Chapter 34

Jaxson

My father is waiting in his office, the gala still playing out downstairs. I’ve decided not to return to the party, holding my hands in my lap as I take a seat at his desk. Tears are sitting stale on my face, cold on my neck, and they don’t show signs of stopping. My father seems perplexed at the sight of me weeping. I’ve never done it before in his company.

“Son, what is it?” he asks, leaning forward over his desk, his head cocked. “I have a lot of people that need my attention tonight, this isn’t a good time to be upset, Jaxson. We have to keep appearances and even Aurora needs to participate. Did you find—”

“She’s dead,” I say meekly.

Even if the words aren’t true, they break me like they are.

His eyes widen and he sits up straighter. “Why—I don’t—What did you just say?”

“I found her in the orchard,” I say simply, shaking my head. Tears filter out of my eyes quicker. “She was on the ground, no longer breathing, and I couldn’t get her pulse to start back up.”

“Where is she?” he snaps, standing quick.

I wave his worry aside. If he cared for her, he would help me find and eradicate Xander, who may just be behind this attempt on her life as well. “Her body in the medical wing. They tried but failed. I’m having her body ready to be sent back to her parents. It’s only fair.”

“Son, I’m confused, she was out in the ballroom an hour ago and fine,” he says, breathless.

I open the link to what I saw in her mind, the man approaching, the doubts already in her mind, and her innocent attempt to relax turned deadly. She drinks the poison and doubles over, and I cut the memory off there, unwilling to even tell my father the truth. I can’t trust anyone.

Not even him.

“Oh my,” he breathes, slouched in his chair. I see a hint of tear on his cheek now and it breaks me. “I can’t—she can’t—who would—”

“Everyone is a suspect,” I growl. “As for tonight, I think I’m ready for the gala to end, father.”

He nods, standing up to wipe his face. “I’ll tell them all what has happened tonight. We will catch whoever did this, Jaxson. I promise you.”

He hesitates by the door, turning to watch me to struggle standing. I can’t help but feel like it’s real, feel like I lost a whole chunk of my heart, and it physically wounds me. My father crosses the room, one hand on my shoulder to spin me around fast, the other clinging to my back as he pulls me into a tight hug.

“I’m so sorry, Jaxson,” he sighs, clinging to me tighter. “I know you loved her.”

It’s true, too.

But it’s more than love. Being mated to another wolf is finding your other half, the half of your heart that teaches you to be better, then do better, and I feel like I’ve lost the best half of my heart just by watching her leave the palace. She is alive, thankfully, but if she wasn’t, then there would be no need for me to be alive, either.

What’s an alpha who is only half of who they should be?

I realize he is rambling on about my mother now, trying to relate to me about losing your fated, and I saw how it destroyed him instantly and carried on for years. He moved on, found another mate, and somehow, in this fictional story I have to create to get to the bottom of this mess, I could never imagine moving on from Aurora.

I would never find another mate.

I would avenge her death. I will avenge her life, now, and find out who hurt her and make them suffer an unspeakable death. I hold onto my father for now and accept the embrace, something so unfamiliar about this hug. We’ve never showed affection like this.

“I’ll kick everyone out, and we will start right away looking for the culprit,” he says, pulling away at last. “I’ll link to every warrior and have them posted on ever doorway, in or out of this palace, so we can catch them trying to leave. It’s a good start, Jaxson. Do you agree?”

“Yes,” I say simply, but it’s hardly true. The warriors, even the royal women, hold so much animosity for commoners. The less my father helps, the better. He’s part of the problem after all. He’s let the commoners suffer, being toys for pleasure and service. He is just as much as at fault as whoever gave her the poison.

As he leaves, I sit at the desk, folding my hands and resting my forehead on the table. I wish I had inducted Luke into the pack, so I can reach him for an update already. What if I had healed her for a moment but the poison kicks back in and she is dead before they make it anywhere? I try to tap into her mind over and over again, so much so that my head aches in agony.

I miss her already.

A light knock rings out on the door, and I hear it open before I can say anything. I’m instantly hit with a smell familiar, although frustrating. I don’t dare look up, hearing the small steps approach from behind before small, careful hands slide onto my shoulders.

I jolt upright, slapping Stella’s touch off of my back.

She gives me a pitiful look.

“Your father just told everyone what happened,” she hums, faking her concern. “I’m so sorry, Prince Jaxson. It’s a real shame.”

“Shut up,” I growl in response. “You didn’t give a damn about Aurora.”

She shrugs, as if uncaring about my claim. “That may be true, but I care about you, Prince Jaxson. You are going to be alpha one day and we all know you can’t ascend without a Luna.” She bats her eyelashes, that notion really starting to tick me off.

“What are you suggesting, Stella?” I hold my breath, my wolf ready to release its anger. “I just found my mate dead outside, in my own home, and you’re worried about me not having a Luna?”

“I’m not worried,” she admits coyly. “I know I will be the Luna.”

That’s it. I snap. I recognized her voice in the washroom through Aurora’s mind link. I know what she said about my mate, what she has called her, and I know she thinks she will get to my heart through the shaft in my pants, but I wouldn’t even get hard at the sight of her naked. I love my mate. She is the only one made to satisfy every part of my life.

I fly across the room, pushing her back against the wall, my claws so desperately wanting to break free and poke into her throat for saying such insensitive comments about my mate. She looks petrified now, shivering as she tries to peel out of my grip, but I don’t release her. I need her to know the boundaries, even with Aurora being taken away with her old flame, I trust her not to cross me.

“If you try to pull this stunt again,” I say through gritted teeth, “I will not hesitate to kill you.”

She gulps a hefty load of air, nodding fast at my words. “Yes, Sire.”

“If you dare spread one more lie about my mate, or what is best for me, you will find yourself stripped of this pack and sent rogue, no matter who your father is, Stella. I know you disparaged her name to the others and right now, as it stands, you look like a real suspect to her death. Do you understand?”

Again, she nods, trembling hard. “Yes, Sire.”

I give her a push when I release, watching her sprint out of the office. I clench my fist, unable to contain my rage. It overcomes me. The whiskey bottle nearby is my first victim. I throw it across the room, watching it shatter and spill all over the floor. Glass goes flying. Satisfaction edges against my wolf. I grab for a cup, then a statute, and then a table.

I turn the office upside-down without a care, shifting, letting my wolf carry out his frustrations on the room and everything in it. I claw at the walls, rip into the furniture, and exhaust myself releasing my anger all at once. Still, all I see is her laid out in the grass, helpless and innocent. She didn’t deserve any of this, none of it, and I’ve been ignorant to the obvious truth.

These problems go above Xander. There are real threats in the pack, purely over status.

I will be alpha one day, and she will be my Luna. I have to fix things before that moment.