The Alpha King's Series

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

BRINLEY.

It's been a week since the gala, and I still hadn't told Xander that Mark Mortaga had threatened me with Dominic if I didn't provide him a female to marry into his family.

I know I'll have to tell Xander, but when would be the right time to say to him?

Ugh

Xander's uncle Charles is flying in for a visit, and to his great nephew, Xander didn't seem that thrilled about it when he told me this morning.

I'll for sure tell him today before Charles gets here.

Yes.

I'll go now.

I knock on Xander's office, and he tells me to come in.

"How many times have I told you? You do not need to knock. I always have time for you,"

I nod my head and take a seat in front of his desk.

"Xander, I need to tell you something,"

"What?"

I sigh.

Here goes nothing.

"At the gala, I had a run in with Mark Mortaga, well, more as he followed me,"

Xander frowns.

"What did he say?"

"That if I didn't have a girl, something bad could happen to Dominic,”

Xander's frown deepens, and his palms fist as he turns angrier.

"Why did you tell me?"

I shrugged.

"You were busy with the gala, and to be honest, it was a hollow threat to see if I would run and tell you are taking care of it myself,"

"That so?"

I nod my head.

"And you're certain it was a hollow threat?"

"Positive,"

Xander raises an eyebrow.

"And how do you know?"

"I could see it in his eyes. It's hard to explain, but I wanted to inform you of what was going on and let you know that I would be handling this," I tell him

"I think that's a good idea. After all, you will be queen and have to deal with things like this if I am away. First, however, I want you to keep me informed on what happens.”

I nod.

I cannot believe he will let me take the lead on this. I thought he would rip Mark a new one, but instead, he is letting me handle this.

"Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, though; I will be there when you speak to Mark just in case things goes sideways. I will not let anything happen to my little mate,”

"And you won't say anything? So you will let me handle it?"

Xander nods.

"Okay," I breathed.

"I'll let you know when I set the meeting.”

Xander's lips form a thin line, and the crease between the wrinkles of his brow.

"Charles will be here soon. I want you to know why he has come,” Xander says, patting his lap for me.

I stand and walk over toward him and sit on his thighs.

"Brinley, do you remember the story I told you about Caliana?"

I nod.

"The one you were supposed to be mated to, but the curse skipped you am I right?"

Xander sighs and nods.

"Charles wants to ensure your, not Caliana,”

"Why?"

Xander shakes his head.

"It's a long story, but the short version is. Caliana was cursed to not only a Caputo man but only those who are in line to be King,"

I frowned.

Only the ones in line to be King?

Oh, no.

I shake my head.

Xander nods.

"Brinley, Dominic will have her as a mate, but there is more,"

"More?" I repeated, and Xander nodded.

"The curse was also placed on Lorenzo's Beta since he did nothing to stop Lorenzo from Killing Gemma's only daughter; Gemma turned out to be a powerful witch when she wore the magic locket. Her husband Hugo, the first of his kind, one of the very first Vampires,”

"So what your saying is not only will Dominic have Caliana as his mate, but so will Lorenzo's Beta's descendants?”

Xander again nods.

"Who is the beta's descendants?”

Xander sighs.

"Since I found out the cursed skipped me, I've been doing some digging and found out that Jerry Desmond is Beta Kirk Desmond's descendent,”

"Jerry? As in Julia's mate?”

Xander nods.

"You mean Dominic and Bane will have the same mate?"

go ol

"When will the curse end?"

"When Caliana chooses a Caputo of the Demond's,”

"After all these years, she hasn't ever chosen a Caputo?”

Xander shakes his head.

"You know firsthand Brinley how we can be, and I'm ashamed to admit this, but she always falls for the Desmonds because they love and put her first,”

"How does she keep dying and coming back?"

"We Caputo's don't take well to rejection, and anger and jealousy set in, and next thing you know, we kill her and the desmond boy that took her from us,"

"You're father..He killed her?"

wes"

"Would you have?"

"I'm not sure, but I'd like to think I'd let her go,”

"Will Dominic have the same anger? Will he kill her and Bane?"

"I don't know,"

"Xander, I love Bane like he's my own. I cannot have my boys fighting over a girl,"

"We will have to tell Dominic and explain that he cannot mate her. We can make something up if you like,"

"You mean..." I tail off.

"Lie," Xander says to me, and I nod.

"We may not have a choice, but let's wait till the time comes,”

"Great," I say sarcastically.

Xander chuckles.

"I didn't mean to upset you, and I only wanted to warn you before Charles arrives,"

"And I have to meet him. Why?"

Xander narrows his eyes.

"Charles is my father's brother,”

"Okay, I'll meet him. But I'm not happy about it,"

I told Xander that I would make something nice for dinner, but he said he already has Carol make his uncle's favorite dish.

I spent most of the day with Dominic after I called Mark and told him I'd be coming to his Kingdom for a meeting in a few days. He was happy and told me the sooner, the better.

The sick fool probably thinks I'm caving in to his demands, but he will get a wake-up call.

It was already time to get ready for dinner; Kyle and Katie would be there, so I was not worried about meeting Charles on my own since they hadn't met him either.

"I laid your clothes on the bed," I tell Xander as he comes through the door.

"Thank you little, mate.”

I smile at him

"I love you, Xander,"

"I love you too little, mate,”

Charles's car pulled up, and Xander thought it best if we met him at the door.

The front door opens, and a short man, maybe 5, has red hair with mostly grey showing; his hair was slicked back, and he was chunky yet muscular.

Charles smiles wide, showing off his pearly whites.

"Xander, my dear nephew," He says, pausing with his chunky fingers on Xander's shoulders, "I haven't seen you in ages.”

"It's good to see you, uncle,” Xander says.

Xander introduces Kyle and Katie, and Charles shakes both their hands.

"And This is Brinley, James. My mate,"

Charles looks me over, and I shiver from how his eyes bore into me.

"Ah, Brinley, was it?"

I nod.

"Well, it's good to meet you. My nephew has told me a lot about you,” Charles says. The sound of his new york accent rolled off his tongue, and his voice was deep and menacing something just didn't sit right with me.

"I wish I could say the same," I smile politely.

Charles narrow's his eyes at Xander.

"I'll be happy to tell you about myself during dinner,” Charles tells me.

I smile big.

"That would be lovely,”

"I had the chef prepare your favorite meal, uncle,” Xander tells him, showing him toward the dining room.

"Is it just me, or does Charles seem...I don't know, put on?" Katie mutters to Kyle.

"I got a bad feeling about him," I told her, and she nodded.

"Ladies. Let's get through dinner and the next day or two, then he won't come back for another thirty years," Kyle chuckles.

"So, Brinley, what would you like to know?" Charles says, taking a bite of the salad.

"You're from new york?"

He nods.

"I am. After my brother was killed, I moved to the states and married a woman. We have a son together,”

"Does your mate like living in new york?"

Xander clears his throat and shakes his head at me to say, "don't ask Charles that many questions” But wouldn't he want me to get to know his uncle?

"It's okay, Xander. She doesn't know,"

Charles tells him, turning toward me and dumping his tongue to lick his lips.

"I do not believe in mates. The woman I married is human, and we are divorced. But she is still the mother of my child, so I keep things civil,"

I frowned

"What made you against mates?"

"Brinley, let's not pest uncle. He has had a long flight,” Xander tells me.

Charles holds his hand out to Xander.

"It's no trouble, Xander. Your mate is only curious, and she has the right to know about me,” Charles says, taking the last bite of his salad.

"I was twenty-five when my brother Harry found his mate. Harry started to change. He was no longer the cruel and deadly type; he became loving toward everyone but mostly his mate. Harry said he loved his mate more than anything or anyone. But Harry soon realized his mate was fated to two people and just him; he was devastated and wouldn't talk to anyone for weeks," Charles pauses to take a sip of wine.

"What happened?” I couldn't help but ask.

"Things got worse. Harry's mate chose the man, and that's when Harry snapped. He killed her other mate; she went crazy and took revenge on him and the Kingdom. Harry thought with the other man out of the way, she would choose him, but she didn't, and Harry had no choice but to end her life," "So, you're against mates because of your brother?”

Charles nods.

"Mates make you weak. You are no longer living for yourself anymore because everything you do will revolve around them, give up your life to protect them from harm. I refused to go down that path, and I will not let my Son either,” Charles shakes his head.

"Oh," I say quietly.

"Maybe Charles isn't as bad as I had thought. He stood and watched what his brother went through, which must have been terrifying.

"Yes, My brother had Xander with his mother. But Harry soon realized he couldn't live without his mate and took his own life,"

My eyes stray from Charles to Xander.

Why didn't he tell me that his father killed himself over Caliana?

"I'm sorry about your father,” I say to Xander, then glance back at Charles.

"And your brother, I had no idea,"

Charles sighs.

"I figured Xander wouldn't tell you. He doesn't speak about his father since he was the one that found him,"

"That was a long time ago, uncle. Can we please talk about something?"

"Of course," Charles nods.

"Are you an alpha as well?"

Charles nods.

"I do have the most extensive pack in the states. But I also dabble in some illegal stuff now and again,” Charles smirks.

"My uncle is trying to say that he is also a loan shark. He loans money to people who can never pay it back and claims their daughters as debt paid,” Xander says.

Charles raises a brow.

"I didn’t know you knew so much about me, nephew,” Charles muses.

"Of course I do, were family,"

"That we are," Charles nods.

Carol places the main dish before me, and I raise a brow.

"This is your favorite dish? spaghetti?”

"I may be rich and a powerful Alpha, but I like to keep it simple and sweet when it comes to my food," Charles says, rubbing his hands together before digging into his food.

"Obviously," I mutter.

Charles chuckles.

"I like this one, Xander. She's sassy,"

"You have no idea," Xander tells him with a smile.

I ignore them both and turn my attention to the pile of food before me.

I will never finish all of this.

"It was good to meet you, Brinley,” Charles says again.

Xander stepped inside to answer a call from Gabriel. Katie and Kyle excused themselves, leaving me alone with Charles.

"You too," I replied.

"When Xander told me he had found his mate, I was surprised," Charles admitted.

"Why?"

Charles shook his head.

"I've spent most of the years telling him not to worry about Mate. He could be even stronger without one,”

“Oh,”

"But Xander has always been bull-headed, and once he sets his mind to something, there is no changing it," Charles says, taking a drag of his cigarette.

He blows the smoke in my direction, and I wave my hand to clear it from my nose.

Gross.

"If it were up to me, Xander would be living the dream. Making tons of money, having people bend to his every whim,” Charles says, standing from his chair and walking toward the view of the gardens just a few feet away.

"Xander wouldn't do that," I say, shaking my head. I know Xander would never do that to his people. He is a great King and role model for his Son.

But I don't tell any of that to Charles.

"I'm well aware that he wouldn't. And do you want to know why that is?" Charles asks, turning around and throwing the bud of the cigarette down.

I shake my head.

"Xander was finally starting to see things my way, even considered investing in my company. But when he found you, his priorities changed,”

"I didn’t do anything, and I didn't know you existed until today,"

Charles nods.

"That may be true, but once he found you, he was longer the man I wanted him to be. He has become just like his father; mates are no good. They are useless and make you weak you can't even control yourself properly,”

I clench my jaw and look away from Charles but say nothing.

I knew this guy was trouble when I saw him, and now I know why I had this gut feeling, Charles isn't a nice guy.

"Here is what I want you to do," Charles says, stepping closer.

"I want you to break off the engagement with my nephew,”

"Any why would I do that?"

"Because I will pay you a great deal of money if you do," Charles exclaims.

My forehead creased.

"I don't want your dirty money. I love Xander, and I will not break off anything," I tell Charles folding my arms over my chest.

Charles smirks and steps even closer toward me, but I stand my ground. I wasn't about to show him I was weak by backing up. Instead, I was letting Charles know he doesn't intimidate me.

"You will do what I ask, and it would be a shame if something happened to that pretty face of yours," Charles says and his tone deep, just like his threat.

"And here I thought you were happy that I wasn't Caliana," I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes. Xander said Charles was happy about that, but he sure seems the opposite.

Charles lets out a deep, menacing laugh that shakes me to the core.

"Don’t be a fool. I did not come here to make sure you weren't Caliana like Xander thought,” "Then Why did you come?”

"I told you to get you out of the picture,” Charles says again.

"Wait..." I paused.

"You already knew I wasn't Caliana?"

Charles nods.

"Of course, I knew,"

I frowned.

"But..How?"

Charles sighs, shaking his head.

"I killed Caliana when she was born to ensure my nephew wouldn't have her," Charles says, shrugging like it wasn't nothing that he just told me he killed a baby.

I gaped.

The curse didn't skip Xander, Charles killed her, and I'm Xander's second chance mate.

"I never imagined that the goddess you people worship would give him a second chance,” Charles admits.

"So, you came here to get rid of me, like you, Caliana?"

Charles smiles mischievously.

"You're not such a fool after all,” He says.

"I do like your sassiness, but I'm afraid there is no room for you here. If you don't take the money I offer you, I will have to go about it the hard way and trust me, Brinley, you don't want to go that route,”

I take a few steps closer to Charles.

"Give me your best shot because I ain't going nowhere,”

Charles smiles wide, the fire igniting in his eyes.

"Well, Brinley, I have four words for you," Charles says, getting up in my face.

"Let the games begin,"