The weeks leading up to the coronation were grueling with making calls and holding meetings with stubborn Alphas who were reluctant to speak with a Luna at first but quickly became committed when they heard of the scope of their new king’s deception.
And together, carefully, they drafted out a course of action.
Adrian was still unconscious and every time she went for her thrice-a-week doctor’s check up she went to see him. Every night she went to his room in the hospital because theirs felt too big and empty without him in it.
Usually, she was quiet and held his hand but that day, her floodgates broke.
“Baby I can’t keep seeing you like this. You should be awake and driving me insane with our arguments. You would probably say I am being dramatic for arguing when you can’t hear me.”
She laughed then it choked off into a sob.
“I miss you so much. I miss us so much. I’m sorry for letting us stay apart because I was mad at you when we could have been making memories together.”
She was holding his hand so tightly as she cried that she almost missed the twitch in his fingers.
“Adrian?” She asked sure she had imagined it because she wanted it too much and so badly that–
His eyelids fluttered then slowly he opened his eyes.
“You are asking me to stay behind?” Ava glared at Adrian, she couldn’t believe that mere days ago she had cried and wished desperately that he would wake up.
Now she felt the almost stifling urge to suffocate him. Ugh. He was so annoying and so obstinate that it was a marvel that they were still together.
Truly.
“I just want you to stay safe while all this is going on.” He leaned in and dropped a kiss on her forehead before touching her belly. “You and our child.”
Ava pulled away before she would melt against his concern and sweet words the way she had been melting for the past few days since he woke up.
Suffice to say that their fight had been long forgotten almost immediately after he woke up and she kissed him like the weirdo she was.
No, Ava do not think of kisses. She chided herself. Or of all the other things he had done to her and she had done to him.
“So I’m supposed to just sit in my hands while all the men I care about go off to fight a maniac? Come on, Adrian. I’m pregnant, not an invalid. I led the pack when you were out of commission so I think it’s about time you realize that I am not standing for any of this. I’ll follow you. That’s all.”
When Ava finished her impassioned speech, her chest moved, her heart racing as she caught her breath.
Adrian stared at her for a moment longer before smiling at her.
“You are still so stubborn. So hard-headed. Fine if you want to come so much then you can tag along but you will not attend the meetings.”
Ava opened her mouth to protest but Adrian shook his head emphatically.
“No, that is non-negotiable. We were asked to come alone without any mates tagging along.”
That was true but it still didn’t sit well for Ava. She had to count her blessings however because there was no way he would budge on that.
Being there would have to be enough because there was no way she would sit at home to hear news about her mate accusing the wolf council’s member, she would lose it.
“Fine.”
*******
“This had better be freaking important.” Dorian said impatiently as he waved his mem to let the guest enter.
The coronation was in days and he would become a king. But before then, he had to take care of some minor problems to ensure a lengthy stay in his seat.
He thought of Cynthia and smiled. The bitch would soon be at the palm of his hand and one of the first things he planned to do after coronation was to beat and fuck some sense into her before claiming his child.
A middle-aged man entered his study with hair that was peppered with silver.
“What do you want?”
The stranger smiled cryptically and Dorian fought the urge to deck him over. What did he think this was? The seating room that he could just walk into and smile like the person who had just belled the cat?
He bowed to Dorian. Slightly. Seriously, this man was already getting on his nerves.
“I am Elvis, a former Elder of the Mountain Coast pack and if you would like to hear it, I have some information to share with you.”
A turncoat. How interesting.
Although Dorian hated having people like that work for him, if you could betray one master what stopped you from doing it to another? They often ended up being useful before he discarded them.
The second reason he listened was because of Cynthia. If he was a former Elder from that place then he surely knew her.
‘Go on, I’m listening.”
“The Alpha and Luna of that pack intend to stop your coronation.”
His somewhat pleasant and curious demeanour vanished. There was only one way they could have known what he was…
Ah, Cynthia. That was a terrible move she would come to regret. She must have done it to protect herself. Forgetting that very soon he would have all their lives in his grasp. Oh, how he would make her pay.
“Tell me their plan.”
Elder Elvis barely held back a smile. He would have his revenge on Ava.
She had undermined him every chance she got and then she had killed his daughter without so much as a trial.
Together with Adrian, she had set his dreams ablaze and now he couldn’t wait to do the same to her.
*********
Picking those that would stay behind during the journey had been hard.
“It’s like I’m always missing out on all the action.” Alex joked.
“I’m so sorry, Alex. Believe me, nothing would make me happier than for you to be there to back Adrian up but the last time all of us left the pack, we were attacked.” Ava said.
“It’s okay. There is no need for you to explain, I understand. I was only pulling your legs.” Alex winked at her and she found herself smiling before she caught herself remembering how dire the situation was.
“To the Goddess, I hope everything works out well this time.”
Alex took her hand. “Don’t worry, it will Ava. We’ve accounted for everything. Our allies are ready, our backup fighters are ready just in case things get out of hand. Plus I sincerely doubt the entire council is aware of his activities so there should be help from that angle as well.”
She hugged her brother. “You are right. We can do this. And when all of this is over, we’ll go as a family to visit Gabby and give her a proper mating ceremony. Everything will be fine.”
“That it will. Don’t worry about the pack, okay? I’ve got everything covered.”
“Of course you have.”
And yet even Ava didn’t really believe that everything would be fine. She couldn’t help but feel anxious as if she knew somewhere within herself that things might not go the way they had planned.