Page 22 of Worthy Promises
“If I’m not, I’ll bring this conversation to your attention and never let you forget that your recommendation to Killian was partially responsible for this quagmire I find myself in.”
“Fair enough.”
“You callmesmug,” Worth grumbled as he stared sourly at the confident smile and teasing twinkle in his brother’s blue-black eyes. He dearly hoped he wouldn’t disappoint Killian or Aleksander by failing at the job they believed he could do. Nothing scared Worth more than being found wanting by the people he loved, so he’d put every effort into being the best damn CFO in the entire Council.
Chapter 8
Four years later
Furious with himself, Worth’s jaw flexed as his brother reluctantly took a seat in the room they’d renamed the Royal Den. The name was in honor of his cousin, Noirin, who had become the first dragonkind Duchess based on her merits instead of her mate’s.
The past year had been traumatizing for their family, but it was Aleksander and his other half, Rafe, who’d endured the most. It had been a shock to find out Aleksander was gay like himself, but Worth had never held it against his sibling for keeping his sexuality a secret. No one was entitled to know anything about a person no matter how close they were, and Aleksander had the right to choose when or if he wanted to share any revelations about himself. Aleksander had been shoved out of the closet by Fate when his other half had shown up at the door over a year before.
In the ensuing months, the pair had struggled to find their way, and Aleksander had thought himself abandoned by Rafe for many months. Aleksander’s misery had led Worth to question his long-held desire to find the other half of his soul. Worth had feared how awful it would be to have a broken heart.However, they’d discovered Rafe hadn’t stopped contacting Aleksander of his own accord, and Worth had come to his senses.
In what had to be the epitome of evil, Rafe was kidnapped by his father and brothers. Then Rafe had spent months being tortured. It was Rafe’s courage in sneaking away that had saved his life. Beaten and battered nearly to death, Rafe had endured many surgeries and finally a magical rescue that had restored him to vitality.
But he had deep emotional scars. Rafe was also a man who kept to himself. His lone confidante was a wolf Arch Lich Chander Daray had resurrected for him and tied to Rafe’s soul. Rafe had named him Mortis, and the wolf sentinel could relay his thoughts telepathically to the High King.
To give the resurrected animal his mate, Chander had bound a second wolf soul to Aleksander. They’d gained an enormous wolf named Nox in their family, but it’d put Aleksander in a magical coma for six weeks. The strain of being without Aleksander had hit Rafe hard, and to reduce his stress, Worth and the other Dukes had snuck behind the High King’s back.
They’d asked the D’Vaires to bring their troubles to the Dukes instead of their ruler and maintained as serene an environment for Rafe as they could manage. But what Worth and the others hadn’t known was that Rafe had still been unsure about his position in the household. The distance the Dukes had insisted upon had added to Rafe’s struggles instead of alleviating them. Rafe believed the D’Vaires blamed him for leaving Aleksander, and he felt abandoned by the very people Fate had decreed he should co-lead.
When Aleksander finally woke, he had been pissed, and he had torn into the entire court the previous night with harsh words and hurt blazing in his dark eyes. It had reduced Worthto his lowest point since arriving at his brother’s house, and he hated that he’d caused Rafe and Aleksander even a second of pain or fear of abandonment. Worth knew loneliness and neglect all too well.
“I’m going to start off by apologizing, Aleksander,” Brogan said. “I made a decision that I thought was the right one, and it backfired horribly.”
“Bullshit. We agreed,” Worth argued, unwilling to allow Brogan to take the blame they all shared.
“We’re not going to sit here and fight about this shit anymore,” Mac snarled. “Every person in this room is too stubborn to listen to reason, so we’re just going to fucking tell Aleksander what we did and apologize for it being the wrong thing.”
“Tell me, because I’m not going to sit here all day,” his brother retorted.
“Aleksander, when it became obvious that you weren’t going to wake up right away, we could see what a toll that was taking on Rafe. I might not have known until last night how bad he was hurt.” Noirin had to stop for a moment to gather herself, and Worth was unsurprised by the tears filling her violet eyes; he was close to weeping himself. “And Fate better hope I never set foot in a room with those fuckers, but we were aware that Rafe is healing mentally and emotionally. We thought it would be best if we reduced his stress.”
“We told everybody to filter issues through us,” Dravyn explained. “We weren’t going to burden Rafe with shit he didn’t need to worry about. He was nervous in meetings, and that’s understandable. He’s new to being High King, and no one expected him to have to do everything on his own. So, that’s why nothing happened in meetings.”
“We stopped hanging out in the office so he could get work done without us asshats annoying him,” Brogan added. “Itseemed like the right thing to do, and we understood enough about Rafe to know that if we asked him, he’d assure us he could handle everything. I believed our jobs entailed that we take measures to protect him even if it meant…well, I guess going behind his back. When I think about it like that, I realize we were stupid and reckless.”
Understanding drowned out the fury in Aleksander’s eyes, and the High King sighed heavily. “I can understand your thought process and your desire to prevent stress, but you should’ve told him. Guys, his feelings are really hurt, and he’s not a whiner or a baby. He puts great stock in being High King because he somehow believes if he fails at it that I’m going to think less of him, which is ridiculous. He can’t fail; he’s perfect for the job, and nothing is going to change the way I feel about him, but I can’t change his mindset.”
“I guess we thought that he knew we liked him,” Worth offered, feeling horrible for Rafe and how they’d hurt him. “Which means we’re the ones that have failed him, because we gave him cause to doubt our friendship as well as our family bond.”
“You kept the extended family away too, didn’t you?” Aleksander asked.
“Yes, of course,” Worth responded. “More people…more stress.”
“Invite everyone for the weekend,” Aleksander insisted. “I want the whole family to enjoy themselves, and we’ll have to work on knitting together something Rafe can trust. His flesh and blood betrayed him; it was always going to be an uphill battle to get him to believe he’s wanted and liked. Those fuckers were always cruel to him—it wasn’t just those months he was chained up. Tell me who the fuck in our house is saying shit to him, because there’s no excuse for that.”
Brogan shook his head. “We just learned about that last night when you told us.”
“I don’t know who would treat him cruelly,” Noirin said. “Although he’s always held himself a bit away from everyone, it’s impossible not to see what a caring person he is. I figured he was shy, and I think he’s overwhelmed by our craziness maybe, but I can’t imagine how anyone who watches him with you or those wolves wouldn’t see his heart.”
“I want you guys to find out.”
“I’m going to talk to Gavrael. Between us and the sentinels, we can ferret the person out,” Brogan promised. “Trust me, it’s my first priority.”
“No, your first priority is apologizing to Rafe.”
