Queen Alpha (NYC Mecca #2)(14)
“When you were five and had just bonded with Finn, I had a dream. It was strange, this kaleidoscope of changing colors and scenes. The last one, which stayed with me right until I woke up, was a beautiful woman with white hair standing on a grassy hill. The grass was so green that it hurt my eyes, her dress so red it was beyond any color I knew. Upon her head was a crown of purple mecca stones.”
I was clutching at him now, my nails surely digging into his biceps, but he didn’t flinch.
“I had that dream for months. After some time, I started to realize it was you, that I was seeing you as future queen. It was almost like someone wanted me to know you were going to be queen and that I had to protect you. I had to make sure you would have the chance.”
My breath was coming out in fast little huffs as I tried to process this. “Only magic born see visions in their dreams,” I said in a whisper. “How is this possible?”
Blaine shrugged. “I have no idea. I never told anyone for fear that I’d be thought crazy, or worse, that it was a true vision and would be seen as a threat to the Red Queen. My great-great-grandfather was magic born. Maybe I inherited some of his gift.”
Was that possible?
“Thanks for telling me,” I said.
I realized this was the first time in a long time I’d really looked at my friend. Really saw him. He had sacrificed so much of his own life to serve me. “Thank you for everything.”
He hugged me again, and it was only when a throat cleared that we pulled apart. I turned to find Calista in the doorway, tablet in hand and a half-smile on her face.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I’m going to need her highness for a few minutes.”
Blaine stepped back and I let all the softer emotions inside of me swirl around for a bit before I tucked them away. It felt as if things had changed slightly, as if there was a depth to our friendship that had not been there earlier. It was a nice feeling and I was surprised by it.
Shaking this off, I crossed the room to reach my advisor. She handed me her tablet, only remembering at the last moment that electronics and queens did not go well together. She snatched it back, holding it up so I could see. She then started flicking through the pages.
I read as quickly as I could; it was an entire webpage dedicated to Kade and me, like a memoir of our love story or some crap. Only we didn’t have a love story. Dark, stormy emotions crashed within me as I read through the information. Most of it was taken out of context, some completely made up, but teamed with a multitude of pictures – including one from when he’d saved me during my coronation and had his hand spread across my chest as he funneled the mecca energy out of me – well, it all looked pretty convincing.
Calista’s face was creased with concern, her eyes sad. “I have the technology department staff dealing with it. We’ve taken the site down multiple times already, but it keeps popping up. Some of your people have seen it, and already there are discussions across the message boards. It’s being contained right now, but I just wanted to let you know.”
I nodded, too angry to say any more. I had not crossed any lines with Kade since becoming queen, and before that it was nothing more than a kiss or two. It was beyond frustrating that not only did I have to ignore my attraction to the bear king, but now I had to defend myself for actions I didn’t even take.
“Figure out who created the site and bring them to me,” I said from between gritted teeth.
Calista nodded. We were walking now, my dominants trailing behind me. Within ten minutes, I’d left the basement and was back in my office. My crown went back into its special wooden box, then I let myself sink into the plush office chair behind my new oak desk. My new office furniture was perfect. I loved running my hands across the grains of wood and leather inlay. This place relaxed me, but unfortunately I had business to attend to first. I had to deal with Seamus – and all magic born, really. I loved Violet, but sometimes she did act above me, and I couldn’t allow that in my home.
Calista was the only one in the room now, so I said to her, “Print up a new royal decree. All magic born are forbidden from cloaking themselves in the presence of the queen. Punishable by…”
I would have to follow through with whatever I said here, and it would be stupid to kill a magic born over something like this. They were treasured and important, but they did need to learn their place. How dare Seamus spy on my private council meeting. The mere thought of it had my wolf howling inside of me.
“… banishment,” I said.
That was an order I could follow through with. If you were banished from the boroughs you were a disgrace to your pack and family. If you tried to reenter any of the five boroughs, you would be killed on sight. The closest you could live would be the Island. Not that I would allow Seamus to live in my Island house.
Calista nodded her approval. The first year as a queen was the hardest. If you let any wolf get away with anything, the entire race would walk all over you. Word would spread, and the last thing I needed were rumors spreading that I was weak. Especially with all these Kade rumors already floating around.
Plus, banishment was quite fair. The Red Queen would have boiled Seamus alive for what he did. The only one who would get around my new ruling was Violet, which was okay. I often needed her to cloak herself, and I trusted that she would never spy on me.
“Anything else?” Calista asked.
“Yes. Plan something fun for my dinner tonight. No business.”