and that means that they will end up battling each other after they eliminate me.
Perhaps they’d rather duke it out amongst each other than accept the status quo. But I have to make sure I am in a position to fight them all off.
I should be. Assuming that the Alphas who have pledge their loyalty to me are true to their word, I should have greater numbers than they do. But the only way to know for sure is to test that loyalty, and that’s something I’ve been hoping to avoid.
It will take an act of war.
In my opinion, what Zabrina has done qualifies as just that. Even if I don’t think of Isla as the potential mother of the heir to the throne, someone who is protected by pack laws, Zabrina and her coconspirators have killed a royal guard. That by itself is reason enough for me to have her and everyone acting with her executed for treason. Whether or not her father is part of the plan remains to be seen, but he clearly supported her when I was trying to leave the castle and he stood up against me.
“What are we going to do when we get back?” Seth asks me, his voice quiet.
“We’ll have to get to the bottom of who all is involved,” I say, trying to also be quiet so as not to wake Isla. I could use the mind-link, but I am certain that Poppy wants to know the situation. She has been unusually quiet since Isla awoke, and though I normally wouldn’t involve a housemaid in the affairs of the crown, she has proven herself loyal beyond question in the last few hours, and I appreciate anyone who is willing to go to so much trouble to show their support to me and the woman I love.
Love.
I never thought I’d say that word about anyone again, but when I saw her lying on that damp, dirty floor, there was no question in my mind that I love her. My heart couldn’t ache uncontrollably the way that it did if I wasn’t in love with her.
Now, have to decide what to do about it.
I vowed long ago that I would never take another Luna, and I am quite certain that the Moon Goddess heard those words. Up until now, she has honored my wishes and kept anyone and everyone within my reach of little interest to me.
But now, I have Isla, and even if she was just intended to be a Breeder, even if she hasn’t got a drop of royal blood, or even Alpha blood, within her, I am drawn to her in a way only a moth that is hearing its own wings sizzle from the lick of the flames before it is consumed by the heat can understand.
Even though deciding I wanted her to be the mother of my child was a difficult decision, but once I allowed myself to be with her, the landslide set in, and I quickly found myself buried beyond all hope of resurrection.
At this point, I have no choice but to accept the fact that the promise I made myself after Rebecca died has to be broken. I can’t live without Isla. The events of the last few hours have proven that, and while that doesn’t mean I am ready to call her my queen, it does mean I have to take the time to reevaluate what this means for both of us and our potential child.
I feared proclaiming her my Luna for fear that she would be hurt, like Rebecca was, but we are beyond that now. We are in a situation where she has already almost lost her life because of my affection for her. So what could possibly be worse?
From now on, she will have a target on her back because of me, and if I were to attempt to return her to her family, I would still have to provide her with guards.
My mind reverts to images of Willow pack and how simple her life would be there compared to how it will be at the palace. Perhaps I should give the idea of taking her home more thought. I have removed Ernest from power, and I don’t have another Alpha in place yet. But maybe she would be safer there.
Without the attention I bring.
Without me.
I will need to think this through. While it would be exceptionally painful for me to let her go, if it is what’s best for her, wouldn’t it be better for me to love her from afar?
Especially if she becomes pregnant with my child and we go to war.
No, I’m not sure I can protect her if she is with me, not when I’m unable to demonstrate with one hundred percent certainty who my friends are—and who my enemies are….
“Sir,” Beta Seth says, “we’ll be at the castle in five minutes. What would you have me do?”
He is looking at me in the rear view mirror, and I can see in his eyes that he regrets the part he played in this. While I do not blame him for what’s happened, he was supposed to be keeping an eye on Isla while I was gone, and she was taken under his watch.
“Take Isla to her room,” I tell him. “I want Commander Weston with her at all times. We need to get a report from Commander Taylor on the current situation in Duster, and I need an account of Green pack’s activities as well.” Those are the most solid threats I have outside of the situation in the castle.
“Yes, sir,” he says. “And what would you have me do once I give those orders?”
“Accompany me to the prison to find out as much as possible from our guests,” I say. It is a bit ironic that they were our guests at the castle until they betrayed me. Now, I suppose there’s a different word that would fit them better. Captives, perhaps. Prisoners.
My plan is to carry Isla to her room myself. Then, once she is settled, and I’m sure she is safe, I will report to the dungeon to oversee the collection of information.
We pull through the gate, and I am thankful to be home with this woman at my side, but I am also irritated. None of this should’ve ever happened. She should’ve been safe her. This is my home.
How in the world did something like this happen right beneath my nose?
I can’t let myself dwell on how I should’ve been able to prevent it. All I can do now is focus on what I can do to make sure she is safe moving forward.
Seth pulls up to the external door that is closest to her room, and I get out of the car, careful not to let her slump over. I slide her into my arms, and she whispers, “Where are we?”
“We’re back at the castle,” I tell her, settling her against my chest. “You’re safe, baby.” I hope that she believes me. I ‘m not sure why she should feel safe here. This is the place she was kidnapped from, after all.
But she doesn’t even open her eyes, just rests against me as I carry her inside and take her to her room.
She needs a shower and a change of clothes, but I don’t think she can handle the former at the moment. Instead of taking her to the bathroom, I lay her in her bed, accepting Poppy’s help to pull the blankets down. “Can you get her washed up a bit and changed?” I ask the maid.
“Of course, sir,” Poppy says, her tone so different than her usual chipper self.
Mystica has come with us as well, and I see the pack healer checking Isla’s vitals as Poppy prepares to do what I’ve asked. “Her heartbeat is stronger now,” Mystica tells me. “I do think she will be just fine.”
“Thank you,” I tell the woman whom I rely on for so much.
I hear a knock on the door and go to see who it is, though I already know. It’s Commander Weston.
I step out into the antechamber and see that he has five guards with him. I look into their eyes and see nothing but loyalty there. I know all of these people, three men and two women. They have worked for me for many years, and I trust them.
Perhaps that will end up being my downfall, but I have to be able to trust someone or else I will go mad.
“No one comes in here except for me or Seth, got it?” I say to Commander Weston.
He is older than me, almost old enough to be my father, and I see in his face that he completely understands. “Of course, sir,” he says, as is expected of him.
I give him a nod of thanks and then head out the door, hoping that Isla is fine while I am away. Even as I take a few steps down the hallway, I feel an ache in my heart that compels me to go back to her. It seems stronger than any mate pull I’ve ever experienced, even when Rebecca lay dying in the bathroom.
I can’t be with her at the moment, though. I have other matters to attend to. So I force myself to keep walking.
When I reach the dungeon, I see Seth there, speaking to Commander Fife. My Beta is shouting, his hands in fists, as he narrows in on the commander who is about our age but highly experienced and someone I trust.
Or someone I trusted up until the moment I see this interaction.
“What is it?” I ask Seth and Commander Fife as I reach them.
Seth shakes his head, his anger not allowing words to come out of his mouth.
“Seth?”
“They’re gone,” he tells me, looking into my eyes. “Both of them are gone.”