Page 21

Images of monstrous beings floated through my mind, and my mind locked onto them with a shiver.

“Come on,” Papa Connor urged, pulling me to the door. “Christian called a Council meeting.”

I grabbed my bag and followed him out of the room. “Where’s Alexei?”

“He was the one who found the tracks,” Papa Connor said.

I marched alongside him, eager to find Alexei and ask what happened. How had he come to be outside the perimeter walls this morning? Why had he left? There were so many questions going through my brain, but all along the back, there were a set of yellow eyes that loomed in my mind. Unblinking, unflinching. Watching.

I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination or something else.

The Council meetings were usually held at the Ravana Estate, but we had to make do here. When I walked in, all my potential mates were there staring back at me—even Alexei. Papa Connor strode to the front of the room while I held back. “Where did you go?” I asked.

His throat worked, and he looked away. “I just needed a walk. There was a guard stationed with you.”

I shook my head. “What is Papa Connor talking about? Animal tracks?”

“We’ve seen them, Princess,” Kai said. “I didn’t recognize them and neither did anyone else.”

“Wait,” I said, not believing what I was hearing. “You’veallseen them?”

Alexei tried to stop them from answering because he knew what was coming, but Kai, innocently, said, “Yes, Princess. This morning.”

“And no one thought to come get me?” I asked, my voice rising.

“Actually, I did,” Felix said. “No one listened to me though.”

“That’s because you’re an asshole,” Alexei grunted.

Asshole or not, at least he’d known I’d want to be there. Alexei knew too, but he just let me sleep.

I turned on my heel and marched away from them. With my eyes trained on my mother, I made a beeline right for her. When The Council meeting started, I’d have to sit next to my family among some of the other more prominent members in the Ravana Clan, including Natalie Rajyvik.

Mother’s head tilted when she saw me coming for her with a purpose. Papa Christian opened his mouth when he saw me close in, no doubt going to start the meeting, but Mother pulled on his hand and we all stepped down off the raised platform, partially hidden from the long table and chairs.

As soon as my family surrounded me, I let it go. “I can’t be treated like a child anymore. This is not how you raised me to be. Made to stay in the dorm when something is going on that affects the clan.”

“You’re mad,” Papa Christian said. It wasn’t a question at all, nearly a statement.

“I’m furious,” I countered. “My potential mates are looking at tracks surrounding The Fort while I’m asleep. This is not how my life is going to be. I am the natural successor and I’ll be treated like one whether I have mates or not.”

Mother inclined her head, suppressing a smile. “I told you.”

She wasn’t speaking to me, she was speaking to my fathers.

“She’ll get over it,” Papa Nic said.

“Not likely.”

Papa Nic’s gaze narrowed.

I followed my last thought up quickly with, “I don’t mean any disrespect, but think how I felt when I just learned everyone else was aware of what was going on, but I was still asleep in my room. That can’t happen again.”

Papa Stephan reached up and put a hand on my shoulder. “It wasn’t to keep you in the dark.”

I took a deep breath, Papa Stephan’s touch as soothing as it ever was. “I’m not saying it was,” I said in a much calmer voice. “What I’m saying is, I can’t be made to feel like a figurehead. I want it all. I can handle it. I’m certainly not going to let my mates run out to deal with everything for me. That’s nonsense and goes against everything you instilled in me since I was little. What were all those years at The Fort for if you weren’t going to let me put any of that training into use?” I looked at my mom for help. “You of all people… You should know what I’m going through.”

She nodded slowly. “I do.” She stepped forward, bringing the focus on her. “You’re tremendously strong, but you’re also vulnerable in different ways. I let my feelings get in the way. I’m sorry.”