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James nodded. “Follow me.”
We ended up in another bedroom. This time, though, all the furniture was covered in fabric and the closet wasn’t stocked. It hadn’t been used in a long time. I wondered how much of this house was like this. There had to be a lot of unoccupied rooms. It was far too large for any one family.
I didn’t waste time exploring, though. I wanted to get this meeting over with so I could move on to other things. No matter where my thoughts went, I continued to return to two things. My mom, and Wolf Creek.
I couldn’t do anything about my mom right now, and I knew I couldn’t move on until I made my peace with my old home.
Dressed in jeans that fit surprisingly well, a long sleeve tee, and fresh underwear, I let myself out of the bedroom. James was waiting for me outside.
“Can we come grab the rest of the clothes later?” I asked.
“I’ll have someone take them to your room,” he said. “If you like your accommodations from last night, that is. Because we can find you a new room if you’d rather.”
“It’s fine. I’m not even sure how long I’ll be staying here,” I said.
“This has been the primary residence of the royal family for so long now, I nearly forgot you had other options,” he said.
“It’s not that, it’s more that it feels strange to simply fight someone, then move into their house,” I said.
“Spencer Lupton is your father, correct?” James asked.
I nodded.
“May I speak my mind?” he asked.
“Of course,” I said.
“If your father hadn’t been exiled, you’d likely have been raised here. If not here, at another holding, with regular visits. You or your brother would have been raised to inherit the throne. You’d have tutors and training for your future role. You’d have attended parties and ceremonies, and likely shadowed your uncle until he gave you a position with responsibilities to help you learn and prepare. All that was stripped from you when your father tried to take the throne,” he said.
I swallowed. Spencer had mentioned something similar but with far less detail. I wondered what that would have been like. Would I have been raised to take over if Spencer had ignored his bother’s actions and married my mom? Would she have been accepted into their family and in turn, allowed me to be accepted?
There was no way of knowing what might have been. All I had was how things were.
“Maybe,” I said. “I guess we’ll never know.”
“The thing that gets me is the fact that had you been raised as the next heir, the throne would have bypassed your father and gone right to you.” James chuckled. “It’s almost like fate had a plan for you.”
When I’d been paired with Tyler, I thought fate was out to get me. Now, through the trials of fleeing him, I was on a path nobody could have ever dreamed. Perhaps James had a point. Maybe fate already had a plan for me.
“Thanks, James,” I said.
He nodded. “Come on. I’ll take you to the council.”
When we arrived, Spencer, Malcom, and Alec were already waiting for me. I realized that none of us were at our best. I hadn’t even brushed my hair today and there were pink scars where my injuries from last night had yet to heal. My entourage of my father, brother, and mate, were in the same clothes they’d worn last night and all of them looked like they could use a few days to do nothing but sleep.
As soon as possible, I wanted to make sure we all got the rest we needed. Unfortunately, I had a few things I wanted to discuss with this council and we weren’t going to be able to rest yet.
“They’re waiting for us,” Spencer said.
“Let’s do this,” I said.
The four of us stepped through the double doors and the members of the council rose when they saw us. They had been seated at a long wood table, with a dozen chairs. At one end of the table there was a chair twice the size of the others. A crackling fire glowed in a wood fireplace behind it. The floor was dark wood and a red and gold rug sat under the long table. The chandeliers above the table were made of antlers, a very different aesthetic from the crystal I’d seen in the other parts of the home.
“Thank you for waiting,” I said, trying to sound more calm and commanding than I felt in the moment.
“Of course, your highness,” one of the men said.
I walked to the larger chair and sat down. The gathered males took their seats. One side of the table was my family, on the other, the four males who made up my predecessor’s council. It was an odd arrangement, but if Spencer thought it was worth hearing what they had to say, I’d give it a chance.
