Page 32 of Princess For All

He opened his mouth but then frowned and closed it. He let out a harsh breath and scrubbed his hands over his face too roughly. “I don’t know, man. Honestly, a lot of that was in one ear and out the other. No one thought Safie would die or—I was in shock. You were loud and clear on no touching humans or shifters like we were used to. The rest just kinda…” He shrugged.

“Okay, then that’s a good point to know that it’s time to reiterate some rules,” I said firmly. “And not because of anyone’s fault, but like Inez says, it’s the fucking apocalypse. We did on the ship, and I know others are with safety protocols. The nobles gave pledges; it’s time that every guest of this coven give some sort of pledge to the rules and gets on the same page.

“Each person is their own man or woman, and the family isn’t a unit to sink or swim only. You can be separated and change their last name to something—there used to be a way that leopards showed they had a philosophical difference with their clan. I threatened to do it with mine if my dad kept with the purebred leopard shit.”

Sebastian’s eyes flashed shock like he couldn’t believe those were the beliefs of such an honorable clan like the Begley’s.

Yeah, even the bigots of my family knew to keep that quiet.

“Yes, it was a different last name. The cats had one. Canines had one. There were a handful that let us know that they left their clans of their own accord and weren’t kicked out,” he explained. “People used them when kicked out still, but it was the sentiment behind it. Vampires normally just snuck in the back door of a coven with a lie or pretended to be someone else.”

“I get all of that, but my mom wasn’t a bad person always,” the guy defended. “And if we pull a coup on her—she’ll walk right to Keres. She’s all twisted up and would go right there to punish Inez, give her what she thinks she deserves. I don’t want my mom dead.”

“She would deserve it for thinking to do that to my wife,” Jaxon bit out.

Yeah, I kind of felt the same, but Sebastian had a clearer head and moved his hand to Jaxon’s arm. “But she risks all of you if she isn’t checked. Your family is about to be tossed because she presents you as all the same and on the same side as her. Your sister begged to give you this chance to be James’s guard and get you out from under that.

“Now I understand it might have been more and to alert us to what’s really going on and more than just with your family. So you have some options. Let this play out and your whole family could be out and your mum will do that—end up dead. You pull the plug and cut her off and you’re saying that’s the option.”

“Send her to France where Joi is kicking ass and taking names,” I suggested. “She doesn’t have the pride of a princess and doesn’t have to keep up the… Theatrics for lack of a better word to protect her coven and power. We warn Joi, and if your mum can’t respect one of the Sisters of the Earth, then there might be no saving her.”

The guy bobbed his head. “Let me talk to my siblings.”

I grabbed his arm as he went to stand. “Don’t go sneaking her out the back. She’s a threat to Aether’s champion as she is. That’s bigger than one person. You get that, and don’t be selfish when you risk everyone here if you aren’t fair now.”

He swallowed loudly and focused on the table. “Someone should escort me for this. I don’t know that all of my siblings can keep their heads. We’ve been through too much.”

“Thank you for being honest,” Jaxon said quietly.

“I’ve got this,” Sebastian offered. “My teams are ahead and our projects going smoothly.”

“Thanks, Da,” Jaxon accepted… While giving me a death look.

Fuck.

“Yeah, you can shoot me too,” I accepted. “But later because I’m going right away to try and fix my mistake after listening to her. So it’s not the same thing, is it?”

“You always have to get that last fucking dig in,” he blasted as he stood and slammed his fist onto the table. “I wasn’t going to say anything. I was just quietly pissed that you hurt her. I get to be as her fucking husband. She hates us fighting, and I wasn’t going to do anything.”

“Sorry.” I let out a slow breath. “Sorry. You’re the one who’s given me the most shit, it’s reflex to expect it now.”

He opened his mouth but then closed it and just left.

Yeah, there was probably no way to salvage that.

I had a few ideas on how to apologize to Inez. Idefinitelywas going to record her a message. After hearing what she’d said to Chris, that was absolutely going to be part of it. But first, I was going to do what I did best.

I was going to make friends.

Or more, I was going to utilize the friendships I already had made. I’d done a lot of favors and helped alotof people out already. A lot.

I wasn’t just sitting around being an asshole and a dipshit a lot.

No, I worked hard too. Always.

I held my breath until I saw Petre arrive with Inez. I went right over to her and bowed. “I know I don’t deserve you to give me this chance, but thank you for coming. My real apology is coming later.”

She studied me for a moment. “Jaxon made it clear you came right away to apologize but found something about the coven’s security and alerted us to a problem that Sebastian had to immediately handle. So that’s the only reason.”

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