Spurned Queen

Chapter 21: Heads Up

Lexi

As soon as I left the coven, I ran to my brother's house and took a long, calming shower to ease my frayed nerves. When I was sufficiently composed, I made my way to the pack house and to his office.

Cindy was in there, sitting gracefully in Tyler's chair scanning documents. She smiled at me.

I plopped down in the opposite chair and sighed. She eyed me. "I have to go," I mumbled reluctantly. "I'm going to the other plane."

Her face fell.

"I'm sorry," I added.

It must have taken all her willpower to grant me a wry smile. "So, I guess it'll be just me and the kids at the house," she said sadly.

"I'm really sorry. I'll try to make it quick."

"Of course you will," she whispered. "You always do."

Silence reigned between us for a minute.

"Logan and Cara will miss me," I commented.

She only bit her lip in response. "So... what about your mate?"

I carefully shook my head. "I don't know," I replied.

"You should tell him."

"Maybe I will."

"He deserves to know."

"He does?"

"Fine, so maybe he doesn't deserve it. Tell him anyway."

"Why?" I barked out a harsh, mirthless chuckle. "I could probably disappear for weeks and he would be none the wiser. He doesn't care."

Cindy leaned back in her swivel chair with a long, sage-like sigh. "Look at it this way," she explained patiently, "you are going to go somewhere, clean off ye face of the earth, to a different world altogether. What if that place keeps you? What if something terrible happens there that stops you from returning? You plan on leaving your mate here, oblivious. You risk robbing him of his mate without him having a clue where you went. Now, we don't know much about vampires, but you know that such a thing can well nigh drive a werewolf insane. Just in case something happens — he looses his mate, he can't find you anywhere, he has not felt your death. He runs mad — and I doubt the vamps would tolerate a mad king. He loses everything, beginning with his mate, then his mind, then his kingdom. Tell me, Lexi: in this scenario, who exactly does not care?"

I remained silent.

"And worst of all: how would you feel, trapped on the other plane, knowing that you had possibly wreaked havoc on him and his, out of a mere whim of spite?"

"This is not spite," I bit, but my words faltered.

"Then I'm sorry I said it was."

I shook away the chaos in my head and stood. Rounding the table, I gave my best friend a giant hug.

"Thanks for looking out for me all the time," I whispered.

She squeezed me tighter, whispering back, "We're a pack. We stick together."

I pulled back, brushing off a stray tear. "You're a wonderful Luna, you know that?"

"You and the girls told me that before Tyler and I even knew we were mates," she laughed.

"We weren't wrong."

***

In accordance with Cindy's advice, I paid Aevran a little visit.

Since I had been in the Vampire Palace before, I knew how many floors there were and which one was royal.

I waited till dinnertime to make my move.