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I nod, knowing he won’t have a choice. What I failed to tell Aubrey is their bond will be severed but now he’ll be forced to take another or kill her to end that pain. We have Bianca so he can’t mark her, and I won’t let him kill Aubrey. I plan to end him long before he can try.

“What are your plans for the council?” She moves to sit in the armchair by the window. It feels strange having my mother ask about political stuff; she is a smart woman but mostly leaves that sort of stuff to me and my father. However, I know she’s worried for Aubrey and the ramifications of me marking her. The council is another issue. My late wife had her suspicions, and after learning from Aubrey, I know one of the council members was behind her death, making me wonder if he worked alone, or alongside Rhett.

“I have a plan,” I admit glancing over at her to gauge her reaction. “But first I need to have her calm enough to handle being surrounded by people.” My mother tilts her head slightly, observing Aubrey asleep beside me.

“Care to share this plan?”

“We are going to send out invites to hold a council meeting here at the castle. We also need to invite the Vampire King. I want the entire council present and news crews; we can say it’s to address the issue of Aubrey’s deception and the feud between packs.”

“You want to hold it here? The council is already aware of everything, it’s been blasted all over the news,” she says confused, knowing these things are rarely done outside the council chambers.

“Yes, but they don’t know what became of Aubrey; they don’t know she has been changed or that I’m still taking her as my queen. They probably assume I had her killed, so for now I need them to believe it.”

“That’s why you had the remaining staff commanded not to mention her or her change.”

I nod. So far it’s worked, though Bianca has been trickier, and is commanded not to contact anyone. Still Rhett would know she is alive. She is one of his pack members and would have felt her death.

“And this meeting?”

“It won’t be a meeting, it will be our wedding. I want to make sure everyone knows I don’t care about whatever crimes she is accused of, that she has immunity because she is mine.”

“You’re going to ambush them, aren’t you?” she laughs softly. ”Are you sure Aubrey will want her wedding turned into a circus?”

“The ambushing will come at the end, once she is safely tucked away. Then I plan on taking down the council.”

“And King Alaric?”

“Will be no more.”

“So what do you need me to do?”

“Help plan the wedding, of course.”

“I do have previous preparations organized so I can reach out to the caters—”

“No, I don’t want word getting out. We’ll organize it here. We have enough staff to organize an event this size, but I need Aubrey to be safe around them. I’ll organize Damian to rescreen all staff. We’ll select those we need, I don’t want to run the risk of word getting out. About her condition or the wedding before I’m ready this time.”

My mother flicks her long hair over her shoulder and rises. “I suppose I better organize it myself, then. We have lots of planning to do.” Then she leaves through the door.

Feeling the bed move slightly, I see Aubrey squirm and I sigh when I notice her ears sticking up on her head, her claws coming out in her sleep hooking into the mattress. I gently tug one of her ears, wondering how long it will take for her to get the shifting under control. She purrs, leaning into my touch, making me laugh as I caress her ear between two fingers. I massage her pointy ears only for the blanket to lift slightly.

Lifting it, I peer under the blanket to find her tail is thumping under the blanket excitedly. Whatever she is dreaming about has her excited as it swishes under the blanket or maybe it’s my touch that is causing the reaction. I drop the blanket and push her over slightly so I can climb in next to her. The moment I do, the bond senses me and she wriggles closer until she is practically laying on top of me. I stroke her hair and her pointy little ears.

Chapter 32

• Aubrey •

His calling knocked me out, and Goddess only knows how long I’ve been out for. When I come to, it’s to him muttering under his breath. ”I’m half tempted to cut it off and use it as a feather duster.” he snorts and my eyes flutter open to see him swat at something. He is propped up on his pillow, reading beside me.

“What are you reading?” I ask groggily, rolling over. I reach for the bottle of water I know is always on my bedside table.

“Trying to read, though I’m not getting much reading done,” he mumbles as I unscrew the cap. My mouth is dry and I drink the entire bottle in two gulps before huffing that I need to get another. There comes a sharp tug on my tailbone.

I growl, turning to find Soren has my tail which is eagerly smacking his face. An embarrassing squeak leaves my lips as I jerk away from him. He lets my tail go and I grab the bastard of a thing, it has a mind of its own, I swear. I snatch it with two hands and the tip swishes from side to side while I growl at it.

Soren shakes his head. “Your tail is quite fascinated with smacking me in the head.”

I sigh heavily. “Why does it keep doing that, I’m not even shifted!” I snarl angrily at it.