Althena

35. Shock

Then it's morning. I blink at the ceiling. I found my father. I don't know what to do with this information. I take a shower and get dressed. Chris laid some clothes out for me. Then I go to the dining room.

Jax's parents come in next. They sit and smile. Then the man in a suit and Jax come in. They sit and say their pleasantries. "Good morning."

"s**t. I thought I lost her." Chris plops down. "You showered. Good job."

"It was nice."

"You're talking. That's wonderful, sweetie." His mom smiles. "What would you like for breakfast?"

"Food."

Chris shrugs his shoulders. "We'll work on being nice tomorrow."

She nods. "It's fine. What happened that was so shocking?"

"I found my father."

His dad sits back. "That would be shocking after so long. Who is he?"

"The king."

Jax chokes on juice and spits it out.

"Boy, get your s**t together." His dad nods. "That would explain why the royal guards and helicopter are here."

His mom smiles. "She's the princess."

I shake my head and look at Chris. "I'm an orphan."

"Orphan princess." He rubs my back. "We'll work on it."

"Why were they so quick to get rid of her yesterday? I wanted her away from that border for days."

"People in that pack knew who her father was. They hid it from her. She's not happy about that. They didn't want fighting. She's safe here and nobody here hid anything from her."

The man in the suit nods. "Safest option."

"Who are you people?" I stare at them.

The mom laughs. "I'm Kafei. This is my mate, Fergus Virion. These are our boys, Alpha Jaxon and Beta Flint."

I turn to Chris. "Kafei, Fergus, Flint."

He looks around confused. "I'll write it down somewhere."

I nod. "He killed her."

"The poor baby is going in and out of shock."

"No. I think she's there permanently now." Chris snaps in my face. "There we go. Eat breakfast."

I put some toast in my mouth and chew. "The king has probably killed lots of mothers. My story isn't different. But he's not their father."

Fergus nods. "That's got you all flustered. You've got a half brother now."

"How old is he?"

"He was born in March 2001. 16?"

I crack up laughing. "He got them pregnant at the same time. Classy. Honestly, I probably have more siblings too. I don't want to know any of them. I want no part of this. I have no father."

"If you want to twist the knife, remind him he killed his own soulmate. That should do it." Fergus gets some more eggs.

"Dad, don't help." Jax gives him a warning look.

I lean back and stare at the ceiling. "What now?"

"You still have some shock to work through before we go into public." Chris is texting.

"I would like to remind my father that he killed his own soulmate now." I stand up.

Chris stands up with me. "Seen that coming."

"Stay here, Flint." Jax stands up.

Chris leads us to the helicopter, and we take it to the central district. Then we go to the building my dad was in.

I walk into the elevator. Nobody says a word. They watch us walk by.

We step out of the elevator.

"This way, ma'am. They're waiting for you."

We step into the throne room, and it's only my father and his wife. "Were you able to…?"

"f**k YOU!"

"Oh damn it." Chris spins me around. "Watch the door. We're working on some things. This is Alpha Jax. He's... here too."

The asshole says, "Thank you for watching over her. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

Chris seems to be reading, "We could use another helicopter or 2."

"Of course, Chris. Anything."

"One for Mystical Moon, the other for Night Stalkers."

"Yes, of course."

"I'm going to turn her around now. You should go over there."

I spin around and walk towards him slowly. "You made me watch my mother die slowly. Years of pain."

"I didn't." He starts sobbing.

My aura expands and he drops to his knees. I grab his throat. "You killed your own soulmate, slowly. Years of anguish. I hope she unties your souls and never gives you another chance."

"PLEASE DON'T." The queen runs for us.

I push my aura out and she falls. "All for a weak whore." I let go and he drops to the floor.

I turn around and walk into Chris. He's got a deathgrip on Jax. "That aura thing you do, it's hard to stay up right." He fixes Jax's sleeve and we leave.

We sit down for lunch and Kafei smiles. "How did it go?"

Chris is texting someone. "She called the queen a dumb w***e and tried to kill the king. I guess that's as good as can be expected. We did get you your own helicopter though."

"Thank you."

"No problem."

"Oh... I forgot to tell him how disgusting he is for getting them pregnant at the same time."

"Let's save something for tomorrow."

"Fine."

Jax rubs his face. "I remember you said you like to garden. Do you want to see our gardens?"

I jump up. "Yes."

"Eat first. Then I'll take you."

"Ok." I plop down and wait.

Kafei laughs and signals for the food. After lunch, he takes me to the garden and leaves a couple of baskets.

6 hours later, he makes me leave the garden to eat dinner.

"I told you, she's fine. She'll stay out there until she runs out of light."

"She needs to eat."

"How are you feeling?"

Monte is here. "I didn't know you were here."

"Yea, I wanted to talk to you. Your grandma is going crazy. She thinks you hate her."

"I don't hate her. I don't understand why they lied."

"Did they? They were keeping you secret like your mom wanted. You haven't even been here for 2 weeks. Your grandma was going to tell you eventually. We have no idea how Jax found out."

"I didn't find out."

"The queen saw my eyes while I was shopping with Clover. I got my dad's eyes. She knew then."

"I'm surprised she said anything."

"Why?"

"You're the heir to the throne. Not her son. She could have ignored you and nobody would have ever known."

"I don't want the throne."

"You might want to talk to your mate before you make that decision."

I sigh and shake my head. "So I can be alone somewhere raising a child too. I want no part of it."

"You can't take that out on your mate or expect him to leave."

"Pfft. I know how people on thrones act. This isn't the first throne I've dealt with."

"So, change it."

"Not worth the effort. I can go back to my coffee shop and be happy."

Kafei shakes her head. "You can't change who you are, sweetie. You're becoming a queen."

Jax nods. "And quickly. You can already overpower the throne. You knocked the queen out of your way with only your aura."

His dad looks at him. "What about the king?"

"He won't fight back."

"Then she is the queen."

Monte shakes his head. "She has to take the spot, and she's not ready."

"I'll never be ready. I don't want it."

"We can drop it for now."

"Thank you."

"Can you heal my blisters?" Monte holds out his arm. "They are painful and itchy."

"How did you get them?"

"The magicians are rallying around your grandma. She's upset, thinking you hate her. They are trying to help her. They cursed me when I refused to drag you home."

"Aww. I can't let her think I hate her. She's my grandma. I have to go back." I heal his arm.

"Thank you for that. Now I know why my grandpa lets them do whatever they want. To go back or not is your choice. Nobody will force you. But Night Stalkers territory is further away from the border. And the rogues were watching you before. The choice is yours. We want you to come back, but I understand if you stay here."

"I can't leave my grandma feeling like that. Once she's better, I'll talk with everyone about my options."

Chris holds up his phone. "We also have 10 penthouses in the central district... If anyone needs one. Let's go stay with grandma and we'll regroup tomorrow."

I walk in the door at granny's and her and Phina nearly tackle me. I can tell they're upset. They hug me.

"I don't hate either of you. I'm not even mad at you. I'm tired and confused. I'm mad at my father. Neither of you did anything. And honestly, it hasn't even been 2 weeks. I understand why you wanted to wait. This is so shocking."

Granny hugs me so tight. "You are so smart and strong. Go to sleep for now. I can tell you're exhausted. We can sit down in the morning."

I dream about Mike. He makes love to me for hours. He holds me and takes me over the edge again and again.