Royal Wolf Box Set by Haley Weir

Chapter Sixteen

In the morning, as Holly and Dex laid in each other’s arms, she thought of something that began to gnaw at her in a slow realization which she hadn’t yet decided was wonderful or terrifying, or perhaps a bit of both. She was falling in love with Dex. She was certain of it, and it was too late to do anything about it.

“I want to tell you something,” she said softly as they laid together and both tried to ignore the beginning of the day in exchange for wanting to just stay there inside the den indefinitely.

“What is it?”

“I am very concerned about my rule as queen,” she said.

“Rightly so,” Dex agreed. “There have been too many threats and whisperings not to warrant concern. You are smart to take it seriously and to enact precautions.”

Holly shook her head against his chest. She wanted to tell him two things. She was in love with him now, and there was nothing that she could do to stop it. And she also wanted to tell him the real reason that she feared for her rule as queen. Although the second should have given the most cause for concern and secrecy, it was the first that she couldn’t bring herself to say just yet. So, with a deep breath, she told him the one thing that no one aside from her family knew. She confided her secret to him as a show of her love and faith. Perhaps it was foolish, but she needed to tell him.

“There is a reason why there are so many rumors and whispers about the legitimacy of my claim on the throne,” she said hesitantly.

Dex bent his face toward her to look intently in her eyes while she spoke.

“It is because the rumors are true,” she said.

“What?” he whispered in surprise.

“My mother had an affair with Rubius while she was married to King Aeron. They covered it up—all of them, and Aeron accepted me as his own daughter. While I do have the royal blood of my mother running through my veins, I am not Aeron’s daughter. Therefore, the whispers are true. Theo has the rightful claim to the throne, and I do not. I am an illegitimate princess.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Dex asked with widened eyes and a shocked expression. “If a secret like this were to get out, it would ruin your family’s rule and put all of you in mortal danger.”

“Are you going to tell anyone?” she asked, wary that she had said anything at all.

“Of course not,” Dex answered as he held her even tighter to him than before. “I would never betray your secret.”

Holly sighed in relief, not only because she had been momentarily frightened that she had made a grave mistake, but also because his devotion to protecting her secret proved to her what she had been seeking an answer to all along—he cared about her.

“If you truly want to be queen,” he said, “then I have no doubt you will be the best queen Grenvich has ever had.”

“That’s a lot to live up to,” she laughed. “And currently, I can’t even seem to keep the peace in the kingdom.”

“That will change,” he said. “I have no doubt that you will do great things.”

They laid there for another blissful moment together, and then it was time for Holly to head back to the castle before Rubius came looking for her. When they got up, they lingered naked outside of the den for a little while, letting the cold air kiss their skin before helping each other put their clothes back on. Holly thought that she heard rustling in the trees, but when Dex went to check it out, he came back without having seen anything. Sometimes the heavy snow made the branches drop, and that was probably all that it was.

Dex accompanied Holly back to castle, just in case any human hunting parties were out. But no sooner had they reached the castle gates than Dex put his arm around her protectively as he saw the castle being stormed by angry mobs of townspeople. Instantly, he picked up on the humans’ shouts to remove Holly from the throne, and he pulled her into a nearby alleyway to keep her hidden from sight.

“We need to get you inside of the castle,” he said with an urgent tone in his voice.

“I know a secret way in,” she said.

Holly led them toward the hidden tunnels that led into the castle, and Dex kept a keen eye as they went to make sure that no one spotted them. Once they had made it inside the castle, they found everyone gathered together in the throne room trying to make a plan in the midst of what looked like utter chaos.

“Holly, thank god you’re okay,” Cassandra said when she spotted her daughter.

“What the hell is going on?” Holly asked as she looked around and saw the same concerned looks on the faces of Rubius and Theo as well.

“One of the humans was in the forest and found out your secret,” Theo said.

For a second, Holly felt herself panic that after everything, she may have accidentally revealed them as shifters.

“Which secret?” she asked.

“A human overheard you saying that you weren’t Aeron’s biological daughter,” Rubius said.

Holly was relieved, even though it was still a bad situation. At least the secret of being shifters remained intact.

“Now that they know you are an illegitimate heir to the throne, the city is in an uprising. Not all of the townspeople care; many of them know you and our family and they are happy to call you queen. But some are not so lenient with the old ways. They are asserting that you cannot be queen and that either Cassandra or Theo should take the throne,” Rubius explained.

“And if they don’t get what they want?” Holly asked.

“Then they are prepared to overthrow the royal family,” her mother answered.

“I can assume the throne,” Theo offered reluctantly from his place at the table. His voice made it very apparent that he didn’t want to do it. “If it will keep the peace and will keep Holly safe, then I will be king. If it is needed to restore the royal family’s control over the kingdom, then I must do it.”

“No,” Holly protested. “It’s not what you want to do. This is ridiculous. Who cares about bloodlines? We are all part of the same family. The humans are petty and naïve, and these stupid rules are outdated.”

“That may be so,” Rubius said. “And none of us would disagree with you, But the humans are prepared to fight over it. Their old traditions are of high importance to them, whether we think it is right or not.”

Theo’s face lit up.

“Wait a second,” he said. “I think I might have a crazy idea that could work.”

Everyone turned to look at him inquisitively.

“What if Holly were to marry?” he asked as he leaned forward in his seat.

“Excuse me?” Holly said in shock. “I fail to see what that has to do with anything at all.”

“I see where Theo is going with this,” Rubius said. “The humans and their silly traditions—he may actually have an idea here.”

“Yes,” Theo said eagerly. “I think I do. If Holly got married, since there would also be a king by her side, she would be more difficult to overthrow.”

Rubius nodded.

“Although nothing will squash the rumors of illegitimacy aside from the passing of time, especially not since Aeron is dead and cannot speak on it. This might be the only way to assure that Holly keeps the throne.”

“This is crazy,” Holly said as she looked to her mother for guidance.

Cassandra didn’t offer much in the way of objection.

“I don’t agree with the outdated views of humans,” her mother said. “But I think they may have a point. I can continue to uphold that you are a legitimate and rightful heir, and if you have a husband as king, it will probably back down the troublesome townspeople that are protesting your rule.”

Holly looked to Dex to get his opinion on the matter since he was the only one who had not yet spoken to it. Dex hadn’t planned on even being asked his opinion to begin with since he was neither part of the royal family nor the kingdom or the packs. He simply shrugged and looked uncomfortable. Cassandra picked up on his demeanor, though, and noticed something else.