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Chapter Twelve
Xander
Shelly’s car was a bit of a surprise. I hadn’t bothered to ask what it looked like when I took the keys. With the ability to use the locking button to alert us, I followed the flashing lights.
I wasn’t expecting a cherry red Jeep that looked like it was ready to go off-roading. Shelly seemed the type to either have a super tame car or something really out there. A Jeep was somewhere in the middle, I supposed. But it would be a lot easier to pick up passengers if the mages wanted to come back with us to help.
I wasn’t sure what I was hoping for, other than keeping Skylar from offering herself up as prisoner in the hopes we could get her out later. It was too risky.
The demon in the front seat is silent as we drive toward the queen’s palace. In a million years, I never dreamed I’d share a mate with anyone, let alone a demon.
I was going to have to figure out a way to co-exist with this guy as long as I wanted Skylar in my life. I’d never force her to choose. She was intelligent and could take care of herself. She didn’t need me in her life. I wanted to keep her in my life and I wanted her to want that.
Nobody wanted to be forced into something they didn’t want. I knew that more than others. I’d been reluctant to become Alpha. It was my duty, my destiny, as my father liked to remind me. But it was never a choice.
I think I grew into the job, and I do my best to protect my pack. But at times like this, when my whole pack is compromised, I have to wonder if I’m the right wolf for the job. Just because I was the son of the Alpha, did that mean I was qualified?
My pack depended on me and I wasn’t going to let them down. I would do anything I could to get rid of the threat of the stone. I just wish I had some better options for how to handle it.
I had to wonder, had someone else been given my position, would the stone already be destroyed? There was a way to do it. We’d found evidence of that in the book. So it was possible. Instead, my family had taken the hiding route. We’d kept it away, also locking away one of our own in the process. All those lost years without Lola. Time I could have spent with her was taken from me because of our sense of duty and refusal to challenge what had always been.
I glanced over at the demon. A prince, a man who had ruled for a time even. In a wolf pack, my title was the closest we had to royalty, but I never saw myself like that. The dude next to me actually was a royal. It was an odd thing to consider.
“Just ask,” he said.
I looked at him again. “Ask what?”
“Whatever it is that’s bugging you,” he said. “I can tell you’re wondering about something. What is it? My family? Why I’m here? My intentions for Skylar? Just get it out in the open, man.”
I bristled.Intentions for Skylar?What the fuck was that supposed to mean? Then I realized that along with being a prince, came responsibilities. He couldn’t very well rule another realm from here.
Was he going to take Skylar away from me? Along those notes, what the fuck was he doing here in the first place? I knew there was the whole thing with his sister, but what makes a prince go it alone for so long?
“We’re going to have to learn to trust each other if we’re going to tolerate this. For Skylar’s benefit, at least,” he said.
“I do have questions,” I admitted. “What happens after you figure out this business with your sister? You go home to your realm? You drag Skylar with you?”
“I’ve been thinking about that a lot,” he said. “I never planned to meet a mate while I was here. Shit, I never planned on being here as long as I have been. Nothing ever seems to go according to plan, does it?”
“I’m starting to think that’s the case,” I agreed.
“If I want to step in after my father retires, I’ll have to go back,” he said. “I always planned to rule when he was through, but I’m not sure that’s what I want anymore.”
“Because of Skylar?” I asked.
“Because of all of it,” he said. “The corruption, the lies, the power play. All of it. I just want to get my sister back. If she’s really alive.”
“What happened with all that?” I’d heard bits and pieces but never the full story.
“I made a mistake,” he said. “I offered my sister in marriage, in a contract I thought would benefit us, but I was cocky. I didn’t do my research as thoroughly as I should have. When shit hit the fan, I tried to get her out, but it was too late. The vampire queen made a few moves to knock the Knights out of power and they were who I blamed for Clara’s supposed death. Now, I have to wonder how much of it was true and how much was me being played.”
“Vamps’ll do that,” I said. “Might even be as sneaky as the fae. At least the old ones. The young ones aren’t much of a risk. They’re all false bravado and vanity. The only vamps, they’re something on a different level.”
“I know that now. I thought I had it under control,” he admitted. “I was wrong. Makes you wonder what else you’ve fucked up and if you’re even cut out to rule.”
I felt that statement like a punch in the gut. It was impossible sometimes being a leader. Doing what was best for your people, using your judgement, was risky. There were times you were going to make mistakes, but none of us set out to screw up. We had good intentions. Sometimes, those intentions didn’t pan out.
“I get that,” I said. “But to never go back?” Now that I was hearing his unease, I felt better about my own. It had to be how all leaders were. It made me think we cared about those we were charged with leading. I knew I did. My pack was my family. I would kill for any of them.
