Chapter 31
The room fell to a deathly silence as everyone gasped at the Alpha Prince in shock. Once a kind, quiet but caring man, now a strong, determined Prince who was willing to take a stand now sat before them. What had Elena done to this man? Before she turned up, the Prince wouldn’t dare kill anyone or make a spectacle of someone. But now, Elena was very much his everything. He had her tormentors ripped apart by bloodthirsty wolves and he threw all of his hand-picked maidens away like trash to the highest bidder without a single trace of remorse. Now, he vowed to hunt down Elena’s grandmother’s killer and send them to an awful death.
“My dear brother,” Carlton sneered, finally breaking the silence. “You are a man of all word. You never have or never will act upon your words. Unlike me, however. You are too nice and too gentle for your own good.”
“I am a changed man,” Kieran declared loudly, shooting his brother daggers. “Elena means the world to me and no one will dare hurt her or upset her. I’ve been too soft for a while. If only I’d been stronger then maybe our mother would have survived. I may have lost her, but I’m not losing Elena!”
“Our mother was weak,” mocked Carlton spitefully. “She couldn’t see that what father was doing was for the greater good of the kingdom. You are so much like her it is unreal. That is why our father couldn’t stand you! He always wished that I was born first!”
“Get out!” roared Kieran angrily, standing up abruptly and facing his brother. “Take your haggle of whores, your crew of unruly ministers and get out of my Palace!”
“You’re throwing me out,” Carlton whispered incredulously. “But this is my home. This is where I grew up! You can’t throw me out.”
“I can do what I like,” ordered Kieran loudly, his hand moving towards the hilt of his sword. “I’ve had a gutful of you and your attitude. Get your things and get out. I’m dishonouring you. You are no longer my brother!”
“But where am I going to go?” pleaded Carlton desperately. “I’m a Prince of Royal blood. You can’t just throw me out onto the streets!”
“I’m sure that when our father died, you inherited the Black Diamond Palace from him on the edge of our kingdom,” spat Kieran loudly. “I’m sure you and your whores will be quite comfortable there. Now get out! All of you before I call the wolves to come and get you out!”
Silently, I lifted my gaze and watched as Carlton glared across at me andkierna before storming down towards the double doors. Marching past his girls, he muttered one inaudible word, which sent them all scurrying after him. A couple of Carlton’s private guards and right-hand men stood up and swiftly left the room without acknowledging the Prince and followed their exiled Prince.
“Reginald!” coughed Kieran loudly, who had sat back down in his throne and placed a finger to his lips thoughtfully. “I have a job for you!”
Reginald quickly scurried over from his guard spot behind Kieran and bowed respectively before saluting to attention. The rest of the room was still watching the events unfold in silence before them and you could hear a pin drop.
“Take your team of men and make sure that Carlton and his entourage leave the Palace,” Kieran ordered loudly. “They have half an hour from now to pack as much stuff as they can and then I want them gone. Spread the word to the rest of the guards that once they have left, I don’t want them stepping another foot in this Palace. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Reginald affirmed before saluting once more and turning to face the remaining golden guards. “You heard our King. Let’s go men!”
The room suddenly filled with the sound of clanking metal as the guards all marched out, one after another after Reginald and out of sight. Slowly, the room began to fill with excited whispers and hushed voices as the congregation began to speculate on what just happened. Sensing that Kieran was now becoming bored with the whole event, I turned to him and gently gripped his hand.
“You didn’t need to throw your brother out for me,” I murmured apologetically. “He was the only family you had left.”
“Hey, this isn’t your fault. Don’t you dare make this out to be your fault,” Kieran scolded gently. “It was a long time coming. I never had a good enough reason to throw him out. I’m not having him talk about our dead mother like that. He is as good as gone!”
“What can I do to make things better?” I whispered gently. “You seem bored and fed up!”
“I am bored actually if I am honest with you,” Kieran nodded thoughtfully while a cheeky grin grew over his face. “I know what I would like to do though that will cheer me up.”
“And what is that?” I replied innocently, blindly falling into his trap.
“I want to take you upstairs and fill you with my hard hot cock and fuck all my stress and worry away!”
Loudly, I spluttered in shock at his words and began choking on the orange juice that I was drinking. Blushing at his words, I turned around in horror at Brooke and Hollie who, luckily, hadn’t heard our conversation. Before I could reply to Kieran’s sultry demands, Hollie looked up at me and bit her lip worriedly.
“So what happens now?” she questioned loudly. “Carlton is finally gone, we have a murderer to find and a baby to protect.”
“Hollie, shh!” I exclaimed quickly. “Not so loud! I’m guessing I am going to have to go down into the city and visit Hattie’s apothecary and try to find out where the Deadly Nightshade came from.”
“I’ve already said that I don’t want Elena going down into the city,” growled Kieran. “It’s too dangerous, especially now that she is carrying my child.”
“Then come with me,” I pleaded with Kieran. “I’ll be safer if you come too. No one will dare come within two metres of me if you are beside me.”
“That is very true, but I can’t,” Kieran replied, shaking his head. “I have important meetings with the Commander General of the Bloodmoon Army all this week. The Army of the Jademoon Empire wants to Allie and join forces. That means an extra 16,000 men into our Army if we agree. He will be arriving tomorrow for discussions, so I’m sorry but I cannot go. Not this week.”
“Then Hollie and I will go with her,” Brooke piped up loudly. “Don’t worry, she will be absolutely safe with us, I promise. We won’t let anyone harm her!”
“I don’t think that is a good idea,” Kieran began before I quickly butted in and stopped him.
“Let us go. We will be fine,” I pleaded. “Besides, I need a break from this place. I have my wolf now and if we run into danger, we will shift and protect ourselves. Please. Let me down into the city!”
“You can’t shift!” Kieran exclaimed loudly before dropping his voice to a whisper. “You’re pregnant! Pregnant women aren’t allowed to shift until they have had the baby. Shifting could kill the baby.”
“Fine, but Hollie and Brooke can shift. Plus I’ll take Reginald and the other golden guards,” I argued back. “Now will you let us go?”
“Fine! Whatever!” Kieran replied, finally backing down. “But first, Elena and I have some private matters to attend to!”