Chapter 37

Theodore

The carriage bumped and rocked as we began our journey, and for a while, I let the silence settle between us. Violet didn’t seem bothered at all, humming and working on whatever she was working on. The fragrance of the flowers in her hair mingled with her natural scent and filled the carriage. I looked out the window, turning it all over in my mind, and I still couldn’t understand what exactly she’d done.

Was it really just as simple as getting along with Helena? My gut said it couldn’t have been that easy. More than that, she was completely unfazed by it all, as if she’d known what would happen.

“You’re thinking very loudly,” she said, not looking up. “What is it?”

“How did you do that?” I asked. “How long have you known Tyron and Helena?”

She scoffed. “I just met her yesterday.”

“You’re kidding. Alpha Hayward–”

“He’s a few steps away from adopting you as a younger brother, call him by his name.”

My jaw dropped. “You’re insane.”

She shrugged. “Don’t believe me then.”

“Tell me how you convinced him to help us. He offered me a trade agreement for iron ore.”

She hummed. “What did you do to that man? Not steel?”

I growled. “Just answer the question.”

She rolled her eyes. “I talked to her.”

“That’s it?”

“I know this is foreign to you as you're not really used to talking to anyone, and you admittedly do make a habit of manipulating people you need things from.” I scoffed. “But really, I just talked to her. We bonded over how ridiculous men are, and then I pulled out my phone to answer a question for her, and we got to talking about technology and Green Valley. It was quite simple.”

“That doesn’t explain Tyron’s generosity.”

She shook her head. “What wouldn’t a man truly in love do to see the love of his life happy?”

I blinked.

“What wouldn’t he pay for that?” She lifted her shoulder. “You can come up with your own answer to the question, but I’m pretty sure he told you why he decided to help you.”

“You knew he would?”

“I had a good feeling.” She smiled thinly. “I took the liberty of looking into them and all the pack surrounding you before we left Midnight.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “And you've really never met her before?”

“I went to their mating ceremony, but I didn't get to meet her personally. No.” A faint smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “ I can't tell if you're jealous or in shock.”

“Both. He fixed my carriage and sent us through his territory without charge.”

“His family has always been loyal to the proper line of alpha kings. The only reason they aren’t a noble family is because of petty politics. He doesn’t like you partly because of that.”

I set my jaw, nodding. “And… having you as my future wife helped ease that.”

“Yes, along with that ridiculous lie you’ve told your brother and undoubtedly told him.. You’ve given him a chance to see you as a young man, to see himself in you. It goes a long way to softening a grumpy man’s heart.

I shook my head. “You’re amazing. If half the alphas were as crafty as you… we’d have very different country on our hands.”

“I think the day will come,” she said. “Just as soon as a decent man with his head out of his ass becomes alpha king.”

She looked back down at her laptop. “By the way, I invited them to the luna ceremony. You should probably work on that trade agreement before then.”

“Iron for blackstone is pretty straightforward.”

She scoffed and let out a long put upon sigh. “And short term.. Transportation routes are longer lasting.”

“Midnight doesn’t need more transportation routes.”

She gestured to the carriage. “Would we have had to spend the night traveling or staying in Dark Forest if you could take the east road to the capital?”

I blinked at her.

“And as Tyron wants Helena to have luna friends, don’t you think he’ll jump at a reason to travel to Midnight while I’m there?”

I thought back to what Tyron said about Helena, the look in his eyes, and shook my head.

“You are frighteningly good at this…”

Perceptive and strategic in a refreshing way, so how had Lucas managed to fool her all those years?”

The kind of bond that you’re just now experience with her… hurt her in ways you can’t begin to understand.

I scrubbed my hand over my face, not believing that I was actually taking advice from Tyron.

“What made you approach her?” I asked. “I don’t remember seeing you being a social butterfly in the news.”

She scoffed. “They wouldn’t publicize a woman doing the work of an alpha, now would they?” She looked out the window. I’ve been building bridges for Darkmoon for years.” She smirked. “Money opens a lot of doors, but kindness keeps them open a lot easier.”She rolled her shoulder.

“How are you feeling, by the way?” I asked. “The pain?”

Her lips twitched. “I’m good…. Are we going to talk about the attack at all or are you going to keep acting like your brother wasn’t trying to kill you?”

Violet nodded, absorbing the information as if weighing each word. “A start can go a long way. That territory’s valuable if you handle it right.”

I sighed at the thought. I didn’t want to talk about Owen, but she was absolutely right.

“What exactly do you want to talk about?” I asked. “There’s no proof that it was him.”

She scoffed. “You have an idea about what his endgame is?”

I sighed, leaning back against the carriage wall. "Owen has always been... complicated. We were never close. He’s always known that my mother was our father’s mate. I know he resented it. He and his mother did—they still do.” I looked out the window. “When I denounced my claim to the throne, I thought it would be enough to calm him or something to that effect, but Owen wasn’t relieved at all. If anything, he was more paranoid about my aims and his position, and he’s tried to ensure that I had no power."

I didn’t know if that was because of what his mother had been whispering in his ear or not, but it didn’t matter. He decided to insult me, to slap a title and position on me that was supposed to be shameful.

“General-in-Chief,” she said. “Of an army in peace.”

I nodded. Midnight had been where all the military bases were and thus where the country’s standing army mostly lived. Those who hadn’t returned to their birth packs became citizens of Midnight. Young men who had no experience and no skills beyond combat were left to flounder in an area that had never been developed. It had been cruel. He’d expected more of them to go home, leaving me with a near wasteland, but the plan backfired.

I paused, a bitter smile playing on my lips. "I take it in stride because I have no interest in the throne.”

Violet

I believed that, but as Theodore spoke, a strange sense of unease crept over me. He was clearly holding back something, not sharing the full extent of his conflict with Owen and why his brother had it out for him. I didn't need to know every detail, but I didn’t know enough to anticipate what Owen would do next.

“What about his mother?”

He scoffed. “She hates me even more than Owen. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s the one behind the attack and Owen knew nothing about it.”

I doubted that highly, but I went back to my laptop and started pulling up information on Owen’s mother and wife. The fact that Owen’s mother never said that Theodore wasn’t her child was telling. Maybe it was to preserve her image, but it probably irritated Owen to no end.

Maybe there was a rift between mother and son that would be of use to us. His wife was a chosen mate, neither second chance nor fated, and she looked deeply unhappy in every image she appeared in.

We switched to a car at the border. As we arrived at the capital, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were walking into a shitstorm of family drama that had been festering for years and would explode soon. The trumpets sounded as we pulled up. Owen greeted us with a forced smile, his eyes glinting with malice. His wife was overly dressed, as was his mother. Theodore got out of the car, grinning at them as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Such a welcome party!” He said, coming up the stairs and embracing Owen despite the irritation on the man’s face.

I was starting to wonder if Theodore was the younger of the two.

Owen pulled back and looked down his nose at us.

“You’re nearly late for dinner.”