Ch. 16：The Bastard Prince

*KILLIAN*
“So you found your mate,” Orion said, tapping his feet.
“Yes,” I answered without fail.
“Anyone I know?”
“I am unsure.” Would he remember the girl who fainted in front of the royal carriage and then crawled into our luggage a week ago? It would be surprising for him to forget.
“Why have you not introduced us?” He asked, blinking blue eyes at me. “Scared she’d like me more?” My wolf snarled.
“Stop talking nonsense.”
“I don’t think you found your mate,” he said with a drawl. “It’s more likely that you picked a random girl to pretend to be your mate to shake off Scarlett and her family.” Orion’s best trait was that he knew me too well. It also doubled as his worst trait.
“I said not to talk nonsense,” I warned, irritated.
They say a secret known by three is no longer a secret so it was best to hide this from even my beta but he was perceptive. It was why we got along well. I found most people slow and annoying but Orion and I clicked from the start because of his perception.
“How much are you paying her to pretend to be the mate of the cruel alpha prince?” He asked with a laugh.
“You speak like you have nine lives.” My skin tightened.
“Didn’t I ever tell you?” He started with a dry tone. “I was a cat in my past life.” I ignored his quip, focusing on my work.
It was hard to focus on work when my fake mate was meeting my fake mother. My fake mate would most likely be torn to shreds by the dowager queen and Scarlett. Should I go to her aid before they scared her away? No, she would not be that easy to scare away.
Amethyst had a secret strength brewing underneath her skin. There was very little to distinguish her from other girls but she carried herself too well to be just a maid. I’d chosen her because she was nobody, someone who I could control at will and have the power of both the queen and king at my disposal but an itch on my skin told me there was something more.
“Killian, a fake mate is a terrible idea,” Orion muttered. “I understand you want a powerless woman by your side so you can do as you wish as king, but this lie will end up blowing up in your face.”
“Orion,” I called his name with a warning growl.
“Forgive my forwardness but as your best friend and beta, I am the only one that can say this to you without fear,” he continued. “What will happen when you find your mate in the future? What will happen when she finds her mate? Mate bonds are sacred, not things to lie about.”
At twenty-six, my chances of finding my mate were greatly reduced. As a bastard prince reduced to a warrior, I’d been on many battlegrounds that made me travel the length and breadth of the kingdom but I still hadn’t found my mate. The chances were slim but they were there.
I chose Amethyst and I planned to stick to my choice. If she found her mate – well, the bastard would be unfortunate.
Whatever stood in my way would be levelled to the ground. My chosen mate would stand beside me and the power of the queen would be mine because Amethyst did not have a voice, no power to challenge me.
The bastard prince would rule the kingdom as he pleased.
“Rather than poke your nose into things that do not concern you, shouldn’t you be looking for a way to contact the mages?” I changed the subject. Orion gave me a knowing glance but he let it slide.
“It is like I am moving in circles.” My beta groaned. “I’ve heard they do not have a leader yet they are this difficult to find.”
As a bastard prince, I lacked a maternal family to support my reign. It was the nozzle with which Alpha Hawke and Scarlett tried to leash me with.
Seth, my late brother, never argued his betrothal with her. He had no reason to be wary of her father’s influence spreading if she became the Luna Queen since his mother was powerful. A man building from the scratch would become a puppet for Alpha Hawke and Dark Moon pack if I gave them the seat of the Luna Queen.
I would force all the Alphas to kneel at my feet with brute force if need be but it would not hurt to forge an alliance with the mages. They were neutral in all things politics. They had their own rules, their own leaders, and they paid no attention to the world outside their covens.
“You’re useless,” I muttered to my beta. “We’ve been on this for a year but you still haven’t found a single mage.”
“Hey!” Orion exclaimed in indignation. “A lot of things happened out of the blue okay? In a short while, Seth died, the Alpha King died and I am suddenly the beta of the future king. I am working hard, you know?”
Seth. The mention of that name made my heart clench.
“Are you okay?” Orion went quiet.
“Fine.”
I was not fine.
The only person to ever care about me was cold in the ground. Seth, or Number Two, as I called him, had been my only family all my life. My father hid me away in shame and my stepmother hated my existence. She could not hate her mate or the maid that died birthing me so she hated me instead. I was considered a stain on the royal family, living evidence of the Alpha King’s infidelity, a prince born of a former slave.
Seth, the only one to ever treat me like family, died mysteriously and the world pointed fingers at me.
“He would be proud of you,” Orion muttered.
“Stop,” I warned but he did not heed my warning.
“You know he never wanted to be king. You are going to be a king he would be proud –“
“Orion –“
“Killian, stop killing yourself over this,” my beta said. “Seth is dead and you have to accept it. No witch can bring him back to life so stop!”
“I never said –“
“I am not daft. I know you need the witches for more than the throne.” Perception. A gift and a flaw.
“I am not trying to bring him back to life.” Necromancy was taboo. “I am trying to find out who killed him.”
“The royal physician ruled it a suicide.” The physician also died the next day.
Seth found the constraints of the royal family too much to bear. He wanted freedom and craved to be an explorer but as the Alpha Prince, his duties were cut out for him before his birth. He wanted freedom, not death.
Although his death was ruled a suicide, the monarchy announced he died of a strange disease but no one believed it. It was easier to believe I, the monster of the monarchy, killed him than for people to believe a strange illness killed a healthy royal wolf.
“Killian –“ Orion started.
“Let’s forget this conversation.” I stood. “I have to see my mate and make sure the old hag has not pulled any trick.”
I promised to protect Amethyst. She was on the run from something she refused to tell me but I planned to keep my word. She would be protected but who would protect her from me?
“You have a lot of audacity talking bad about the future king, Mary.” A voice reached me as I approached the corner to the main palace.
That voice was familiar. It belonged to a person that filled my thoughts for the past twenty-four hours, a person that took away my nightmares for the first time since my brother’s death.
“What? Don’t you know your supposed ‘mate’ murdered his brother to become king?” Those words never failed to squeeze my heart.