Chapter Three

Christopher

I find my father talking with my mother. They’re talking in a low conversation, and they seem deeply disturbed by something. They look up in enough time to see worry in their golden eyes. Something is disturbing them enough that their beasts are nearing the surface. Once my father sees who is trailing behind me, he immediately hides his worry. I cock my head. Curious.

“Christopher,” my mother says, reaching for me and immediately pulling me into a hug. A bit embarrassed I hug my mother, resting my chin on her head while she hugs me a little more tightly than normal. I’ve only been in this embrace when a member of the lycan family was taken unexpectedly.

A throat clears, making me turn around to see slightly unkempt silver ringlets. He bares his neck to me, his ocher eyes seeming tired of this formality. I would be too, considering he is a king himself. This is Alpha King Marcus. His Luna, Sandra, is looking anywhere in this room than the people here; as if she’s searching for something. She’s nearly as tall as her mate, but she’s still standing on her tiptoes to search for someone.

Xander touches his mother’s shoulder. “Mom, Celina is in her room. Lucas just texted me. He’s standing outside her door and has been ordered to stay guard on her.”

“Is Lucas,”

“Yes Mom, he’s mated,” the soon-to-be Alpha King sighs in his annoyance. “Now relax. Her plane just landed so she’s pretty jet-lagged. She’s recovering just fine.” Ah, so the cause of the Luna’s anxiety is their unmated daughter. With the Claiming Ceremony approaching, I’d be worried about my daughter as well. However, her worry will be in vain. Rarely does a female come out unmarked.

The Alpha King clears his throat once more, stopping their conversation. “King Exzecial, have you decided what measures you’d like to take, regarding the rogue lycans?”

That takes my interest. “Lycans? Are you sure they’re involved?”

My father nods. “Without a doubt, Christopher. There was even a rogue lycan that had attacked the Alpha Princess with Wolfsbane. The mark on her arm matches exactly one that came from a lycan. Also, she got it on film.”

“She did?” Marcus asks with interest. “I didn’t see anything.”

My father smirks, “Your eyes would have missed it, but in that last picture, didn’t you see it?”

Annoyed, Marcus shakes his head. “It was just blurry.”

“Exactly. She dropped it when the lycan attacked her.”

Still irritated with my father, Marcus pulls out his phone and digs through some pictures. My father takes the phone and points to a blank wall. Quickly, he pulls out a thin device that he hooks up to Marcus’s phone; projecting the image on the empty wall. He hands the phone to my mother and walks to the picture.

“This is the one before her attack.” I look at the picture. It’s outside the burn-down pack house. It’s been reduced to rubble. Barely some walls are standing, but there are charred pieces of broken glass, burnt wood, and ash remaining. I stiffen when I see something behind the shattered window in the corner. There is a man with blonde hair watching her; as if he’s hunting her. There is a feral smile on his face while he silently stalks her. I can see a man with pale blonde hair in the opposite corner of the picture. It’s impossible for him to be the man in the window. He’s wearing the Alpha King’s colors, so I assume he’s her escort.

My dad looks at me with an approving smile on his face. “You see it, don’t you Chris?”

“See what?” Xander demands, seeming irritated.

“The man in the window,” I answer, almost unwillingly.

“Man?”

My father takes over, pointing to him. “You wolves are too close to the source of pain in this picture. Lycans can look at destruction without even flinching, so abnormalities stand out more.”

My father shifts the picture to a total blurry mess of a picture. I stare at it; studying it closely. I can make out the colors of the previous windowed man’s hair in the dead center. His jaw is wide open, and another oddity stands out to me. The slight tinge of purple on his claws. Wolfsbane.

“She took a picture of her attacker, during the assault.” I look at my father while the others stare at it; trying to see what is obvious to me. My father and I both know this man. Has he told them yet? “How is she alive?”

My father smirks. “She killed him.”

My entire body goes as tight as a springboard. “A werewolf killed a lycan? How injured is she?” Is that the real reason Luna Sandra seems so concerned?

“She suffered a scratch and some Wolfsbane poisoning,” my mother says quickly. She looks at the girl’s mother and then at me.

She’s trying to tell me to remain composed, but I can’t wrap my head around this. “H-how?”

“She’s the Alpha King’s daughter,” my father says with finality in his voice, pushing his aura to me to make me submit.

Sandra has horror on her face, realization finally hitting her. She blinks several times, speaking after a few moments. “He was stalking my daughter? He planned to attack her?”

“Yes, Cassandra,” my mother says, going to her. She pulls the upset Luna in her arms, allowing the Luna to wail in her arms.

“Why do the rogues want with my daughter?” Marcus roars, his Alpha aura surprising us. It’s strong and makes my beast uneasy. I soothe him, assuring him that the Alpha’s sudden hostility is out of confused anger, and not means of an attack.

“My guess is that being the Alpha King’s only unmated daughter has something to do with it.”

“What are you telling me?” He demands, his temper barely contained.

“I believe that the rogue werewolves and lycans are planning on overthrowing both of us, and they’re trying to secure that position with the world’s most powerful werewolf female as their mate.”

“They’re going to use my daughter as a breeding bitch,” Marcus demands, his claws coming out. His aura and voice are enough to make the room quake.

“Dad,” Xander says, grabbing his dad’s arm.

“My daughter will not allow some pathetic piece of trash to mate her,” Marcus roars. “And I will break every pathetic rogue neck that tries.” He’s close to losing control of his wolf. His voice is echoing in his words, melding into two tones.

“Dad,” a soft voice comes from the back of the room; breaking the tension in the room while causing Marcus to control himself enough to withdraw his beast. I cannot see her since she’s using the door to block her, but I can catch a slight scent over the Wolfsbane that is affecting her. My beast is becoming restless, but I can only catch a slightly sweet smell.

Marcus immediately tenses once more, giving into his anger; but the girl speaks a little louder, but keeps her tone soft. “Dad, will you help me to the infirmary? My arm is hurting me.”

Marcus doesn’t move an inch, his fists balled. Then the girl speaks with an obvious lie in her voice, but Marcus responds. “Please Dad, I’m scared and I would love for you to tell me one of your stories. They help to calm me.”

He tenses and opens his mouth, his aura still making my beast on edge. “Celina, please go back to bed.”

Every lycan and wolf in the room straightens, immediately on edge and ready to fight at what we feel next. The aura I feel is deafening, and it rivals my father’s. The weaker part of me wants to submit to it. However, it’s enough to catch the Alpha King’s attention. Xander is slightly submitting, and so is Luna Cassandra. Even Ruben has his neck strained as he tries to resist it.

The voice that comes next is anything but soft and sweet. It’s firmly warm and makes my stomach quiver. “Father, please escort me to the infirmary.”

Marcus takes a step back and un-balls his fists. “If you excuse me, Your Highnesses, it seems my daughter requires my attention.”

The air shifts the moment the Alpha King submits to his daughter’s request. Xander takes his mother at that point, and the royal family excuses themselves. Ruben, my father, my mother, and I stare at the now-closed door in shock. If she has that much power inside her, I have no doubt that she could take on a lycan.

“That was the Alpha King’s daughter,” I demand, my voice still quivering as much as my stomach. “How the hell is she that strong? She’s a werewolf.”

My father gives Ruben and me a stern look, pushing his aura out until we both bare our necks and kneel. “What I’m about to tell you does not leave this room. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Father,” Ruben and I say, grimacing at his strength; accepting his order.

“She is a werewolf that is the Alpha King’s daughter, and her wolf was bitten by a lycan,” Father explains after we both look at him. “Her mate was a lycan, and a strong one at that. She killed her mate during her first shift.”

My mind blanks as I balk, “She killed a lycan when she was newly shifted?” I demand from my father.

“Wait, who was her mate? You said he was strong, but it couldn’t have been if she killed him.” Ruben cuts in, agreeing with me on how ridiculous this sounds. “Why did she kill her mate?”

“Wait,” I say, my mind catching up to me. “How old is she?”

“She’s twenty-one, and will be turning twenty-two this year,” my father says, giving me the cue to figure that out.

“F-four years ago?” I demand while Ruben looks confused. “Danny was her mate?”

“What?” Ruben yells out while my father nods to confirm. Danny had gone off the deep end one night. He had challenged our father and lost. Before his punishment could be dealt, Danny took off. That was nearly four years ago. We all knew Danny was dead since we felt the bond break. We could never find his body. I guess we never put two and two together. None of us thought that Danny was capable of attacking the Alpha King, and we thought it was a coincidence.

“Your twin brother tried to mate with the Alpha King’s daughter. He was among the rogues that attacked the Alpha King. He had killed the king’s beta to get to his mate. Rightfully so, the princess took his life. He had killed Beta Logan and was about to force himself on her; he had already marked her wolf and she did what she only could do when faced with a crazed rogue.”

“She-she killed Danny?”

“She killed what was left of him,” Father says with finality in his voice. “This never leaves this room. If the Alpha King realizes that it was my own son that attacked his daughter and killed his beta, war will be declared.”

Ruben and I nod, understanding now why he’s telling us about this. “Anything else?” I ask.

“Yes. Since she was never fully mated, the princess will be participating in this year’s Claiming. There are sure to be rogues there trying to claim her. I want you two to watch her and make sure no rogues go near her.”

“Do you know how impossible that is?” Ruben demands while I start thinking of strategy.

My dad chuckles, “Let me put this in perspective for you. This is her fourth and final year this unmated female is to participate in the Claiming. I’m sure she’ll do most of the work for you.”

“Aren’t you able to make allowances for her, considering her circumstance?” I demand, annoyed by being a babysitter.

“Not without breaking werewolf law and going against the council. I’ve already called them and they will not make an exception. If the princess makes it out unmated, she will be assigned a mate at a later date. Her bloodline is too powerful to ignore.”

Father fixes Ruben and me once again with a dominating glare. “Under no circumstances will the princess be marked in the Claiming. Do I make myself clear?” His eyes land on me, sending shivers down my spine when I see the very real threat in his eyes.