CHAPTER 8: THE WEIGHT OF THE CROWN
Caleb's POV
The heavy oak door to the high-security wing clicked shut behind me, but the sound did not bring the silence I craved. Instead, it felt as though the noise followed me into the corridor. My pulse was a frantic drum against my ribs, and my skin still burned from the ghost of her touch. I walked down the long, dimly lit hallway toward my office, my boots striking the stone floor with a rhythmic violence that mirrored the chaos in my head.
I couldn't process it. The rejection, the kiss, the way she had looked at me with that lethal mix of hatred and something that felt far too much like salvation.
I can help with that, Adam's voice rumbled deep in my mind. He wasn't purring; he was snarling.
"Please, not now," I thought, pressing my palms against my eyes for a brief second as I kept walking. "I am in no mood for your lectures."
He clearly didn't want to hear it this time.
No! He growled, a low, warning vibration that made my hair stand on end. 'She nearly broke the bond, Caleb! She was a breath away from rejecting us, from tearing our soul in two, and you stood there like a statue. You did nothing! If it wasn't for her wolf, I am certain we would be mateless right now. Cold. Empty. All for what? Your pride? Your stupid, rigid ideals?'
I wasn't in the mood to argue. The air in the hallway felt too thin, and the shadows seemed to be closing in. I began to construct the mental barrier between us, a thick wall of slate and iron to shut him out, but he slammed it back down with a mental force that made my head throb.
'Caleb, you keep testing me! Fucking talk to me!'
"What?!" I finally yelled out loud, the word echoing off the empty portraits of former Alphas lining the hall. I didn't care if a stray guard heard me. "What do you want me to say, Adam? That I'm happy? That I want to spend my life tied to a Thornblood?"
'Why is this so hard for you?!' Adam countered, his voice rising to a frantic pitch. 'She is our mate! The Moon gave her to us. We are supposed to protect her, to cherish her, to be her shield. Why are you making this so difficult? Why are you making it so damn complicated?'
"Difficult? Complicated?" I reached the door to my office and gripped the handle so hard the metal groaned. "Adam, she is the bloody enemy! Her parents, her pack, her entire bloodline is guilty of crimes that would make a seasoned warrior weep. They didn't live long enough to pay for the blood they spilled. She is the one who will pay. She will be the one answering for every life lost until the day I decide to kil—"
Adam's growl was so loud it felt like a physical blow to my skull. 'FINISH THAT SENTENCE. I DARE YOU.'
"Adam, think for one second!" I stepped into my office and slammed the door, leaning my back against it. "We are engaged. I have a responsibility to this pack. We are to be married to Silverhade's daughter—"
He growled again, a jagged, piercing sound. At this rate, I was going to end up with a concussion from the sheer volume of his rage.
"And honestly," I continued, my voice dropping to a whisper, "I would rather pick almost anyone else than the daughter of the woman who murdered my parents and half this pack's council."
'Exactly!' Adam snapped, seizing on my words. 'She is their daughter, Caleb. She is not them! Stop speaking as if she held the blade. Stop acting as if she is the shadow of her father.'
He spoke with total dismissal, completely ignoring the part about my fiancé, Silverhade.
'Her parents and her pack sinned, and now they are all dead,' Adam continued, his tone turning cold and somber. 'The debt died with them. She is innocent in all of this, and deep down, in the part of you that isn't blinded by your title, you know it.'
"Fuck that!" I paced the length of the room, my shadows stretching long across the Persian rug. "Tell that to the pack. Tell that to the council or the royal family. Do you have any idea what would happen if I claimed her? Even thinking about it is treason. I will not risk my life, my position, or the safety of this pack over some dead thing I disgust just because you think she'd be a good mate. Your head is clouded by the bond, Adam. You aren't seeing the politics; you're just seeing a female."
'I—you know what? You are beyond reasoning,' Adam said, his voice dripping with a bitter disappointment that stung worse than his anger. 'Do whatever the fuck you want. I'm done with you.'
He slammed the mental barrier shut from his side, leaving me in a deafening, hollow silence.
I let out a long, ragged sigh and dragged my hands through my hair, tugging at the roots in a mixture of frustration and defeat. This was normal for us—we fought, we yelled, we bruised each other's egos, and then we moved on. But he usually let things go. This felt different. Despite the white-hot anger thrumming in my veins, I knew I had to try and see it from his side eventually. I just wished the understanding was mutual.
I moved to my desk, deciding to bury the thought of Hazel and her storm-gray eyes under a mountain of paperwork. I needed a distraction. I tried to mind-link Lucien, my best friend and Beta, but I hit a solid wall of static. His mind-wall was up.
I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose. He still hadn't forgiven me for the way I'd handled Hazel's arrival. And, to be fair, I still hadn't apologized.
I shifted my focus and mind-linked Daniel instead.
"Go back to my room and escort the prisoner to the high-security wing. Cell one. Put her in the corner unit."
'Sure thing, Alpha,' Daniel replied. His tone was clipped, professional, and entirely devoid of the usual warmth. He was clearly just as pissed as Lucien.
"Daniel—" I started, hoping to bridge the gap.
'Excuse me, Alpha,' he cut me off, ending the conversation by throwing up his own mental wall.
"Great," I muttered to the empty room.
"Perfect. I've managed to piss off my wolf, my Beta, my gamma and delta all before lunch."
I turned toward the small ensuite bedroom attached to my office, desperate for a few hours of dreamless sleep, when a sharp knock sounded at the door.
"Come in," I barked.
A young guard entered, bowing low. "Alpha."
I nodded acknowledging his greeting while raising an eyebrow in a silent demand for his business. He hesitated, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
"Well, Alpha... two letters arrived for you. They were marked as urgent."
I gestured toward my desk. He scurried forward, placed the envelopes on the mahogany surface, and bowed again before retreating out the door as if the room were on fire.
The moment the door latched, I was on them. I grabbed the first one, my heart sinking when I recognized the heavy, charcoal-colored wax seal of the Hades pack. My fiancé's pack. I ripped it open, the parchment crinkling under my trembling fingers.
> To Alpha Caleb,
> I trust this letter finds you well and your borders secure. Given the upcoming nuptials and the need for our packs to begin their formal integration, I have decided that my daughter, Silver, will arrive at your estate tomorrow morning. She will remain in your care as your guest until the wedding day. It is time she learns the ways of her future pack.
> Expect her at dawn.
> Alpha Silas of Hades.
I let out a harsh, humorless laugh. My grip tightened until the paper was a crushed ball in my fist, and I hauled it across the room. It bounced off a bookshelf and fell into the shadows.
I reached for the second letter. I didn't bother looking at the seal this time; I simply ripped the top off. It was a formal bounty notice, the kind issued by the Royal High Court, but as I read the words, the blood drained from my face.
The letter detailed the price on Hazel's head, the charges of high treason against the Thornbloods, and the demand for her immediate delivery to the capital. But it wasn't the text that stopped my heart, at least not completely–
–It was the bottom of the page.
I stared at the parchment, my vision blurring. My knees felt weak, and I had to grab the edge of the desk to keep from collapsing. There, at the very end of the royal decree, was a signature I knew better than my own. A signature that should have been buried in the earth twelve years ago.
How in fuck's name was my father's signature signed at the end of this note?