Three days after Father found out about Chloe, I approached him. “Father, can we speak?” I asked.
He sighed and rubbed at his eyes. “I can already tell that I’m not going to like what you have to say.”
I swallowed around the lump in my throat. “Even still, I need to speak to you in private. Can we go to your office?”
With a grunt, Father rose from his chair and motioned with his arm. “Go ahead then. You know where it is.”
It was a silent walk to his study. I closed the door behind us, cloaking the space in privacy. I knew, eventually, I’d have to tell my brothers, but I wasn’t ready to do so just yet.
Father sat at his desk and said, “Go ahead.”
I’d come up with an eloquent speech outlining what’d happened, but now that the mom
ChloeChloe – Please meet me in the office at 9 am.King CharlesI stared at the note in my hand for far longer than it took me to read it. My stomach dropped out of my body. King Charles hadn’t said a word to me since he’d found out I wasn’t his daughter. To be fair, I’d avoided every family meal and had been eating in Adrian’s room, away from, well, everyone.This note had arrived with my maid. The staff hadn’t been treating me any differently, but I also wasn’t sure they knew what had gone on. I assumed some must, but no one acted like anything changed. I was grateful for the false sense of normalcy.There was no way around this meeting. I glanced at the clock. It was only 8, which meant I had
Chloe"Chloe," Adrian said softly behind me.I turned to him, a small frown forming on my face when I saw how serious he was. It was crazy to think that used to be all I ever saw in him. While he was the ever-serious Crown Prince in public, in private, he was all smiles. "Yea?"He cleared his throat. "There's been a decision."My heart sank. I instantly knew what he was talking about. "Leah?" My voice was nothing more than a whisper."She's going to be executed."I stared at him; sure, I'd heard him wrong. "Executed?" I squeaked, my voice not working correctly.Adrian nodded slowly, watching my face intently.I stared back at him, completely lost. "I didn't think..." I trailed off.Adrian wrapped me in a tight embrace. "Chloe, she kidnapped you, tortured you, and killed Loren
CadenI watched Chloe leave, leaning heavily on Prince Adrian’s arm. They looked very familiar, and I wondered briefly if I’d missed some key piece of information besides Chloe being Princess Harper. The door at the end of the hall closed behind them.I wanted her back. No, I needed her back. I might not have realized what a blessing Chloe was when we were mates, but I saw it now. She’d stood by her attacker’s side and held her hand until the very end. I knew I wouldn’t have been able to do that if our roles were reversed.I royally fucked up. I should have never broken our mate bond. Maybe if I hadn’t, more people would be alive right now. I should have stood by her side because I knewher. I knew who Chloe was, and I’d willfully chosen blindness. I would not be making that error again.I waited until I was outside to call my fa
CadenChloe didn’t respond to my voicemail. She also didn’t respond to any of the texts I sent her, although I could see that she’d read them. That stung; I wasn’t going to lie. There’d been a time when she would have replied instantly. I’d thought it was borderline annoying at the time, but now I missed the closeness. I missed a lot of things about Chloe. That was the real problem; the farther away I got from my misplaced anger at her, the more I realized I fucked up. Because I had royally fucked up when I’d broken our bond.On the second day, with no response, I made the decision to go to King Charles himself. Not only was he King Alpha, but he was also Chloe’s father. I might not be able to force him to make her my mate again, but he could make her talk to me. That’s all I really wanted – a chance to plead my case before her. I knew she still loved me – she had to. Love didn’t just vanish like that. I knew I still loved he
AdrianI wasn't expecting a summons from my Father, and receiving one immediately put me on edge. A summons meant business, and more often than not, it was unpleasant. I couldn't ignore a summons, and he knew that.I entered his office without knocking. He was seated at his desk; however, his chair was turned to the window. I didn't think he was actually looking at anything out there."Sit," Father sighed, turning to me."No, thank you."He raised an eyebrow at this. I ignored him."I had a meeting this morning," Father said.I blinked in surprise. I was usually included in his meetings, especially now that my assentation to the throne was so near."And why wasn't I invited?""Well," Father paused. “I didn't know what he wanted to say, and I feared you might end the discussio
ChloeEven though I’d been given a room downstairs with the other maids, I spent every night wrapped in Adrian’s arms in his rooms. He’d gallantly offered to stay a night in my room, but I only had a twin bed, and while I enjoyed cuddling with him, it was a bit too close in my new bed. Luckily, it hadn’t been too hard to convince him that his king-sized bed was superior.I knew Adrian had had some sort of fight with his father because he’d found me afterward. While he’d only muttered about crazy old men, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to put together that he was speaking about the King. I had a feeling the conversation was about me, and I wasn’t looking to find out the details. The King’s rejection still stung, even if I understood it.“How do you feel about completing the marking ceremony?” Adrian asked as casually as one would ask abou
Chloe“You’ll be upstairs today, Chloe,” the head maid said, scanning her list. “The yellow and blue sitting rooms are yours.”I blinked at her in surprise. Since I’d been demoted to maid, I’d stayed out of the more public spaces in case someone recognized me. The yellow and blue sitting rooms were fairly busy spaces. “Alone?” I squeaked.She looked up and gave me a sharp look. “No. Since it’s your first day cleaning these two rooms, Hannah will be with you.”I nearly sighed in relief. Hannah was nice, even if I did think she chattered too much. I got it, though. If I was a talkative person, it’d be so hard to spend the workday alone.Once the head maid had given everyone their assignments, Hannah flounced over to me, a wide smile on her face. “Are you ready?”
ChloeI spent all night tossing and turning, unable to sleep. What I could do, though, was cry, and I cried until I had no tears left, and my pillow was soaked.I knew, deep in my heart, that Adrian deserved someone better than me to be his Queen Luna. I loved him so deeply that I’d ignored the glaringly obvious: we were from two different worlds.The closest I came to being royalty was having a dead stepfather who was a Beta in my old pack. He’d been a kind man, but he’d been unpolished, too. I came from a different life, and I’d be a fool to stick around and destroy everything by being a terrible Queen Luna.Not to mention, if we stayed together Adrian would have to constantly be explaining our relationship to everyone. He was expected to marry a polished woman who knew how to play the game, not a nobody like me.When the dawn broke, I kn
Chloe“Adrian,” I sigh, pressing back into his chest as he kissed down my neck.“Yes, my dear?” he said, the words whispering against my skin.“We don’t have time for this.” I can feel his growing erection against my ass.“Charlie is with his uncles,” Adrian pointed out. “When do we have a moment alone these days?”I considered him. “I have a better Idea than sex.”“There is no better idea than sex, but I’m willing to add something to our to-do list if it sounds interesting enough.”I rolled my eyes. “Can we go for a run? I haven’t shifted since I gave birth, and the Healer gave me all clear yesterday.”“Fine, we can have sex and then we can go on a run. Happy?”&nb
Alexander“Are you serious?” I asked.Byles shook his head. “I thought I’d offer it to everyone in the family. It’s not something the hospital usually does, but this is a special situation.”I stared at my uncle in horror and mild curiosity.“The surgery is going to be done in the observation room. The hospital has kindly extended the invitation to our immediate family to watch the proceedings. You don’t have to. No one is going to think less of you because you decide not to.”I turned to Chloe, expecting her to also be horrified. Instead, she was staring at Uncle Byles in interest. “How long is the surgery going to take?”“Minimum 12 hours. It’ll end up being as many as needed.”“And we could come and go from the observation room?&rd
King CharlesTime is funny these days. I don’t think any time is passing, and yet it’s never the day I thought it was. Byles says it’s a side effect of the tumor.The tumor. Yes, that’s what the problem was. I had a tumor in my brain, and it was making me sick. I had to get over it. Does one get over a tumor? I wasn’t sure anymore. Words were becoming harder and harder for me to wrangle into submission.I awoke and Alexander was sleeping next to my bed again. Again? Had he done this before? I felt like the answer was yes but couldn’t remember any time other than right now.Knox. Adrian. My other sons. Where were they? I only remembered seeing Alexander recently. I had other sons. And a daughter. She was pretty, my daughter, just like her mother. Her mother had been so beautiful. I’m glad the girl took after her.Alexander
KnoxThe Alpha’s house was nice, but not much compared to the palace, which was an unfair comparison. I knew that, but I’d grown up there and had known nothing else.I knocked on the front door and to my surprise Alpha Caden answered it himself.“Prince Knox?” he asked, a puzzled expression on his face.I nodded. “Alpha Caden.”“What are you doing here?”“I’m registering my presence with you. I intend to stay a few days.”Caden nodded slowly. “I see. And what business do you have here?”I cleared my throat. “I was hoping my brother and Chloe were still here.”Caden’s expression didn’t change, and he gave nothing away. “To what end?”“Well, the
KnoxI was in the middle of packing my bag to leave when Alexander barged into my room unannounced. It reminded me of how I’d barged in on Adrian when he’s been back. It was amazing how cyclical time was.“What’s up?” I asked, not glancing up from what I was doing.Alexander cleared his throat, and I glanced up for the first time.“What’s wrong?”“Are you sure you want to do this?” Alexander asked, frowning.I nodded slowly, unsure of where he was going with this. “It has to be done. Someone has to go tell Adrain what’s going on and tell Chloe that she’s actually Father’s daughter. They both have a right to know this.”“But are you sure you have to be the one to go?”I stiffened at this. “Are you implying I’m not capable of finding them and bringing them back?”Alexander rolled his eyes and sat down. “That’s not what I’m implying at all.” He paused and considered his next words carefully. “It’s a selfish reason.”“What is?”“Why I don’t want you to go,” Alexander sighed.“Well, let’s
AlexanderI didn’t know what the letter Chloe had given me for Father said, but figured it was something important. In fact, after I gave it to him he seemed to withdraw into himself and started brooding more than normal.At least, I hoped that it was the letter and not the seizures. They were happening almost daily at this point. Knox and I were scared to leave him alone. In fact, we took turns sitting at his bedside. It was absolutely exhausting, but he was our father it was our duty.“You two need to get out of here,” Father said one evening as he ate dinner from the small table we’d brought into his bedroom. His walking was okay most of the time, but we’d wanted a table closer to his bed than the one in his sitting room.“Maybe later,” I said, waving off his suggestion.“No, I’m serious. You two don’t
King CharlesTo my horror, the seizures don’t stop. With every pill that doesn’t work, my panic raises. There’s an answer out there somewhere, but I don’t know where.I start being able to warn others when I’m about to pass out, which is only marginally helpful.My closest advisor, Kellin, visited me during my second week of bedrest.“King Charles,” he greeted me.“Kellin.”“Are we alone?”I nodded and watched with mild amusement while Kellin relaxed and sat down next to my bed. “Formalities are so annoying, Charles.”“Don’t I know it,” I muttered.“So, give it to me straight. How bad is it?”I opened my mouth to tell him that it wasn’t that bad, bu
King CharlesGrief does funny things to people.Byles found me in my study, staring out the window instead of doing anything work related. He took the seat next to me and waited for me to acknowledge him before speaking.“Did you know?” I finally asked, turning to look at him.He didn’t pretend to not know what I was talking about. He nodded slowly.“I figured as much. You ran the DNA tests for everyone. It only made sense that you knew, and you kept the truth from me.” I turned back to the window. It hurt to look at my younger brother.“I never meant to hurt you,” Byles finally said. “I only meant to protect Natalie.”“Were you one of the ones she fucked?” I asked, my voice mild despite my words.I saw Byle flinch out of the corner of m
Adrian“Where are you staying?” Chloe asked, pulling back from our kiss.I frowned at her, my brain muddled from having her too close. “What?”“Where are you staying?” she asked again.I pulled back and frowned. “At the Knight Inn.”Chloe crinkled her nose at this news. “That place is known for its roaches.”I thought back to the roaches that had scurried out of sight when I’d entered my room. “Trust me, I know, but all the rooms were rented out every other place because of the wedding. I’m not exactly thrilled about it, but for the moment it’s my only option.”“That’s not true,” Chloe said, shaking her head.“What’s not true?”“You have another option