by Haley Weir
No wonder the pack that met them on the battlefield had been so small in number; there were at least a couple dozen of them here. Theo tore each of them to shreds and flung their limbs to the sides of the halls. Even when a few of them tried to stop him at once, his rage was too great and fueled him with the power to take them all down effortlessly without even slowing his pace. He ran through the castle, searching desperately for his sister and Marquette, and when he finally spotted Holly, he inhaled a huge breath through his snout that he hadn’t even realized he had been holding in. He ran toward her as she bravely tried to fight off several of the attackers who were trying to infiltrate the throne room, knocking the enemies down with his powerful stature as he barreled into the room and tore the heads from their bodies.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Holly was injured but alive. She had heroically managed to fight off and defend a sizeable number of attackers and was relieved when her brother defeated the remaining enemies as she depleted the last of her effort. Had Theo not arrived when he did, Holly likely wouldn’t have survived the final group of attackers. As soon as the last of the pure-blooded shifters had fallen, Theo shifted back into a man and ran to grab his sister, who was struggling to stay up on her feet. She was badly wounded, but she would survive.
“You guys always give me the hardest job,” Holly teased as she fell against her brother’s strong arms.
“You’re okay,” Theo said with a reassuring smile. “I’ve got you now.”
Just then, the rest of their family bounded through the doors. Rubius ran up to take their daughter from Theo, and Cassandra immediately saw to treating her wounds. Aeron did a final sweep of the castle to make sure that there were no other pure-bloods lurking and then went to reinstate members of his guard at their proper positions to secure the castle. Some of his pack members had followed him back into the city, something that the wolf shifters rarely did, to make sure that their alpha’s stronghold in the kingdom was secured.
“Where is Marquette?” Theo asked Holly while Cassandra began to bind her wounds.
“I don’t know,” Holly replied with a concerned frown. “I had left her barricaded in her bedroom as soon as we realized that the castle was under attack. I told her to stay hidden inside there, but knowing her, she might have tried to come out and fight. I had been guarding her room, but then the pure-bloods drew me away from the corridors by attacking some of the human servants, and I had to go and help them or they would have been killed,”
Rubius looked up at Theo.
“They did that on purpose,” Rubius said. “This was all part of their plan. I saw their alpha leave the battlefield as soon as it became clear that they would lose. They were after Marquette.”
Aeron reentered the room just as Rubius had finished speaking his dismal assessment. He saw the look of sheer and debilitating panic on his son’s face.
“Theo,” Aeron said as he put a hand on his son’s shoulder. “We may not all agree with your relationship with a human, but it is exceedingly clear how much you love Marquette, and we all love you. We will all join together in the search to find her.”
Rubius nodded and stood up.
“Holly is in good hands now with Cassandra. The three of us will search the city for Marquette,” he said.
The three men shifted back to their wolf forms and ran from the castle into the city streets. It was just past dusk, and even though most of the townspeople were not in the streets, there were still a few curious eyes that fell upon the three giant wolves. Aeron would deal with that later. Right now, their only focus was to find Marquette. Aeron and Rubius had superior tracking skills and senses as alphas, but Theo was so familiar with Marquette’s scent that he would have been able to locate her from a million miles away, even though it was raining, and the fresh air threatened to wash her scent away.
Theo tracked Marquette all the way out of the city and back into the deep bowels of the forest. The three wolves tread onto the rival pure-blooded pack’s territory in the pouring downfall of rain. The sound of the thick raindrops battering against the moist ground worked to their advantage to cover the sound of their padded paws approaching. Theo’s tracking led them right up to the entrance of the rival pack leader’s den, where Aeron, Rubius, and Theo all shifted back into men and stood outside before entering.
“We will talk to him first,” Aeron said.
“I don’t see why we would give him the chance to speak,” Theo growled. “We should stay as wolves and tear him apart.”
“I have to admit that I agree with your son this time,” Rubius said as he thought about his injured daughter back at the castle, whom this rival alpha nearly killed. “I see no reason to continue playing by the rules with these fools.”
“Until we find Marquette,” Aeron said, “we stay as men.”
They walked into the den, expecting to be met with a swarm of shifters that had rallied around their alpha, but instead, all they saw was the alpha sitting in a chair near his table—and Marquette. Marquette was badly beaten, but when she saw Theo come into view, her bruised face lit up, and she leaned back against the wall that she was sitting in front of with relief.
Theo’s blood boiled as Aeron made a last attempt to speak to the rival alpha and avoid the destruction of this pack. But Rubius saw Theo’s reaction upon seeing Marquette so badly beaten, and he knew that there was no point in trying to stop Theo from losing control. He stood by and watched as Theo flew into a blinding rage, and not even Aeron tried to stop Theo once he saw what his son was about to do.
Without even shifting fully, Theo’s eyes glared a burning yellow, and his claws pushed through the tips of his human fingers. He lunged at the alpha and dug his razor-sharp claws into the top of his shoulders, rooting the alpha in place before he could make a move against any of them. Theo didn’t think about anything, not even about Marquette’s reaction to seeing what he was about to do. He opened his jaw, felt his long canines push through the gums of his mortal mouth, and gnashed his teeth down onto the neck of the alpha until he felt the bone and cartilage break apart in his jaw. Marquette didn’t even cover her eyes or look away. Instead, she stared right along with Aeron and Rubius as they watched Theo shake his head like a dog with a chew-toy until the alpha’s neck tore away from his shoulders and his head was flung across the room, hitting the side of the den before dropping to the ground with a sickening thud. Theo then ran to Marquette, with his mouth still dripping with blood from the fresh kill, and lifted her up into his arms. Her head fell against his chest, and she let her eyes close to rest once she felt herself safe in his grasp.
But before they got ready to leave the den, the remaining members of the pure-blooded pack gathered at the entry. They were not confrontational or aggressive; they were the pack members who had stayed behind. They were the elderly, the pregnant females, the children. Theo looked at the gathered remnants of the pack and then looked at his father in confusion about what they were supposed to do.
“There is a new issue to deal with now,” Aeron said to him as Theo held Marquette tightly pressed against his chest with her legs draped over his arm. “According to shifter law, by killing their pack leader, you are now the new leader of this rival pack.”
Theo didn’t know what to think. He had no desire to lead this pack, or to become an alpha now. The only thing he wanted to do was get Marquette back to the castle and tend to her. Rubius picked up on Theo’s hesitation.
“You three should go back to the castle,” he said. “I can stay here and keep temporary control over this pack until you are ready to deal with it. But, Theo, you’ll need to tell them.”
Rubius glanced at the confused wolves whose pack was now falling into disarray with the death of their alpha and a shift in control over their leadership. “They will only listen to you now.”
Theo was stunned. He had no experience with giving commands or wielding control. But he did as Rubius said so he could leave with Marquette.
“I give Rubius co
mmand over this pack,” he said loud enough that they could all hear him.
It didn’t matter what the pure-blooded shifters thought about the change in command. Pack law was absolute when it came to the succession or assumption of new alphas. Theo was their alpha now, and they had no choice but to listen to him. Which meant that for the moment, they would listen to Rubius. The stray pack members moved out of the doorway and let Aeron and Theo pass, leaving Rubius to look after them until their new alpha returned.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The royal family took a few days to recover in peace and quiet. Marquette recovered quickly at the castle with Theo remaining devoutly by her side. Holly spent some time in the now-peaceful forest with Rubius, and after she had recovered fully, she helped him with managing the scattered remnants of the pure-blooded pack. Holly had incredible leadership qualities that would prove to aid her well someday. Now, not only did Theo have the pressure of being heir to the throne in the human kingdom of Grenvich, but he also now had the pressure of being a new pack leader for a rival pack whose alpha he had killed. Instead of being as stern as he usually was, Aeron tried to reassure Theo that this was a good opportunity to gain stronger pack alliances, and that Theo was capable of being able to do both things. Although Aeron didn’t push Theo to think of what would come next until Marquette was fully recovered, he did put it into Theo’s mind that he would have the possibility for great and necessary power when he was ready for it.
In the aftermath of the conflict, everything seemed at ease and quiet in the kingdom and in the forest. Everyone at the castle spent the evening recovering, resting, and talking about how to move on ahead.
“You don’t need to stay with me at every moment,” Marquette smiled at Theo as he sat beside her in the bed while she read a book that Cassandra had given to her about shifter lore. “I’m fine now.”
“I know,” Theo said while he gently rubbed a strand of her soft hair between his fingers and twirled it around his hand. “But I don’t want to leave your side.”
Marquette seemed thoughtful and it caused Theo to wonder what she was thinking about.
“What is it?” he asked her.
“I want you to know,” she said, “that I will stay by your side no matter what you choose to do. Whether or not you are King of Grenvich, or alpha of the pure-blooded pack, or whether or not you are both or neither. I want to be with you, wherever you are and in whatever you decide to do.”
Theo smiled widely and leaned forward to kiss Marquette. After he had slowly pulled his mouth from hers, he stayed with his face close enough for her to feel his breath on her lips as he spoke.
“And I vow that I will always bring you with me, to every place where decisions are being made. You and I will never be separate.”
In the days that followed, Theo thought more and more about the vows and words that were exchanged between the two of them. And he realized that what he had been afraid to do all of this time, was exactly what he needed to do now. He decided to openly proclaim his love for Marquette to both the kingdom and all of the wolf packs. He discussed it with her first, and Marquette stood by his decision. Then he discussed it with his family, and although there were still some concerns and hesitations, they all supported him, and everyone agreed that now that Theo was in a position of more power, and that their royal family had no challenge to its rule, there really wasn’t any valid reason to continue hiding Theo’s love for Marquette. Trying to keep the relationship between human and shifter a secret had backfired, so perhaps the open and honest path was the better route to go. There would be those opposed to it still, but none of the packs dared to go against Aeron, Theo, and Rubius. Especially not after how magnificently the last rival pack had been defeated. There would also be humans in the kingdom who would scorn the union between a member of the royal family and a servant girl, but that was inconsequential as far as Theo was concerned. He would simply ignore the naysayers and tell Marquette to do the same.
They decided first to address the kingdom, and after the whispers had died down and the initial shock had been overcome, most of the humans went about their business realizing that they really didn’t care that much about the prince’s personal affairs as long as the royal family kept the kingdom safe and thriving. Marquette and Theo no longer hid their affections from each other within the castle, and when they went out into the city to the market square, they held hands and exchanged glances openly.
When they went to the forest to deliver the same proclamation to the wolf packs, Aeron and Rubius stood by Theo’s side, and most of the shifters seemed not only to be accepting of the arrangement, but to embrace it as a shining example of the fated love that they believed in so strongly. Love didn’t care whether it was between shifters or humans; it only cared that it was love.
The last thing that Theo needed to attend to was the organization of the newly assumed pack. He had returned to find the pure-blooded pack relatively at ease and much more amicable to his takeover than he had been expecting. Rubius had time to bring most of them into line and squelch any rumblings of discontent. And Holly had aided in opening the minds of the pure-blooded pack members who had been essentially brainwashed by the intolerance of their previous alpha. By the time Theo was ready to address the pack, they were nearly in full acceptance of not only Theo’s new role as their alpha, but also his relationship with the human girl. When Theo went to meet with them, he brought Marquette with him. As promised, he wanted to include her in all of his actions and decision-making. She was surprised to find that most of the shifters in the forest liked her almost immediately and welcomed her in a way that they had never welcomed a human into their midst before. Seeing all of this gave Aeron great hope that his vision of uniting both shifters and humans had a real possibility of coming true. If a human could be open to accepting the world and ways of the shifters, and the shifters could welcome a human into their midst, then this was the first step of a new beginning to be ushered in.
Theo and Marquette spent the remainder of the day in the forest. Marquette really liked the forest, almost more than she liked the city. She enjoyed the untamed wildness of it, and the peaceful power that seemed to hang in the air. Theo was glad to see how much Marquette liked the forest because it meant that they would spend time in both places, which was important to him.
After a nice and productive day in the forest, they were readying to leave and head back to the castle for the night. Marquette asked to stay overnight in the forest, but since there were still some things to be attended to in the kingdom before daybreak, they would have to postpone that for another time. They said goodbye to some of the shifters they had talked with throughout the day, and Marquette took a final deep breath of the minty and mossy forest air for the evening. But as soon as she began to let her breath out, something started to feel wrong.
“What is it?” Theo asked with a furrowed brow as he looked at her.
He had heard her breath catch in her throat as she exhaled and felt her hand tighten around his suddenly.
“I don’t know,” Marquette said as she suddenly began to feel very ill.
Dizziness swept over her, and without warning, her legs seemed to go weak and crumble beneath her. Theo caught her around the waist and held her to him.
“Marquette,” he said with grave concern. “Are you unwell?”
Before she could answer, she turned her head and pushed away from him to collapse onto the ground on all fours and throw up into the dirt. When she had finished getting sick, she looked so pale and felt so weak that Theo picked her up and carried her back to the castle. Marquette curled up against his chest as he walked with her cradled in his arms, and an exhaustion so great fell upon her that she fell asleep.
When they arrived back at the castle, he laid her down in her bed and then left her side only momentarily to get his mother and inform her of Marquette’s sickness. He brought Cassandra back into Marquette’s bedroom with him, and they both sat by her bedside while she slept and w
aited for her to wake and tell them how she was feeling. It was concerning that she had been fine one moment, and then had become so suddenly ill. Neither of them knew what could possibly be wrong with her.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Over the course of the next several days, Marquette was ill off and on. Sometimes she seemed to have better days in which she could get up and walk around, and even eat. And then other days, she seemed to be unable to do anything more than lie in bed and hold her sick stomach. When it began to seem as though she wasn’t getting any better, they called for a doctor from the city to be brought in to examine her.
The human doctor was well-trained in the arts of medicine and illness. He was also knowledgeable about the holistic methods and things such as poisons and afflictions that might have caused Marquette to have fallen ill. He gave Marquette a lengthy exam as Cassandra stayed in the room with her, and Theo paced the hall feverishly.
“She’ll be okay,” Holly said as she tried to ease her brother’s worried mind. “I’m sure it’s just the recent events that have taken a toll on her human body. You know they aren’t as sturdy as we are. I’m sure that she will recover fully with a bit of rest.”
“She already has rested,” Theo said. He didn’t mean to be angry and abrupt with Holly, but he was too worried over Marquette’s condition to think about tempering his tone.
“I’m sorry,” he said when he realized that he had snapped at his sister.
“It’s okay,” Holly smiled. “I understand that you are worried.”
