Page 28 of Lycan King’s Claim (Lycan King’s Reign Duet #2)

“Good thing it is not up to you, Daddy,” she retorts, pushing past him.

But he grabs her arm, jerking her back. “You’ll regret this!

” he snarls, and Carina’s eyes flash dangerously, and she takes a daring step forward, getting in her father’s face.

And this is the first time I have ever witnessed her stand up against him.

“Why? Because you’ll have your guard rape me for being bisexual and sleeping with Rosaline Draven?” she spits at him venomously. The gasps that ring out are loud at her words, and I blink, wondering if I heard right myself.

However, Carina doesn’t stop there. Instead, she continues airing out the dirty laundry and throwing her father under the bus.

“Or maybe when you ordered them to rape me the other night to remind me what I would be coming home to if I didn’t marry Xandros.

All so you can steal his kingdom out from under him because you’re going bankrupt from tax evasion!

” Carina’s words hang in the air, shocking everyone in the room.

Her mother gasps, covering her mouth in horror, while the Council members exchange uneasy glances.

I can feel the anger boiling inside me, but I force myself to remain calm to see how this plays out.

I want to know what else has been happening with King Vin before I order him killed for the vile things he has done against his daughter, against my family.

“Vin?” Anita exclaims, and at first, I think it’s in horror at what her daughter said. However, I learn I am wrong when Anita grabs her husband’s arm.

“Stop, you’re drawing attention. You’re making things worse,” she snaps at him. King Vin glances around at the crowd watching, realizing there are witnesses to this disaster.

“It’s all lies. She is just trying to run off with her gold-digging leech mate.” Vin defends himself.

“Toby is not a leech and certainly not a gold digger, not that you have any gold for him to try to take, Father!” she snaps at him, ripping her arm out of his grip.

“I go down; you go down too, sweetie. Remember that,” Vin snarls through gritted teeth, yet my mind is reeling at the situation.

Carina glances around at the crowd before her eyes fall on my mother and then on me. “Speak. Anything you say will not be held against you, and I offer you immunity,” I tell Carina before quickly glancing at my mother.

She nods once in agreement, and relief floods her that she agrees because it is becoming frighteningly apparent that Carina is a victim of her father. Although, I am interested in learning about Rosaline and Névé.

Carina swallows nervously, and her bottom lip quivers. “You stop this. You stop your lies right now!” her father accuses.

“Carina…” my mother stands from her seat, and Carina looks at her.

“I’m sorry, Adina. I promise I never asked her to do it; I should have told you,” she murmurs. “But I was scared…” My mother watches her curiously, and I see the hurt in her eyes. She hesitantly peers back at Sienna in the far row, and so does Carina.

“Enough people have been punished for my mother’s crimes, don’t you think, Adina? Especially when she is just collateral damage as I am, as my father was,” Sienna steps forward, defending Carina, which shocks me further. This is by far the strangest wedding/divorce I’ve ever attended.

“Speak freely, Carina. You won’t be punished. No matter your part,” my mother promises her openly in front of everyone, knowing she can’t go back on her word. “My son offered her immunity; I support it,” my mother states, looking at Council Elder Ridion.

He nods once, but Vin isn’t having it as he moves to grab Carina’s hair, but my hand is clutching his throat before he has a chance.

“Give me a reason to end you; I will do it here in front of everyone if you dare try to touch her again,” I warn him.

He grips my wrist, and Carina’s hand falls on my shoulder.

I let him go, and he turns to storm off, but Council guards swarm the area, making him stop; he peers around, looking for an escape but finds none when Carina speaks.

“Rosaline Draven killed Névé because my father and Névé walked in on us together.” my lips part with a gasp, and I look at my mother, worried about what this may mean.

“I never asked her to and was disgusted at what she did. But.....” Carina glances at her father before clenching her teeth and returning her attention to us, and continuing.

“Rosaline only did it because she feared Névé leaking it after what my father did to me,” Carina admits.

“You dare betray me!” Vin snarls, and Carina glares down at him, suddenly fearless now that everything's out in the open.

“You betrayed me first when you let your guard rape me to turn me straight,” she spits at him, and he snarls, his eyes flickering. He lunges at her. But my father is quicker and punches him.

King Vin’s jaw breaks with an audible crack, and his eyes roll into his head.

“Man, I have wanted to do that since he got here. The man doesn’t shut up!” my father says just as Ridion rushes over.

“Well, I…” she turns to my mother, who stares at Carina in disbelief.

“Adina… I’m sorry… I know I should have--” My mother holds up her hand and looks at Anita, who seems horrified at her husband on the ground.

“Did you know?” my mother asks her, and she shakes her head. “Not about Carina and Rosaline,” Anita answers when Carina growls. “But you knew about me though, right, Ma? Just turned a blind eye; you never once questioned his actions?” Carina sneers, and Anita averts her gaze.

“He said he was ensuring you were straight; I knew something must have happened, but to screw a servant. The shame it would have brought on our family, especially her of all the women,” she clicks her tongue and shakes her head in disgust. Carina stares at her in disbelief at what she admitted. “I am your daughter,”

“Exactly! The daughter of the Queen, not the daughter of a hippy commune. You being gay would destroy my reputation!” she spits.

“Well, it’s definitely done that. Nothing is more shameful than rejecting your child for being who she is; you are the one who should be ashamed.

You’re not a mother. You’re a monster like your husband; you’re just as bad as him for allowing it and not defending her or doing something! ” my mother spits at her.

“Don’t tell me how to parent Adina; you don’t have a daughter!” Carina gasps, covering her mouth at her words.

“I do have a daughter; she died with my sister! And don’t tell me I don’t know how to parent a daughter when regarding this situation right here, it is the same!

I would not reject my son if he were gay!

How does her sexuality hurt you, shame?” my mother asks her, stepping around my father and nearing closer.

“Shame?” My mother’s voice cuts the silence, cold and unyielding.

“You want to talk about shame, Anita. It lies not in loving someone of the same gender but in enabling abuse under your very roof, thinking it’ll ‘correct’ your child. It’s allowing your blood to be hurt, believing it’ll change something as intrinsic as their sexuality.” my mother shakes her head.

“You let your husband harm your child, believing it would make her ‘straight.’ Do you not hear how stupid that sounds? You’re supposed to be an educated woman?” my mother snarls.

Anita, flustered, attempts to defend herself, “I…I thought…we were just trying to?—”

My mother cuts her off, her voice cold as steel, “Trying to what? Change something as innate as her sexuality through fear and pain? And you dare question my parenting?”

“But…but as her mother, I—” Anita stammers, words failing her.

My mother laughs, and Anita’s face turns red as she stares around at the crowd, all glaring at her in disgust. “The profound abuse of power you’ve shown as a queen is deplorable, but as a mother, it’s despicable to hear of such betrayal; no words can justify what you did.”

“Your daughter’s sexuality doesn’t define her worth, her potential, her essence.

It’s just one aspect of the remarkable person you’ve been entrusted to nurture.

Your refusal to see beyond your blinkered perspective, Anita, is the darkest shade of shame.

Your betrayal, your blindness to her pain.

That is the lowest act of parenting I’ve ever witnessed.

You are no queen; there is no rank low enough to give you a name. ”

Anita snarls, her fangs elongating, and she rises from her seat. “I suggest you sit down,” my mother warns her.

However, Anita stands and lifts her hand to point to my mother’s face. With that, my mother draws back her hand, and the echo of the slap resonates loudly, cutting off any words Anita dares try to speak.

Anita clutches her cheek, and a second later, a growl tears out of her, but she lifts her hand when a guard is suddenly clamping a handcuff on her wrist.

A second later, Anita suddenly jolts, her eyes widen, and she gasps. Looking past her, I see Ridion. He has shot her with a dart gun.

“Arrest them both,” Ridion says before looking at Carina and then my mother. “Adina?” Ridion asks, and my mother looks at Carina.

“She lied; I already punished the wrong person last time. I won’t make the same mistake again and blame another innocent.

She’s suffered enough, and I stand by my son with her receiving immunity; she is just another victim in this mess; she is not the perpetrator,” my mother says, yet I can see the heartache all this has caused her.

“Thank you,” Carina murmurs, and my mother nods, then walks off.

With the truth now laid bare, the Council members are in disarray about what to do.

Some look shocked, while others wear expressions of concern and disbelief.

Ridion’s guards move swiftly to apprehend King Vin, who is unconscious on the ground, and Anita, who is still struggling against the handcuffs while also twitching from the poison running through her veins.