Alpha Dom and His Human Surrogate by Caroline Above Story

Chapter 352 – Duke

Ella

“D-duke?” I stutter out, completely overwhelmed by the information, my eyes going wide. “There are dukes? And I had I have an uncle!?”

“I’m sorry,” Henry says, and I can see the guilt written all over his face. “I overlooked this – honestly, no one has heard from him in years – and, considering what we think he was actually getting up to, it makes a great deal of sense that he wanted everyone to believe that.”

“Who,” I say, frantic now, looking between Henry, and Sinclair, and Roger – Cora, I see, looking at me with worried eyes, but I know she doesn’t have any answers – “who is he?”

“Relax, Ella,” Sinclair murmurs to me, leaning close. “It’s all right -”

“It is absolutely not all right -“I snap, not wanting to be mean but completely panicked right now. “My father is dead but I have an uncle? Seriously? And no one told me?”

Henry continues to hang his head, shaking a little, and I instantly feel guilty. It’s not his fault – it’s so complicated, the politics, and why would he tell me about an uncle if he hadn’t spoken to the man in 30 years had genuinely a*sumed he was dead –

“I’m sorry, Henry,” I say quickly, leaning forward to put a hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry – I’m behaving so poorly – ”

Ella,” Henry says, moving his attention back up to me. “Your reaction is absolutely correct. I

“Honestly, the blame game does no one any good. No one blames you, dad and Ella, you don’t have anything

blame him for any of it, and that I love him dearly and am grateful for him every day. At least, I hope he gets all that from a squeeze, but the little smile he sends me suggests that he understood at least part of that. And I

to do something, instead of just talking about it. I smile at him a little, loving my all-action Alpha mate who is ready to go even though he almost

Either way, Xander was recognized, but he

actually think is quite clever,” Roger quips, and I’m shocked to find a smile on my mouth as he delicately raises his brows, looking up at the ceiling. “I mean, some of us think that the better-looking brother should always take the

Roger not-too-gently in the stomach to get him to stop, I grin at my brother-in-law, grateful for the laugh which has drained

– he was always fringe, always very much the King’s sullen brother rather than a real player. When Xavier died, Xander…he wasn’t even considered for the throne. No one said his name, not even him, as a

“was perhaps… the mistake.

what?” I ask, confused

point, is that…well, that Xander put this in motion. That he knew he was never a contender for the throne when his brother died but he coveted it anyway 1 that Xander wanted it, perhaps his whole life, and certainly after his brother died, but when no one mentioned him as a potential heir he

sitting back against my chair. “To – to reclaim the throne. To keep it…in his family’s

his father’s arms. My baby, the grandson of a King. The nephew of a Duke that,

consider it before now. Who benefits from Rafe being born? The man who intends to kidnap him and put him on the throne as a puppet, acting as regent for eighteen years before Rafe is old

rumbles beside me. “I haven’t heard Xander’s name since I was a child – I, too, thought he died in quiet obscurity. He’s taken great pains, I think, to ensure that everyone a*sumed that he did.

interrupt, still wanting more details. “Can you – I mean -” I exhale quickly, closing my eyes and gathering my thoughts, “is the a*sumption that we’re making here

his deathbed he must have found a way, somehow, to

for me?” I