His Hybrid Queen

Chapter 20

Claire

The past two days were like a dream. It was good to use our newly mated status as an excuse to forgo work and the outside world altogether. We were just two people in love enjoying each other's presence away from all the troubles of the world. We were too immersed into consuming our bond to talk about what would happen once we left the bedroom. It was too late now that we were about to enter the council room to take on our duties as the Alpha couple.

I recalled the last time I was in a meeting with Victor, he made me sit on his lap. To his defence, there were no other available seats that day. It was that, or one of us had to remain standing. I wouldn’t mind it today as I did back then. We reached the kind of intimacy that physical contact with my mate was as natural as breathing. 

Before I could take a seat, Victor surprised me and pulled one of the chairs and put it next to his. There were now two seats at the head of the table. Though it was a small gesture, it meant a great deal. He saw me and treated me as his equal. And most importantly, he made sure that everyone understood that. 

“My Queen,” Victor said as he pulled the chair for me to take my seat. Somehow, the word made me feel warm and bubbly, faraway from the cringe that came when Cassie called me that.

“My King,” I replied with a similar endearment. A wide smile stretched on my face. 

My Alpha mate took his seat next to mine before he took my hand and kissed my knuckles. His lips lingered on my skin before our eyes locked. I felt blood rush to my cheeks and butterflies flutter in my belly as I looked into his mesmerizing amber orbs. He gazed at me with lustful hunger and desire simmering in his eyes as if he didn’t have his way with my body earlier this morning. It didn’t stop us from leaning toward each other, as if pulled by a magnet, to share a kiss.

“Ehmm!” 

Someone cleared their throat, interrupting what could have become some PDA. Only then, I became aware of the triplets' presence. I didn’t know for how long they were sitting observing us or when they came in. Victor and the mate bond had that effect on me. The world ceased to exist when we were engrossed in each other like this.

 “Alpha, Luna. Congratulations on your coronation and mating.” Garret spoke on behalf of his brothers and they nodded their acknowledgement. “We hope it will be the beginning of a peaceful and prosperous era for our pack.”

“Thank you. I suppose we have a long agenda for today?” I spoke before I could stop myself. The words came out of habit and I forgot that I wasn’t the Alpha anymore. I glanced at Victor, expecting he would get upset for taking the lead from him. Instead he gave me an approving nod and squeezed my hand reassuringly.

“The good news is, as unexpected as it was, more than a dozen wolves found their fated mates, including us.”

“That’s fantastic!” I cheered, unable to hold back my emotions. “What are the chances that the three of you found your mates on the same day!”

“We found our mate.” Garret enunciated the word to emphasize that it was singular not plural.

Oh boy! I thought to myself. That must be a lot to unpack. I didn’t know it was even possible.

‘Do you think Hannah had something to do with this?’ I asked through the mate link.

‘Might be. She left ahead of the rest of us and mentioned something about a list and records.’

Victor’s answer confirmed my theory that Hannah was indeed a moon priestess, if not more.

“Anyway, the ball was a success on all levels and fulfilled its purpose and more. Many of the present packs were approving of restoring the ties with the Royal Pack and made promises of donation. The undecided ones either wanted to think about it or bring the matter to their Alphas.” Garret, who was in charge of the whole operation, reported as he looked between my mate and me. 

“Donations? What for? Was it for a charity or are you in some kind of trouble?” Victor asked and I noticed the worry in his tone.

“Well yes and no. Though I would have loved to provide the funds for the project myself, the crown’s treasury couldn’t afford it. Despite my best efforts, we still owe the bank quite a bit and the only way to get through with it was to get sponsors.” I saw no point in hiding the pack’s financial troubles and I explained briefly the reason behind the ball.

“I still don’t know what project you’re talking about!”  The others might have missed, but I felt more than I saw the frustration of my mate.

“You didn’t tell him about it?” I looked at the three Betas.

“We didn’t have the chance. We thought that’s why you left the party together. So you can talk about it.” Garret said and he couldn’t be farther from the truth. It explained the surprise on their faces when we returned to the palace together.

“Oh. We were,” I swallowed, taking a moment to think of the right words to say without embarrassing myself. “busy, with another matter.” I glanced at Victor who was smirking and amused by my red cheeks that were an obvious hint at how I felt about what we did that night.

“So this project?”  Victor probed.

I explained to Victor about the school project and listed all my reasons and why I was so passionate about it. I mentioned my experience in a human school and how werewolves needed an institution that tended to their needs as young shifters and helped them with that difficult stage of their lives.

 I didn’t realize how much I needed his validation until I finished my little speech and looked at him in silence, waiting for his answer. He rubbed his chin and hummed as if in deep thought, making me hold my breath in anticipation.

“Interesting. You have my full support and the content of my bank account.” I felt my heart swell with an unknown emotion. I bit my lip, holding myself from jumping in his lap and kissing him deeply to show my appreciation. I made a silent promise that I would do that later when were alone.

The meeting went on with the usual pack matters. It went much smoother than when Severin was part of it. He was always like a thorn in my side. Victor, however, took on his role like a fitted glove, and got along quickly with the triplets. He asked for my opinion before making any decision, and when I veered off the right path he built on my idea and reformulated it. I lacked the experience or the training that he had, but he didn’t make me feel inferior, not even a little.

He was a great leader and made it look easy to the unbeknownst eye. He was so natural at it, as if he was always meant to be on this throne. I wished that it had been this way since the beginning, but there is no point in crying over spilled milk. What happened in the past stays in the past and the only way to go from here was forward.

 The council meeting was closing to an end when something Garret had said crossed my mind.

“You talked about the good news earlier. Was there any bad news? And where is Cassie, I haven’t seen her since the ball?”

“The two matters are, in fact, connected.” Garrison spoke this time. “On the day of the ball, the catering staff had to use all of the stations in the kitchen in order to prepare food on time for all the guests. One of the cooks found a suspicious package. At first inspection, it contained some benign ingredients like epsom salt and other dangerous ones like wolfsbane. I instructed the cooks to leave it as it is and placed a security camera.”  He seemed to hesitate for a second. 

“Later that night after the guests had left, I went to inspect the recording and found the culprit.”

“Cassie.” I said with a sense of conviction.

“How did you know?” My head of security asked.

“I had suspicions that she was trying to poison me, but I didn’t have any solid proof.”

*****

We were heading down to the dungeons through dimly lit stairs. That’s where Cassie has been held since she was arrested. I never had to go through these dark hallways before. Even the couple of times the border security caught rogues, they were so aggressive and feral that they had to kill them. I requested Gardenia to be present during the interrogation. Since she was the head of staff, she was partly responsible for the crime of one of her subordinates.

After winding through a maze of stairs and corridors, we reached the lowest level of the castle. This part of the building was carved in the rock. If it wasn’t for the torches, the space would have been pitch black. 

The eerie atmosphere was accentuated by the sound of trickling water on little puddles at our feets. A chill ran through my spine, and it wasn’t from the cold. Although it was clear that no one was imprisoned here for ages, there was no denying of the history of this place. It was impossible to ignore the decaying and rusting objects, that I assumed to be tools of torture from the look of it. Or the bones scattered here and there. I couldn’t tell if those were of an animal or a human.

 Garrison was leading the way, and he stopped in front of one of the cells. The sound of keys clinging together ringed before the screeching of the heavy metal door being opened. Cassie was still wearing the same revealing dress she wore for the ball. Her hands were cuffed in silver to repel her wolf side and to prevent her from escaping. She looked tired and disheveled as she squinted at the sudden light that filled the dark cell. 

The prisoner stood up slowly from her sitting position, then walked towards us. Only to be stopped by the short range that the chains were keeping her in.

“Why?” I simply asked. 

Cassie snickered, showing her real face. “Are you stupid?” She snorted.

“Watch your mouth. Address your Luna properly.” Victor warned her and she took a step back at his threatening tone, so her arms were relaxed.

“Does that make you the Alpha, then? Lucky you!”  

 My mate growled in response and was about to pounce on her if I wasn’t holding his arm.

“I can handle this.” I said as I looked up at him with my hands on his chest.

I turned and took a step toward the criminal. Victor was right behind me, a hair width away. Ready to defend me if needed along with the two guards to whom he mentioned to come forward.

“What have I done to you? I have been nothing but kind to you. And that’s how you repay me? By poisoning my drinks? And when I stopped drinking the tea you turned to poison my bath water?”

She was turning her face away from me as if she didn’t want to hear me

 “Why Cassie? Tell me why?...”

“You killed MY King b***h!” She said then spit on my face.

One of the guards slapped Cassie so hard that her lip broke and blood came oozing out of the cut.

I wiped my face with the hem of my shirt.

“He wasn’t your King alone. He was the Alpha of the whole pack. Yet you’re the only one who tried to kill me.” I said from a further distance, after Victor had pulled me away.

“I didn’t try to kill you. I just wanted to make you miserable. To make you suffer the same way I did after you killed the love of my life!”

“You were his mistress?” I felt confused, because she wasn’t among the females that were escorted out of the palace when I took over.

“I wasn’t his mistress! We were in love! He was going to make me his Queen and Luna! And YOU! YOU destroyed that dream!” Cassie was now yelling frantically and pulling hard at her restraints.

“Is this true?”  I turned to Gardenia. I doubted that something this important would have escaped her or Severin. 

“She’s delusional.” She replied without a hint of emotion. She was as cold as the walls of this cell.

“I’M DELUSIONAL!” Cassie screamed. “Is that why you sent me to the kitchens? Huh? But that couldn’t stop us from seeing each other.”

“Why didn't you tell me? You could have warned me!” I asked Gardenia. I never thought of her as a close ally, but the betrayal still hurt.

“I tried, but you wanted her to serve you.” The older woman spoke as if it was the absolute truth. I recalled the day I hired Cassie as my handmaiden and I felt the simmering anger rise to the surface.

“You should have tried better!” I snapped at her. “You are …”

“I quit.” She interrupted me before I could say the word fired. “You didn’t expect me to keep working for you after the way you treated my mate. Did you?” She retorted before storming away.

I never felt this angry and disappointed before. I was furious and I needed to destroy something to let go of this pent up fury. My mate’s comforting and warm touch, helped me out of the dark vortex that was swallowing me whole. His presence helped me to relax enough to think straight as Garrison spoke again, breaking the silence. 

“What should we do with her?” He directed the question at his Alpha King.

“It’s up to you.” Victor told me in turn.

I felt conflicted. She did try to hurt me, but she didn’t do any irreparable damage. Though treason should be punishable  by death, I didn’t want any more blood on my hands.

“Banish her. I don’t want to see her face again.” I declared.

“Inform the border security to shoot her at sight. Brand her, so other packs would know of her treachery.” My mate commanded before  leading me out of the cell.

“THIS ISN’T OVER! YOU WILL PAY FOR IT!” 

Cassie’s screams echoed against the walls as we made our way out and faded until it was muted completely behind the several doors. 

The encounter gave me a little for I learned the truth, but left me with a heavy heart. Could I ever trust anyone in this cold palace. I was so wrapped in the external threats that I didn’t notice the danger of the inside ones.

When will it be really over? When can I be finally at peace?