The Luna's Bodyguard [a mature werewolf romance]

Ch 51: The Usurper

AURORA

The third Fate's influence was a dark and wretched force, a black hole that greedily sucked beauty into itself, only to destroy it in the process.

We — the thousands of layers of Aurora — pitied her as we stepped into the King's private dining chamber; particularly for the way Minuit clung to the wall like a spider, when what she truly craved was the empty seat across from Reginald Arthur Pendragon, the first and last of his name.

I ignored the usurper as he rose to his feet, greed alighting in his eyes at the dewy glow of my skin, which bottled all the sunrises since the dawn of this world.

Instead of bowing, as he expected, I brushed past him — to his affronted scoff — to address his arachnid admirer.

"Minuit," I boomed. A tiny, recent part of me was startled by the power and authority that reverberated in that word. "Why have you betrayed your own kind?"

The crone glared, but my light was too strong for the black holes of her pupils. She was merely a shadow that had sprung from the absence of my light. "For love, of course."

My laughter was hollow. Reflexive. A useless relic from my time among humans. "For him?" I asked, turning to look at the crowned pretender. "He does not love you."

"He does," Minuit hissed, yanking free the buttons on her collar. Clawing at the fabric like it was a noose. "We are mated."

My mouth turned in disappointment at the crescent scar on her throat. An ugly scar, from a poorly healed wound. No care had been taken in the making of that mark.

"Foolish girl. You are naught but a cache of oil that he has decided to tap into. He will bleed you dry."

"That's not true," Minuit hissed, the fervour bugging her bloodshot eyes. "Tell them, darling. Tell them of the beautiful night we shared, before I claimed my power in full and took on this sagging shell. Tell them of the life we will have when my youth is restored. Tell them —"

"Shut up," Reginald said wearily, rubbing his eyes in irritation. "You have served your purpose."

Without ready access to the lake, I could no longer watch the future in its entirety. But there was the tiniest hint of moisture in the air, forming shivering threads of molecules that blended the past, past and future of this very room, and it was those that I reached out for and plucked.

The fabric of time and space thrummed and rippled. I saw it, then: what Reginald desired of the future, what he would do if I let him weave the strands of his own reality. It was a wonder Minuit had managed to overlook his intentions for so long.

Reginald would make a bride of me, if I let him. He would mark me and use that psychic bond to leech my immortality, my power, my prophecy. It was what he'd wanted all along. Why he'd sent bounty hunters after my sister and I all this time, seeking the perfect match for himself and his son.

He wanted a family like no other. To sire a line that would grind the royal family in England into the dust.

And he could have it all. He could rule the world.

But only if I let him.

The doors to the dining hall slammed open. The Crown Alpha let out a guttural snarl, readying his fist to strike whatever guard dared to prevent the untimely interruption — only to freeze in place.