Chapter 5

Lucian's Point of View

Cassandra Rath had touched my arm eleven times. Kieran had counted. He sat across the table, trying to hide his amusement behind his wineglass. I was totally disgusted. The Moon Goddess decreed that we only accept our Goddess-given mates. This was a decree that countless Kings and Queens had followed for centuries. Even though we weren't Royal by blood, we still followed it, and the thought of taking a chosen mate was repulsive.

Anyone looking at the three of us could see we weren't related by blood. I had black hair, olive skin and the fine features people often associated with the southern packs. Ronan's complexion was a shade deeper than mine, his black hair kept shorter due to his work with the Royal Guard, and years of training had left him broader in the shoulders and chest. Kieran was leaner, with dark brown hair and features that made every expression easy to read, especially when he was trying to hide a laugh.

The one feature we shared was our silvery-grey eyes. They marked us as members of the Royal House after our adoption, a visible change created by the Royal binding that made us Darkmeres in law, magic and family.

Not only that, all three of us knew that the Moon Goddess had a single fated mate for all of us. Even though we weren't blood brothers, we would share a mate. When I turned eighteen, the Moon Priest told all of us he had received a vision from the Moon Goddess. He explained that we would find our fated mate the day she turned eighteen. Together we would rule the Kingdom. We talked that night, happy that we would stay together, and all three of us vowed to keep ourselves for our fated mate, whoever she was.

The thought of a chosen mate wasn't the entire reason I was revolted with Cassandra. She was wearing Sierra's necklace. The necklace that belonged to my little sister. Her wearing it and touching me made it especially unpleasant. Unfortunately, I had to tolerate it and keep her talking in case she gave us any information that might lead to wherever Sierra was.

The Raths had put considerable effort into the dinner. Crystal glasses and polished silver covered the long table, with fresh flowers arranged between the serving dishes. Cassandra sat beside me, close enough to keep finding excuses to touch my arm. My brothers sat across from us, while our parents were farther along the table with Alpha Geoff and Luna Mirella. From where I sat, I could watch most of the Rath family without turning my head.

Ten minutes later, Cassandra touched me again. She had spent considerable effort preparing for tonight. Her blonde hair fell in styled waves over one shoulder, and her pale blue dress fitted closely before spreading around her chair. Diamonds glittered at her ears and on her wrist, though my attention kept returning to the platinum chain around her neck. Sierra's necklace rested against Cassandra's skin as though it belonged there.

Kieran lifted one finger from the table. "Twelve."

Ronan kicked him for that, warning him to behave. Kieran was enjoying my suffering, only because he didn't have to deal with it.

Cassandra leaned closer. "Would you like to see the gardens tomorrow?"

"All three of us?" I asked. There was no way I was going anywhere alone with that bitch.

Her eyes flicked toward my brothers. "If you wish."

Kieran smiled.

"We don't separate."

"I don't mind," she said coyly, probably imagining the four of us in some sexual fantasy. No thanks. Not with her.

However, she was obviously interested in all three of us, and wanted our attention badly enough that if we encouraged her, she would keep talking. It was useful for getting her to spill the beans on where Sierra was. Our parents had told us about the necklace before dinner, so we knew Cassandra was lying.

All of us boys had seen photographs of Sierra wearing the necklace, and Mother had described it explicitly during the numerous searches. She's been such a cute baby, and I wondered what she looked like now. That mere thought sent my wolf surging. Strange. It must have been because Sierra was our little sister. Even though we had never met her, we loved her.

We also knew Geoff had changed his story twice within twenty minutes. First, he claimed he had purchased the necklace from a travelling merchant. When Mother mentioned Cassandra's claim that she had owned it since infancy, Alpha Geoff recalled a different version of events.

"Oh, that's right! A baby was found near our boundary seventeen years ago," he said. "Unfortunately, the baby was dead when we found her. The necklace had been beside her."

Father had listened without interrupting, and Alpha Geoff kept talking. That was his mistake. We had been taught that liars hated space, so they rushed to fill it. According to Alpha Geoff, the infant had been buried beyond the eastern boundary. According to Luna Mirella, the body had been burned. According to Darius, rogues had taken it away.

Three stories, and one missing Princess. I had a problem with Alpha Geoff's story. An unidentified dead infant found just outside his pack, with an expensive necklace, should have created records, witnesses, a burial or some other trail. Yet Alpha Geoff, Luna Mirella and Darius could not even agree about what happened to the body.

Somewhere inside this house, the missing Princess was still here. My wolf had become restless and kept pulling my attention towards the kitchen and servant's side of the house. I wasn't entirely sure what my wolf sensed; Ronan felt it too, as did Kieran. He had stopped smiling twice during dinner and looked toward the kitchen door, also looking occasionally to his feet.

Ronan commanded half of the Royal Guard, alongside General Darek. He was the type of shifter who, when he entered a room, studied the doors, guards, movement through the room, and possible exits. Kieran was more of the soft-skills type. He watched the servants and the commoners and listened to their conversations. I was similar to Kieran in that I watched people, but I aimed my skills at the leaders. In this case, it was the Rath family themselves.

Something or someone was here. I personally bet it's someone.

Mother and Father were studying the people and their surroundings as well, and I noticed that she was repeatedly looking towards the servants' quarters, as did we.

Servants moved through the dining room carrying trays between the table and kitchen. Each time the door opened, light from the kitchen spilt across the darker hallway beyond it, accompanied by the clatter of pans and voices from inside. My wolf reacted every time, his attention shifting towards the doorway before the servant carrying the tray had even entered the room. Father was continuing to talk pleasantly with Alpha Geoff, but I knew that Father was watching every reaction.

Cassandra touched my arm again.

"Thirteen."

"Shut up, Kieran!" I growled through our link.

I turned to face her and smiled. "Tell me about your family."

She did. In great detail, and we let her.

"Well," she began, "the Raths have been the Alpha family since the beginning. We come from a long line of Alpha wolves."

My gaze moved past her while she spoke. Portraits covered the wall behind the Raths, each showing another generation dressed in expensive clothes and posed beneath the family crest. Geoff appeared in the newest one with Mirella beside him and Darius and Cassandra standing in front. Cassandra looked several years younger, but the necklace around her throat was unmistakable.

I was already bored, but years of training let me keep a neutral face and show just a little interest.

"Father has spent a lot of money ensuring that we have the best packhouse. Darius will inherit all of this eventually, of course, when Father decides to step down," she continued. "As his only daughter, Father will be trying to arrange the best possible match for me. Of course, my mother brought me up to be not merely a Luna of a pack, but to be the best one, and possibly hold an even greater position."

Dear Goddess. She thinks she is worthy of being our Queen? Hell, no!

"That's fascinating," I lied. "How many servants do you have?"

"Oh, quite a few," she answered. "Sometimes the younger Omegas work as our servants to pay their family's debts. I find it such a caring way of helping the less fortunate."

I wondered what debts the Omega families might have that required their children to pay them off.

"I can't take my eyes off that dazzling necklace you are wearing. When did you say you got it again?" I asked, hoping that she was too busy impressing me to notice I was trying to grill her for information.

"I got it when I was a baby. Mother put it on me, and I hardly ever take it off."

"I bet you were such a cute baby," said Kieran, as he rested back in his chair. "I bet your cuteness and the necklace would have made you stand out. You must have photographs of yourself wearing it as a baby."

"Cut it out!" I warned. "Luna Mirella has started paying attention to our conversation."

"I'm sure we–"

Luna Mirella immediately cut in. "Most of Cassandra's baby photographs were lost years ago."

Kieran simply smiled. "That's unfortunate."

He was smart enough not to challenge her. We already knew the necklace story was false, and we had more to gain by letting Luna Mirella believe she had successfully closed the subject.

"What was it like growing up?" I asked, needing her to talk freely again.

Cassandra brightened immediately. "Oh, wonderful. I had everything I wanted. Father always made sure of that. Mother says an Alpha's daughter should grow up understanding her position because everyone watches us."

"I imagine they do," I said, smiling.

"They certainly watch me." She smiled. "I've always tried to set an example for the lower-ranking wolves. Mother taught me that we have a responsibility to help them."

Kieran took a drink to hide whatever expression had crossed his face.

"That's generous of you," I said.

"It is," Cassandra agreed without a trace of embarrassment. "We've even looked after a wolfless orphan all these years. Father could have sent her away, but he let her stay here."

My wolf surged, but I kept my face neutral.

"A wolfless orphan?"

"Stephanie," Cassandra said. "She's one of the servants."

The name meant nothing to me, but my wolf's reaction did. He pushed forward so suddenly that my fingers tightened around my glass. Across the table, Ronan's gaze snapped to mine, and Kieran stopped smiling.

Cassandra continued without noticing any of it. "She's always been a burden, but Father refuses to throw her out. He says we have a responsibility to her because we found her."

Found her. Every thought in my head focused on those two words.

"Your family found her?" I asked.

"Yes. She was abandoned."

I kept my voice casual. "How old was she?"

Cassandra shrugged. "A few months, I think. I don't really know. She's been here practically forever."

A found child, merely a few months old. My wolf pushed even harder, and I looked towards Father. He was still speaking with Alpha Geoff at the other end of the table.

"I heard," he echoed in my mind.

Seventeen years ago, according to Geoff, his pack had found an infant near the boundary. Dead. Yet Cassandra had just told us her father had found another abandoned infant and raised her inside this house.

"How old is Stephanie?" I asked.

"Almost eighteen."

Ronan's hand stopped beside his wineglass, and Kieran looked at me. I didn't need the mind-link to know what both of them were thinking. Sierra would turn eighteen in two days.

I forced myself to remain seated. "Where did your father find Stephanie?"

As Cassandra opened her mouth to answer, a servant came rushing into the room.

"Excuse me, Luna."

A young servant stood in the doorway leading towards the kitchen. Her face was flushed, and she kept glancing over her shoulder. A smear of sauce marked one side of her apron, and several strands of hair had escaped whatever had pinned them back. Heat followed her through the doorway along with the smell of roasting meat. Whatever had happened in the kitchen had been serious enough for her to leave it looking like that and interrupt the Luna during a Royal dinner.

Luna Mirella turned towards her. "What is it?"

"We need Stephanie. Cook says the venison sauce has split, and Liana can't get it right. She said Stephanie will know how to save it."

Mirella's expression changed. "Stephanie is busy."

"But Cook said–"

"I said she's busy. Deal with it yourselves."

The servant lowered her head. "Yes, Luna."

She disappeared through the doorway.

I looked at Kieran. He was already watching the doorway, and Ronan's attention had shifted there as well.

A few minutes ago, Cassandra had described Stephanie as a burden their family generously allowed to remain in the packhouse. Yet the kitchen had sent someone into the middle of a Royal dinner to find her because something had gone wrong. That didn't sound like a useless servant.

Beside me, Cassandra continued talking. "Anyway, the gardens are beautiful at this time of year. We have roses along the southern wall, and there's a lake farther down the grounds. I could show you that too."

I barely heard her, because my wolf surged again. This time, the sensation was stronger. I gripped the edge of my chair as he pushed towards the surface, his attention focused entirely on the servants' doorway.

"What?" I asked him silently.

He gave me nothing I could understand, only the need to move.

I looked towards the doorway. Something or someone was pulling him in that direction.

Ronan caught my eye. "Again?" he asked through our link.

"Stronger."

Kieran glanced towards the floor before looking at me. "Mine too."

That was enough, and I was about to push my chair back, but Ronan linked me. "I'll go. Keep her occupied."