Chapter 20: Just Like Your Mother

Troy-Three Nights Ago

"Troy. So, you came.”

As if I had a choice. Romero was the whole reason I was in this place, trying not to get struck by lightning or drown in the unrelenting humidity while Aaron was stranded on a beach in the Isles of Denali, enjoying a cool drink and tanning his nearly translucent skin on the soft, white sand.

I eyed Romero coolly as he neared, his cane tapping against the stone floor with each slow step in my direction.

"You look like your mother,” he said with a strange, slightly menacing smile. I bit the inside of my lip to stop myself from saying anything, willing myself to have a filter for the first time in my life. "But I understand that you wouldn't know her, would you?”

I swallowed, tucking my hands in my pockets.

"Ah, yes. That's what I thought.” Romero finally reached the bars, sitting down on a stool. The action took most of his strength, and he was quiet for a moment as his heavy breathing returned to normal. "You know I've been up here for twenty years, Troy?”

I nodded, once, watching the man as he coughed into his fist.

"Ah, yes. Twenty years in this tower. Almost longer than that Alpha below us has been alive, did you know that? I'm sure you assumed he wasn't the man that put me here, no, that was Talon. The half-wit's father. Ethan’s Beta. Of course, King James was still in power then.” He looked away from me toward the landing of the stairs, snickering. "Ethan. Ha! Tell me, have you seen his girl? The daughter, what was her name... Maeve? Say, does she look like her mother? Do you know who I' m talking about-”

"She looks like Ethan, Romero," I said bluntly, color rising in my cheeks at the mention of Maeve's name. In truth, I only knew what Ethan looked like from the handful of portraits I had seen scattered around the castle, but the resemblance was uncanny. Maeve was her father's daughter, the fair version of her father's dark and brooding characteristics.

"Ah, so he speaks more than one word at a time,” he laughed, a dry choking sound that made the hair on my arms stand on end. "I was told you didn't start talking until you were five years n

"I didn’t have much to say," I growled, struggling to maintain my composure. I hadn't needed to say much as a child, anyway, having grown up bouncing from island to island in the Isles, working on the ships for the pack of Poldesse that crept through the waters like ghosts in the mist. I was one of many orphaned or abandoned boys absorbed by the pack and used like workhorses.

But I was different. I had Alpha blood. I was a descendant of Romero. My mother was his daughter, Madalynn.

He chuckled. "So she looks like Ethan, eh? How unfortunate for the girl. Her mother was a real beauty at one time. Ethan's breeder, she was.” He paused, his beady blue eyes creasing with mirth. "And a sl*t."

I was taken aback by this comment and narrowed my eyes on him. "What are you talking about?"

He didn't answer.

Romero peered at me through the bars, his eyes cloudy with age. I wondered briefly if he could see very well at all now. "When do they come? The reinforcements?"

"A month, give or take,” I said shortly, watching his face fall and his eyes narrow.

"Ha! Damian has lost his grip on those wolves, hasn't he? Insolent sod.”

"You realize what you asked of us, right? How difficult it will be to get you out of Valoria?” I sneered, stepping forward. I had heard of Romero, and had known we shared blood. That's why I had been sent to Valoria when word of Ethan’s plans for the future of his family's hold on Valoria trickled down through the trade route. His daughter was being used to bring forth a new heir, the breeder a man from his new alliance with the Red Lakes pack.

about Maeve's family and their whereabouts but failed to mention a massive injury he

me, Troy, in more ways than

fine job of it, too. He was a fair leader, but this Romero? Something behind

He laughed, a shrill sound that echoed off the stone walls. "Tell me, what is your mission,

as the man's face stretched into a huge, sinister grin. "I'm here to facilitate your release. I'm acting as a spy

showcasing his white, straight teeth. He was in good health for a man of his age, especially for an ancient man who had been held captive in a dusty, cobweb-covered tower for two

he stretched his mouth into another wide, deranged smile. "You're here to be a breeder for the

That's my

need to break the chain. We must ensure that the

chance I'd have to sleep with Maeve if the reinforcements didn't show up in time to cause their planned chaos and free Romero from his tower. I had been looking forward to it, actually, my skin prickling with warmth at the thought of her smooth skin

event I had to fulfill the duties of a breeder, I

do you have of

witch blood? The same blood that swims through the veins of her child? Maeve

So we can

more to it. There's

not allow

narrowed into slits. "Don't let her trap you with her powers of seduction, boy. That witch has no feelings for you

she not? What

be long gone by then. So will

laughed, gripping the bars with both hands. "Oh, Troy, my

clenched into fists at my

how easily I could be freed from this tower, Troy? Horace has the very key to my prison. He’s been the advisor to the half-wit Alpha for ten years, ten years I could've been free of this place. Do you know why I remain? Why I rot away in the tower?" He let go of the bars and reached down, his back cracking as he groped in the dim light for his cane. He rose to his full height, leaning on the cane for support. "Ethan. Ethan is the reason. He and that whore unraveled my plans and destroyed my kingdom. He was supposed to be your father,

with Maeve? Why

it back down with a thundering clap. "I wanted Rosalie. I wanted access to her powers. She was the key, you see, to a fortune beyond anything you could over imagine. A treasure beyond

next White Queen. She is my key now. And the child she births will fertilize our family tree,

"You're delusional-"

my boy. No. When the reinforcements come and rid the pack of Ethan's stain, putting Poldesse on its rightful throne... well, you will

wipe out pack Drogomor,” I said, my voice falling flat as my cheeks began to warm with a mingled sense of fury and desperation. "This was the plan all along, to wipe them out, to kill

his teeth glimmering

bent and shoulders squared. "Ernest and

die. So must Rowan, Ethan’s son. Once word of my escape and take­over of Drogomor is circulated, Ethan and his son will come to rescue their precious Maeve. They will never return to the North. I will bury their

of her? Will you kill her like you so stupidly plan to do with the rest of the pack? You're planning on starting

over his teeth, "a war

would be talking to Horace about this. I needed to get a

said, turning away from him and taking a step toward the

poor little

"What do you mean?"

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