23

Chapter 23

Corey's POV

I knew it was almost time for them to arrive, and Lucas was about to go crazy trying to make sure everything was just perfect. When I showed him the menu, he finally calmed down. It was just insane. Why go to so much trouble for people we had never met before? They were supposed to be powerful, right? Well, let them show off here; I will show them something different. I took Lucas into the throne room, where his father used to go when he didn’t want to be bothered. It was quiet in there, and I knew he thought of his father from time to time. His father wasn't really a good man; he would cheat on his wife, and she would know when he did because she would feel it. He did do some good by building the jail and dungeons to put rogues behind bars. He also built the fighting arena for the games and protected his mate when she needed it. He built the throne room just for himself when he wanted to be alone. Not even the queen was allowed in there unless there was a meeting to attend to, but he also built a separate building for meetings because he wanted his quiet time. However, when the queen needed her time, he wouldn’t leave her alone; he would get angry with her and accuse her of cheating if she didn’t want to be around him. When she died, it didn’t take long for him to follow her. He was in love with Mom; he just couldn’t stay faithful to her. Now that he was king, he had changed almost everything. He was fair to the wolves and found out that they had to pay for Lycan protection. He was upset when he discovered this, so he tore up the contract and ordered the council to draft a new one, stating that any wolf pack needing protection from Lycans would receive it free of charge. I didn’t even know what was happening until he told me what the contract had said. Some wolves didn’t even have running water until we went out and found water for them. We dug pipes into the ground and connected them to their homes. As I said, he had to change a lot of what his father had done. I watched as Lucas sat in what was once his father's throne, touching the arms of the chair as he sat down. He looked around, and when he finally spoke, it was meaningful.

I think this room needs to be opened up to everyone; the doors should never be shut. If I need time for myself, I will go to the family room and shut the doors. This room reminds me of my father; he was a loner even though he had my mom. He liked things done his way. I think we should change this room, but don’t close the doors. Have the maids clear out everything in this room, and have a large marble table in the middle of the room with matching chairs surrounding it. I want maps on the walls. He went on and on as I made a list to give to the maids. He was back to himself now. We walked out of the throne room and back into the hallway. He took a look around, shaking his head.

“I never knew that my father kept a throne in this room. I just thought he called it a throne room because he wanted to be left alone. I used to go in there when I was a kid, playing with my cars and trucks while my dad talked to people. I never knew what they were talking about. Come on, let's go eat lunch; I'm starving.” Going into the kitchen, we pulled out lunch meats, made sandwiches, and then began to eat. I knew the guest was five hours into their trip. They won’t be here until maybe late tonight or tomorrow afternoon; it depends on if they decide to stop for the night and start on the road in the morning. Who knows?

Hawk's Point of View

I can’t believe those fucking rogues thought they were going to attack us at the gas station. I mean, come on, we were already grumpy from getting up so early and then hitting the road. Everything was fine until we stopped to get gas and do whatever we needed to do. I thought something was strange; it was just too quiet until this man started talking to my grandson. Then all hell broke loose. Kayla was shooting in the car while Isiah and Ava started fighting. We jumped out shifting to fight with them. The leader ran over after he looked up and saw something. I didn’t know what he looked at, but it scared him enough to run away. We shifted back, got dressed, and then took off again. Now I was in a mood; all I wanted was to get there and get it done. It’s been ten hours since we've been on the road, and we were all exhausted now. We stopped at this hotel Isiah got all of us our room so that we wouldn’t be so crowded in the rooms. I, for one, just wanted to lay beside Faith and hold her in my arms. She never wanted to be changed until four years ago. When she was walking in the forest, she told me she would be right back. She was gone for hours. I felt it when she got hurt; I felt it in my side. Someone was hurting my mate, so Mercury and I ran out to find her. Cheyenne and Ava joined us. We found her laying on the ground with a knife coming out from her side, a rogue standing over her laughing. I shifted, jumping on him, ripping out his throat. When I was done killing him, I shifted back, holding onto my mate. If I hadn’t done anything, she would have died. The only thing I could do was make her one of us. She agreed; she wasn’t ready to leave this world. She was fighting to stay alive, but there was just too much blood. I held her to me as I bit down on her marking spot, letting my blood drain into her system. When I was done, I picked her up, carrying her to the pack doctors. The doctor told us that if we had been there a few minutes later, she would have died. We were lucky we got there when we did. It took her three days to transform, and when she awoke, she was one of us. It didn't take long for her to shift, and when she did, she was a beautiful brown wolf. Now she fights with us; she's a hybrid—half witch and half werewolf. Things change when you don’t watch what you are doing. That night we slept hard due to all the driving we had done that day. The next day we hit the road; we had a few more hours to drive. I was ready to get there to start the investigation.