Page 84 of Chosen Destiny

“Wait. You were attackedtonight?” No wonder only witches had been here. She’d sent wolves to King Sutton’s lands to punish him.

“Yes, her wolves attacked my mansion as well as the largest and strongest nearby pack.” He blew out a breath. “I knew I should’ve taken more of a stand with Russell than I did.”

He regretted helping us. I couldn’t blame him. “It’s my fault Kel learned about you. I trusted someone I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry you got caught in the cross fire.”

Babe, you only did what your parents planned to do seventeen years ago,Bodey linked and squeezed my hand.

Though his touch was comforting, the sentiment was not. I had read Lynerd all wrong.

“We’ve all trusted at least one person we shouldn’t have. If you aren’t making mistakes, you aren’t learning to lead like you should. And you have nothing to apologize for. You asked—you didn’t force us to help. I should have stood with you, but I was hoping Queen Kel would forget about us and leave us alone. I failed my people.”

Bodey’s eyebrows lifted, and his confusion mixed with mine.

“But you were attacked because of it. Maybe she would have left you alone if you had willed Russell not to come.” I flinched, realizing I shouldn’t have said that. Once again, my lack of royal training had reared its ugly head. I was basically asking King Sutton to blame me. Soon, I’d have KelandKing Sutton coming after us instead of just one enemy.

He chuckled, and my unease churned even more. “Were your memories truly wiped out? Because you sound just like Richard.”

I stilled. “They aren’t blocked anymore, but my father was killed when I was five, so I don’t have many memories of him.”

“It seems you take on the blame for everything, just like he did.” He clicked his tongue. “But this isn’t your fault. Kel called me just as the attack started.”

I swallowed a humorless laugh, causing my throat to ache. That was exactly how Kel handled her attacks. She wanted to flaunt her power in our faces. She wanted us to know she was the person causing the havoc, needing to ensure she tookallthe credit.

“She made a point to let me know that, by helping you, I forced her to attack. She doesn’t want us to help you anymore.”

“I’m sorry for your loss, and I wish I could offer you aid, but Kel attacked us here tonight as well.” I hated how confident she was. She had no qualms about attacking two different territories on the same night. She’d split her resources, and I suspected it was to show her power.

He hmphed. “How? How many wolf shifters does she have? We were under the impression she had three thousand in total.”

“She sent a hundred witches here to attack. No wolves.” At least, we’d figured out the reason behind that, though it was worse than I’d anticipated. I’d hoped that she was giving her wolves time to heal after the constant attacks on us, but I should’ve known she had something else planned.

“Witches attacking other territories of their own accord?” King Sutton groaned. “That alone is a problem. She’s gotten them to buy into her end goal.”

I leaned my head against the headboard. “Our witches took care of the problem, and fortunately, we didn’t lose any lives tonight, but it came at a cost.”

Don’t tell him everything.Bodey kissed my shoulder.I know we want to trust him, and I think we can, but that doesn’t mean we tell him everything in one phone call.

Nodding, I bit my lower lip. In the ideal world, I wouldn’t have to worry about King Sutton backstabbing us, but if Kel had killed that many of his people, I wouldn’t put it past him to try something to take the heat off his territory.

“Everything comes at a cost.” The king’s voice took a hard edge. “That’s not applicable only to magic. Every decision has consequences, and sometimes, you don’t see what they are until it’s too late.”

You should ask him why he called.Bodey rolled onto his side and propped himself on his elbow.I’m sure there’s a point to the conversation.

That was easier said than done. Unsure how to ask without seeming rude, I let my mouth take over. “That’s very true, which makes me wonder why you decided to call me this early in the morning. I wish I could offer assistance, but my hands are tied. All of our resources have to go toward countering Kel before she attacks us again.”

Though we’d agreed to hold off until the morning to determine a battle plan, as I said the words, Iknewthat was what we had to do. We kept hoping to find a way to make her back off, but each strike of hers came faster than the previous. The time we’d spent trying to hold her off had only put her in a better position to take us down.

“You’re right. You should focus all of your resources there.” He cleared his throat. “And I will focus all of mine too. I called to see if you would like to unite forces and take down Kel together. Individually, we should have been strong enough to withstand her, but she’s proven to have more strength than expected. If we ally and hit her hard, we’ll have the best chance of taking her down.”

My gaze went to Bodey, and I found him with his mouth gaping open. His shock mixed with mine, slowing my brain further. I feared this had to be a dream because every other damn thing had only set us back. “You want to fight together?”

“Like I said, Queen Kel has made her intentions clear by attacking us. Though she called it a warning, it wasn’t, and she won’t hesitate to hurt us again. If she overtakes the Northwest, there will be no stopping her from coming here next. Let’s make her squirm for a change.”

I blinked. Making Kel uncomfortable sounded like the first step toward getting my revenge and protecting my people. “But wouldn’t she see our alliance coming?”

“You’d think so, but this reminds me of one of the last conversations I had with your father.” King Sutton’s voice deepened. “He called to congratulate me on my future heir and said he hoped our two territories could become closer. He revealed that, unfortunately, the ship had sailed with the Southwest queen because she didn’t believe in befriending others.”

My heart thudded against my ribs. I hadn’t expected him to reference a conversation with my father, but I wanted to hear more. “I remember him mentioning to Mom over dinner one night that he hoped our families would become closer. He thought you were a good man.”

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