Sins Among Royals

Indie and Noah stayed in their room till the next morning, the evening was spent talking like they hadn’t done so before.

“Why would you think I would hate you?” Noah asked as the pair lay on the sofa in front of the fireplace.

The warmth generated between the two of them brought a serene calmness to Indie who couldn’t imagine herself anywhere better. A frown pressed against her features as she thought about his words. “I would hate me if I were in your shoes.” It was true. Indie was ashamed of some of the things she’d said to him and of how she had behaved but he seemed accepting of her regardless.

Noah chuckled softly and kissed the top of Indie’s head, “you care too much about what people think of you,” his arms tightened around.

Indie arched back to look up at him. “That is pretty much what my dad told me just before I came here.” A strange look passed through her curious features, “have the two of you been planning this or something.” All Noah could do was smile and pull her back down. He kissed the top of her head again as the pair lay still and unmoving on the sofa.

Silence fell over the pair again as the crackle and pop of the wood in the large, open fireplace sent little orbs of light floating up into the chimney. “Aunt Eliora and the children will arrive tomorrow.” Noah mumbled as he pulled one of his hands up and rested it behind his head.

“Will you tell them what happened?” She questioned him softly as she thought of Timothy, Ryan and Heidi. They had been through so much and there was still so much more they hadn’t been told. Indie worried for them and wondered how the boys would adjust to life without their mother.

“Maybe one day,” Noah responded quickly. He hadn’t given it much thought. “They don’t need to know what their mother did or that their father is dead. They just need to know that there are people around that love them.” He knew it was another life long commitment to make sure his two nephews and one niece grew up to be well rounded members of their world. He didn’t want another incident like the one they had just dealt with.

“Can I help?” Indie asked again as she wriggled out of Noah’s grasp and propped herself up.

He grinned at her, “if you’d like?” He chuckled then, “actually I think Heidi is rather fond of you so it’d be a great help if you took her under your wing.”

A sudden explosion of enthusiasm burst within the young woman. She thoroughly enjoyed Heidi and her quirkiness and she couldn’t wait to spend time with her. “What about the two boys?” She couldn’t help but feel that Timothy would hate her for the rest of his life but she was hopeful that Ryan would give her a chance.

Noah laughed, “let’s try one at a time. Once Heidi is settled in then we’ll try Ryan.” He sighed then, “both boys are still traumatised with what happened. It’ll take time for them to adjust.”

With a nod of her head Indie let go of her extreme desire to want to fix everything and she had to remind herself that she was not family to any of the children. Not yet.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you earlier.” She quickly steered the conversation in a new direction. “I was mad that you didn’t ask me for my opinion.” The truthfulness in her words was not lost on Noah as he sat a little straighter.

“Indie,” he sighed heavily. His shoulders slumping with the motion.

“I just don’t know why you’d pick Wade over Leo,” she tried to rationalise the thoughts in her head but she couldn’t. She didn’t understand.

Noah looked at her and just stared for a minute. He nudged her gently and she moved to sit upright. Noah stood from the sofa and walked towards the fire, his gaze fixed on the orange flame as it danced about the wood, scorching and burning every bit in its wake.

“Leo would make a great Beta to me,” Noah filled the silence, “but he has a lot to learn.” He turned to Indie with a deep frown marring his features. “There is a lot you don’t know about Leo and just because he’s mated to your best friend doesn’t change his past.” Indie was left stunned, she hadn’t given much thought to what Leo may have done before meeting Poppy. It seemed she hadn’t given much thought to anything at all.

“He is a great friend of mine, loyal and caring but much of that is recent.” Noah began pacing back and forth before the fireplace. “Once upon a time Leo and his family were among the lowest ranks of his pack and were treated very poorly. They moved to Blackwood when Leo was still newborn not knowing who my family was. His father had turned to petty crime and his mother was addicted to alcohol and she would often spend the money his father stole on alcohol, whatever was left was spent on drugs.”

The more Noah spoke the more shock Indie felt. She wouldn’t have known any of that just by looking at Leo.

“When Leo was about a year old his parents came to the castle to meet my family. His parents liked what they saw and helped themselves to what they could carry. Leo and his sister Bethany were left behind as payment.” Noah stopped pacing and looked at Indie as he let the information sink in.

When she realised what he meant her eyes grew wide. “They stole and left their kids behind?” Indie couldn’t imagine what kind of horrid people would do such a thing.

“They were raised in the castle and when Leo was old enough my father told him of his parents. Leo doesn’t want to be the Alpha of a pack because he’s worried about turning in to his parents. He doesn’t believe he has the qualities to lead a small pack but I beg to differ.”

A frown marked Indies features again as she thought, “so he’s using you as a safety blanket?”

Noah nodded his head once, “he’s scared but I know he is more than capable and his being an Alpha will be his test of loyalty to me. Besides,” Noah smiled before continuing. Something about the entire situation amused him. “I have it on good authority that his parents are in that area. At least he’ll be able to deal to them how he wishes.”

It then dawned on Indie that Noah had it all planned and everything figured out. “I’m sorry I questioned you.” She dropped her head and pouted. She needed to learn patience and tact. If only she’d gone to Noah straight away he might have explained it sooner.

“Poppy was not a factor in this when I first heard of Leo’s parents. In fact neither of you were even in the picture.” Noah grumbled slightly as he began pacing again. “It was always my plan to send Leo away but with Albert stepping down as my Beta I needed to fill the position quickly. I know Wade and Amber are eager to start a family but after Leo is done with his parents I intend on recalling him as my Beta so that Wade and Amber may take leave.”

In a few words Indie realised the error of her ways and instantly felt the weight of guilt and regret fall heavy on her shoulders. It never occurred to her that Noah had anything planned, she’d instantly assumed that all he was doing was disrespecting her by not asking for her opinion. She really did have everything twisted and she had no one but herself to blame.

“I’m an idiot.” Indie grumbled as she slapped the palm of her hand against her forehead. How could she be so stupid?

She heard Noah chuckle, “we’ll I’m not going to argue with that.” He walked back to the sofa and took Indie in his arms, “you have a lot to learn about this world and I don’t tell everyone everything but for you I will eventually make an exception.” Noah smiled warmly at his mate, “just know that the things I do are never impulsive and are mostly well thought out.”

“Mostly?” Indie asked with a slight bit of amusement in the tone of her voice.

Her question elicited a chuckle from Noah, “well yeah. I’m only ever impulsive when I’m mad and that doesn’t happen too often.” An awkward silence fell over the pair as the meaning of his words hit both of them hard. “I guess we should get some sleep. We’ve got another busy day tomorrow settling in the children before my parents funerals.” Noah sighed heavily again. At least with the funerals out of the way he only had to worry about Timothy,Ryan and Heidi. He wasn’t in too much of a rush to sort anything else.