Chapter 193

In the early morning hours, Caleb holds Harper tightly against him. They’ve made love several times throughout the afternoon and evening before Harper finally passed out from exhaustion. She’s so strong, so passionate, that Caleb sometimes forgets she’s only human.

He pushed her too hard, but even in sleep, she is smiling softly as if pleased.

Caleb leans in and places a soft kiss to her forehead.

She is the saving grace in this decision that he’s made. By abandoning Annabelle on the altar, he has made more than one enemy. He’s not frightened by this. He has so many enemies already, what’s one more?

Yet the hassle this will cause him will certainly make things more difficult in the future. News of his decision to rescind the marriage contract will spread like wildfire throughout the kingdom. Probably, even now, the rebellion is using this as a recruitment tool.

Looking at Harper, happy and peaceful in his arms, however, he finds it difficult to be too worried.

Maybe he made the selfish choice, in picking Harper over Annabelle, but it is the choice that makes him happiest. He can’t regret that, even if he feels like he should.

Caleb continues to watch Harper, until she starts to stir in her sleep. Slowly, drearily, she blinks her eyes open. When she sees me watching her, she smiles.

“You are still here,” she says, her voice groggy with sleep.

Caleb hums and he plants another soft kiss to her brow this time.

“It wasn’t a dream,” she says.

“No.” His heart aches a little, for the amount of pain he put her through. If he could go back in time, he would make the right decision much sooner, rather than trying to convince himself that fulfilling his duty alone would be enough for him.

Nothing would ever be enough without Harper beside him.

“I’m glad,” she says.

“Me, too.”

She smiles at him a moment longer before worry starts to creep into her face, crinkling her features. “But what happens now? Annabelle isn’t going to take this embarrassment well, and your advisors must be furious…”

“Leave everything to me,” Caleb says. “I can handle Annabelle and the rest of them.”

“And your mother,” Harper adds with a yawn.

“And my mother,” Caleb replies.

Caleb knows he’s made the right choice here. Maybe it wasn’t the best move for his kingdom, but it was for him.

Now, he will fight to keep the status quo, no matter what he has to do or who wants to fight against him. Annabelle, his mother, the packs, or the rebels. Let them try to take Harper from his side.

He will die first.

“Be careful…” Harper says as her eyes start to droop. “I can’t lose you…”

“You won’t,” Caleb promises.

Harper, apparently satisfied, slumps slightly as her eyes fully close and her body returns to sleep.

Caleb watches her for a while longer, until the sun starts to rise outside of Harper’s window. Then, gently, he sneaks out of her bed, pulls on his tattered pants and walks shirtless back towards his room.

Outside of his room, the guards are keeping Kira at bay.

“I demand to speak to my son,” she insists. “I don’t care what time it is or who he has in there with him.”

The guards stare at her blankly, giving nothing away.

Coming closer, Caleb clears his throat.

Kira startles, then turns toward him. “Caleb! There you are.” Seeing his state of undress, she turns up her nose. “You were with one of you harem, weren’t you? Disrespecting your fiancé left and right.”

“Annabelle is no longer my fiancé,” Caleb replies. “That should be clear after what happened.”

“There is still time to fix this.”

“Nothing needs fixing.”

“You’ve embarrassed Annabelle, Caleb. And me. And yourself. All of us really are now paying the price for your selfishness. But there’s still time to fix it. Annabelle is packing but she hasn’t left the palace yet. If you convince her that you didn’t mean to disrespect her… If you reschedule the wedding…”

“I am not marrying Annabelle, Kira,” Caleb says. “I do not care what you or anyone else have to say on the matter. I’ve made my decision and that is that.”

Caleb’s patience is wearing thin.

“You’ve made the wrong decision. As King –”

“As King, my decisions are final,” Caleb snaps, at the end of his rope.

It’s late, he hasn’t been to sleep yet. And while he’s spent the night sharing mind-blowing pleasure with Harper, he’s starting to drag. He doesn’t have the patience for such asinine arguments.

“Perhaps you have forgotten, mother, but I am the Alpha King. Not you. Who are you to question my judgement or my choices?”

She pales slightly though continues to stare at me.

“Also, do not think that I am ignorant of your previous conversations with Harper,” Caleb sneers. He’s guessing on this mostly, but from the way Kira flinches, he knows he guessed correctly. “Nor that you are the one responsible for the mark on her cheek.”

“She meant to interfere with the wedding.”

“To warn me about the assassination attempt.”

“She could have been lying.”

“She wasn’t.”

Kira presses her lips hard together. “No. I suppose, in the moment, she wasn’t lying as I thought. But that does not mean that her other attempts to interfere with the wedding should be acceptable. Harper is power-hungry, son. She’s only attempting to manipulate you for –”

“Stop,” Caleb snarls with a growl in his voice. “You have disparaged Harper from the start. While I have attempted to be tolerant of you, your viciousness, and your meddling – no more. You will not speak of Harper like that ever again, do I make myself clear?”

“So this is it, then? This is your choice.” Kira seems outraged. “You’ve picked a whore over a respectable werewolf?”

Growling louder, Caleb takes a threatening step toward Kira. She might have been his mother but he warned her.

Immediately, she shrinks down somewhat. “I didn’t mean to say that.”

“Then hold your tongue more carefully in the future,” Caleb demands. “Or you will lose it, mother of mine or not.”

Kira lowers her head further, “Yes, Alpha King.”

Caleb is done with her, with her excuses and her vague insults and threats. “Return to your rooms, Kira. And do not let me see you out of them until I call for you.”

“Yes, Alpha King.”

Turning from her, Caleb starts toward the door. The guards step aside to allow him room to enter.

“Uh, one thing, Alpha King,” Kira begins.

Caleb stops, wondering if he’s going to have to actually inflict punishment on his mother for her to finally learn a lesson.

Kira sees his stopping as permission to continue on. “Despite your reasoning or what you did next, you have still embarrassed Annabelle and by extension her entire pack. For the sake of this kingdom, son, I ask you to please consider a means with which to resolve this insult. If you refuse to go through with the marriage –”

“I will ensure Annabelle and her pack are compensated well for my reversal of the marriage contract we have both agreed to,” Caleb says. “But I will not reverse my decision. And if you do not stop asking me to, I will have you exiled.”

Finally, Kira falls blissfully quiet.

Caleb continues forward, leaving her behind.