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My father didn’t react, and my eyes narrowed more. The hairs on the back of my neck rose, my lupine instincts on full alert now.
“It’s too late, Lucius,” I told him again.
“Nonsense,” he replied. “There aren’t rules for this kind of thing because it’s never happened before.”
Why does he sound like he’s reciting that from a script?
“The kingdom doesn’t want you here. You’ll never be reinstated.”
He shrugged. “I suppose we’ll see what the Council of Ministers has to say about it, won’t we?”
My blood heated at the thought of the old curmudgeons siding with my runaway father after all the work I’d put into keeping the kingdom afloat. All the ministers had been my father’s picks. And I was planning on replacing a lot of them in months, when I would gain full power.
Of course myfatherhad to show up months before the eight-year deadline. If he had returned after being missing for eight years, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. He wouldn’t have a claim to the throne.
I saw my life beginning to crumble before me, rage shaking me as I thought about all the times I had wanted to throw in the towel and leave Steelshire behind.
But I had stayed. Lucius had left.
“Why would they do that?” I challenged, struggling to keep my tone even. “They can’t trust you now. You might just leave again.”
“I was kidnapped,” he insisted stubbornly. “I was!” The petulant defiance in his tone didn’t sit well with me. My father would never pitch a fit, even when he was losing an argument.
Apprehension spiked through me as I leaned forward to sniff at him, but he chose that moment to rise and walk around the desk, as if he’d anticipated my action.
“There’s no sense in fighting about this, child,” he yawned. “I’m tired from years of hard living. I just want a shower and my bed.”
Immediately, I thought of Maren and my unborn child on the third floor, and as Lucius moved toward the door, my instincts kicked in like they never had before. Without warning, I leaped onto the desk, baring my teeth. My fangs popped out, and my father whirled around.
“What are you doing, Nyx?” he demanded. “I’m your father! Have some respect!”
But I saw what I’d been expecting, and it chilled me to the bone. There was fear in his brilliant yellow eyes. He was afraid of me.
My father had never been afraid of anything in his life. Fed up, yes, but never scared.
“You’re not Lucius,” I hissed, jumping off the table to rush him.
“Nyx, you are losing your wits!” he choked as my hand reached out to wrap around his neck. His hand closed around my wrist, his strength certainly comparable to my father’s. I winced as his nails dug into my flesh, but I didn’t release him, a million conflicted emotions rushing through me. If I was wrong, and this really was my father…
I shrugged off the thought of those consequences.
“If you’re really my father, tell me about my tenth birthday,” I hissed, my face inches from his as my hand tightened around his windpipe.
More terror flooded his expression, and I knew for certain then that I was right.
“I don’t remember!” he gasped, prying at my wrist. My other hand took hold of his face as he finally removed my hand from his throat. “I told you, I lost my memory!”
“You told me you got it back, too,” I reminded him caustically. “GUARDS!”
Abruptly, “Lucius” shoved me, catching me off balance, and as the door opened and the Royal Guards entered the room, my father was gone.
“Alpha?” the head guard asked. “What’s wrong?”
“He’s a warlock with dark magic—who can shapeshift. This is not my father!” I howled, pushing them out of the way to race after the impersonator. “Lock down the castle!”
I didn’t turn to see if anyone had obeyed my request, my form already shifting into my wolf body, paws sliding over the wood floor as I caught the scent of the shapeshifting fae who had tried to pass himself off as my father. Even if they shifted again, I would know their smell now.
All I had to do was find them and ensure they were served the justice they so richly deserved.
