Shadows of the Past

Thirteen

When I woke, my mind had circled through everything my mother told me and returned to the state of my plan to resist River.

Late into the night, I tossed and turned over what to do based on what he told me and what my mother told me. He said he had no plans to push me into a corner, but plans changed. Besides, how was this even going to work? My pack lived eight hours north of here. I was an only child, so my duty was to be alpha of my pack. River was already alpha of this pack, and the probability of him abdicating to his sister at this point was as good as none. Anyway, I had no idea how old she was. It could still be years until she was even eligible to take it.

I showered and dressed for the day, combing through my wet hair until it sat straight and flat against my shoulder blades. My makeup was minimal. I didn't feel like impressing anyone today.

At the dining table, I sat next to Mom again, across from Taylin. Of course, River took the seat next to me, but my eyes didn't even flick in his direction.

Pancakes were served, and an omega walked around the table filling everyone's glasses with orange juice. The second he moved on, I lifted mine to my lips. Orange juice was one of my favorites.

"I think we should hold a meeting after the meal." Dad was telling the former Alpha Williams. It seemed strange for them to be over there, while the current alpha was over on this side of me. That didn't seem very efficient, or smart.

"Why not discuss what you have to say now?" River's father asked in return. Dad's eyes flicked to their daughter, and then—briefly, before I missed it—to me. The man chuckled, "Kayla can listen." He didn't try to advocate for me, but it seemed to be included because Dad nodded without trying to dismiss me.

Good. It would have made me very mad if he did. What would have been the point of bringing me along if I wasn't allowed in any of the discussions?

Dad explained the situation, including the reason we brought enforcers along to the visit. When he concluded with the warning that packs might be targeting Crescent Moon soon, the former alpha nodded, a slight frown on his lips.

"As you remember, the queen came to us all those years ago, pretty recent after I visited your pack. She asked if I had seen her daughter, or knew what had come of her. When she said Eirenae, I had eagerly directed her to Shining Moon." His dark eyes landed on Mom, they were filled with regret he could never explain in words. "I see now that had been a mistake."

Mom studied her plate, her pancakes only picked at so far.

"See, I thought it was a crazy missing child case, and the fact it was a missing princess made me desperate to help her out. Taylin was pregnant at the time, and she said if anything had happened to our child, we'd want all the help we could get at finding them."

"I'm sorry." Taylin apologized, looking at Mom. "I thought I was helping both sides. Kota had recently found you, and when only a few weeks after she came asking about you, we knew the name and it seemed like such a blessed coincidence."

Mom shook her head. "Don't apologize. I would have said the same thing. You didn't know either side of the story. I didn't even know the full truth about my mother until she showed up that day. Nothing that happened is your fault." She sighed, "It's just unfortunate that we have to deal with the consequences now, almost eighteen years later."

"What now?"

I couldn't help it. I blurted, "I still vote for kicking the queen out from under her crown." Maybe that was why I wasn't invited to these kinds of things yet.

Both my parents glared at me. I snapped my mouth shut and dragged my fork around through the syrup puddle on my plate.

"Emerald, that's just not reasonable." Dad reminded me.