Chapter 49
XADEN’S POV
“Do you think we can accommodate all of them?” Erik asked him.
Xaden was in his courtroom with the high-ranking men in his pack, and they were deliberating over the sudden appearance of the Hallo moon.
He had never witnessed it before.
He had only ever heard of it before from his parents and Elena.
And for the Hallo moon to appear in your territory was an honor.
He couldn’t take that away, and because it was an honor, the Alpha of the pack had no choice but to participate in all rituals, especially the last one.
The Rigai.
“Well, we can’t kick them out. Or tell them to go elsewhere. Which, unfortunately, I would have loved to do.” Xaden said as he rubbed his forehead. “A bunch of them are my enemies. I can’t dispute that fact. But the Wolf Council, as usual, would put in their two cents.”
He had just learned that the astrology wolf pack had seen it coming and would appear in three days.
“You are aware that the Silver Pack will be coming too.” Aragon, one of Xaden’s other men, said.
How could he easily forget?
The silver pack was the family of Dean, who had been Jasmine’s mate and betrothed. How could he forget when he had beheaded Dean and even delivered his dick chopped up in a box?
He knew his family would be vengeful, but it was war, and there were casualties.
Dean had come in between and used his as an example.
Moreover, Dean was very annoying.
“Alexander would come after you.” Liam was another of his men, a Lycan said. “I’m sure he had made plans to, but the opportunity just presented itself to him.”
“I’m aware,” Xaden said. “Let him. We’ll see how far he can go.”
Liam was Dean’s elder brother, and it was a very common story that Liam was the incarnate of evil.
Liam and Xaden didn’t frequently cross paths, and when they did, the energy between them was hostile.
Liam didn’t like Xaden because he thought he was a blood-hungry savage who had lived in the wild and should remain that way, while Xaden didn’t want Liam because he felt he was a spoilt brat who knew nothing about what it meant to be an Alpha and was only found in between the legs of a woman.
The end of the story was that both men hated each other, and what Xaden had done sealed their fate in blood.
He would want to avenge his brother.
“We have about fifty different packs coming in,” Xaden said. “Especially the Wolf Council. See to it that they are welcome here. Keep an eye on our enemies and even those we trust.”
“What about the royal family?” Erik asked.
Xaden gritted his teeth.
He hated having to deal with them.
The Royal family was the original bloodline of the first wolves.
King Henry and his wife, Queen Claire, were in their late sixties.
They had two children.
Scarlet and Coral.
Scarlet had been the first child before her sister Coral, but then Scarlet had gone missing on a boat trip and had never been found.
It was believed that she had drowned and that it had broken the royal couple.
Only Coral survived. Coral eventually got married and gave birth to a girl named Belle, who would be the next in line to the throne.
Belle was wonderful, and times without number, she had made her intentions clear to Xaden.
She wanted him in her bed and even wanted him to be her king, but he indirectly declined.
There was no getting around it with her.
Xaden hated being in Belle’s company because, as beautiful as she was, something put him off.
“We will make arrangements for them, too,” Xaden said. “Give Lady Belinda the orders. She will know what to do.”
And then the men left.
Erik and Xaden remained.
“You know, you could just marry her and become king,” Erik said, folding his arm and giving him a crooked smile. “After all, you said you wanted to rule the world.”
Xaden shot him a look.
Erik raised his hands and laughed. “Hey, hey. Relax. I’m just messing with you.”
And then, they both proceeded to walk out of the courtroom.
“Don’t worry when she comes batting her eyelashes and demanding where you are; I’ll send her to your room.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Xaden told his best friend.
“Of course, I wouldn’t. I would be such a bad person to even do that to you.” Erik said that and gave a wink.
Before Xaden could attempt to strangle Erik, Jade came in.
“Uncle Xaden!” She squealed, excitedly running up to him.
He caught her in his arms and lifted her in the air.
I bounced her up and down while she giggled.
Then he kissed her all over.
“How is my little princess?” He asked her.
“Fine!” She said she was using her baby fingers to pull his face. “I missed you. You were gone too long.”
“I missed you too.” He said. “But I had to work. Did anyone give you any trouble here? Tell me if they did. Cause I’ll eck* them if they trouble my little princess.”
*Eck is an expression he makes playfully, meaning he would kill them.
She giggled.
There were some metal clanks at a distance that seemed to be approaching.
“Hey, there will be no ecking of anyone!” Erik warned them from afar as they walked ahead.
Jade now says on Xaden’s arm.
“Your dad is such a party pooper,” Xaden whispered.
“Heard that!” Erik said.
Xaden and Jade giggled.
The metal clanking got closer, and as they turned by the bend, Xaden saw Jasmine.
The chains he had instructed her to be given made the metal clank so loudly.
They clung to her feet and announced her arrival.
Her long red curls were in a straight plait, and she wore a simple, plain dress.
He hasn’t seen her since the night before.
“Uncle Xaden? Why is this woman wearing chains? Don’t they hurt her?” Jade asked, breaking the silence.