Chapter 42
Kieran’s P.O.V
I watched gloomily at Elena’s retreating back as she disappeared out of sight. *Had I gone too far? Was the love of my life leaving me?* A sharp pain ripped across my chest at this thought just as I could feel my wolf howling in horror. *‘Go after her and make things right!’* he whined pitifully. *‘No, she is right. She needs to calm down.’ ‘You don’t want to lose her!’ ‘No, I know but I need to give her space. I can only do what she asks. I respect her need for space. Besides, I need to find out what our dearest brother is doing back!’* Pushing my wolf back to the darkest crevices of my mind, I turned to face Carlton and scowled angrily.
“And what may the reason be for your appearance at my Palace,” I growled softly. “I thought I told you to get out. To the Black Diamond Palace to be exact!”
“Yes, you did, as it goes,” Carlton hummed excitedly but with a deathly tone to his voice, gesturing suggestively towards the Palace. “But as it seems, I have something very important to discuss with you. Shall we?”
“You can come inside,” I snarled, glaring at Davina in disgust. “But your dog can wait outside!”
“Oh no, that simply won’t do!” Carlton replied in barely a whisper. “Whatever needs to be said, can be said in front of her. She is with me now so she is included in our conversation.”
“Davina is your Mate?” I spluttered in shock, glancing at a smug Davina angrily. “No! she can’t be! I can’t feel or smell your bond?”
“That’s the thing. Davina isn’t my Mate. Not really,” Carlton chuckled. “You see, I have fallen in love with Davina, just as you have very clearly fallen in love with Elena. I plan on marrying the girl and making her my wife!”
“What about your Mate?” I asked, surprised, looking across at an eager-looking Davina who had sidled up to Carlton and desperately hung off his arm. “You will find her one day and you will no longer want, this thing! Are you sure you’re doing the right thing?”
“I don’t care for silly Mate bonds,” scoffed Carlton loudly while pulling Davina closer to him. “In my eyes, Davina is my Mate. She is gorgeous, has a smoking hot body and she sends me to places I never knew existed, bedroom wise. Now, are you going to let us in or we can just have this conversation outside, in front of everybody.”
“As I said, your dog can wait outside,” I repeated, glaring at Davina once more. “She is no longer welcome inside this Palace. Count herself lucky that she is still standing in my courtyard!”
“Very well! Have it your way then,” smiled a bemused Carlton. “Then let me remind you of a special agreement that currently overhangs this Palace. Our grandmother’s final will!”
“What about it?” I shrugged casually. “The will is null and void. I’ve kicked you out of the Palace. It doesn’t apply no more.”
“Oh, but it does!” sniggered Carlton, who was rubbing his hands gleefully. “You see, I am still second in line to the throne and second in line to this kingdom, regardless of you throwing me out. As you are aware, granny knew that I was our father’s favourite son and wanted me to be Alpha just as much as our father did!”
“Our ‘granny’ was a tyraness! She was just as bad as our dear old Dad,” I scoffed angrily, feeling hatred bubbling through me. “She hated our mother and she hated the fact that I turned out to be just like her! That’s why she wrote her will the way she did! She knew that if I failed to abide by the terms, then everything would go to you! It was the only legal way of getting me thrown out of the line of succession!”
“Exactly! Ahh, you’re getting it! Well done!” smirked Carlton sarcastically while clapping slowly in mock admiration. “Now we have the technicalities out of the way, I’d like to point out a small minute detail that you may have overlooked.”
“And that is what exactly?” I yawned, becoming bored of my brother and his dog of a fiancée who was clinging onto him for dear life. “I have overlooked nothing. You need to understand that the kingdom is mine and will always be mine!”
“Well from my calculations, you only have fifteen days, give or take, to find yourself a wife and become married,” grinned Carlton, before looking excitedly at Davina, who beamed back with sly, glinting eyes. “And you have only eight or nine months left to produce your heir. It doesn’t look like you’re going to stop shagging your bedmaiden anytime soon, so please brother, do us all a favour. Step down and let me take control of the kingdom from here. Then you and your little whore can run off into the sunset and everyone will be happy!”
“I see. Well, I guess you are right on one aspect, Carlton,” I nodded while crossing my arms and frowning in thought. “How silly of me to lose track of such precious time. I see now that I’m in a bit of a predicament. How on earth am I going to find a wife and be married to her in fifteen days? And even then, there is no time left to produce a healthy heir in the remaining timescale given. Maybe you are right, Carlton, after all!”
“You see, I am doing you a favour, dear brother,” Carlton whispered carefully, while eyeing me up gleefully. “If you just leave quietly, without making a fuss and surrender yourself to me, no one will be none the wiser. I’ll leave you alone, you’ll leave me alone and everyone can be happy.”
“Yes, I agree,” I nodded in mock approval. “Only, there is one slight problem with all of this. There is one thing that you have both overlooked. One tiny minute detail that ruins everything and throws your grand plans way out of the window!”
“And what may that be, brother?” scoffed Carlton in amusement. “I can assure you. I’ve gone over this entire plan with a fine-toothed comb. I am sure as sure that I have not missed anything. Don’t delay this! This just makes you look weak! Leave now while you still have your integrity intact!”
“Well the thing is this,” I replied, looking at Carlton and Davina coldly, struggling to hide my laughter. “If you two hadn’t been so enveloped in your own dark cloud of hatred and jealousy, you would have realised that Elena and I are actually Mated for life. You would have smelt and detected the bond that we both shared. Our bond is the reason why I didn’t have her killed, as you suggested, the night she was bought before us, battered and bruised down in the city.”
“Mated!? Are you even kidding me right now?” roared Carlton enthusiastically, before covering his face with his hands and chuckling loudly into them. “Ahh, Jesus Christ! You’re not even kidding me, are you! Haha! What are the chances that the purest of blood, the one, and mighty Alpha Prince, has fallen for a lowly, dirty sex slave! This gets better and better! You should have just killed her to rid yourself of the shame!”
“I didn’t kill her because I could smell her coming a mile away!” I growled threateningly, my anger returning at Carlton’s harsh words towards my Mate. “Her blood is like a drug to me. I cannot get enough of her! I just wish I could have saved her from getting beaten! And for your information, Elena has never been my sex slave! I’ve made love to her from day one!”
“You’re making a big mistake,” Carlton warned gravely, pointing a long white finger towards me. “You’re bringing shame to this family! Elena is weak and unworthy of ever being Queen! But it doesn’t matter. You even said it yourself! You don’t have time to marry her and impregnate her! It’s game over for both of you!”
“Don’t you dare disrespect Elena in front of me!” I roared furiously, leaping towards Carlton and flinging him against a Palace wall by his neck, while Davina pleaded pathetically behind me. “Elena is beautiful! She is delicate and she is pure like the while lillies that grow on the valley lakes. She completes me and I cannot live without her beside me! And now you mention my grandmother’s will, I have an announcement to make!”
“What’s that?” choked Carlton desperately as he fell to the floor in a tangled heap as I let him go. “Enough already! Nothing you will say will change my mind. Just accept that you have lost and go!”
I shook my head in disbelief, hatred, and anger at my brother, who was lying pathetically in the dirt while Davina cooed and pampered over him. They had both underestimated me and I couldn’t wait to see their faces when I finally revealed my news. I knew that my revelations would secure my place as Alpha and I couldn’t wait to banish my brother and his lapdog from my kingdom permanently. Turning to face the crowd, who had been surveying the conflict in awe and shock, I coughed loudly.
“Ahem, ladies and gentlemen. I do apologise for you having to witness such family discussions so publicly. It is not in my nature to allow allegations such as these to become public knowledge, but unfortunately, my brother left me no choice,” I commanded loudly while looking over a sea of hesitant faces. “But I have an announcement to make, that will not only make for a joyous celebration but also secure my place as Alpha!”
“Oh, just get on with it!” spat Carlton behind me angrily. “I want you out of my kingdom!”
“Fine, have it your way then,” I grinned excitedly. “I’d like to announce that I intend to marry Elena in the next week and that my bride-to-be is also expecting my first child!”