Chapter 13

13

KILLIAN

M ercifully, Charlotte has covered her glorious body in head to toe black when she rejoins us in the bunkhouse living space. Hair swept up in a sleek high pony, and her scent carrying with it the faint fruity smell of her shampoo, she looks more beautiful than ever.

Theo shifts over the large couch, and she sits on the cushion beside him.

I sit on a two seater all by myself, because who's going to squish in beside a prince, but ridiculously, I feel disappointed that she doesn't. I want her here, on my knee, head leaning back on my shoulder, as I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight… And not sitting beside fucking Theo who glances down at her with a question in his eyes.

She nods quickly and smooths her hands down her thighs. What the hell was that?

I'm still staring at them, trying to figure out what that silent interaction was and how they're so buddy buddy after only just meeting, when Zane clears his throat.

Shit. Not again.

"Can you repeat that?" I take a long blink and force myself to focus on the task at hand, not how close Charlotte's leg is to another man.

"I was telling Charlotte and Theo that you want to visit the site of the last attack on your father, the one where he was injured. But what do you hope to gain from it? Is it just a brief visit to see the spot for yourself, or are you hoping to learn something?"

Zane doesn't say what he wants to say, so I do it for him.

"Because it's going to be a pain in the ass, security wise? And if it was a good place for an ambush once, it's probably still a good place to try and take someone out?"

Zane's lips flatten into a thin line. "Yes."

Trust doesn't come easily to me. My family was ruined by people who, at some point, they likely thought were their friends and allies. But I'm also aware that I'm not going to be able to get the answers I want alone.

"My father, King Morgan, was aware there were plans afoot to kill him. Yet he went there anyway. Either he was looking for information, or he was meeting someone he trusted."

Leaning back in my chair, I run my hand across my jaw, the usual weariness I feel when recounting this story settling over me.

"He had two guards with him. That's all. He was rapidly running out of people that he believed he could trust. In the dead of night, he snuck out without telling Queen Priscilla where he was going and travelled to this one-horse town with a packet of pills he found in her nightstand."

Charlotte and Theo lean forward, eager to hear what's coming next. This is something nobody else knows, but I already know nobody in this room will break my confidence.

"An old friend of his was a chemist, did some tests, and told him what they were. Dad was expecting them to be poisonous, but they weren't. They were birth control tablets. The queen, his mate, albeit his chosen mate, was lying to him and actively trying to avoid producing an heir."

Charlotte's eyes narrow. "To what end?"

"Indeed." I turn my hands, palms up, and shrug. "My father seems to think whoever was influencing her wanted to make sure the line died with him. That they were buying time to kill him while ensuring she didn't produce a son or daughter who could revive the monarchy, once they came of age."

I stretch my legs out in front of me and cross them at the ankles, much more comfortable in the relaxed bunkhouse than in the stuffy palace.

"Anyway, satisfied that the queen wasn't trying to poison him, he left his friend's house and was on his way back to the palace when they were attacked. His two guards were murdered, and he was shot five times with silver bullets and left for dead. He managed to escape, only by dragging himself back to his friend's house, who removed the silver and patched him up, before letting Dad flee with his passport, and all the cash he could scramble together. He found out later that the palace was torched that night, Priscilla was dead, as were the rest of his extended family, decimated over the preceding couple of years, thus deciding he was never coming back."

Zane mulls over my words while Theo asks the obvious question. "Could the friend have tipped someone off that he was coming?"

That was my first instinct too, but Dad would hear none of it.

"Dad insists they wouldn't have. And if they wanted him dead, they had plenty of opportunity to finish the job themselves when he turned back up, half dead, and as weak as a kitten."

He got to Ireland on that same passport, years later. If they'd wanted to, they could have passed that information on to the council, but they never did that, either.

Charlotte turns those hypnotic green eyes on me and picks up a notepad from the table. "So, who could possibly have known he left the palace? Even if he was trying to keep it quiet, there's always someone awake at the palace."

My thoughts turn to our encounter in the burned down wing. Anyone could have seen us. That was foolish.

"The queen, Dad's guards and their families, potentially, anyone working on the gate, anyone in charge of the vehicles, neighbours of the doctor who could have seen him come or go. His butler. Anyone who was staking out the palace, waiting for an opportunity to sneak in. It's a long list, even if he was being careful, but at least we have somewhere to start."

Nodding grimly, the sympathy I see when my mate looks at me twists me up inside.

Dad always said leaving the palace wasn't hard. Leaving his first mate, the Walker's grandmother, was. But someone was sniffing around town looking for him, and he couldn't let anything happen to her, or her baby, Michelle.

"From what I can tell, the head alphas of the region at the time were circling like vultures, and once the king was missing in action, they swooped in and set up the ‘temporary' council to manage the situation. And then, once they co-opted some power for themselves, they never let it go." Zane's disdain for the council is evident. "There's still a head alpha for each region, but their authority has been diluted, and they've all but been forced to abide by the council's rules. And with each council seat handed down from generation to generation, little has changed since."

Charlotte stiffens, just a fraction, hinting at her unease now that the conversation is hitting closer to home.

"Your mother inherited her seat from her father," I say, watching as Charlotte grows visibly more uncomfortable before my eyes. "He was around when all this was going on."

"She did, and he was. And Elodie will take it from her, unless she secures an even more prestigious position for herself in the meantime. And my brother is in line to take over my father's pack."

Theo looks away and coughs, a very unsubtle signal to Charlotte to shut up.

Marrying royalty is the only thing that would trump sitting on the council. Referring to mating me as securing a position, is a jab at me. Her mother wants power, and her sister sees me as a title to be won.

"What about you? If you're older than Elodie, would you not be the right woman for the job?"

We both know she is.

Charlotte's features darken, a cloud passing over her beautiful face. It seems the idea doesn't hold the same appeal for her.

"Correction. The other alternative is to become such a disappointment that you're excused from taking a seat on the council and being used to breed your way to the top." Her hand goes to her sleek ponytail and travels down the length of it. "I think getting dumped by a prince will officially cement my position as the disappointment of the family."

Instead of being upset, she looks thrilled.

"Jesus," Theo mutters, his expression stunned. He expects her to be in trouble for blatantly insulting the woman I'm supposed to be involved with. Far from it.

My little mate has just given me an insight into her life, and how she thinks.

And I want more.

"So, everyone on the council benefitted from your family's downfall. And would lose out if you or your extended family stakes a claim to the throne." Zane sighs, the magnitude of what I'm up against becoming real.

"Exactly. Which is why I want a report on each council member's business activities and financial holdings at the time of the attacks. Let's see who benefitted the most after Dad left, and who was in dire straits before. That might point us in the right direction."

Theo nods. "On it."

"I appreciate this might be uncomfortable for you, Charlotte, given your sister's aspirations ," Zane says diplomatically. "But your mother was the one who insisted that someone from her pack be on the guard. And frankly, you're the person I trust the most in your family, given how ardently you've fought to avoid being part of that life."

That catches my attention.

What did she do that has Zane so completely confident she has no involvement in her family's potential plotting or scheming?

"Don't worry, sir. If they were involved, I'll have no problem ensuring they pay for it."

Satisfied, Zane turns to me. "Any objection to Charlotte stepping into the role of your betrothed, given the potential conflict of interest here?"

This is the perfect opportunity to create some distance between us. I could just tell Zane I want her gone…

But I can't do it.

"None, whatsoever. In fact, I think her presence at my side might be vital with her access to the council."

Stalemate.

We stare at each other, locked in a battle neither of us wants to lose. Yet somehow, I have a feeling, we both will.