Home > Wolf Unleashed (The Royal Heir #2)(2)

Wolf Unleashed (The Royal Heir #2)(2)
Author: Jen L. Grey

“We appreciate that. We do.” She dropped her hand from my waist and squeezed my shoulder. “But we don’t trust anyone better than ourselves, and this is an easy way to get paid while still being around you. So it’ll feel like retirement, in a way.”

“Except you’re always scanning the room, waiting for someone to attack.” Mason placed his free hand on top of mine.

God, I loved the man. He knew how important these two women were in my life. “That doesn’t sound like a relaxing job.”

“Ha, no job is ever relaxing.” She waited a second and began walking with Ella. “That antique store was more stressful than this job.”

“Oh?” Ella tilted her head and followed us down the stairs. “Why?”

“Those damn witches.” She shook her head. “That particular supernatural race is ruthless when it comes to bargaining. If it’s something they wanted and it became obvious that I wasn’t willing to go that way, they would start threatening to put spells on me.”

“Are you serious?” Ella’s mouth dropped open.

“Yeah. Luckily, I was educated enough to know what the cost for some of those spells were, and they usually didn’t have the essential components on hand.” Mona adjusted her jacket and ran her hand along the railing.

“And you had wanted me to work there?” I was surprised by this little revelation.

“We knew you’d say no.” Kassie glanced at me over her shoulder as she began walking down the stairs.

“But you both acted like you weren’t happy with my decision.” I took a deep breath in and straightened my shoulders. By the time we reached the bottom of the stairs, King Adelmo would have been waiting for a few minutes now, so I needed to hurry.

“It’s called reverse psychology.” Ella popped out.

Sometimes I can’t believe we’re related. Mason cut his eyes to me and smiled.

I can. All right, I needed to get settled. I had a very important part to play here.

Hey, it’ll be okay. Mason’s strong arm helped me keep my balance while going down the stairs.

I didn’t want to wear a dress and heels, but Kassie and Mona had talked me into it for this occasion. I’d always be a ‘jeans and t-shirt’ kind of girl. If this doesn’t go well, then we’re going to run into problems. I hadn’t wanted to put unwarranted stress on Mason for this meeting, but it was a big fucking deal.

I thought this was just formalities. His gaze stayed on the stairs, but his shoulders tensed. What are you not telling me?

It’s just that I need to get his blessing in order to strengthen my role as Queen. When I thought of everything I didn’t know, it made my stomach queasy. I’d purposely stayed out of alpha politics the past twelve years and only remembered a few things from when I was a child.

Was that why you were in the library, drooling over some book titled The Wolf History of the United Kingdom.

Yeah. I had tried to stay awake, but I lost the war. I kind of messed it up too, with my drool.

I could’ve helped you.

To be honest, you’ve had to deal with a lot. Not only had he moved here with me, but he had been thrown into this life, and it wasn’t as easy as most people thought.

We reached the bottom of the stairs and turned so we were facing opposite of the door in the foyer. The walls in the New York City house were very sleek and contemporary. A white-gray color made the house feel modern, and once past the foyer, there were mostly large windows in the halls. There were two ways to the elevator that served as the main door. The basement was for the residents to park. There were assigned parking spots for our unit, and we were able to pull a car up to the elevator door when we were coming and going. The other main way into the house was from a large lobby that housed a front desk receptionist. They checked IDs and ensured that the visitors were expected. It was so formal and one of the main reasons the Hampton house was still my favorite, but this is where we’d be staying most of the time.

As my eyes landed on King Adelmo, I realized he wasn’t at all like I remembered him.

He wasn’t quite as tall as I expected. Granted, the last time I’d seen him, I was quite young at only six years old. His short blond hair probably hid most of his gray, and his silver eyes locked with mine. He had to be about Mason’s height and wore his suit well.

Beside him was his mate, Elizabeth. She was a few inches shorter than I, and her hair was a shade darker than the king’s. She wore a designer black dress that had cap sleeves adorned with rows of vertical beads. Her mouth sat in a frown.

A young man, who couldn’t be older than Mason, stood beside the king with an unmistakable scowl. His hair was a medium blond, a mid-shade between the king and his mate, and his gray eyes landed on me.

Kassie turned around and arched an eyebrow.

Crap. They were my guests. “Hello, King Adelmo.” I pulled my hand from Mason’s arm and curtseyed.

“Queen Elena.” He bowed toward me. “Those are words I never expected to say.”

“Who is that man beside you?” Elizabeth growled as she pointed to Mason.

“Oh, this is my mate.” She acted as if I wasn’t going to introduce my party. “Mason.”

“You have a mate?” King Adelmo stared hard at Mason. “I wasn’t informed of this.”

“I didn’t realize that was a requirement.” This was already off to a great start.

“Well, it is when you’re betrothed to our son.” He pointed at the young guy beside him.

“What?” That made no sense.

“Look at you, Elena.” Ella laughed. “Mated to my brother and engaged to some rando.”

She needs to shut up. I was sure I’d find this funny tomorrow, but right now this meeting was not going well. Can you get her to shut up?

I’m not sure. Mason growled in my head. Right now, I’m focusing on the guy who appears to be eager to put a ring on your finger or something.

Even if he tries, you should know nothing would happen. I got him being upset over this new information. Hell, I was too.

The King frowned at Ella, obviously not finding any humor in her comment.

“I’m not quite sure what you’re talking about.” I had to remain polite.

“It was an agreement that King Corey and I came up with when you were born only a few years after Louis.”

“Well, I wasn’t aware of that promise, but I found my fated mate.” Fated mates trumped any chosen union. “So that would be impossible.”

“So, what you’re saying is that you’d pick your own happiness over the health and well-being of your people?” He took a step forward in a way that could be perceived as threatening.

This was not even close to how I had expected this meeting to go, especially right away. “I’d only be the best queen possible with my fated mate by my side.”

“You see, that’s the problem with you and your uncle.” King Adelmo lifted his head and puffed out his chest. “You won’t do what’s best for your people. I’d hoped that maybe after hiding all these years, you’d be ready to stand up and do what was right. However, I was obviously wrong, and we wasted our time coming here.”

“No, not at all.” I had to salvage this. “It’s just that Dad never told me about that agreement.”

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