Sins Among Royals

As the ceremonies came to an end and the moon sank over distant hills everyone retired for the night. Poppy had gone with Leo, both of them still I’m shock at Noah’s sudden decision. As were many others. Indie sulked off towards the bedroom, how could he have been so hasty?

When she reached the room she noted Noah’s absence which made her sigh in relief. She washed and quickly dressed herself for bed and when she climbed between the sheets and nodded off to sleep Noah’s absence still hadn’t been filled.

The sun rose on a new day and many of the guests that had been to Blackwood for the ceremonies began making their way home back to their own packs and territories. Some only had a short distance to travel and others had longer and despite the troubles and chaos that had ensued, it ended well.

Climbing from her bed and rubbing her eyes Indie washed and dressed quickly. She wanted to talk to Noah about his decision and wanted to see if she could persuade him to change his mind.

Before she was fully dressed however she heard a light tap at the door. “Just a minute,” she called in return. Pulling a shirt over her head she tucked the front of it into her jeans and stuffed her feet into a pair of summery sandals. Pulling her hair back harshly she secured it with a hair tie and bounced towards the door.

She pulled it open and stepped out into the hallway where she was confronted with a very nervous looking Wade and Amber.

“Oh just the person I wanted to see!” Indie smiled as she walked towards the pair.

“You have to convince Master Noah to change his mind about me being named Beta.” Wade blurted out before Indie could say anything else. His haste in speaking somewhat stunned her into silence.

“Wait,” she began a little confused, “that’s what I was going to say. Why don’t you just tell him yourself?” If he didn’t want to be Beta she knew Noah would likely take the news better from the man himself rather than her trying to convince him.

“You don’t think I should be Beta?” Wade asked with a lopsided grin on his face.

“No it isn’t like that,” Indie responded quickly. She couldn’t quite read the expression on his face but she didn’t think he was too mad about what she had said. “I just don’t want Poppy to move all the way across country,” a frown pressed at her brows harshly at the thought. Although she and Poppy had an unconventional friendship that sometimes bordered on frenemies, it had been a friendship that endured many difficult things. “I don’t think Noah really thought it through properly.” She mumbled

“Good,” Wade smiled, “well then we both have our selfish reasons to want to change his mind!”

Indie noticed Amber standing silently, she looked nervous and pale, “what is your reasoning to not want to be Beta then Wade?” Indie grinned at her question, it seemed as though Wade thought he wouldn’t have to explain himself.

He glanced back at Amber a short while before looking back at Indie, “I suppose there’s no use lying.” He motioned towards Amber as she closed the distance between them. Wade put his arm around her affectionately and gave her a gentle squeeze, “We want to start a family.”

The news cometary shocked Indie and was not what she had been expecting. Her shock however soon turned to joy. “You can have a family if you’re Beta!” She exclaimed loudly, “I’m sure I can persuade Noah to send Poppy and Leo somewhere closer...” she trailed off as Wade shook his head.

“I don’t want to be Beta.” He responded firmly. “I want to be free to enjoy my family and watch them grow without the responsibility of answering to Master Noah.”

It was a very reasonable request but a pang of sadness filled Indie, “so no matter what I’ll lose someone out of this anyway?” She frowned at the thought of it all.

“I’m sorry Indie but we need this. We’ve both spent a lot of time in service.” Amber stepped forward. “If things don’t work out then we will be back but we want to at least try and live normally first.”

Indie couldn’t help but smile sadly, “it’s alright. You don’t need to explain yourselves. I’m sure Noah will understand.” She thought it was a rather wonderful thing that Amber and Wade had found love with each other. There had been so much darkness in their lives that the thought of them starting a family filled her with joy.

The trio quickly headed off to find Noah and were in no way surprised to bump into Leo and Poppy along the way. Leo was still tense and he growled when he saw Wade, it was Indie that had to step between them to stop what may have been an ugly scene. “He doesn’t want the Betaship Leo, they both want to leave service.”

The short explanation did little to ease Leo’s anger. Even if Wade didn’t want to do it Leo was still second choice. He just didn’t understand why Noah wouldn’t pick him.

Knocking at the door of the office the small group heard Noah’s muffled voice call back. Leo pushed the door open and they all entered the extravagant office and spied Nathaniel lurking in the shadows.

“What is it?” Noah asked rather uninterested in what they wanted.

“About your abrupt decision last night,” Indie began slowly.

“My decision is final. Does someone have a problem with it?” He asked casting his gaze low over the group. Something in the way he spoke struck everyone as odd and even the look on his face seemed a little uncharacteristic but Indie and the others put it down to lack of sleep.

“Can we not express our wishes and desires?” Indie countered as Noah looked up at her blankly.

“No,” he responded flatly. The entire group seemed rather deflated and astonished at Noah’s abruptness.

“Why not?!” Indie demanded quickly. She didn’t like the tone of voice he had with her and she wasn’t going to let it go. The fact that he wasn’t willing to listen bothered her even more. “I’m supposed to be your mate! Your Queen and instead of being on the same page as you and making decisions with you, you are treating me like I’m invisible. Why?”

Noah took a deep breath and stood from his seat. He walked calmly around to the side of his desk and leaned against it, “it doesn’t concern you.” He then smirked and crossed his arms. “Now which one of you has a problem with my decision?” Indie hated the way he was looking at them, as if none of them mattered to him.

“They all have a problem with it!” Indie screamed in return. “Leo has been your third in command and deserves a chance to be your Beta while Wade and Amber want to leave service and start a family. Are you going to deny what they want?” She tried reasoning with him but saw a glazed look cover his face as her words sunk in.

“Master Noah,” Nathaniel interrupted quickly. He saw the tension that was rising in the group and he didn’t like it. He’d been observing Noah all night and had noticed the change in him too. “Perhaps it is time for you to retire and rest for a couple of hours? Fresh eyes cast across the matter may make you see it in a new light.”

To Indies astonishment Noah agreed and ignored everyone as he left the office quickly. Everyone was stunned in to silence. “What the hell just happened?”

“I have been with him all night,” Nathaniel begun as his brows furrowed and knitted together in concern. “He has been overly worrying himself with his sisters diary, trying to understand what happened to make her so vile, so evil. Sometime after midnight something changed. His demeanor completely changed.” Nathaniel paused for a moment as he thought about it. “Be careful with how you approach him. His mental state is delicate and I believe he is on the verge of a break down.”

“So what do we do?” Indie asked quickly. Though she was still mad at him she understood. Noah had lost everything and now had to pick up the mess. Surely that was doing something to him. A very small part of her felt bad for yelling at him but she didn’t let herself dwell on the thought for too long.

“Carry on normally and be there for him when he reaches out to you,” Nathaniel moved from one dark corner to another. Though the sun shone outside all the curtains in the office had been drawn shut and the dim light illuminating the office came mostly from the fire that roared ferociously in the hearth and the small wall sconces dotted about the room. “It will take him time but do not force him in to something he is not ready for. When the time comes he will realise his error.”

“Can’t you do anything?” Indie pressed her ancestor for answers.

“It is not my place to intervene.” Was his response.

“But you intervened when he was dying. You intervened when my wolf was out of control, you intervened and took part of my life juice for Noah!” Indie responded sternly, “don’t tell me it isn’t your place to intervene!”

Much to everyone’s surprise Nathaniel chuckled, “so reliant on me to fix things already.” Soon he appeared from the shadows and moved towards Indie who felt everything become shaky and unsteady. She cast a quick glance to everyone else but they seemed fine. When she turned back Nathaniel stood in front of her, his cold gaze piercing her soul. “I did what I had to in order to save your life and his life. Do you want to see how the fight with Ebony would have ended?”

Before Indie could say anything Nathaniel pressed his thumb against Indies forehead, between her brows. A searing pain shot through her entire body as she screamed and felt her body go limp.

Indie suddenly found herself standing at the side of the castle with Nathaniel, it was dark and the moon sat high in the sky. There she saw her beast form rushing towards Ebony and behind her a group of hunters rushed up with their guns drawn.

“You want to see how this ended?” He grinned mischievously at Indie as she noticed all figures had stopped. The eerie silence amplified by what she knew would be a horrific scene. “Do you want to see why I intervened here?”

Nathaniel didn’t wait for her to answer and instead he released the scene and watched Indie.

The gigantic beast rushed around the side of the building and towards Ebony but before one could reach the other a group appeared. Hunters had their weapons drawn and began firing. Indies beast fell first, its body riddled with bullets that leaked a shiny, silvery substance. It died instantly meaning Indie would have been no more.

Next were all those gathered in the castle grounds. Ebony dropped like a sack of bricks. A single bullet to her head. They swept through the castle quickly killing everyone where they stood, sat or cowered. They were ruthless and Indie felt tears spring to her eyes. How could anyone be so cruel?

“I’ve seen enough,” Indie murmured as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“You see now why I intervened?” Nathaniel pulled his thumb away from her forehead as she nodded slowly. “Next time you choose to question me, think carefully.” He warned her rather sternly. “If Noah gets any worse I may step in to help but right now it isn’t my place to offer an easy fix. He needs rest and care and to be reminded that he has people around him that love, admire and respect him. He will realise what he’s done but you can’t and shouldn’t force him. You need to understand that you can’t just demand anything from him Indie. Not when he has so much to deal with.”

Nathaniel then disappeared as the others began moving and looking around the room oddly. “What just happened?” She heard Poppy call out in confusion.

“I think we all need to accept Noah’s decision for now, at least till after his parents funeral.” There was more confusion at Indies words. “Look! I think we all need to remind ourselves of what he’s lost recently. Our problems and your issues are minor in comparison so lets just cool it for a while and talk about it later. Alright?”

“But what about us!” Leo scolded her. “We’re supposed to be leaving in a couple of days.”

“Just move into the apartment he brought me! But seriously Leo. You still have all of your family don’t you?” Indie asked as Leo nodded his head. “Yeah well Noah went from a family of four to just himself and he’s inherited three kids and all you have to deal with is moving across country.”

A grim look pressed against Leo’s features, “shit,” he muttered.

It seemed everyone had gotten so caught up in their selfish desires that they forgot about what was important.