Page 28 of Mated to the Crown
“It was his mother, Sandra.” Nicholas sounds tired, weary.
“But why?” I can hear Nicholas let out a deep sigh to Daisy’s question.
“There are rules to the family about who can take over and who can’t. The main rule is the oldest male shifter. Then the oldest male. While Isla has males she does not have a shifter and Sandra does. Malik is the only shifter so technically if Isla died or something happened to make her not able to rule anymore, it would go to Malik.” He explains.
“What? So, is it all Sandra making this happen?” Daisy sounds just as surprised as I am.
“Yeah. I always had a bad vibe about her but I didn’t think it would be like this. She probably has something planned. I don’t like it.”
“We have to tell Celeste.” Daisy’s voice rises.
“No, not yet. I need more answers. I can’t have her running to the palace with half a story. What if Sandra threatened to hurt her to keep Malik in line?” Nicholas’ voice turns into that strong King again.
“Fuck.” Daisy’s voice rings out and I take a step back.
Holy shit.
I stumble back to the bed and lay down. I pull the covers around me, hugging them tightly to feel some sort of comfort butall I can feel is the anxiety and negative feelings as they drag me to sleep. Emotions eat away at my insides and I begin to believe my original voice in my head, that I am not the one for Malik.
MALIK
Lunch was great, the confusion of what to order on Celeste’s face gave me a pang in the stomach. She really was more secluded than I thought. I made a note to make sure to take her to every restaurant in the Valley so she could experience them all. We left after Nicholas refused to let me pay. I let it go this time but it irritated me.
“How is the house coming along?” I ask him. The last time I had come down he was working on fixing up a house for them to live in. It wasn’t too badly run down but needed some basic things like the kitchen redone, the windows replaced and the flooring in the bathroom.
“Oh great. I finished it a few months ago and then focused on the bakery. She doesn’t want to admit it, but it was a dump when we got it.” He winks at me and I chuckle.
“I’m glad you are happy. You two are perfect together.” I put my hand on his shoulder, giving it a pat before I see movement out my peripheral vision. Guards. Shit. I move back from Nicholas, feeling someone's hand on my forearm.
I twist in his grip, grabbing his arm and throwing him forward. Adrenaline courses through me as I see all the guards. I immediately sense the fear spike through the bond.
Celeste.
Another guard grabs me and I kick at their knee, sending them sideways. Another grabs my shoulders, pulling me backward as yet another tries to cuff my hands. I kick at the second one, rolling back to punch the other in his jaw.
More of them come and I can hear Daisy shouting at Nicholas. At one point we bump backs and I know Nicholas is there for me. It gives me an interesting feeling knowing that he would risk himself for me. I give him a nod of thanks before being pulled into another fight. The beast within fights to be in control. It’s a mental game just to keep him shut up while I focus on the physical. Soon it is too much to keep going and I get thrown to the ground. I feel something slice my cheek and the metallic smell of blood fills my nose as it drips down my chin.
I get hauled up, my shoulders wrenched backward until I am up on my two feet. My eyes meet with Celeste but she seems miles away. I call to her, my voice hoarse. She doesn’t move, frozen in fear at what is before her. I try to send calming thoughts down the bond, knowing that she can feel them but it doesn’t make her move. The main guard grabs my hair, pulling my head up to look at me. I lock eyes with him and the growl in my chest echoes across the square.
“Let’s go.” He snaps toward the guards.
I look at Celeste as she finally slips out of her trance. She reaches for me, stepping forward but Nicholas grabs her from behind. Her scream destroys me. It eats away at my heart as I hear her. I watch as long as I can until I am thrown into the back of a car. My arms are bound in the front. As I sit the beast inside me rumbles.
We could have won.
Yes, but we would have put her in danger. That was the last thing I would do. The cars roll out of the Valley in a line, heading up toward the palace.
“So, I can assume my mother put you up to this task?” I lean back in the seat, kicking the back of the seat in front of me. “Not so chatty now, boys? I will figure it out soon enough. How’s your nose George? Looks like you took a beater.” I snicker as he holds pressure on his nose. The blood all over his face and hand look worse than it is, but at least I got a couple of them pretty good.
The ride to the palace drags and I try to reach out through the bond to feel Celeste but I can’t feel anything. I wonder if she is blocking me or just shutting down. I frown, hoping she is okay. At least Nicholas was with her. I test the bond a few more times, sending calming emotions each time I can’t feel her.
We pull up to the palace and my grumble becomes louder. If there was anywhere I didn’t want to be, it was here. They haul me inside, hiding me from the servants and any other prying eyes. I am thrown in my room, cuffs still on my hands and the door slams behind me. I let out a yell before sitting down on my bed. I already know who is behind this, my mother. She has wanted me to take over the throne since she found out I was a shifter.
I remember the first night I felt the urge to turn. I was in my teens and felt like my skin was crawling. Something inside wanted to come out. I didn’t realize how painful it would be, to see my skin peeling back and fur replace it. My nails turned into claws and soon I was covered in a thick, lush, brown and black coat. My ears turned into triangles, swiveling on the side to catch noises.
My grandmother was a panther when she shifted, large and all black. I was smaller than her, but still large compared to anormal big cat. My skin was more evident of my spots than hers, the colors more dynamic than her variation. It was something I dreaded at first. It was something I couldn’t control. Knowing the moon was coming and not being able to stop it took many years but soon I was able to control it and keep it locked down.
My beast though, sure came into his own mental voice quickly. That took much longer to figure out than the physical. My mother put me in classes with the war room General’s to learn about mental reinforcements. How to separate the beast and myself and how to stay in control with stressful situations. Situations like this.
