Chapter 9: Observations

The drive to our lodging was quiet.  Kieran busied himself by staring out the window, watching the trees and foliage pass by.

And I cautiously sneaked glances at him, wondering what was running through his mind.

I know he injured himself earlier because of me.  However, when we got into the car, he just shoved me away and stayed in his own world, after putting his coat jacket over my shoulder.

Kieran has always been like that.  He could be blabbing all the most nonsensical things in one minute, then he would be silent in another.  He often kept me at the edge of my seat, wondering what his next move would be.  Or what he would say next.

And I… I hated it.  Because I know he was aware he was driving me nuts, and he loved every single second of it.

“You didn’t talk to the Alpha,” he softly commented, breaking the silence between us. While he never glanced my way, I knew Kieran was observing me too.  “I thought you’d cave in.”

I looked away, trying to act natural.  “There’s nothing between us to talk about.  We are enemies now, and I’ve long shut my heart to him.”

“Really?”  His voice was laced with skepticism.  “I saw you stare at him earlier.”

I let out a long, weary sigh.  “What’s the point of this argument, anyway?  I came home with you.  I refused to speak to him.  Isn’t that enough?”

I know Kieran was well aware of the existence of my mate bonds with the other men, just as he was aware of his with me.  And while I sincerely hope his questioning was all because we were allies and we couldn’t trust just anybody, my intuition and Fluke were both telling me otherwise.

“I just…”  He cleared his throat and looked away.  “Never mind.  I was curious.  We can’t have any lingering feelings of yours interfering with our plan.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me.  I won’t let my feelings interfere with yours, Kieran White,”  I snapped, before crossing my arms.  “And please, stop lecturing me like I’m a kid.  I know what I’m doing.”

He chuckled before leaning back to the window and staring back at me.  “I’m just here to remind you, Your Majesty.  There are a lot of Lycans hoping for the protection of the new Queen.  If that impostor takes the throne, it’ll be quite… a disaster.”

I gritted my teeth, remembering Medea and her tricks.  She has always been at the bottom of the list of potential Queen candidates, and it was surprising that she even made it to the finals.

Let alone almost becoming the next Queen.

“It’s strange…” I whispered.  “I never thought Medea would succeed like this…”

“Wow, way to go on putting down your sister—”

“No, I’m serious!  She has always been the last in our rankings.  It was even a miracle that she made it to the fifth place before I stepped down.  Medea manifested her wolf late.  And she has always been sickly…”

“She didn’t seem sickly to me,” Kieran commented.  “And I felt her wolf, Hestia.  That wasn’t the wolf of a sickly Lycan.  Either she had miraculously obtained her powers overnight, or…”

I glanced at him.  “Or?”

“Does the Locke family know or own a sorcerer at least on the level of the High Priest?”

I shook my head.  “No, none that I know of… Besides, the Temple had long banned the owning of sorcerers.  Owning one would not only cost much, but it would also count as treason… My father has long been a member of the Council.  Surely he won’t—”

“I’ve seen countless men with ambition, Hestia,”  Kieran commented.  “If it’s a small price to pay, then it would be worth taking the risk for, don’t you think?”

I swallowed, remembering the details of our earlier encounter with my sister.  “I also noticed that… her maid, Isobel, was standing in one corner, her eyes closed shut, as if she was praying.  She never attended to my sister.  And knowing Medea, she would be mad if a servant did not attend to her right away…”

Isobel has always been my sister’s maid since we were young.  While she was almost our age, her lowly birth and rank as an Omega became the reason why she became a lady’s companion.

Medea has never been fond of her.  I would often meddle between them whenever she was punishing her over something so small, and Medea would always get mad at me for interfering.  Strangely, despite changing her companions more often as the moon changed phases, she never replaced Isobel.  Not even once.

“And Augustus.  His eyes…”

“He looked enchanted,” Kieran commented.  “An enchantment strong enough to rival a siren’s.”

“How can you be so sure?” I asked.  “For all we know, he might be toying with us.  After all, he’s been shifting between being a murderous killing machine and this teary-eyed hound.”

Kieran didn’t answer.  He just pulled out something from his pocket and showed me a few strands of Augustus’s hair.  “I plucked this out of that bastard’s head earlier.  I could smell his wolf scent earlier.  It smelled sickly sweet and rotten.  We can send these hairs back to Uncle Reuben and have these tested for traces of enchantment.”

As he was handing me the strands of hair, the car swerved to the right, sending me towards Kieran’s direction.  I felt a strong blow on my forehead as I slammed against his body.  He caught me, and as he tried to push me away, he glanced at Lind in the driver’s seat, visibly shaking.

“Lind? What’s wrong?” he asked, before letting me go.  However, before he could ask Lind further, a massive force hit the roof of our car, clearly coming from a four-legged creature, as its feet left distinct four indentations on the roof.

A massive black wolf stood in the middle of the road, as if waiting for us to pass by.  He was wearing a military sash with a distinct insignia that I could never forget.  An insignia with the symbol of a lock and a key.

My family’s insignia.

I heard Kieran chuckle as he crunched his knuckles.  “Looks like your family really wanted to throw you a welcome home party, Hestia…”