The Sovereign Heir (Book 1)

“Elaina?” Bryant was calling out to her. She was sitting on the shower floor sobbing uncontrollably. Bryant could do nothing but hold her. In a low whisper while she cried I heard her say, ”I’ll go to therapy, I promise I’ll go.”

It progressed to her first therapy session.

“Hello, Dr. Spencer.” Elaina had her head down playing with her nails.

“Tell me why you think you’re in treatment, Elaina?”

“Because my parents think I’m crazy.”

“Your parents want you here to deal with your pain and your trauma. The pain you took on to save the realm and this world.”

Elaina lifted her head, taken aback that this therapist knew that. “How?”

“I might not be as gifted as you, your majesty, but I’m empathic. Extremely empathic, I know the burden you took on. You aren’t the first to make a sacrifice such as this. But whatever you’ve done and anything we’ve discussed stays with us.”

“It is a necessary evil I’d gladly do again. They all deserve to have a close to normal life as possible.”

“What you did was beyond selfless. At the same time you must still live and not just exist. You also deserve a normal life just like anyone else. If you’d let me, I have some exercises I want to teach you, that’s if you allow me, with routine sessions. Bio feedback, EMDR and focus technique and finally once you no longer need me, these tools will be available. Is it a deal?” Dr. Spencer presented her hand to Elaina. Elaina was leery, but eventually shook her hand. “Deal.”

Everything stops and I was back in the present. Bryant looks rather concerned.

“I had no idea, I’m a fucking idiot!” This explains why she stopped gymnastics and dancing that entire time. My mate was trying to put herself back together. “Now you know why my sister is the way she is. This is why she wasn’t able to open up to you in the beginning. It was so hard for her; she is there for everyone and we will always be there for her. But you, you were meant to be her rock, her friend as well as her mate. To listen to her when she was willing to share.” His words stung badly, because they were true.

“Thank you, Bryant” As I left the palace, my mother came bounding out of the tree line in her majestic Lycan form. “What are you doing here, Sweetheart? Did something happen? Wait, of course it did, you let your father drive a wedge between you and Elaina!”

My mother held the bridge of her nose and let out a sigh. “Nolan! What did I tell you all those years ago? You know that is exactly what your grandfather did to your father and I. Look how that turned out. We are not even amicable to each other. Is that what you want? To live like we did? I wish I had the courage to be like Elaina, maybe if I did all those years ago, maybe your father and I wouldn’t be like this now.”

I put my head down, my mother is right, Elaina was right, they were all right. I was repeating the past in my father’s shadow. I let out a deep breath, “You’re right, mother. You’ve always warned me not to allow the past to repeat itself.”

“Well, what are you going to do to fix it?” I pondered that while standing there.

“I have no idea, but I have to try anything at this point.”

“Get to it then.” My mother gives me a bear hug in furry form and runs to the other end of the trees past the palace.

I pull out my phone to send Elaina a message. I could not help but hear the most beautiful voice singing in the distance. I went in the direction of the singing; it led me past the mansion to another structure I had not seen before. I pick up my pace, hiding myself in the foliage when I see the source of the singing. It is Elaina, with her leg dangling out the window, wearing a partially see through cover up. I never knew she could sing. Her voice is hypnotic. At this point, what couldn’t she do?

I begin to send her a message when I felt something rubbing the back of my leg. Elaina looks in my direction. There is no way she didn’t see me, but she said nothing. I hit send for the message I wrote. She reaches to her side and rolls her eyes. Elaina begins typing. My phone vibrates to the incoming message.

[Fuck you, Fuck you very much in fact! I’m sick of your shit, your father’s shit. All of it really! I need some time alone to really consider if we should even continue this or end it.]

What the fuck! She wants to consider severing our bond? I type another message and press send. The message came back undeliverable. Damn, she blocked me. Elaina gets up and closed the window. Yana places her paws on my leg to lift her up. “She is really pissed off, give her some time to think and cool off.” What other choice did I have? She is in control of our future and just prayed she would give me a chance to prove I am worthy to be with her.

I place Yana in the front seat, “Any ideas where I start to fix this?”

“I have a few, let us both hope she is receptive. But it isn’t going to start tonight.”

I pull up to the mansion, looking at it made me feel empty inside. Elaina wasn’t in it and it seemed so lifeless without her, Yana orbs out when I park the car. She waits for me in the doorway. I made the long walk up to our bed room, with Yana looking back to make sure I am behind her. The feeling is suffocating as I open the double doors. Elaina’s scent is in every inch of this room.

“ I miss her so much.”

Yana was walking across Elaina’s keyboard, accidentally turning on the monitor. Before I could turn it off, I read what looks like a last will and testament. Why would she be creating one at her age? She is going to be immortal. I couldn’t help myself looking through her folders in her documents tab. One folder had the letter N. I shouldn’t be violating her privacy, but the urge to open it overrode my normal senses.

“I don’t know where to begin. I discovered after the lake incident; I will have to die to be reborn in order to become immortal. I don’t know if I’d even recognize you in a new body or you will still be my mate. It’s too cruel for you or even me to find each other and have it taken away so easily. I love you so much and wish we could have had an eternity together. Fate clearly has other plans. You’ll forever be my one. Love, Elaina.”

“Yana, is this what she has been trying to tell me the past few days? Here I was being fucking stupid, thinking if I worked on resolving some of the pack issues with security, everything would be fine. Instead of spending time with her, I wasted the precious time we have left.”

Yana stood on her back legs, placing her paws on my chest, “You cannot dwell on what has already happened.”

Yana presses her head to my forehead, sending me images. That’s it, go to the pre wedding celebration in two weeks, but how do I get in? Yana hit the left side of my neck, directly on Elaina’s mark. She did say being mated to one of them was an open invitation to access the realm. “Looks like you will be in attendance after all.”