Chapter 53
Maria and I looked at each other confused as Miranda buried her face in her hands.
“What do we do?” I mouthed to Maria; she shrugged her shoulders. “Miranda?” I prodded gently. “What did you mean, your destiny is to be the mother of what? King of the Lycans?” She sniffed as she nodded.
“My great-grandmother was one of the last full-blooded fae. When she mated my great-grandfather, she had a vision, her children, and grandchildren would mate with the leaders of the greatest packs in America. And one day, her descendants would rule the whole continent. Once they achieved that, they would rule over every Lycan in the world. That is my family's destiny.” She sniffled quietly. “When I mated Richard, this pack was the last one without a leader that came from my family, on the day of my Luna ceremony, my great-grandmother came to me. She told me I was the one to complete our family's destiny, that I would give birth to the wolf that would unite all the Lycans and rule them. But I failed, I tried so hard to raise my sons to be worthy of their rightful role, everything I’ve ever done was to prepare them for their throne! I always believed it was Daniel, but I don’t know... what if Ben isn’t strong enough to rule the pack without a strong Luna by his side? What if Daniel can’t do both? What if he has to hand the pack over to Ben, but the pack won’t follow him? And how are either of them going to rule over all Lycans now? I failed them!” She tearfully lamented.
“But we haven’t had a king in like a thousand years!” Maria said quietly. I gave her a pointed look. “Well, we haven’t! And logistically it would be a nightmare, different countries, we are all over the world now.” Maria pressed. “And, if what you saw in your vision is true Daniel is still the most likely candidate, I mean the woman in your dream did tell you he had to warn all the other packs and the witches and everyone. It sounds sorta like he is uniting everyone, doesn’t it?” Miranda’s head snapped up at that. “And when you think about it, whatever you are, it’s powerful, and the vision woman said you’re a part of changing the future right? So maybe you are how Daniel becomes king and fulfils his destiny, but only with you by his side? And he wouldn’t have to give up the pack for that. The last king had a pack too! So, really Miranda’s just been a bitch over nothing.” I rolled my eyes at Maria’s phrasing, but the pit that opened in my stomach made me wonder if she was right. Running a pack was giving me pause, but a whole world of supernatural beings, I didn’t know if I could handle that.
“Did she really say that? The woman from your vision? That you and Daniel would change the future?” Miranda begged as she grasped my hands tightly.
“Well, yeah but I think she meant the hellscape and war I saw, not, ruling over everyone and everything. That’s a little insane you know? I think we should all calm down and not get ahead of ourselves. I don’t even know if Daniel and I are going to work out! I don’t wanna run a pack let alone rule over an entire race! So, we all just need to take a big step back, okay?” I didn’t realise I was shouting until I stood up and both women were staring at me, Maria with concern, Miranda with scorn. “Excuse me I need some air.” I grabbed my coat and walked out of the door. I sat on the porch swing and tried to slow my breathing and calm myself down. I could feel the panic rising in me, how could anyone cope with the knowledge they were destined to make decisions for the world? I was barely used to making decisions for myself.
Daniel POV
It took us hours of going through records, searching family histories, and sorting out the pack into their families to create working family trees. Thank goodness Ms Michaels was able to help us, it was one of the many reasons we drove to Appletree to work on it all. Ben ran interference with anything that came up and my father and I set to work. After a couple of hours, I felt like I was going to go blind, I knew we had comprehensive details on everyone in the pack, but shifting through it to find marriages, births and family details was slow going. I needed a break, we all did.
“Ms Michaels, could you go make us some coffee? And bring us some menus for lunch? We can all take five before we lose our minds.” I suggested. My father sighed; he leaned back on the chair in front of the desk that was formally his. I waited for Ms Michaels to leave the office before I said anything to him. “This must be strange for you. Being here I mean.” I prodded.
“It is and it isn’t, when you were born, I knew I would be handing the reins to you eventually, I know a lot of people including your mother wanted you to take over a long time ago. But I was proud of you for forging your own path, and waiting until you were ready. I wanted to give you that gift. When my father died, I wasn’t ready, to take over the pack, or this place, it was a great burden. One I never wanted to place on you, so I was happy to keep working, to give you that time.” I didn’t know what to say to any of it, but I was grateful.
“Thank you, Dad.” He smiled softly. “So, what do you really think of Charlie? She doesn’t feel ready to lead and I’m worried she won’t want me to mark her because of that.” I admitted for the first time, to anyone.
“Is anyone ever ready to lead? Were you? Give her time, the mate bond will work it all out. When your mother and I met, we did nothing but argue and... make up.” I grimaced at the mental image. “She still gets under my skin like no one else, but I still love her. Can’t imagine life without her, no matter how crazy she gets.” He chuckled.
“I’m terrified of pushing her too hard too fast and scaring her off. I know I won’t survive it.” I unloaded, I was so stressed, and I couldn’t focus properly, it had only been a couple of hours, but I missed her so much.
“If she didn’t run off when she found out about your wolf, and she came back even after she met your mother. I think she’s in it for keeps, have a little faith son.” My father chortled sympathetically, as he slapped my shoulder, I managed a weak smile, but I still had fears. “So, where are we with the family trees?” He asked, to turn my attention back to our laborious task.
“Only one family so far, but we aren’t even halfway through the whole pack yet, it's going to be a while before we have a list of possibilities,” I replied, I didn’t want to believe that someone my father had trusted could be behind the coup, but it wasn’t looking good. I decided to call Charlie just to check in, I thought hearing her voice would help calm me down. I walked towards the elevator, closed the door behind me, and pulled my phone out to call her. “Hi, baby. How’re you doing?” I asked when she picked up.
“I don’t think I’m cut out for this.” She sobbed down the phone, I was confused and angry, what the hell had my mother said to her?
“Not cut out for what, baby?” I knew it was going to happen, it was too much too soon, and she had freaked out, I could hear the panic in her voice.
“It was one thing when it was running a pack, but being the queen of the Lycans? I just don’t think I’m the right person for that!” She whimpered.
“Queen of, what? What are you talking about?” I asked more confused than ever.
“You’re gonna be King and that would make me queen and I don’t even know all the races, or anything about Lycans how could I possibly be their queen? It doesn’t make sense! And it’s too much! It’s too much pressure. I can’t do this!” She sobbed, it felt like my heart was in a vice.
“Okay, I don’t know where you’re getting all this but I’m not going to be king, you’re not going to be queen, we are going to be together, and everything else will work itself out okay? Just take a deep breath and we will talk about this when I get home alright? I promise you we will work it all out.” I tried to reassure her, I could hear her taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down, but it was clear she was overwhelmed. “I will be back in a few hours, and we will sort this all out then, but I don’t need anything other than you to be happy. So, if it’s not what you want, then we won’t do it. I would be happy just waking up next to you every day, working, living our life together, that’s my dream. Not ruling, not being a king, just being your husband is enough for me, so please calm down. We will sort everything else out, I swear, okay?”
“Okay.” She whispered softly. “I do love you; you know that right?” She asked, serious and concerned.
“I know, I love you too, I’ll be back soon, I promise. I miss you already!” I replied as a big goofy grin spread across my face.
“I miss you too, hurry back, okay?” She asked in a pouty voice that made my cock twitch.
“I’m going to be there as soon as I possibly can. Bye, kitten.” I growled lowly.
“Goodbye, Daniel.” She breathed back, goddess I loved how she said my name, I felt invigorated and determined to get my task over with as quickly as possible. I wanted her in my arms and in my bed, and I couldn’t wait much longer. Her voice echoed in my head, the more I tried to shake myself clear of her spell the more images flashed in my mind, her lips, her curves, like a siren calling me to her. I took a deep breath, grateful for the first time her scent had faded from the small waiting area as I got my head on straight before I got back to work.
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