Chapter 148

Violet’s POV

It ended up being a very, very long night.

Neither Theo nor I stayed much longer at the Annual Moon Goddess Ball after the flower fiasco. Thankfully, I had done mostly all the relationship management with other Alphas before Theo’s arrival because after losing control of my magic, I was exhausted.

The ride home was tense and silent as if Kincaid understood we couldn’t speak freely in front of the driver but hated waiting another minute to have his questions answered.

When we got home, he followed me straight to my study. I didn’t dare ask if I could change into something more comfortable first.

“Why don’t we start with your questions, and I’ll fill in the things you don’t know to ask about as we go.”

He stared me down for a moment.

“You were right,” I conceded. “You can’t show up for me fully with half the information. No more secrets – I promise.”

I sat down in my chair behind my desk. Kincaid stepped forward and sat in the chair across from me.

To my memory, he had never sat in my study before. He always stood by the door with his hands folded in front of him. I supposed it was his way of letting me know things would be different from now on.

“Have you always had… magic?” He whispered the last word.

That was a particularly difficult question to start with. “Not to my knowledge.”

Kincaid narrowed his eyes in frustration.

I sighed, understanding that my answer certainly wasn’t a great start in my promise for open and honest transparency. So I explained how I’d gone my whole life believing I didn’t have magic until a couple weeks ago. I told him about the bond I’d inadvertently created to connect Theo and me in our minds.

Kincaid seemed skeptical about the magical bond.

“If you want me to prove it, ask me something only Dahlia would know the answer to, and I’ll have Theo ask her right now while I sit here in front of you.”

“Fine,” Kincaid crossed his arms. “Have him ask her the number I’m most proud of.”

I sent the question down the bond knowing that Theo and Dahlia were having the same discussion right now in Midnight.

After a few moments, my mate responded. Well, that question garnered quite the reaction from my Beta. She says the answer is twelve – and I’ve never seen her blush so vividly.

“He says the answer is twelve, and the question made her blush.”

Kincaid smirked.

I rolled my eyes as I assumed what the number represented. “Convinced?”

Allowing his smirk to fade, Kincaid nodded. “That’s impressive. And convenient.”

Then he asked what I thought brought on my magic. This one was going to be big news.

“Well, it might not be my magic. It might be my baby’s.”

Kincaid lunged forward in his seat in surprise, and his jaw dropped. He glanced at my stomach, then back up to my face.

Dahlia sends her congratulations on your pregnancy, Theo sounded in my mind.

I’m sure Kincaid will, too, once we picks his jaw up off the floor.

Honestly, I hadn’t even realized how much I’d been hiding from him. Once Kincaid did in fact get over his shock and congratulate me on the baby, we moved on to Eva not being a real mate, to my rejection symptoms actually being pregnancy symptoms, to the larger plan of dethroning Owen.

By the end of it, I figured it was a good thing Kincaid was sitting. “This is… a lot,” he said, eyes glazed where they were rooted on the carpet. His response was surprisingly validating.

Kincaid sat up. “And with all this shit going on, you and Theo are just skipping along to Never Never Land for a little ten-day vacation?”

I explained our intent to search for answers across the border. He then asked why the High Priestess was helping me when the temple was supposed to be separate from the government.

“Technically,” I answered, “she is staying separate, and she’s treading carefully to do so. But I genuinely don’t know if she would still be doing all this if she weren’t also my aunt.”

Cue Kincaid’s jaw on the floor again.

“Oh! And Owen planted spies in Theo’s home.”

Kincaid shook his head like a wolf shaking water out of its fur. “I need a drink,” he mumbled.

I sat and waited for any other questions he might have.

“The flowers in your bedroom?”

I nodded. “Yes, after tonight I’m pretty sure I unknowingly did that to myself. I didn’t know I had magic yet.”

Kincaid took a deep breath, then another one. “I know I said I’d only keep your secrets if you told me everything tonight, but I’d like to request a moratorium on receiving further information. I think I need to process what you’ve shared so far before I hear anything else.”

“Sure, though I’m pretty sure that’s all of it. If I think of anything else, I’ll let you know.”

Kincaid nodded as if in a daze but didn’t stand.

Dahlia and I are wrapping up, Theo said into my mind. She’s requesting a call from Kincaid as soon as you’re all done over there.

That seemed more than fair.

“Kincaid, if you share this information with anyone, you will be jeopardizing not only my life, Theo’s life, and our child’s life, but also yours and Dahlia’s.”

He ran another hand through his hair. “I understand, Alpha.”

He looked into my eyes with more understanding that he’d offered since the flowers in the library. “And I understand why you didn’t tell us originally. I disagree with the decision, but I understand your motivation to protect us.”

His eyes narrowed in warning. “Don’t do it again.”

I let a half-smile slip through as I nodded. “Dahlia would like you to call her.”

Kincaid furrowed his brows. “Which you know because she told Theo who told you in your mind at some point during our conversation completely undetected by me?”

I nodded and chuckled at his contrived but accurate description. Then a thought occurred to me. “I hope you don’t mind my asking, but are you and Dahlia… mated?”

A goofy grin erupted on his otherwise haggard face. “Yes. We had it confirmed right before we got engaged.”

I smiled back. “And your bond doesn’t include the mind-to-mind communication?”

Kincaid shook his head. “No, I’ve never heard of that. Did you and Theo have it before Eva, or did you have that with Lucas?”

“Not with Lucas,” I said with disdain. “Theo and I only had a moment of the full bond between the formal bond rejection with Lucas and Eva stepping in to ruin everything. We didn’t have any time to explore what the full power of the bond meant before it was ripped away from us.”

Resentment bubbled in my chest. I was not used to all these emotions that the pregnancy hormones seemed to be emphasizing.

After another moment of silence, Kincaid rose from his seat.

“Thank you for sharing everything, Alpha. And yes, I’m still with you, still here to fight by your side and protect your secrets – and your family.” He glanced at my stomach again and gratitude quickly replaced the resentment in my chest.

“I hope to take care of you as my Beta as much as you take care of me. Tell me if there’s something I can be doing better.”

Kincaid opened his mouth, but I interrupted him. “Other than no longer keeping secrets from you. I think we’ve covered that by now.”

My Beta smiled, then left my study to go call his fiancée. I followed him out to go pack my bags.

I was going to see my husband in the morning.