Chapter 43

43

KILLIAN

B rushing Charlotte's silky black hair back from her face, my heart hurts. I was so close to losing her.

The doctor said that the silver bullet lodged itself just inches from her heart. If we hadn't gotten her here as fast as we did, with the amount of blood she was losing and the silver poisoning her from the inside out, she would have died.

Just the thought breaks me out in a cold sweat.

I haven't been able to eat or sleep, afraid that if I close my eyes for even a second, something will happen to her. Or, she might wake up alone again.

I was such a fool to think I could ever walk away from this woman. The only reason I've been able to stay even remotely sane is because she's been close by. I still got to see her, and even if it wasn't enough to ever really satisfy my wolf, at least it took the edge off.

The idea of travelling overseas without her is ridiculous. And any thoughts I had about breaking the bond and rejecting this amazing woman are laughable. Even if I wanted to, I'm not even sure I'd survive it. I was kidding myself.

There's nothing I want more than to claim her as mine and never leave her side again. If she'll let me, that is.

I press a kiss to her forehead and listen to her shallow, even breathing. It calms my frantic mind.

Doc says it's only a matter of time before she wakes up, but until then, I'm not moving. Instead, I play the last week over and over in my mind, fixating on what I should have done differently. But in every scenario, she's by my side at that table, and just as likely to throw herself into the line of fire.

Her wolf is healing her. The colour is returning to her cheeks, and she looks so much better than she did just twenty-four hours ago. Hopefully, it won't be long until she's awake and giving me hell, but I'm not taking anything for granted.

I sit beside the bed, her hand in mine, and wait, because when she finally opens her eyes, I'm not sure how she's going to react to me. Maybe this is my last chance to touch her. I kiss the back of her hand and press my cheek to it, praying she can forgive me for being such a fool. If she thought I was a coward before I left her to rot in a jail cell, what must she think of me now?

And let's not forget that I killed her grandmother right in front of her.

I'm pretty sure she hates me right now, but I'll just have to deal with the consequences.

We're mates. She'll forgive me eventually, right?

There's a gentle knock on the door. I give Zane a small nod as he steps inside, with Blake hot on his heels. The two alphas look subdued as they stare at Charlotte's unconscious form, looking tiny and frail under the crisp, white hospital sheets.

"How's she doing?" Blake asks, knowing that's all I really care about right now. The fire. The prisoners. The new investigation into the royal murders. I'm happy for them to deal with all of that. I trust them to take care of things in my absence.

The only thing I want to focus on is my mate.

"She's gonna be okay. She just needs to rest," I say pointedly, looking at the two men here to talk shop with me.

"We won't keep you long," Zane says, understanding that at this moment in time, Charlotte's all that's important to me.

"So Elodie confirmed that Tammy had access to sedation drugs through the family business. George ordered a full stock take, and confirmed there's a small amount missing, but too much for it to be a mistake." He fights to keep the anger from his voice as he continues to give me his report. "She must have provided the drugs to one of her hired guns, along with some clothes stolen from Charlotte's room on her last visit, then sent them after you."

"What a charming family. So, her own grandmother set Charlotte up for attempted murder, while her mother threatened to ship her off to some asshole alpha just for dating you?" Blake shakes his head. "I didn't exactly have it easy with my parents, but they're starting to look pretty damn good right about now.

I've known nothing but a happy life with my parents, albeit with the spectre of his past life hanging over us, and the ever-present fear that someone would find us.

I'm not sure how I'll break it to him that it was Tammy's paranoia about losing her mate that started the whole thing, and that the other alphas merely turned a blind eye when it became apparent it would suit them to have him gone.

But that threat hanging over us was nothing compared to what Charlotte and Elodie have had to endure.

"Alpha Webster confirmed that Cressida knew all along that her mother killed Priscilla to ensure that George wouldn't call off their engagement and run away with her. We think she started killing members of the royal family off as a diversion, to make it look like it was some kind of a grudge against the monarchy in general, and not a targeted attack against the queen. Either that, or she sold some of the council on the idea of taking down the royal family."

"But why my dad?" I still don't understand why he was targeted. "Surely, killing him would have left Priscilla free to mate again? That made it even more likely that Priscilla and George would get together."

Zane shrugs, finding the entire thing as unfathomable as I do.

"We think that the king knew George and Priscilla would have been fated mates, or at least, that they were madly in love. Maybe he was choosing to turn a blind eye to their affair, and Tammy was pissed? Or she wanted to kill Priscilla all along, and the other attacks were just a red herring?"

We all fall into stunned silence. It's hard to believe that someone so evil had lived among the shifter community for so long.

"I mean, I knew she was horrible," Zane says. "But this is a whole other level."

It seems like once she had her mate, and she gave birth to Cressida, she settled down to overbearing mother levels of scary behaviour, rather than serial killer-type activities.

"Poor George." Blake continues. "He didn't have a clue. I thought he was the bad one in that house, but as it turns out, he was trapped in a mating with a woman who only wanted him for his status, and who murdered his fated mate in cold blood. It's a pretty bitter pill to swallow."

I'm not sure about poor George. From what I've gathered from Alpha Webster, he wasn't a particularly nice person, either. Toxic is how he described their entire family.

"What's he going to do now?" I ask, wanting to make sure we keep tabs on George. He says he has no clue about what his wife did, but I'm not going to just take his word for it. We'll pick apart every aspect of their story over the coming weeks and months.

"Well, Cressida has stepped down from her role, obviously, given she knew that her mother was a murdering psychopath and told nobody." Zane sighs. "But she claims she was in fear for her life, and we can't prove otherwise, so actually giving her serious jail time is going to be difficult."

Blake hums, rubbing his chin with his thumb, as he ponders that. "We might be able to get her with an accessory charge for not speaking up once you were attacked. Maybe she'll tell us what she knows then?"

Zane folds his arms over his chest. "Maybe your dad knew about the affair but kept it quiet to protect Priscilla's reputation. They must have cared for each other if he let her continue on."

Dragging in a tired breath, I look both men in the eye, grateful for their support. "I wish my father was well enough to help us, but he's too weak for questions," I say, knowing that my father was more than aware he wasn't Priscilla's great love. "I can try to ask him, though."

Both Blake and Zane freeze and just stare at me. I'm not sure they even breathe.

"You'll what?" Zane takes a step forward.

"I'll try to ask him when I see him," I say, pushing to my feet, ignoring the stabbing pain in my thigh where Doc removed two bullets in the early hours of this morning. After he tended to Charlotte.

"The king is still alive," Blake asks in a whisper. He's his usual unruffled self, but I can tell he's just as surprised as Zane, from the way his eyes widen.

"Just barely," I admit sadly. "He doesn't have long left, hence why he sent me back."

Stepping away from the bed, I lean against the wall to take the weight off my sore leg. "I wanted to get this dealt with, so he could go in peace," I say, smiling sadly. "He doesn't want to be here anymore now that his mate has gone. But he wanted to make sure Zoe and Chase were going to be okay. And Hayley and Leah too, obviously, if they decide to get their wolves."

It's a decision that still has to be made, and potentially, a less fraught one, now that the danger is reduced.

"Does Michelle know that he's still alive?" Blake asks, wondering if my sister is in on the secret.

"She does." I admit. "I went to see her before I came here. That's why she stayed away. She didn't want to be caught in a lie or have to tell any untruths to her children."

She didn't like it, but Michelle's a clever lady. She understood the need for secrecy while I was dealing with this. I couldn't have anybody travelling overseas and potentially finding my father while he was unguarded.

"So, who was looking after the king? Was he unprotected all this time?" Zane asks, horrified.

"Not exactly, but the two men who are keeping an eye on him value their privacy. They're what I would describe as aggressively solitary, so I have no doubt that he's fine." I'm pretty certain they barely set foot outside.

"Just two men?" Zane asks, trying not to sound disapproving, but clearly having some opinions about how I've left my father.

"They're not ordinary men. Like Marcus and Billy, they're pretty formidable. He's in safe hands. But still, I want to get back in case he takes a turn."

Both Blake and Zane nod along, hopefully assuming that I mean the two men are actually bears, and not guessing what they really could be.

"So, what happens now?" Zane looks at me expectantly, but I have no idea. All I can think of is Charlotte getting fit and well, and then convincing her to give me a chance.

"Are we satisfied there's no threat to Zoe and Chase anymore?" Blake's priorities are clear. His mate and her safety. "So, are you returning to Ireland for good, or are you going to stay and become prince? Or even king, if your father isn't well enough to take back the title?"

I turn and stare down at Charlotte. "I don't know. It all depends on what my mate wants to do."