The Consort

The walk back to my office is bleak, my mind worrying over Adeline's sudden shift in mood. She seemed so excited yesterday morning, demanding my attention and clinging to me like a second skin, but after her furniture meltdown she has been filled with anxiety and hesitancy.

My Second waits outside my office door, a frown on his face as he taps his foot in impatience. I give him a slight nod in greeting, already dreading the argument I know we are about to have.

"I was walking Adeline down to the servant's quarters." I comment, pushing open the door and moving to sit behind my desk. My nostrils flare as I pick up the remnants of Adeline's scent from the time she spent here yesterday. Delectable.

Axis grunts, following me inside.

"We need to do something about her." He says, cutting to the chase as he sits himself down opposite me.

My Beast pushes at me from within, unhappy with my Second's word choice. I ignore him, forcing my face to remain blank as I tilt my head to the side in question. Axis is going to need to be more specific.

"The people were kind to her when she went to the city." I comment, keeping my excitement at the success of my test hidden.

Axis sighs, shaking his head slightly. "They were kind to her only because she is carrying your child. They saw her as your breeder, not as your mate. They hope for an heir, and their compassion will fade the second that baby no longer lives inside of her."

My eyes flash, and I put my hands underneath the desk to hide my extended claws.

"You are wrong."

"I am not."

"They could not sense it when she went to the city. I barely could and I am her mate." I argue, knowing that there is no way that a regular Beast would have been able to tell what's inside her.

"It has nothing to do with her scent." Axis sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Yours was literally oozing out of her. If she wasn't pregnant that day, then she would be shortly and the Beasts know that."

Frowning, I shut off Adeline's emotions as she sends a wave of annoyance over to me. I am confident that she is safe within the castle, so have made a habit of shutting them off whenever she is with the human boy. He is constantly angering her, and although I love the security I get from feeling her furies, I am too busy trying to deal with this child issue to keep the link open.

I was so excited to share the news with her, having had finally smelt the confirmation the day prior to us going to the city, only for her to abruptly express to me her distaste in having my children. She made a good point, but in panic I ignored her for the remainder of the morning, both incredibly hurt and unsure how to break the news to her.

Beasts almost always produce a child when they fuck their mate, and had I known that Adeline would reject my seed I would have given her a birth control to go on earlier. It was foolish of me to assume that her lack of request meant that she wanted my children, and it wasn't until I spoke to a doctor that specializes in humans did I realize that most of the time it takes many tries for them to get pregnant, which explains why she didn't worry about asking for it before giving herself to me.

Not to mention the fact that she has had limited access to health education. She probably has little knowledge about procreation.

"The Beasts don't know that she's my mate." I rebuttal. "So they would not expect her to be with my child."

Axis laughs at my words, forcing a deep growl to reverberate from my chest at his disrespect. He quickly simmers himself, his laughter cut short at my anger.

"Heloix, everybody suspects she's your mate at this point."

I frown at his words, sinking back into my seat in frustration. "Then why have we not been attacked."

Axis stands, the chair pushing back with a painful squeak. "They do not anticipate that you will bond with her. They think that you will abandon her for a Beast after you produce them a strong heir. If you complete the bond, they will rebel."

My jaw clenches shut, knowing that what he says is the truth.

"I need to go speak to a couple of guards about shift rotation. We both know that your Beast will not allow her to remain pregnant for much longer without your bond, so I'd recommend you finish up securing those alliances."

Axis gestures to the paperwork that sits scattered on my desk, the treaties I have spent all week working on far from complete. At this point I have reached out to every kingdom within a hundred-mile radius that is known to be soft on humans, almost all of them coming back with an agreement should I offer up a good enough deal.

I nod, excusing Axis, and drop my head down onto my desk the Second he is gone.

It will take weeks to get these alliances finalized, and there is absolutely no way that my Beast will allow me to move around without the protection my bond provides her for much longer. He's already been fighting with me on it, forcing his way to the surface any time I so much as get a whiff of my child.

But first, I need to tell Adeline, the thought making me groan. She has proven to be quite a handful lately, either making some sort of demand of me or trying to sneak her way into my pants. She offers no in-between and is constantly swinging back and forth between the two opposites, making me worry about how she will react to the news.

Her mood has already begun to shift with the pregnancy, a sign of how hard the next eight months will be. Most Beasts are needy and irritable when pregnant, but the last thing I anticipated was her to want space from me.

I've attempted to provide my body to comfort her, putting her on my lap when I work and molding my frame around hers when she is sleeping, yet she doesn't seem to want it. Instead, she chooses to hide from me and spend all day running around with that human of hers. It's frustrating to say the least, and I'm close to giving in and calling the human doctor for advice.

Shutting my eyes for a moment, I force the thoughts out of my mind so I can focus on the paperwork at hand. Snapping my eyes back open, I reach out and grab the paperwork for King Richard, quickly skimming over the words with a smile. He's one of the only ones who agreed to an alliance with no terms, only writing to say that he has heard of the rumors, and hopes I am treating his humans well.

I write out a quick response, thanking him for his partnership, before hesitating and adding in a request for him to send any humans that are important to Adeline and her human along with his soldiers.

Nodding slightly to myself, I grab a handful of coins and include them in with the letter, offering enough money to cover the costs of several humans. Tossing the letter into the pile to send out, I hold back a smile as I reach for another, imagining how happy she will be when her friends and family arrive.

The sounds of guards running down the hallway draws my attention, and I crane my head to the side to listen, frowning as I'm unable to hear anything of concern. The commotion, despite how slight, has me worried for Adeline and opening our connection. I'm on my feet before her emotions have fully even hit me, her body cycling through an intense mixture of anger, embarrassment, and hatred.

The door cracks under my palm as I rip it open, but I pay it no mind before beginning to sprint towards the servant's quarters, hoping she will still be there. I spot Axis running towards me as I round the corner to the stairwell, his face furious as he turns to run alongside me.

"Adeline is in the great hall screaming that she's your mate." He spits out, dislike clear in his tone.

Anger flashes through me at him daring to speak about her like this, but I don't dwell on it, my primary focus being Adeline.

There's a loud cheering as I near the main hall, the noise coming from within a room a couple of doors down. I don't hesitate to storm inside, my eyes immediately landing on Adeline's red, tear-streaked face.

A mixture of her pain and fury hits me as she notices my presence, her face twisting into a scowl at the sight of me.

The crowd silences, but remains put, eager to watch the show go down.

I quickly approach and grab her arms, ducking so I'm at eye level with her. My height intimidates her, and I know that she feels more power when I am down low. Hopefully, it will be enough to calm her down.

"Let's go upstairs and talk." I murmur, glancing around at the mixture of Beasts and humans that stand about within the room.

A deep growl emerges from my chest at the sight of them, both me and my Beast unhappy with their loitering. "Get back to work."

Adeline scoffs, ripping her arms from my hands.

"No!"

Letting out a quiet sigh, I reach for her once more, desperate to feel her skin on mine and understand where this anger is coming from. I know to expect her to have heightened emotions due to the baby, but this is more than a mood swing.

"Deny me, Heloix!" She suddenly screams, arms spread out as she gestures to the observers. "Tell everybody here your truth. Am I your mate or not?"

My Beast pushes to be let out, eager to appease his mate and give in to her commands, but I manage to hold him back.

"What? Upset you aren't in control of the narrative?" She continues, moving forward and pushing at my chest.

"Addie," I murmur, letting her hit at me once more before grabbing her hands between my own. "Let's go upstairs and talk about whatever has got you so upset."

She scoffs at my words, continuing to try and rip her hands from me. "No."

I spot her human move forward out of the crowd, and I snap my head up to look at him, furious that he has allowed her to reach such levels of anger. His face is pale as he shuffles towards me, the scent of his fear suffocating.

Hesitantly, he holds out a piece of paper towards me, and I shift my hold on Adeline to free up a hand to snatch the note from him. Adeline watches our interaction through narrowed eyes, betrayal heavy in her mind.

"Don't you fucking dare!" Adeline shrieks, attempting to kick me in the shin.

I easily dodge her attack, using my free hand and teeth to unfold the note. There's a short sentence written inside, and my heart drops as I read it over.

Glancing between John and Adeline, I scan their faces to try and confirm my suspicions. His tense, uncomfortable body language gives it away, and immediately lift Adeline into my arms, fully intending to take her to our suite kicking and screaming.

She doesn't disappoint, yelling insults and painful words to me the entire trip. I grimace about how poorly this reaction will reflect on her in the eyes of the Beasts, worried that it will further complicate our situation.

I carefully set her on her feet as we enter the wing, and immediately push my back against the door so she can't escape.

"Addie, just listen to me." I murmur, bringing up my hands in a gesture of peace.