by Jen L. Grey
"Fine." He took a step back and lifted both hands. "Where should I sleep?"
"You two guys get the room with the two queen beds." Kassie pointed to Ella. "You get the single room. Mona and I are going to pull out the beds on these sofas and sleep right here."
"But ..." They deserved a bed just like the rest of us.
"No, we need to keep an eye on the elevator and the balcony." She pointed to the door beside the television I'd overlooked. "We have to cover all points of entry."
With her explanation, I had no room to argue. She had already made up her mind. "Fine, but if they don't look comfortable, I'm going to give you hell."
"I'd expect nothing less from you." Kassie winked at me.
"Ella, come on." I nodded my head at Mason's bags again.
"Fine, but it's only because I love you." Ella huffed, making sure I knew how put-out I was making her feel.
We trucked down the hallway, and I opened the door to a room close to the same size as ours back in NYC. There were even two loveseats placed around a table and a television hung in the middle of the room in front of the bed.
"I may be spoiled for life," Ella sighed as she took in the room. "Look, you have your own private balcony too." She dropped the bags on the floor and hurried out to see the view.
I caught the door before it shut completely in my face and walked outside with her. The Chicago traffic was in full force, and the sun was already setting. There was a chill in the air, but the view was beautiful. I waited a few moments before I got straight to the point. "What happened on the plane?"
"Huh?" She flinched and took a step closer to the rail, trying to ignore my question.
"You heard me." Deflecting … Did she think that would even work?
"I was hoping." She turned and wrinkled her nose. "It's strange. The past four years, I've been pining for Alec. Now, don't get me wrong. I dated other guys, but my eyes only saw him."
"Okay ..." I wasn't quite sure what I needed to say.
"Well, he felt the same way about me." She ran her fingers through her hair. "You know, I sat with him on the plane since he doesn't know anyone else here all that well and since he’s getting ready to head back home soon. Now, I kind of wish I hadn't. He pretty much told me that he'd always had feelings for me but Mason stood in the way." She huffed. "Even though I'd always wanted to hear those words, they didn't hit me like I’d always expected them too. Before I could get a word out, Alec leaned over and kissed me." She began to pace a little and pulled at the ends of her hair. “Like, I had this built up in my head for years, Elena. Years. And then when it happens, that asshole had to ruin it.”
"So does that mean Louis somehow saw?"
"Yeah. I didn't know what to do. I pulled away, effectively hurting Alec, but I think I hurt Louis too." She bit her bottom lip, and her shoulders slumped. "I think you're right. Actually, I know now, after that happened ... Louis is my mate."
Those words brought a smile to my face. "But that's wonderful. Not everyone finds their fated mate."
"But I don't want to move away. Sure, visiting would be great, but my home is here with you and Mason." She snorted and shook her head. "I know that sounds weird, but I don't want to leave you guys."
"We have all the time in the world to figure this out." I reached over and pulled her into my arms. "Girl, both his father and I have our own private fleets. There is no way you're getting away for long. You need to go talk to Louis. I'm afraid he thinks that kiss meant more to you than it really did."
"You're right. About everything." She pulled back and nodded. "All right, I guess I better do it now."
"Yeah, and when you're done, you probably need to talk to Alec too. I don't need him acting out and ruining my business meeting tonight." I hated to be an ass, but there was a lot at stake here.
"I get it." She took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. "Okay, I guess there is no time like the present." She marched into the bedroom and headed back to where everyone else was.
"Well, well … It's about time she left." The all-too-familiar voice sent a cold chill running down my spine.
I turned around so I was facing away from the door, and the vampire prince appeared directly in front of me.
Chapter Twelve
"Why are you here?" Even after the words left my mouth, I realized how stupid they were.
We both knew why.
"Have you reconsidered my deal?" The prince arched a dark eyebrow that matched his hair. "I thought I might check in after you realized how serious I am." He approached me, slowly lifting his fingers to my cheek.
I refused to back down. He was messing with me. No longer was it just me but everyone under my protection.
His cold fingertips were like ice, but I refused to shrink away. He was here to threaten me again. "How considerate of you?" I made sure each word dripped with sarcasm.
"I try to be a fair man." He dropped his hand and leaned back against the pink concrete wall with a smile. "After living for four hundred years, you learn the art of compromising."
"How is me being your walking drug bag a compromise?" This could go south real fast if I wasn’t careful. Mason, the prince is here.
I'm on my way.
"Well, all your little packs will be saved." He lifted his hand toward the city. "You're spending a lot of time trying to meet and ally with them, so I figured that was a huge win for you."
"Ally with them?" He was acting like I was trying to cover my own ass or something. "No, meeting and connecting with them. They are my responsibility to take care of."
"Potato, po-tah-to." He shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes. "But your sentence still captures something important. After all, you used the word care. An arrangement with me would be doing them a service."
I hated vampires, and this was why. They were self-absorbed and manipulative. "No, I'd be putting both myself and them in more danger. You should've known better than to taste my blood."
"Hmm … That's fair." He nodded, and a huge-ass smirk rose on his face. "But I was intrigued, and I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat if given the chance. You are quite the delicious morsel."
Great, he was a psychopath. That'll make it so much more fun to try to reason with him.
The door opened, and Mason strolled out. He breathed rapidly as he stared the prince down.
"Oh, I heard congratulations are in order." The prince chuckled, completely unfazed by Mason's appearance. It was as if he was enjoying himself even more with an extended audience. "I hear you're officially the Royal Mate now and soon to be the rightful King next to our dear Queen Elena."
"You hear a lot for being a vampire." Mason's growl was laced within every word. "Why don't you go back to minding your own business and leave us the hell alone?"
"First off ..." The vampire prince chuckled. "You will soon learn that anything royal is every supernatural's concern. It would be unprecedented if I didn't sink my teeth into your particular situation and do some personal research." He chuckled again, this time at his pun.
"Not funny." Mason took a slight step in front of me.
"Aw, I was really hoping you'd at least have a small sense of humor." He tsked and glanced at me. "But I can't blame you for your bad taste since fate chose him for you."
"Look, let's cut to the chase." I didn't want to encourage him to stay any longer. He was beginning to have far too much fun. "I'm not going to be your blood supply, so why don't you fuck off."
"Whoa." The prince lifted both hands in the air and laughed. "I wasn't expecting such vulgarity. Someone would say your subpar upbringing is showing, but I kind of like it."
"Oh well, I'll sleep better tonight knowing you approve." I needed him to leave me alone and now.
"We could form an alliance of sorts." The prince took a step toward me, and Mason growled.
I refused to step back while he was trying to intimidate me. "Not interested."
"Don't be so short-sighted." The vampire rolled his eyes. "At lea
st your uncle was open to possibilities; granted the three of us could do even better. You're the true queen after all."
"She said, not interested." Mason's shoulders tensed as he took a step closer to the prince. "So why are you still here?"
He ignored Mason and focused on me. "This is your final chance. Take this deal, or there will be hell to pay."
In a way, I wanted to agree with him. I didn't want anyone else to get hurt, but if I compromised now, it would only get worse. He'd want more. Other supernaturals would want more, and ultimately I would wind up hurting our entire race by cowering. "Just remember who you're playing with. Like you said, I'm different than the ones before me." Which probably was a bad thing, but right now, that was all I had.
"All right." He shook his head and backed over to the side of the balcony where he had appeared. "Really, either outcome was ideal for me." He grabbed the top of the black rail. "I'll see you soon." He jumped over the rail and disappeared.
What the hell? Mason's body was tense, and he was still ready to fight. Where did he go?
I have no idea. I opened the door that led us back to our temporary bedroom. We need to let the others know. There is no telling who he's going to target next.
As we joined the group back in the den, Kassie stared at me. "What the hell is going on?" Her eyes scanned my face and Mason's tense body.
"The vampire prince visited." He somehow got wind of me coming here, and I didn't know how. I only had more questions with no additional answers. "He's going to do something."
"How do you know that?" Alec's eyes darted around as if the prince could appear in the room beside us.
Ella snorted and shook her head. "He has to be a little bit smarter than to make an appearance in here with seven shifters."
"Maybe that would be the genius part of it." Alec pointed at her. “We wouldn’t expect it.”
Louis shook his head but kept his mouth shut.
I was liking him more and more. Hell, I might as well get used to him always being around. No matter how hard Ella fought it, her mate was her mate. She couldn’t change fate; I knew that from personal experience.
“Why were you out there by yourself?” Kassie’s jaw clenched, and she narrowed her eyes.
“It was my balcony, on the top floor of the hotel. How was I supposed to know he’d appear from nowhere up here?” Seriously, shouldn’t I be able to find a moment by myself on my own twenty-sixth floor balcony? This was another instance where I shouldn’t let her talk like this to me. I was Queen, but dammit, she sacrificed everything for me.
As if reading my mind, Kassie came back with, “I’m going to have to tie myself to you all the time.”
"Oh boy. Things would get awkward pretty fast." Ella's shoulders shook with laughter. “I mean, Mason and her bump uglies multiple times a day.”
I should’ve never told her that phrase back at college.
"You never know." Alec winked at her. "She might enjoy it."
"Ew." Apparently, Ella wasn't the only one with boundary issues. "Just stop."
"Sometimes it's a blessing to be able to control one's mouth." Mona pulled the hem of her black shirt down over her jeans.
"That is an understatement." Mason nodded in agreement. "So, let's pretend those two," he said as he pointed at Ella and Alec, "didn't say anything and ignore anything else they say from here on out."
"Those two people can hear you." Ella glared at her brother.
"Uh ... that was kind of the point." Mason wrapped his arm around my waist and placed his full attention back on Kassie. "Don't give her too much grief. She linked me."
"Yeah, you should've included me on that." Kassie glared at Mason. "You aren't the one with specialized training."
I wanted to step in, but it was time for Mason to earn his place beside me. I hadn't been allowing him to and needed to stop always trying to protect him. If he was going through with the coronation; he had to stand on his own two feet.
"My concern was getting to her first and foremost. Alerting you would've taken longer, and we were fine." Mason straightened his shoulders and glared at Kassie. "How would you have felt if I had taken extra time to get to her and something bad had happened to her because of it?"
"You think two seconds would've changed something?" Kassie's hands clenched into fists.
"Of course it can." Mona sized Mason up and nodded her head. "You know that better than anyone. If we had been two seconds longer getting Elena out of that car, we'd all be dead right now."
Kassie opened her mouth to argue, but nothing came out. After a moment, she said, "Fine, but I still don't agree with it."
The fact that Mona had stepped in to drive the point home eased some of my concerns. They both liked him and accepted him without hesitation because he was my mate. Although for Mona to do that for him meant she was beginning to respect him.
"Has that ever stopped me before?" I did want to butt in before things got too far out of hand. Kassie was aggressive, and that was one damn good reason she was great at her job. Once you earned her loyalty, it was unbreakable.
"No, it hasn't." She turned her glare on me. "I'm hoping some sense will get knocked into you at some point."
"Don't count on it." I walked over and kissed her on the cheek. "But you still love me."
"Most days I don't regret it, but today, I’m not feeling so loving toward you," she grumbled, but a small grin peeked through. "Fine, but tonight, either Mona or I will be with you two at all times."
"Me?" Mason tilted his head and glanced at me. "Why?"
"Well, when you decided you wanted to become king, things had to change." Mona butted in and held his stare. "You are now officially the Royal Mate, which means you are to be protected just as much as Elena. If these changes bother you, get used to it real fast."
Even though she was the one who routinely played the nice cop, Mona knew when to be direct whereas Kassie was always that way.
"Okay, it just caught me off guard." He ran a hand through his short hair. "I want this."
"For the right reasons?" Louis crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at Mason. "You need to make sure you know why you're signing up for this."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Mason's shoulders tensed, and he took in a deep breath.
Louis’s eyes flickered to Ella and then back at Mason. "Do you want it so you can truly be a leader to our people or because you have to, for her?" He pointed at me. "The answer to that question is the most important of all, and you need to understand that even if you didn't want it, she'd remain by your side."
I'd noticed he was more of an observer, but this proved how good he was at being political. He knew how to show his cards at the right time when they would make the most impact. He was helping me but also indirectly speaking to Ella. Once they finally stopped fighting their connection like Mason and I did, they'd be facing the same issue.
"At first, I didn't want it." Mason kept his attention focused on the prince. "Then, I'd considered it but didn't want to take the spotlight away from Elena. I didn't think I could measure up to her. But this past week, something inside me is moving me to push away the fear, become the alpha I've always felt inside, and be the mate that Elena deserves. Now, my whole being wants it, not only to be the person my mate needs by her side but because I truly care about our race and doing what's right for our people."
"Then you're doing it for the right reasons." Louis gave him a slight bow of his head.
"I never doubted him at all." Fate had been right. Mason was born for this. We were destined to lead together, side by side.
I glanced at the mirror and frowned. For the second time since my coronation, I was wearing a gown and felt like I was suffocating.
The dress was so uncomfortable because the style would make me stand out. The top half was made of black lace with the neckline cut low enough so my cleavage was on display. The material from my waist down was silk, and the color transitioned into a light charcoal. The skirt fanned
out around my thighs with the hem reaching the floor. My hair was pulled up in the signature French twist my mom used to wear. For some reason, I felt like I needed to feel close to my mom tonight. So, for the first time ever, I wore it in her style.
Mason walked out of our bathroom, decked in a black suit complete with black tie. He paused for a second as his eyes found mine in the mirror. He fidgeted for a moment and then took a deep breath.
Are you okay? He was acting more nervous than I was, which was strange. He was usually the calm and collected one, grounding me.
Yeah, it’s just ... He took a deep breath and headed over to me.
I turned toward him. Something wasn’t right. Did he rethink the whole king thing? If you don’t want this, I get it.
No, stop. He raised his hand and ran it down his face. Dear God. I’m doing this all wrong. He tugged at the tie around his neck.
It’s okay. I want you to be happy. I shouldn’t have forced him. This was my fault.
Stop. He licked his lips and then got down on one knee.
My whole body froze as if paralyzed. What … What are you doing?
I had this all planned out, and it’s not going according to that plan at all. He chuckled. Why am I not surprised?You’ve thrown me off-kilter ever since the very first day I laid eyes on you. I knew my life would change. And boy has it. But I wouldn’t change a moment of it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a closed jewelry box. What I’m trying to say is … Elena Hawthrone, will you marry me, be my mate, and rule beside me? He opened the jewelry box to show me a platinum ring with a single two-carat diamond shining from the band.
Yes. I held out my shaky hand to him. If I had any doubts about his commitment, it was gone in the blink of an eye. Tears pooled in my eyes as he slipped the ring on my finger. It looked perfect.
I hope you love it. He kissed the top of my hand and stood up straight, brushing my cheek with his fingertips. Alec wasn’t any help.
Wait. I thought you guys went shooting. He had done this the same day I’d planned his coronation.
