Chapter 130
1534words
"My rise to power?" I asked, and now, it was my turn to sound a bit off.
"or perhaps that's not the right way to put it. I'm talking about when you become queen, Em. Or do you not think about it anymore?"
"No. Of course not. I carry that knowledge with me often. And for the past month, I've constantly made the efforts I've needed to make sure that my 'rising to power' so to speak, goes smoothly. The problem here isn't whether or not I've given as much thought as I ought to,"
"So what is it?" my brother asked and I leaned backward against the chair and sighed.
"it would have been one thing if I was merely going to be an Alpha of one pack. But then being alpha queen means that I'm going to be responsible for all the alphas, and their packs." I said, and even just saying it out loud, I felt the weight and hoped I would not be crushed under it, Axel nodded slowly,
"It is a lot. I've always wondered how you saw it, seeing that you never really spoke about it," he said quietly,
!or the fact that I never seemed to regard it as much as I ought to have." I said and he made a face,
"You've just been filled with thoughts of other things. But you're here now, Em. You aren't running, and these past few weeks, I've watched you push and push to be the very best version of yourself. To be the strongest version of yourself. Don't think I don't see, and I don't know. So believe me when I tell you that I believe that you are going to make a great queen Alpha. Father believes so too, otherwise, he would never have considered making you his predecessor." Axel said and looked at me kindly, "but for some reason, the only person that truly doubts your abilities, and what you're capable of is you." that hit home.
But was that true though? Had I become my own worst critic? I wondered.
"I just don't want to drive this kingdom backward. The idea of taking all that father had built and simply making a mess of it all, unsettles me and it's the last thing I want. I couldn't bear to live with myself if I did."
"Our father didn't build this kingdom alone. He had his Luna, his beta. All of those wise old elders, and us. Definitely us." I smiled, but I stayed fixated on the part about our father having our mother. His mate.
I did not have anyone. Well, I had Jean. But we weren't together that way. Surely, I felt something for him, but the idea of being committed to anyone right then in life scared me to pieces and I did not want that for myself just yet.
"speaking of those elders…"I started, "do you think it's about time I showed myself to them?" and Axel shook his head,
"not until you are fully ready, should you do that, then that's more people knowing your actual identity, and so whatever pressure you feel that you must be feeling now, it's only going to be worsened when those elders know who you are. You'll be on their lips constantly, and the rate at which they would demand your presence would be so heightened. I believe you, but I don't think you are prepared for any of that just yet."
He was right, I wasn't. and I nodded,
"fine then. Scratch out that idea." I said and thought for a moment, "So what do I do in the meantime?" I asked,
"In the meantime, I suppose you could simply continue as you have. Working on being the very best alpha queen you can actually ever be," he said and I rested my head on his shoulder once again.
"That sounds nice. I can do that. I can definitely do that."
JEAN'S POV
I ran my hand through my hair in frustration after ending the call with Ember and looked at Peter with disgust,
"please. Please, don't kill me." he croaked out and I felt so angry,
"That's the problem with people like you. You go out of your way to hurt innocent people and when it's time for retribution you beg for mercy as though you've been the victim all along." I said, raising my paw to hit him and he flinched.
I told myself that if I looked into his eyes right then, I would look like the monster he wanted me to believe that I was. And perhaps I truly was the monster. But at least this monster only rendered dues to those whom I deemed worthy.
This son of a gun was absolutely worthy. He deserved to pay for what he tried to do to Ember.
For what I was sure that I would try to do again if he were to be given the chance.
But I could not do it. I simply could not bring myself to strike him. The bloody call with Ember had left me feeling less murderous.
"damn it." I cursed, as my paws reversed to my human hand. I could not kill him. I simply should not, I thought as I paced away from him.
But there was no way in hell that I was going to leave this bloke to run around freely. Perhaps he would never again try to hurt Ember.
And perhaps, maybe, he actually just might. But I was not going to sit around and find out.
I walked toward him and grabbed him by the collar and shook him unto he looked at me,
"I'm not going to kill you. But I'm not going to let you roam freely. It would be too kind. From now on, you are my prisoner."
I took Peter back to my packland and called Vincent once I got there. He and I alone knew what prison cell he was assigned to, and what guards. So that if anything happened, I knew who to hold responsible, I would not be taking my chances.
"you're going to leave me in here?!" pater cried as we began bolting the locks to his cage,
"What do you think?" Vincent said and Peter crawled toward the gate,
"Kill me then. Simply kill me and be done with it. I don't want to be a prisoner for the rest of my existence."
"then you should have thought about that before doing all that you did," Vincent said stoically,
"And besides, as it seems, killing you would be too much mercy," I said and turned away.
“So, did you finish up the paperwork?” I asked when we got outside the prison yard and he made a face,
“ I started on it and immediately crossed eye . I owe you an apology for always dumping them on you.” He said and I chuckled
“Apology received.” I said , even though I knew I was bound to have more to deal with the next day.
"So…What now?" Vincent asked and I heaved out a breath ,
“Ember called while I was dealing with that bloke earlier. She seemed to be in to me. “
“She’s quite perceptive.” Vincent noted and I nodded,
“She is, and in the end, she’s the reason why I didn’t simply kill the guy. I detested feeling like I couldn’t then, but now… I’m glad I didn’t. I’m glad I can go in there and torture him just. Little but, from time to time.” I said and Vincent shook his head ,
“I’m glad you have a new plaything.”
“Me too , mate.” I said and we both started walking,
“So, down for some horseback?” He asked and I shook me head
"I must reschedule. Because , now, I need to call Ember, and ask her if she's still up for looking at the stars." I said, and Vincent smiled.
She was, actually, still up for looking at the stars, and I took a quick shower to wash off all of the violence, sprayed some perfume, and went to my car to go pick up Ember.
She was waiting outside on her porch when I arrived and I reached for the flowers I had gotten. A bit of bribery for all the worry I was sure my earlier attitude must have caused her, but as I approached her and saw her gaze fall on the flowers, something in her gaze told me that these flowers weren't going to cut it.
"Hi Jean," she said with a smile that reached the eyes, but was still quite suspicious,
"Hello, Ember." I said and stretched the flowers to her, "I got you these."
She took them from me without a word and sniffed them before setting them on the bench she had been sitting on, and then walked toward me, her chin jutted out, her hands folded, and her aura strong,
"We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way, but we aren't moving forward until you tell me what the hell has been going on with you these past couple of days"
