Vindicator

Chapter 44

"So mother, what would you like to discuss? Time is of the essence here, we need to find my mate and Tom said you have heard from the kidnappers. Why aren't we acting?" Chance asked once he was seated.

"Well...I had to make sure you understood all of your options" Aless began cautiously.

"And what are my options, mother?" Chance asked impatiently.

"Well, you think Theo is your mate—" his mother began.

"I think the evidence speaks for itself" he retorted, cutting her off.

With a sigh, Aless nodded. "Admittedly, the evidence points to it; however, I discovered something that I had to tell you" she said, trying not to sound too conspiratorial.

"And what is that?" Chance inquired with a sigh, knowing the fastest way to get this over with was to play along.

"The Spectre's true identity! She's the sister of your mate, Chance! You clearly have a connection with her, and maybe that's got to do with the family relationship—" the Queen went off, trying to sort her own thoughts while explaining them at the same time. Chance cut her off, though, not willing to hear it.

"I know her identity, mother, and it changes nothing. She is not my mate; but, she is blessed by the Moon Goddess, which explains the connection. So she is not an option, nor do I want anyone to be an option but my mate" he explained calmly, but firmly. "My only option is to rescue my mate, and work through the problem he has with being mated to me. So what is our plan? We are wasting time with this."

"Do you think they'd be hurting him like they are if he wasn't mated to you? It would be better for him right now, too, if you accepted his rejection" the Queen argued, deflated and surprised that her son knew the Spectre's identity already.

Chance frowned at her, but he didn't know how to reply. It's true, he had considered this thought himself. Xander spoke up for him, pushing his way forward.

"If we rejected him, they wouldn't know and would continue to assault him anyways. Stop trying to break our bond, I will not let it happen" he all but growled at the Queen.

She let out a frustrated huff, but resigned herself to defeat. For now.

"Very well. So then what shall we do? They want us to announce that you are mated to the rogue son of the Red Moon Alpha, and are incapable of continuing the Royal bloodline. Once we do that, we can never undo it...You are young, with many years of leading the werewolves yet to come. The wolves may revolt, they may break their bonds to us. They may begin a civil war, and kill many innocents. It is not a decision your father or I wish for you to make lightly...But it is a decision we feel that you must be the one to make" she explained with a sigh.

"They may do those things, you're right. They also may not" Chance argued. "So I think we have faith in our people, as they have had in us. We give them honesty, as they deserve...It would come to light eventually, anyways" he said, sighing as well.

"Eventually...But you would have more time, at least" the Queen said, a silent plea in her tone.

Chance just shook his head, indicating he wasn't budging. "Once we make the announcement, they will release Theo?" He asked.

"Not exactly...They wanted Russell to convince us to make the announcement. Once we do, they will contact him with next steps" she admitted.

Chance growled, standing up abruptly. "Fine, let's go then. We have an announcement to make!" He insisted.

Back in the Lupine Realm, a fully-clothed Karma was arguing with Alessia.

"Look, I know you're all head-over-paws for him now; but we had an agreement. You were with me on not wanting a mate! I didn't make my mind up on that without your say-so" Karma said in exasperation.

"No, but that was before we knew our mate!" Alessia argued.

"But we don't know him, A! We know he values the mate bond, big freakin' deal! You can value it until you've trapped your mate, then turn into a dick. I'm not willing to get stuck into something like that!" Karma tried to explain.

"We wouldn't be stuck! We could break the bond if we needed to" Alessia retorted stubbornly. "And we don't need to get to know him, we already know he's meant for us. He wouldn't be bad!"

"Our father was pretty bad, and he was meant to be our father" Karma snapped back. "Look, can we focus on saving our brother, and then continue with this discussion? Time is ticking for him while we argue over the guy he thinks he's mated to. So let's brainstorm how we can help."

"Fine" the wolf grumbled, knowing Karma was right. "Why would Theo have left the hospital?"

"Not wanting to be mated to a man and trying to run?" Karma suggested dryly.

"No, more than that. The Prince isn't forcing him into anything, clearly, so why would he be in such a hurry to run?" Alessia wondered.

Karma hummed, thinking. "Maybe he was going to meet someone? I wonder if the pack link still worked. Maybe someone from the pack reached out to him..." She suggested.

"I doubt it would, or they wouldn't be true rogues. The pack structure would keep them sane...Although it was their Alpha who rejected the crown, it trickles down as if they did. That means they would reject the structure of the monarchy, which would trickle down to the pack structure...Meaning they would have to re-swear themselves to Russell to be a pack outside of the monarchy, I'd assume. So...Likely no mindlink. What about contact by phone?" Alessia asked.

"That could be! I wonder if we have any means of tracking or checking his phone...We should ask the King or Queen" Karma suggested, opening a door to the Queen's location. She felt more comfortable approaching the Queen, who obviously liked her, as opposed to the King she'd had little contact with yet. So, naturally, she was drawn towards asking Aless.

With the doorway opened, Karma overheard the tail-end of the conversation between the Queen and her son. Realizing Chance had decided to announce that he was mated to Theo, Karma's stomach flopped anxiously. She silently cursed her reaction, and her traitorous body.

"We can't let him lie to the world" Alessia howled mournfully.

"We won't" Karma said with a sigh. "But not for that reason" she added, then stepped through the doorway to enter the Queen's parlour.