Chapter Forty-Four

Damian

I can’t breathe, as I lay back in the backseat of my Uncle’s car. That stupid lycan prince was stronger than I thought. He’s nothing like his brother, and nowhere as forgiving. If that little pawn hadn’t intervened, I would be dead. I guess Celina and that golden boy have something in common. They both know how to go for the kill. If he wasn’t mated to my Celina, I would love to have him serving under me. Then again, he is the son of my asinine father.

My fingers twitch in fury at that thought. Oh, how I wish I could bite through his skull and feast on his blood. He’s robbed me of every birthright I’ve ever had. I should be inheriting his throne. I should be mated to the Alpha Princess. Not that pompous fuck boy. I was robbed of my life. If it were up to my father, I wouldn’t even have taken my first breath. Now I’m going to take everything from him and his family. I mean it is only right that I return the favor.

I can only imagine how hard of a time he’s going to have covering up this mess. He has nearly no councilmembers left, and he should count himself lucky, I left the guards intact. The only reason I did, is so I have someone there to protect, and watch over Celina. I would have enacted plan b, but I wasn’t expecting Cedric to die. Even though she’s unable to shift, Celina continues to surprise me.

My chest warms as I picture her. I watched her for the longest time while she was talking with that whore. I knew I should have made sure that bitch had stopped breathing when I left her for dead, but we all make mistakes.

My Celina. She smells so sweet, and the power she and her wolf radiates makes my mouth water and makes us come alive. I could watch her for hours, and I have; days even. That woman fascinates me. No matter what I throw at her, she still continues on. I’ve destroyed every single past relationship she has had, I’ve even gone after the men themselves; even the ones that just show interest in her. However, I cannot break her from that nasty habit. She refuses to be without companionship. I distracted her for a while with my idiot half-brother, Declan, but he just had to screw it up by falling in love with her. Just like the others, I took care of him. Fortunately for me, that prince made it easy for me.

Why does everyone who meets her fall in love with her? I understood Danny. She was his mate, which is why I’m not faulting Christopher for it; besides he’s going to die in the end anyway. I guess I can make it quick for that reason alone. I’d be worried that killing her mate would kill her in turn, but she’s already survived this ordeal once so I know she’ll survive it once again. If I can’t break her, that certainly won’t.

“Are you still alive back there,” Randaul growls. His hostility is palpable, but I don’t pay it any mind. He’s just upset that I wouldn’t let him in the battle. He already failed to capture Celina once, I wasn’t going to let him do it again. Then again, it might have to do with the fact that I finally bound that moron to me. He fought it, and boy did he fight it, but no one can resist my influence for long. Except for my lovely soon-to-be mate.

“As if that prick could kill me,” I chuckle and then spit blood onto the back of his seat.

“Judging by how you look, he nearly did,” Randaul points out, sounding a bit smug.

“Does that make you happy, Randy?” I ask; feeling his blood tie inside my mind. Sephtis picks at it with his claw, making my uncle flinch. “I would think you’d be more disappointed that your nephew was hurt.”

“I’m more disappointed that you failed to get rid of that arrogant prince,” he mutters and then flinches in anticipation that was the wrong answer to give.

Sephtis chuckles and then returns to daydreaming about Mara. He’s eager to see how she will look once she’s fully transitioned into her beast. He cannot wait to try to overtake her mark from that weakling. He’s been practicing dominating her while he waits for his chance to face her once again.

If you think you have a better shot at it, then, by all means, give it a try,” I tell him as I settle further into the seat. “Oh wait, you couldn’t even handle his pathetic father.”

He snaps his jaw shut quickly to stop a growl in his tracks. “That was over a century ago.”

“When he was weaker,” I bark with a laugh. “Now shut up and let me rest,” I order as I close my eyes

I open my eyes when we come to a stop at an old red brick mansion. I get out of the car on my own, leaving my mophead of an uncle behind. He’s basically useless since I took away that pesky backbone. I’m starting to wonder why I’m keeping him around.

Randaul grabs me by my waist and helps me to limp into the house. When we’re up the stairs I push him away from me and go plop onto a brown deep-seated couch. I groan while Randaul races to get the first aid kit. My throat has mostly healed, so I’m not worried about the other wounds. I flip on the TV and listen to some mindless dribble while I wait for him.

“Randaul,” I yell after I sit up, “pull up the beast kingdom site and see if there are any updates. I’m going to go to my room to get ready to shower.” Where is that weakling?

I limp to my room a few rooms over. I’ve always opted for a room on the main floor in case we are attacked. Since my clothes are already gone, I drag my struggling body into the shower and quickly rinse off. My body starts to decompress in the shower, and my painful battle wounds start rearing their head in an ugly reminder that they are still there. I feel like I could sleep for a week.

After I’m out of the shower I wobble to my bedroom. I plop onto the dark red comforter with a towel around my waist, then grab my white laptop I had left on the bed. If my pretentious uncle can’t do one more thing right, I’m going to end his miserable life.

A smile comes to life on my face when I see darling Celina’s beautiful face when my laptop powers on. She’s curled up by the fireplace at her old apartment studying. This shot alone made it completely worth the price I paid to rent the office floor in the building across from her place. She’s so serene in this picture and looks to be genuinely interested in what she was studying.

I look to my right and skim through all the photos I have hung up of her. One of my favorites, and the moment I fell in love with her. She’s sitting on a log with her head in her hands, completely broken. This woman looked so frail as if she was just waiting for death, then, in an instant, destroyed me. She was destined to die. She should have died after what she did to my brother; but instead, her only saving grace was capturing my heart with that fatal blow she dealt me.

Celina is everything I’ve ever desired in a mate. Intelligent. Beautiful. Strong. Fearsome. Not that pathetic thing I was mated to. The pathetic thing wouldn’t even try to strike me, no matter how many times I hit her. Eventually, her cowardness caused her death, not me.

I turn my attention back to my computer, wondering why on earth I feel Randaul’s blood tie vibrating so violently. Probably broke another dish or something. I’ll punish him later for it I suppose. I go to the beast kingdom’s site using one of the Alpha’s credentials from a bonded pack.

I scroll through the useless updates from today. “Princess Celina, Prince Christopher’s mate, has finally been seen inside the palace walls.” They posted of her sitting across that little trollop laughing at something. “She was seen with Prince Christopher’s ex-long-term girlfriend. The couple reportedly broke up just before The Claiming, where the handsome prince found his lovely mate.”

“How many times can they say prince,” I mutter to myself as I save the picture of my lovely Celina. I saved it in a secure file, next to the picture I took of her at the Moonlit Ball. It goes perfectly with the one from the site. Celina was nothing but perfection at that ball, and I don’t know if she knew that she spoke with me. I would have loved to talk to her longer, but that baby prince kept her moving. I was going to break into her room that night and take her then, but her idiotic friend had to poison herself.

Something catches my eye as I aimlessly scroll through the website. It’s in the Palace Update tab, instead of the royal gossip tab I have pinned. It’s a live video that’s recently ended.

A man known as Edgar Rovare is standing next to Celina and Christopher at the solid oak door in front of the castle doors. Celina looks fetching with a long Levi white skirt and a white Levi corseted style top. Her hair is loosely twisted and designed to frame her angelic face. This is so she can proudly display her duel marks from her soon-to-be deceased mate. He’s wearing a black suit, and they’re both showing impassible expressions.

The tall man with his slicked back olive black hair turns to face the camera. “We’re joined live with the Crown Prince Christopher and his new mate the Alpha Princess, Princess Celina. Who, in just a few moments will be making a monumental announcement.

“Today, a terrible tragedy has fallen over the beast kingdom. As of a few hours ago, an all-out, brutal assault was delivered on the residents. It is estimated that seventy percent of the Council has been murdered in this attack and fifteen percent of the guards. No one, including the royal family, made it out unscathed. From what I was told, the attack was launched by the child of King Exzecial. Is that correct Prince Christopher?”

Christopher nods while my blood boils. “I’m afraid that you are correct Edgar. My father conceived a child with a woman prior to meeting my mother. It was decided upon my grandfather, and father, and that child’s mother, that this child be raised in anonymity. It was also kept secret by my parents from everyone, including my brother, Prince Ruben, and me. The circumstances that have occurred are not how I would have liked to learn about his existence. For his crimes that were committed today, against the Royal Court, the Royal Family, and the Beast Kingdom itself, we’re declaring Damian Heath Jackson an enemy of the Beast Kingdom, and issuing a reward for his capture. Payment will be issued whether he is brought to us alive, or dead.

“Due to the disgrace my father has brought upon our family and kingdom, King Exzecial will be stepping down, effective immediately. The Alpha Princess, and my mate, Celina will be assuming his role as Queen of the Beasts since she was the one that subdued my father and forced him to submit to her. I will also be stepping into my role as King of the Beasts closely after my mate has assumed her new role. Is there anything else you wish to add, Queen Celina?”

My jaw drops to the floor as anger rakes through me. Sephtis is howling in his rage and my skin begins to sprout fur. I hang on for a moment to hear what she has to say. Am I hallucinating? Does she remember who I am?

Celina turns to face the cameras and speaks with such confidence and eloquence that it is clear she was meant for this role. I did not fail when choosing her to be my mate. “Yes, thank you, King Christopher. I’m deeply saddened by what has happened today. It’s truly disheartening, and sickening when something like this has taken place. It angers me to know that Damian Heath Jackson is the one behind all of this death. I cannot explain further about the attacks while we are still investigating. However, due to the extreme act that was discovered today, I will let you know that the leading cause of death to our Ex councilmembers was caused by something strictly forbidden and even looked down on in the werewolf community. They ignorantly bonded themselves to Damian by something called a blood oath.

“A blood oath is dangerous and can render the weaker subject instant death if the oath holder should decide. I cannot express the amount of disappointment and disgust I feel that someone would enact that illicit act. I beg of you, if you value your life, and have sworn a blood oath to Damian Heath Jackson, also known as Andras, to reject him as your alpha. I assure you, the pain you feel after rejecting him, is nothing compared to the death you will feel if he should decide he’s through with you; which is exactly what happened with our deceased council members here today.”

I lose control of my beast at that moment and throw the computer at the wall; shattering it to pieces. All I can see is red as I shred my room to pieces. How? How could she do that to me? How does she know what I did? How does she know what to do? I stop suddenly and chuckle to myself. Because she’s Celina and she is the Alpha King’s daughter. Of course, she knows what a blood oath is. She must have been taught everything about their history.

A large crash sounds below my feet, and I just know it’s my pathetic uncle trying to escape my rage. He really should learn to be quieter. Sephtis is itching to take his anger out on someone, and he just alerted him to his presence. Sephtis stalks out of the room while manically laughing. He opens the basement door, revealing a room in the exact layout of Celina’s old bedroom, right down to the circular bed. Of course, chains were added for my comfort. Now where is that rat?

Suddenly, a sharp burning begins in my chest. It grows to an unbearable level as I clutch my heart and drop to my knees; losing my shift. I cry out in pain while I hear the door shut behind me. That traitorous toad. He’s rejecting me as his alpha, and so is several of the packs that submitted to me. If Celina’s goal was to hurt me, she was only angering me further. Next time, I’m not going to be so nice.