Chapter 31: The Rogue King

**Raegan**

Kai didn't leave Colorado. I should have known better. Sending out re-inforcments to Stone Moon just left the palace a little less defended. The King got up, and set me on my feet before moving to the door to his office, and I followed.

He was rushing through the halls, his eyes fogging over every now and again to mindlink his staff and manage the emergency shut down.

"I want you to go back to our floor--" He started when we reached the foyer of the palace.

I shook my head, "I can help. Don't make me use my Alpha Tone on you to let me go."

He pulled his lip in between his teeth and looked me up and down.

"Look, you can use all the paws you can get--" I started to say, but the sound of heavy breathing and loud footsteps cut me off. I turned around to see Shawn, Morgan, and Cris descending the stairs haggardly.

"What can we do to help, your Majesty?" Morgan asked, bent over slightly in mild exertion.

The King dragged his hand down his face as he assessed the four of us. I clasped my hands behind my back and bowed my head at him, awaiting orders.

Then more footsteps sounded, and the foyer was drenched in the powerful auras of several Alphas.

Cassian. Dimitri. Grace. Noelle. Laila. Colin. Renald. Tony.

"Your Majesty," they all greeted in broken unison.

The King let out a grunt, then sighed, "if you're looking to help defend the Palace, follow me. Otherwise get back to your suite and lock your doors and windows."

His voice rang through the room loudly, but nothing followed aside from the now even breathing of the over dozen wolves standing there.

He cleared his throat, and the guards opened the doors. We all followed him outside quickly, and soon wolves started shifting.

He took my hands in his, "you can ride me there, and I expect you to stay close to me when we get there." I nodded, though it annoyed me that he doubted my capability just because I hadn't shifted yet.

He took off his shirt, and his trousers just as the other wolves had, leaving him in his boxers, before the sound of his bones cracking filled the air.

When he was shifted, I admired his wolf form, and judging from the way he shook it out, he enjoyed that I was admiring it. He was a wonderful array of dark browns with red and gold all blended into one coat. He was large too, not as large as Morgan's wolf, but large. He easily put to shame a good handful of these Alphas in pure size alone. His eyes flashed between green and gold, a new color to add to my list of things about him that made me curious. He nudged my palm with his wet nose, and I nodded, moving to sit atop him as he crouched low to the ground for me.

When I was on top of him, I gripped his fur gently, and lowered my torso flush against his chest. He looked back at the other wolves around us and let out a bark. As we reached the treeline, more wolves joined us, and I knew they were guards by the way that they fell in sync around us and acted as a bubble.

Morgan and Shawn ran alongside the King, flanking his left and right. Morgan glanced at me a few times, and let his jaw fall open to stick his tongue out and let it flow with the breeze, a playful glint in his eye. I rolled my eyes at him as he gave me a wolf grin, and turned his attention ahead.

The presence of these Alphas and guards momentarily had me question where The King's inner circle was. Cassian was here, but the Second and her mate weren't anywhere to be seen. I brushed it off, assuming they were helping back at the palace.

As we reached the boarder, the sight of over fifty rogues facing down nearly a hundred guards all in wolf form came into view. I gasped, and scanned through the rogues. I recognized most of them immediately, and as we got closer, Kai stepped out of the throngs of the wolves in his human form.

I gripped the King's fur tighter, and leaned closer to his body as he growled. Our group slowed to a walk as we got closer to the guards. The guards bowed their heads in respect and submission as the King strolled through them to stand in front of them all. Morgan, Shawn, and Cassian trailed directly behind him, all three had their hackles raised and were growling softly at the sight before us.

"I see you've brought my mate back to me," Kai said, standing up straight and looking down his nose at us. I'm sure if he was tall enough he would try to look down on us from up high too, but even in wolf form, The King towered over him.

The King snarled, and his lips pulled back to reveal his canines at the Prince.

"Hand her over, and we won't have to use force." Kai said, tilting his head to the side as he looked at me. A sinister smirk on his lips.

Morgan growled loudly at him, snapping his jaws.

Cassian prowled forward to stand at the King's side.

The wolves before us all crouched to the ground, their hackles rising. They were given the okay to get ready for the fight.

I swallowed thickly, and slid off of the King's back. I summoned all of the magic in my blood that I could, and created an invisible physical barrier between them, and us. I didn't want any casualties on my hands. It would be my fault if any of them died.

"Go home, Kai," I snapped at him while I internally muttered the spell that raised the barrier.

He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, "I'm not going anywhere without my mate." He extended his hand out towards me.

I glared at it like it had personally killed my grandmother and tore my garden to shreds.

"Raegan, do you really want all of their blood on your hands?" He gestured to the wolves around me, and batted his lashes, "I would hate to see you so torn with guilt. Come with me, and you won't have to see their souls leave their bodies to join our Goddess all in the name of keeping what is mine from me."

"I'm not yours," I snapped, and Morgan crowded closer to me, sandwhiching me between his wolf and the King's wolf.

"You are my betrothed, dearest," Kai smiled, "of course you're mine."

The King growled, turning a little to cover my body from Kai's line of sight. It was a warning. A warning to back off before he pounced.

I looked through the throng of wolves once more, and I saw Carson and Gabe making their way towards Kai. I clenched my jaw at the sight of Carson beside Kai once more. The King was right. I couldn't trust him. I internally kicked myself for delluding myself to trust he had better intentions than he actually did.

Kai simply sighed, and rolled his neck, he raised his fist so that it was beside his head, then he opened it so that his palm was facing us, and his wolves rushed forward. I closed my eyes as I braced for their impact on my barrier, and the second that the first dozen wolves collided with it, I fell to my knees.

They whimpered as they fell back, and retreated to their uniform lines. Kai sighed.

"I hate to see you in pain, my love," Kai said, and from where I could see him underneath my mate's wolf form, he was crouching to get eye level with me again.

"I won't let you hurt them," I gritted out.

He sighed again, and looked to a wolf somewhere behind him, jerking his head towards me.

My mate lowered his body so that he covered me again, and turned his head to nudge me. A silent ask for my wellbeing.

I nodded, assuring him I was fine, and rose to my feet once more, leaning against his body for support.

"Get her," Kai said softly, and the wolf who he'd looked to earlier started walking forwards.

I braced myself for impact on the barrier again, but as the wolf approached it, nothing happened, and it was as if the barrier wasn't there at all. The wolf moved right through it and stalked towards me and my mate.

My mate growled, and launched himself forward to the wolf, but instead of latching onto the wolf, he was thrown aside by magic.

I gasped, and looked over to the King. He laid on his side, whining softly.

Morgan quickly took his place in front of me, and the guards descended on the wolf. Grace and Dimitri joined Morgan in surrounding me, acting as a shield between me and the wolves that descended from the other side of the barrier. I hadn't felt it slip at all. When I searched for the spell that I'd done in my mind, it was still in tact. It didn't make sense for the wolves to suddenly be able to go through it. My eyes locked on the wolf who had just walked through. It prowled towards me still, and any wolf that got near it was tossed aside just as the King was.

I glared, and let the barrier spell drop so I could refocus my energy on decyphering what made that wolf untouchable.

"Don't let them near me," I told Morgan's wolf softly, and got down to kneel and entangle my fingers in the dead leaves and pine needles around me.

I closed my eyes and started the new spell. The one that broke spells around you and detangled them in front of your eyes so you knew both who cast the spell and what the spell was.

I made quick work of reaching for the spell that was eminating from the wolf. Just as I managed to reach it, it shot out and spread to every one of the wolves that Kai had brought, including Kai.

I huffed, and started to unwind the thickest strand of it. The one between the wolf and Kai.

As I picked it apart, I got the information that I didn't necessarily need. The witch who cast the spell. What the spell was.

I felt anger ripple through me at the realization that the witch who'd set it was my fucking cousin.

I pulled apart the last strands of it, and just as it severed between Kai and the wolf, the rest of the lines coiled in on each other and faded along with it.