Chapter 183

Violet’s POV

I came around the corner just as I saw Kincaid answer the front door. I knew he could see me out of the corner of his eye.

“Alpha and Luna Vainthott,” he projected his voice for my benefit. “How lovely to see you.”

I didn’t miss the way his eyes searched them, considering what weapons they might have concealed, how threatening their posture was – everything and anything to keep me safe.

Even with known friends. He’d been particularly careful after Lucas.

Seraphine’s voice floated into my house as I came up on Kincaid’s left, blocked from our guests’ view by the door my Beta was holding open. “Kincaid! I don’t suppose Alpha Donovan is available to receive us today?”

Kincaid hesitated, as if he was considering my calendar in his mind. I nodded in his peripheral vision as I walked around him and into view. “Dorian, Seraphine.”

I wrapped them each in a hug before inviting them in. After their reactions to everything that had happened at the Tea Party on their estate, I was confident these two were already allies in everything Theo and I were hoping to do. In fact, I had been meaning to reach out to them.

Kincaid found one of my staff members to prepare us some tea as I led the Vainthotts to my study. Kincaid lingered in the doorway as the three of us sat down around the same coffee table where Helene had braided my hair just a few days ago. I dismissed Kincaid, requesting that he close the door behind him.

At this point, it almost made more sense for him to stay for the conversation, but without a Beta for the Vainthotts present, the company would be unbalanced. More modern werewolves wouldn’t care about it, but the Vainthotts, though progressive, appreciated tradition being respected.

“That was quite the trade deal you and Tyron announced yesterday,” Dorian started. With his tone, I was never quite sure if he was complimenting me.

“I love finding agreements that benefit werewolves as a whole,” I replied. Dorian and Seraphine settled next to each other on the couch across from me, and my stomach flipped in envy.

Technically, for a true balance of company, my mate should be here, too. But obviously we couldn’t do that. Besides, as far as the Vainthotts knew, I didn’t have a mate.

“Especially when those agreements invite trade deals from other territories, too, I imagine.”

Seraphine glared at Dorian, my only hint that he was in fact calling me ambitious – and not in a good way. Dorian caught her look and sighed.

“I know you and my wife are close,” Dorian said, “but I hope you can understand that even though I also consider us friends, I am nevertheless wary of anyone with as much power and influence as you.”

I had always felt a distance with Dorian. It was validating to hear I hadn’t been imagining it.

“Still, I like you because I have not once seen you abuse that power. Ever.”

Seraphine nodded, and I wondered if he had practiced this little monologue with her ahead of time.

“We can see that you are building something,” he continued. “The rest of the country might see a twice rejected Alpha trying to rebuild her image now that her claim to her territory has been restored, but we know you better than that. There’s always a larger plan, a higher strategy with you.”

Dorian glanced at his wife, taking her hand in his. “We want to negotiate a trade deal with you. Not because we want to jump on the bandwagon of territories clamoring for a piece of Darkmoon’s resources, but because we trust that whatever your broader plan is, we want to be part of that, too.”

Goosebumps rippled through me. I was blessed by the Goddess indeed.

“Whether you tell us what that plan is, is up to you. However,” he let go of his wife’s hand, narrowing his eyes as he leaned forward, “make no mistake that the second we see you abuse your great power, we will turn against you without a second thought.”

I glanced at Seraphine, her gaze on me sad but resolute. She agreed with him, and she really hoped it never came to that.

Dorian leaned back, wrapping an arm around his wife’s shoulders, waiting for me to respond.

“I respect you, both of you,” I began, “because you have no tolerance for bullshit. And you never compromise on your morals. In that spirit, and to demonstrate how much I trust you two to do what’s right and to call me out if I’m heading down the wrong path, I will share my plan with you, starting with the most dangerous and illegal part: dethroning Owen.”

A knock sounded on my study door. “Come in,” I called, and a staff member entered with a tray of tea for us. He set it down on the coffee table, the entire room in complete silence as Dorian and Seraphine gaped at me, neither of them daring to speak in front of my staff. When he left and closed the door behind him, I expected a big reaction: either disapproval or relief.

Instead, the couple exchanged a look, then schooled their expressions. “That is a lofty goal,” Dorian stated. “How do you intend to achieve it?”

I picked up one of the teacups and took a sip. “We will prove that Owen broke his own law to deceive and harm Alphas from two territories.”

Seraphine chose a teacup as well, but Dorian didn’t touch his. “And I suppose you have someone in mind to take Owen’s place?”

So far, Dorian’s questions seemed critical in that he was looking for holes in the plan – not like he disagreed with it.

I stood up to grab my laptop. Pulling up the list of possible alternatives to the crown, I handed him the device. He angled it for Seraphine to see, too.

“Your name is on this list.” He eyed me warningly.

“As is yours,” I replied. “I am only a last resort.”

Seraphine pointed at the screen. “I wouldn’t recommend Orphius Langley. We had dinner with him just last week, and his motivations have been seeming increasingly questionable.”

“Thank you for that information,” I nodded to her genuinely.

“It doesn’t matter,” Dorian said as he handed me the laptop. “None of them will work, including me or you, because the laws state that the crown can only go to someone in the bloodline.”

That gave me pause. I had figured that since we were dethroning the king, laws about who would get it next were basically out the window.

Dorian sighed at my expression. “We’re with you,” he declared, and though I had gathered as much, I was relieved to hear him say it.

Seraphine took his hand, and he continued. “But not everyone is. If you do not find a legal replacement for the crown, those who disagree with Owen being dethroned will have reason to rebel.”

I slumped into my armchair.

“I know it’s awkward after the rejection,” Dorian said, and I hated where he was going with this. “But there’s no one else.”

I sighed heavily, opening my mouth to say the words before anyone else could, as if that made them any less disappointing.

“It has to be Theo.”