AllFreeNovel
Share Us
17
Chris rose from his throne and walked to the edge of the dais. He looked so fucking pleased with himself. “Friends, I give you my treacherous brother’s true mate. She fled years ago, abandoning him. Honestly, that should tell you everything you need to know about him. Even his own mate didn’t want him.”
The shifters around me laughed. Some of them politely, nervously, but they all participated. My blood boiled and I gripped the crown tighter, feeling anger roared inside me.
My wolf was clawing at my chest, desperate to get out. She wanted to shred the shifter king to pieces. How dare he humiliate my mother like that? And how dare he put in a dig like that about true mates. The whole system was fucked. If someone wanted out, they should be allowed out.
The problem was, I don’t think my mom wanted to be away from her mate. I got the sense that all her choices had been to protect me. It wasn’t right. She wasn’t supposed to be involved in this.
Where the fuck was Spencer? He needed to act. My mom was dragged up to the dais. Her red hair hung in a matted mess in front of her eyes, her clothes were baggy and dirty. Everything about her made her look as pathetic and desperate as I remembered. Except now I knew better. She’d let herself be driven to madness out of desperation.
The gathered shifters continued to laugh. Some of them yelled insults. A few even threw things at her. Internally, I was seething. My wolf paced, more unsettled and angry than I’d ever felt her. This wasn’t something we should have to endure. My mother shouldn’t be here. Her life, and my life should be so different than it was.
What if she’d continued to shift? What if she’d taught me? Would Spencer have busted out and come for both of us? Or would I have never lived to see my nineteenth birthday?
There were so many questions but none of them mattered. I couldn’t change the past. All I could do was be ready to offer the crown as soon as Spencer challenged the king.
“There’s more, my friends!” The Shifter King lifted his hands in the air, effectively calming the jeering crowd. “I have two more surprises.”
I held my breath, waiting for his words, terrified he was going to threaten to harm my mom. I wasn’t going to be able to stay hidden in the crowd much longer. If he threatened her and Spencer wasn’t here, I didn’t have a choice. I would have to act. But what could I do? The king was surrounded by guards. What chance did I have to save my mom from him?
The doors burst open again and all eyes turned to see more guards with more prisoners.
My heart felt like it stopped and everything seemed to move in slow motion. Spencer and Malcom were being led into the room, their wrists bound in chains, a guard on each side.
They were marched up the dais and made to stand next to my mom. Both males looked unsteady on their feet, groggy and unfocused. Their expressions were blank and passive and neither of them appeared to be looking for me. What had they done to them?
Cries of surprise led to excited conversation through the crowd. Most of the shifters probably recognized Spencer. What the fuck was I supposed to do now? I couldn’t leave them there, but if I acted, I would join them.
Someone grabbed my arm and I jumped, only barely managing to stifle a scream. “Shh.” Star was by my side, her expression frantic.
“What happened?” I hissed.
“They grabbed them both as soon as Spencer came out of the secret passage,” she said. “Dosed them both with that fucking toxin.”
“Shit. What are we going to do?” I asked.
“I have the antidote, but I can’t give it to them while they’re on display,” she said.
“You think they’ll take them to a holding cell or something?” I asked.
“How would I know?” she whispered.
“Good point,” I said. “We play it by ear, then.”
Star and I waited silently for the king to speak. His eyes scanned the gathered shifters and he looked pleased. He was enjoying the confusion and excitement he’d caused.
It felt like the most impossibly long wait before he lifted his arm, the gesture extinguishing the sound around me. The room was deathly silent, everyone focused on the show unfolding before them.
“I had intended to use my brother’s mate to lure him out of hiding, but the cocky bastard came to me before I even told anyone I’d snagged her.” He shoved Spencer, causing my father to tumble and nearly fall to the ground.
My brow furrowed and my chest felt tight. Laughter filled the room again, the king’s smile wide as he relished the humiliation he was dishing out.
Spencer had been so strong previously. The toxin wasn’t just a way to eliminate shifting, it did terrible things to your body. When I’d had it, I was weak and could hardly concentrate. There were whole days I couldn’t remember what happened to me. The worst part was it took time to wear off. Without that antidote, we weren’t going to get any help from them for a while.
This was so bad. Our plan had no alternate. Spencer had been so confident that it would work correctly. Shit. I really should have put more effort into this. Everything about it was doomed from the start. It was less of a plan and more of a suicide run. I’d been far too distracted by everything else to really take notice.
“Since it is my birthday, I thought some spectacular entertainment would be in order.” The king was grinning like a lunatic. “My assistant suggested fire eaters and circus performers, but an execution sounds so much more fun, doesn’t it?”
