Red Riding Hood | BoyxBoy | COMPLETED

Laren's Long Day

 Councilman Laren's POV

The shrubs underneath that windowsill were perfect for dry heaving into. I don't think I'd ever seen anything more disgusting, and I'd raised a child. Granted, Holly was hardly a gross child. But babies were always going to be babies and do gross baby things like uncontrollable vomiting and defecation.

I was almost glad for the dismissal. King Olcan had just displayed something I never wanted to see again. Or think about. I shuddered, remembering the spray. My eye twitched.

My coachman is given firm instructions to drive the carriage home as expressly as possible. I am in desperate need of a full scrubbing. And to distract myself, I reflected very exclusively on Prince Alexander and Prince Consort Cassidy of Nasales. Very. Exclusively.

The parting glimpse of the Princes as they left had given me quite an excellent close up of their faces. Alexander had Annabeth's features. That much, I was sure of. I remembered because my father had been livid at her existence and warned me away from her but that just piqued my curiosity.

Cassidy, on the other hand, was certainly not what I'd expected him to look like. I did not think Prince Alexander's tastes would run towards the...chubby type. Prince Consort Cassidy had a stomach pooch that wouldn't look out of place on a pregnant woman. I'd heard Prince Alexander was the only wolf in Nasales, the lack of better options would explain his choice of mate.

Or he could simply prefer humans. If King Olcan was his father as I suspected, it wouldn't be unexpected.

In fact, the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. It was strange that the only wolf in Nasales was born to a human couple. The disease that had originally wiped out all wolves from that Kingdom had also affected some of the humans with werewolf blood in their ancestry. It was obviously concluded that the disease was only dangerous to anyone with werewolf blood, and many had migrated to Lupus, the only place that the disease had not touched.

Notably, the monarchy of Nasales had no wolf bloodlines. As such, the kingdom had been safe from a lack of leadership even though some of their people were dying. It could be concluded that King Edward had no wolf blood.

Queen Annabelle, however, was a mystery. Not once during her marriage to King Edward Kanight had the queen come to Lupus. All envoys were led by ambassadors and only once, King Edward himself. But the queen had never shown her face in Lupus.

I would have to meet Queen Annabelle to confirm this myself, but other than that, the story that Queen Annabelle was the Annabeth who had disappeared, changed names before marrying King Edward seemed plausible. Fortunately for her, Prince Alexander's features took her likeness, or this farce would never have lasted this long. Did King Edward even know?

I had to find a way to bring the queen here. If everyone could see that Prince Alexander was King Olcan and her son, there would be no dispute over who would take the throne of Lupus. The prince had already presented as Alpha.

No councilmember would accept Princess Seffrin as the heir then and King Olcan would be forced to name Prince Alexander his successor.

My housekeeper welcomes me as I step foot into my home. I am reminded of how bad I must smell when she fails to smother her wince quickly enough.

"Draw a bath immediately," I ordered.

"Yes, my lord."

~

After a much-needed washing, I had lunch brought to the gardens and send for my daughter. The strange conversation we had the other day had been stuck in the back of my mind for the longest time and upon reflection, I thought perhaps it was my fault that she thought this way about me. I'll admit my parenting had hardly been the most attentive. This meal together was perhaps an apology and an attempt to try harder.

Holly sat across me, sullenly glaring at the table. And in my mounting desperation to find a common topic to talk about, I blurted that I'd met Prince Alexander today. It proved to be the right thing to say when my daughter's scent spiked with reluctant interest.

Awkwardly—it seems the inability to communicate is heritable—she enquired about Prince Consort Cassidy too.

"Did you meet Prince Cassidy too?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yes, I did," I replied, for lack of better response. Should I comment on his appearance?

"That's expected," Holly declared matter-of-factly.

"How so?"

"Prince Alex and Cassidy are always together," she said. "They make a cute couple."

I did not comment on her familiarity with the Princes and cleared my throat lightly instead. "Why do you...think so?" I asked, referring to their apparent cuteness.

"I suppose you'd have to spend time with them to see it, but Prince Alex is very doting," said Holly. "He's always bringing his mate snacks and tea and books."

The eating would explain the shape of Prince Cassidy's stomach. "Yes," I agreed. "That does explain why Prince Cassidy is a little chubbier than I would have expected."

Holly had a look of affront on her face. I am confused again. Were we not in agreement?

"He's not fat! He's just—" she cuts herself off halfway and I frown at her.

"Holly," I said sternly, "you know how I feel about not finishing your sentences."

She mutters under her breath.

"Holly," I warned.

Mulishly, she says, "he's just pregnant."

I am outrightly disbelieving. "He's a human," I said.

My daughter glowered at me. "I'm human."

"You're female." My hand waves dismissively. "It's natural for you to get pregnant."

"Well, what if I don't want to!"

"Don't talk nonsense," I told her. "You'll get married someday. And don't yell."

She scowled at me. "May I be excused?" she gritted out.

The air is thick with displeasure. Somehow, I've botched the attempt at reconciliation with my daughter. Sighing, I dismiss her with a wave.

As she stomps off, I put my head in my hands and think. I've not successfully conversed with Holly without one of us getting upset. Prince Alexander could be the son of King Olcan and true heir of Lupus. Prince Cassidy was apparently pregnant and not 'fat' according to my daughter who knew the Princes of Nasales more personally than I did. And King Olcan was disgustingly sick.

It had been a long day of revelations. The longest.