79. LUCAS

“You can’t show up with a fucking army!” Nate hissed as he stormed closer.

He had changed his clothes but still had his sword strapped to his hips.

I flinched when my eyes locked with his. Nate was furious. I could tell by the way his eyes changed from normal to his dragon eyes.

“If you show up with an army, he’s going to think that you want to attack him.”

“I do because he tried to go after our mate,” I told him.

“Lucas, I promised Angel that we would try to talk things over before we kill anyone.”

I glared at him. “You made that promise not me.”

Nate took a step closer. I stood taller and turned to face him fully. His eyes darted over my face.

“You don’t only have a kingdom to think about, you have a mate as well.” He paused. “Everything you do reflects on her. If we can’t work this out then we will have to go to war and the chances of Angel getting hurt then is bigger.”

The tension drained from my body.

Letting out a sigh, I ran a hand through my hair as I turned away from him. He was right. I wasn’t really thinking about the consequences. All these years, I only had to think about the kingdom. But now things were different.

“She’s going to rule at our side,” Nate said softly. “We need to start taking her words into consideration.”

“I know.”

“Sutton just lost his mate. Try putting yourself in his shoes.”

I nodded.

My eyes darted around until I located Xavier.

“We’ll take the usual guards,” I muttered. “Mason should be able to handle things here.”

Nate didn’t look so sure, but he didn’t argue. I left him Nate to make all the arrangements. Once I was sure that Mason had a rundown on everything, Nate and I set out.

We reached Sutton’s palace just as the sun started to set.

I was on edge.

My relationship with him was rocky. We didn’t always see eye to eye, which was why we didn’t have a standing alliance, not on paper anyway.

We did what we had to for our kingdoms and that was it.

“Try to stay calm,” Nate said under his breath as one of his guards escorted us into the castle.

I pursed my lips and gave him a stiff nod.

No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t relax.

No guards were waiting around like there had been the first few times I visited his castle. My eyes darted around as we walked. I expected someone to jump out of the shadows to attack us.

But it didn’t happen.

The guard stopped in front of a dark oak door. He knocked twice, waited a few seconds, and then pushed the door open. Taking a step back, he bowed low and then hurried away.

I glanced at Nate.

He was frowning, but he said nothing as he took a step forward and entered the room. I entered immediately behind him, ready to have his back.

We both came to a shocked halt as our eyes locked on Sutton.

He sat behind his desk a glass bottle of whiskey open at his side and a half-empty glass in his hand. His eyes were red-rimmed and swollen, and his appearance was untidy.

“She’s not here,” he slurred.

“We know.”

He blinked slowly and then raised the glass to his lips.

I glanced at Nate.

What the hell was going on? I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

“You sent your men to kidnap her.”

“Not my men.” His eyes darted between us. “This is no longer my kingdom.”

“I don’t understand,” Nate muttered.

A tired sigh fell from Sutton’s lips. “I tried. I tried but I can’t. There’s no use living without my Macy by my side. Everything feels so wrong without her.”

He finished the liquid in his glass and reached for the bottle to refill it.

“It…hurts. I’m dead inside without my Macy. Everything is empty.”

Sympathy swelled inside me as I watched him.

“I understand how you feel,” Nate said softly.

The man laughed.

“We just found our mate and I can’t imagine a life without her. Our bond is not so strong yet, and despite what you’re thinking, we really do understand what you’re going through.” Nate took a step closer. “You’re in pain and you’re not thinking clearly.”

“I am,” he slurred. “You were supposed to storm in here, army and all to take me out. Your mate was supposed to be locked up somewhere in one of the rooms, but the men returned empty-handed.”

“It was Dorothy’s plan, wasn’t it?”

“She said she’d take care of everything.” He took another sip. “You were supposed to kill me. She’d take over the kingdom and go after you for justice. That’s what she said.”

“Mother is sick,” Nate said, making my eyes snap over to him.

His eyes caught mine for a few seconds and then locked on Sutton again.

“She refuses to get help. Somehow, she managed to get your men to free her from the cell we locked her up in after the episode she had.”

He stared at Nate and then slowly looked at me. His brows dipped into a frown.

“Mother is set on hurting Angel,” I said softly. “She wants her dead and we’re trying our best to keep her from doing that.”

“Why?”

I blinked at him. “Angel is human. She came through one of the portals a few months ago,” I told him. “Dorothy hates humans because of the past.”

“Is she like them?” he growled. “Like the humans from the past.” A haunted look entered his eyes. “I remember those days. A lot of our kind were killed.”

“Angel is nothing like them,” Nate said.

“She wasn’t born when we were at war,” I explained. “She’s an innocent. Angel was forced to enter the portal by some of her human friends. Prince Maurice found her and nursed her because she was injured.”

“How old is she?”

I froze, unsure why he would be asking that kind of question. It wasn’t like I could answer him either.

“She’s nineteen,” Nate answered.

Sutton nodded slowly. “Too young to be part of the war.”

“Mother doesn’t want Angel to be our queen. She claims that a human is not strong enough to lead us.”

“Angel is going to make a great queen,” I said softly.

“I know. I heard the rumors.”

Silence settled between us. I shifted from foot to foot. My eyes darted towards the open doorway but there was no movement in the hall. Xavier was keeping watch outside while the other guards waited by the car. We didn’t want anyone tampering with our transport.

“Is mother here?” Nate asked.

Sutton slowly nodded.

“I’ll take care of your people and your kingdom until you’re ready to step up again,” I offered.

Nate nodded. “You’re mourning. The last thing you need right now is to worry about other people.”

“In return for what?” he questioned.

Nate spoke before I could. “Hand our mother over to us.”