SWNOVELS Chapter 19
Chapter 19 “You’re just as bad as she is!” Kelly roared and jumped to her feet. “What is this all about?” Blake asked, tilting his head to the side. Kelly clamped her mouth shut. I sighed and shook my head. “A friendly maid conversation,” I smiled. “Oh?” Blake raised his chin. He got me. Kelly shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Nora has been keeping secrets and telling lies. She shouldn’t be your wife!” “Secrets and lies?” Blake said slowly. He turned to me now, arching an eyebrow. I shrugged. “Nothing you don’t already know.” “Hmm.” “You know!?” Kelly screamed at Blake. She threw her hands in the air and started pacing. “What did you hope to accomplish by threatening and degrading my wife?” Blake crossed his arms and glared at Kelly. “Well, then I should just tell the whole kingdom about the two of you! They’ll betray you and I’ll be seen as the hero.” Kelly smirked at both of us. Blake growled and took a menacing step toward Kelly. Her smile faded instantly and she took a half step back. “It sounds like you’re threatening me, the Lycan King, your king,” he snarled in a low, deep voice. Kelly swallowed audibly and stepped back again, colliding with her vanity. “1-1…” I smiled inwardly. Kelly was rash and impulsive and now it was getting her in trouble. “Let her threaten you. She’s a criminal anyway,” I said. I went to Kelly’s dresser and pulled out the letters I’d found while cleaning. “Hey! Those are my private property!” Kelly snapped. She tried walking toward me but Blake growled and she froze in place. “What are those?” Blake demanded, turning his attention to me. “Letters between Kelly and your uncle. Recent letters.” I handed the stack to Blake. “My uncle is dead.” Blake creased his brow as he took the letters. “Not according to these,” I said. “Apparently, there was some kind of uprising, and his death was reported once it was over. In reality, his loyal followers exiled him and Kelly has been in constant contact with him since. She’s still loyal to him.” Blake sniffed and fl*pped through the letters. He read through several of them, his frown deepening with each letter as he tossed the ones he read aside. “He’s alive,” Blake muttered. “And you knew that and hid the truth from me?” “No. This isn’t what it looks like. I wasn’t betraying you, I was betraying him. He thought I was loyal to him but I’ve only ever served the crown and your family,” Kelly insisted. She dropped to her knees and bowed at Blake’s feet. “Get up,” Blake snapped with a disgusted scoff and nudged her with his foot. Kelly looked up at him with big, watery eyes. “A four–year–old could fake better tears,” I rolled my eyes. “Shut up!” Kelly growled at me. “So, the truth comes out. Kelly, you’re working for my uncle. You’re conspiring with my enemy and you have the audacity to live under my roof and claim that you’re loyal to my family? After everything he did!” Blake held the letters up for emphasis. He closed his eyes and let out a long, deep sigh. “I’m sorry, Blake. You know what he’s like. You know how convincing and charming he can be. This isn’t my fault. He tricked me,” Kelly whined. I scoffed and shook my head. “And you accused me of having secrets.” “I don’t care why you did it or what you were trying to accomplish. Communicating with anyone that has been exiled, especially an enemy of the crown, is treason,” Blake said, flicking the letters and making a sharp “pop” as the paper snapped. “No.” Kelly shook her head again and again.. “You know what the punishment for treason is,” he said sternly. Blake stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled. Several armed guards stormed into the room. “How can we help. Your Majesty one of them asked. “Detain Kelly and bring her to the dungeons. She is being held for crimes against the crown, and treason. I will deal with her Without question, the guards moved in and put handcuffs on Kelly. They dragged her out of the room. She struggled and whined but she didn’t beg or plead. “What are you going to do with her?” I questioned, moving closer to Blake, “Get what information I can out of her. Then, we’ll see,” he said somberly. “Blake, I.. I’m sorry it came to this.” I looked down at my feet. Blake touched my check lightly. “Don’t be. I knew I couldn’t trust her. Do you have a moment?” “Sure.” Blake put his hand on the small of my back and guided me from Kelly’s quarters. We went down the corridor to his office. He stepped away from me immediately and went to his desk, sitting on the desktop, facing me. His office was a large, round room with wood–paneled walls and bookshelves behind the desk. There were some portraits hanging of regal–looking men standing in them. Possibly former kings. It was musty and smelled like cigars and whiskey. It wasn’t the most female–friendly room.
I imagined many of the Lycan Kings had indulged in smoking and drinking as they poured over maps and conducted pack business. “Thank you for helping to expose Kelly’s crimes,” Blake started, motioning to a chair. I sat down slowly, wondering why we had to come to his office to talk. “It’s nothing.“1 shook my head. “I only went along with her because I knew I could use it to get to the truth.” “That was very clever.” He nodded and smiled appreciatively at me. I smiled back, my cheeks getting hot from his praise. I gripped the armrests of the chair. “So, you said you wanted to talk?” I asked, reminding him why we were here. Blake nodded again and stood from his desk. He walked around to the other side and spread his hands over a map that covered his desk. “You know that Moonery pack is part of my kingdom, right?” he asked, pointing to Moonery territory. The map outlined all the smaller pack territories and showed how far Blake’s kingdom really stretched. “I know that,” I nodded. “I’ve done my research and I uncovered more about what is going on in Moonery than I anticipated. In particular, I’ve been following the movements of that friend of yours, what was her name?” he asked. Snap. Snap. Snap. He snapped his fingers at me. “Helen,” I offered. “That’s the one,” he said, pointing at me. “She’s been very busy. You told me she gave you a drink on your birthday, right?” “She did. She said it was special to her pack but I don’t remember what she said it was,” I sighed and twisted my hands in my lap. “I believe that is how she stole your wolf,” Blake told me. My eyes snapped to him. “You think she did it on purpose?” “I do. She is the only one you came in contact with that acted suspiciously. I don’t know all the methods for stealing someone’s wolf but there are potions and elixirs that can cause it,” he explained. “But why would she? We were friends..” I asked the question more to myself. “Well, she is now mate bonded to the next Alpha of Moonery. That is a large benefit, isn’t it?” he queried, arching an eyebrow. I sighed and nodded. “But Jeremy and I didn’t even know we were mates until the night she gave me the drink. She would have had to plan it for a while, right?” “Does that matter?” Blake asked. I paused and shook my head. The “why” didn’t matter that much. All that mattered was that Helen had stolen my wolf. She’d purposefully done this to me and bent Jeremy to her will. I hadn’t wanted to believe it before. There was a large part of me that still didn’t want to believe it. “Unfortunately, beyond figuring out who was responsible, I haven’t been able to learn anything else. I don’t know if anyone else was involved, say, for instance, Jeremy.” Blake eyed me carefully. “You think…” I gasped and shook my head. “No, he wouldn’t have done this. Not to me.” Blake pursed his l*ps and gave a one–shouldered shrug. “Just something to consider.” “What are we going to do now?” I looked hopefully at Blake. He wouldn’t have called me into his office if all he had was a dead end. “I declared war on Moonery pack,” Blake stated nonchalantly. “Wh–what!?” I snapped. I jumped up and started pacing back and forth, shoving my hands in my pockets. “You declared war? That’s… no. That’s not right.” “Nora, it is the only way to get answers. Besides, it will force Jeremy to come here and discuss terms,” Blake explained. I shot a look at him and then started pacing again. I didn’t want Moonery to suffer because of what Helen did. She wasn’t even a true member of Moonery. She’d been raised in the pack as a prisoner of war from another pack to help maintain peace. 1 still had friends in Moonery that didn’t deserve to get caught up in her drama. “Blake, a war will hurt a lot of people, people that I care about.” I stopped pacing and sighed as I turned to him. He smirked. “No one wants to be at war with the Lycan King. Trust me, this will get results.” “I don’t know,” I said, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. It didn’t sound like a good idea to me. I wasn’t a queen and I wasn’t a luna, so what did I really know about leadership? A declaration of war seemed so serious and final. It wasn’t just Moonery pack that was in danger. Blake was putting his own people at risk just to fulfill his contract with me. “I wish there was another way for you to help me. I don’t like the idea of having a war for our contract,” I admitted. Blake chuckled and shook his head. “I told you, no one wants to be at war with the Lycan King. Jeremy and his father will come to negotiate. They’ll want to resolve this peacefully. I hold all the power in this situation and I will use it.” “The war is a bluff then?” I cocked my head to the side. “As long as they cooperate, which they will,” Blake assured, tapping the map with his fingertip. “You’re a lot smarter than I’ve been giving you credit for,” I chuckled. Blake creased his brow. “That’s not a compliment, is it?”