To heal a Rogue

LYSANDER

I typed back, How close?, as I moved through the corridor, already picturing where she would be pulling in. When I rounded the corner, I nearly walked straight into Amaranthine.

She wasn’t alone.

Beside her stood an older man, broad through the shoulders, gray threading heavily through his dark hair. There was a composed authority about him, the kind that came from decades of sitting at the head of a pack and being obeyed without question.

I recognized him.

The recognition brought a rush of memories with it, some cold, some painfully warm, all tangled up with the things I had once said to his face.

I started to bow on instinct, offering the courtesy owed to an Alpha of his standing.

”You’re Regent now, Your Majesty,” he said, stopping me with a raised hand. ”It should be me bowing to you.”

He turned to his daughter, and as if on cue, they both lowered themselves into a formal bow.

”It’s been a long time since we last met,” he remarked as he straightened.

”Last time we did meet, you promised war,” I replied, a dry edge creeping into his voice.

”You rejected your union with my daughter,” he continued. ”It was an insult to my pack at the time, and not one I’ve entirely forgotten.”

”Father,” Amaranthine cut in, a small laugh in her voice, ”we shouldn’t rehash something that happened so long ago. We were children. He has grown so much now I am sure.”

That was when I started to wonder what the heck this was really about.

Yannis exhaled through his nose. ”You’re right.”

”How’s the healer?” Amaranthine asked, tilting her head. ”Did she like my soup?”

”She did. Thank you for that.” I lied through my teeth.

”Is there a reason you’re both here?” I asked.

Yannis nodded. ”We heard you were in the throne room this morning, and it seemed fitting to discuss business while you were already close by.”

My phone buzzed against my palm.

I looked and it was from Fia. She said she was about to cross the gate.

”Is this a pack issue, or—”

Yannis laughed, cutting me off. ”Nothing like that. It’s simply the matter of my daughter’s betrothal. To you.”

I laughed too, genuinely surprised. ”What does that mean? Amaranthine is Johann’s intended, not mine.”

Yannis gave a nervous laugh of his own. ”Well. Johann isn’t the one currently sitting on the throne. You are.”

”And is that supposed to change something?” I asked.

I turned to Amaranthine. ”Is this what you wanted to speak with me about?”

”Yes.” She hesitated. ”There was simply so much happening yesterday, I didn’t get the chance.”

”There’s still a great deal happening. Even today. I’m not interested in this discussion.”

I looked back at her father. ”Was a connection to the throne the entire reason she was matched with Johann in the first place?”

”It’s politics, Your Majesty.” Yannis’s tone shifted, the nervousness disappearing and something sharper taking its place. ”You should remember why my daughter was given to Johann to begin with. The union was originally between the two of you, and you rejected her. To prevent a war between a pack as great as mine and yours, your uncle, the King, promised us his son instead. The chance for my bloodline to eventually produce the future King of this Kingdom. That will unfortunately not be Johann anymore.”

”Don’t blame me for that.” I held his gaze. ”Blame Johann and perhaps his mother for their own reckless actions leading up to it. The throne was his.”

”It doesn’t matter whose actions caused what.” Yannis’s expression hardened. ”Johann was never the reason the choice was originally made. I do not care what male my daughter becomes married too. I care about the title that will come with it. My daughter becoming Queen and her offsprings becoming Princes and Princesses who have a chance for the Alpha King seat in the near future. That was what I was promised and the word of the Alpha King is law, Your Majesty. Even after his passing. We hold a sealed contract to prove our claims too.”

His voice hardened further. ”We came here to deal with you fairly, Your Majesty. But we will not be mocked. I will not be mocked a second time in my life by you.”

”Father—” Amaranthine cut in.

”I’d suggest you watch your tone,” I warned, my voice quiet but final, ”before you find yourself spending a few nights in a drafty cell, thinking it over on an empty stomach.”

He stepped back half an inch, something flickering across his face before he quickly composed himself.

”I apologize, Your Majesty.”

Amaranthine bowed as well, her movements quick and stiff.

But I was done with this weird conversation.

”This discussion is over.”

I turned and started walking past them both.

I glanced down at my phone. Fia had sent another message.

”I thought you would be outside. Should I come in?”

I was already typing my reply when Yannis’s voice came again from behind me.

”In exchange for the preservation of peace between the Crown and the Chonto house of pack Evernight, the Crown shall unite the bloodlines through marriage, and the offspring of that union shall stand among the recognized royal heirs of the Kingdom.”

That caused me to stop and I turned back to face him. ”What the fuck are you talking about?”

Alpha Yannis stepped forward, seemingly ignoring my question as he continued with what I could only imagine where clauses in a contract.

”Should the designated royal party become incapable of fulfilling the union by death, disinheritance, abdication, or removal from succession, the Crown shall designate another eligible member of the royal bloodline to fulfill the agreement.”

Did Uncle Cornelius really say that?

Yannis’s mouth curved into something entirely too satisfied for a man who had just handed me a threat disguised as a legal argument.

”We aren’t breaking any laws,” he said. ”We aren’t even being difficult. You’re soon to be King, and the onus for honoring your family’s commitments falls squarely on you now.”