Page 48 of Loved By The King

“No, we were discussing it, not arguing and Rhett has it figured out. Don’t you worry!” I’m unsure if she is trying to convince me or herself that Rhett is capable of pulling off whatever it is he thinks he is doing.

“Do you really think you’ll both get away with it?” I ask her, trying to mask the tremor in my voice. She purses her lips looking annoyed. “That you’ll what? Take over my father’s pack and they’ll just bend a knee for their new Alpha? You’re both delusional if you think that. They know it will be forced, they will know what Rhett did to my father. You can’t just command loyalty!” I spit at her.

She rolls her eyes. “They won’t have a choice, you’re your father’s heir, their rightful Alpha or next in line. Once Rhett has mated and you’ve marked him, they’ll have to accept him as their Alpha, and you by default their Luna.”

“And yet you think he’ll get rid of me?” I laugh at how she’s not seeing what I am. “He intends to keep you as a side piece. He takes over my father’s pack; they’ll only remain if I am by his side, they will turn on him the moment he tries to get rid of me.”

Bianca seems angered hearing this and goes to retort, but I cut in once again. “You’re best off running while you can, Bianca,” I warn her. “Rhett doesn’t care about you. When the council comes for you, he won’t be your knight in shining armor. He certainly won’t risk his own life for you when Soren comes for me, and he will.”

She laughs wickedly. “You think I’m worried about your pussy king? He couldn’t even save his wife. He also has no ties to you, yet you think he is looking after you betrayed him?” Her words hang in the air like toxic fumes but I refuse to let them get to me. She doesn’t know Soren like I do; I know he’ll come even if it is just to punish me. If I am dying by anyone’s hands it will be his. I remain silent, watching her every move, anticipating her next words.

“Your pathetic king isn’t coming for you. You need to get that idea out of your head. And you think I am delusional, you’re not even a Lycan!”

“Soren didn’t care that I was a werewolf, and not Lycan.”

“It doesn’t matter, even if by some miracle he did come for you, he’ll be too late. He already is with that mark on your neck. No king will risk their reputation by being seen or marrying a marked woman!” she declares, her tone smug. “We’re going to take down your precious king and take over the supernatural council. Besides, you’re useless to him now with Rhett’s mark on your neck, last I checked mate bonds can’t be reversed.” She sneers at me, her voice low and filled with venom. Yet the King isn’t a werewolf, he is a lycan, the more dominant species, he is the predator while we are diluted versions of his kind. I know something could be done. Her eyes drop to my neck, and the jealousy burning in her gaze is so blatantly obvious it’s sickening.

“He won’t see it coming, just like he didn’t see it last time.”

“Last time?” I can’t stop myself from speaking, I’m curious about the details, besides the more I know, the more information I can give Soren. I know Bianca loves to gloat like she has already won, so she won’t see the danger in blurting out their secrets. She already has.

“The queen, do you not pay attention to anything? You are a terrible eavesdropper.”

“That makes no sense, Rhett wasn’t an Alpha back then?” She huffs, annoyed.

“Exactly, he should have been. His father refused to give him the pack. So Rhett went to the council and complained. They told him he had to wait until it was handed down or he had to challenge his father. Naturally his father was pissed learning this but still refused despite him being old enough. Rhett was a laughing stock. His father believed he was too immature.”

His actions right now are proving his father right. He is going to get his pack slaughtered at this rate.

“But then one of the council elders stopped him as we were leaving the council. Told him that could change if he spoke to the Vampire King. I guess you can imagine our shock when we learned vampires existed. Did you know they kept it from the public worried it would cause hysteria or wars?” she states looking as shocked as me when I learned they existed.

“Anyway, the elder introduced us to him, he needed cargo moved and picked up, Rhett cut him a deal, he just needed the pack handed down to him first and then we could plan out the rest.”

“The rest?”

“Taking over the council of course,” she quips, I furrow my brows. “Anyway Rhett started to build a relationship with the King, working for him but then his father found out.”

“That still doesn’t explain what that has to do with Soren’s queen!”

“She stuck her nose where she shouldn’t. Rhett’s father was quite close with the King; he delivered supplies to the castle regularly back then. Rhett knew she’d be an issue.” If I press more, she’ll become suspicious so I momentarily divert the conversation back to her hoping she’ll give me more information.

“So what are you planning to do, once Soren finds out and comes for me. Rhett marking me won’t change that.” My voice is more forceful now as I try to think around the pounding of my skull and burning agony of my wrist twisting in the binds. I bite my tongue at the pain, my blood making my hands slick as they bleed from the ropes tight knots.

Bianca laughs, turning to face me, her lips curling into a cruel smirk. “You don’t get it, do you? Soren’s too naïve to see it. He didn’t even realize his precious wife was investigating the council or that Rhett’s trucks were carrying the rogues into his castle when the shipment was dropped off. And the queen, too stupid to realize the danger she was in, she should have known when it was Rhett driving and not his father. She thought she could expose the truth, but all she did was sign her own death certificate.”

My breath hitches in my chest. “So that is why he killed her, the queen was investigating the council?” I ask, barely able to keep the tremor out of my voice.

Bianca raises an eyebrow, looking at me with twisted amusement. “Yes, and the corruption within the council twice she filed against one of the elders, both times he managed to falsify her claims. Made her look like an idiot. Even Soren thought she was paranoid.”

“Which elder?”

She laughs. “Nice try, I see what you are doing, not that it will help you anyway. It’ll only get you killed like it did her. She should have minded her own damn business. But like the entitled bitch she was, she had to run to council elders and her husband. She was getting too close, asking the wrong questions. She didn’t know when to stop, and that’s why she had to go.”

“Too close to what?” I snarl.

“Jeez, Aubrey, you still haven’t figured it out?” she rolls her eyes. I have. However, information is key. “Rhett’s father figured out what Rhett was really doing—dealing in trafficking and the blood trade of humans. The fool just couldn’t turn a blind eye to it. It was for the betterment of the pack. He tried to go to Soren but when he couldn’t, he went to her at the council. Had he handed down the pack to Rhett, and remained ignorant, he’d still be here. Rhett took his death hard.”

“Ignorant to what? Trafficking humans to the vamps?” I ask, disgusted.