Wolf's Claim (The Royal Heir #3) - Jen L. Grey Page 0,3

to me and pulled me into his arms.

I couldn't cry. Not right now. Yes, all of these people were my family now. Yet, I was afraid if I started crying, I wasn't quite sure when I'd stop. I'll be fine.

"My dad’s an ass." Louis frowned as his eyes scanned over me. "He's a difficult person to understand. Hell, I never understood him."

I tugged myself out of Mason's arms and narrowed my eyes directly at the prince. "He sure meant every word he said."

"Gotta side with her on this one, babe." Ella shrugged and let go of his hand, standing closer to me.

"You do know you don't have to step closer to her to take her side, right?" Mason arched an eyebrow at his sister.

"It's better for theatrics." She winked at me. "It drives the point home better."

"I just need to make sure." I took a deep breath and stared him down. "You don't feel like you have to stay here, right? Because of Ella." Even if we hadn't meant to blackmail him, what if he was afraid of our reaction if they left. He didn't want to take her away from her family.

"Honestly, it might be nice to have a little bit of a break from her, at least from time to time." Mason leaned over and placed his chin on the top of my head. "So maybe you could reconsider."

"No, that's not it." Louis sighed and took a deep breath. "It's that the two of you make amazing leaders. You're not even half my father's age, and you both understand what a true leader is. It's not asking someone to do something you aren't willing to do yourself." He huffed and shook his head. "Dad never goes out on reconnaissance or takes part in any fights that we have against witches or vampires. He stays safe, sitting in his castle."

I wasn't expecting that. I wasn't quite sure what else to say.

"I understand if I need to move out and find my own place." He took a deep breath and sighed. "I'd been thinking about that the past couple weeks, but with the recent threat, I'd planned to hold off."

"You need to stay here for now." There was no way I'd want Ella and him to put themselves out there as easy targets. "We can figure the rest of this out later. Right now, we need to warn the packs and visit the ones we haven't been able to yet."

A phone rang, and Kassie pulled hers from her pocket. "Hello?"

There was no telling what King Adelmo had done. My stomach churned as I waited for her to end the call.

"I'll be there shortly." Kassie hung up the call, and her forehead lined with worry.

"What's going on?" She just needed to tell me.

"We've got a problem." Kassie paused, but her eyes locked with Tommy's. "Richard and Debra have escaped from prison."

At first, the words didn't make sense. "My cousin and aunt?" That couldn't be possible. They hated my guts, and we had them locked up in the most secure location.

"Yes."

Someone had to have helped them to escape, and I had no clue who it could have been.

Chapter Two

Out of all the possibilities that had run through my head, my aunt and cousin escaping wasn't one of them. "Both of them?" I probably sounded like a parrot right now.

"Get the guards to track their scents." Mason took off his suit jacket and threw it on a chair. "This is ridiculous. If they can't do it, I will."

"Whoa, there." Tommy lifted his hand. "I can't have the royal I'm protecting running straight into enemy lines."

"It's our prison." I was with Mason on this one. "We're going."

"Of course they are." Kassie sighed and shook her head.

"If it was anyone else but her, you'd be impressed." Mona snorted as she patted Kassie on the shoulder. "And really, we only have ourselves to blame."

That was true. They'd trained my ass on self-defense and proper weapon usage over the past twelve years. "I promise to not run off unprompted."

"Girl, you don't think we noticed the last word of that sentence?" Ella rolled her eyes and leaned against Louis's shoulder. "That wasn't even worth promising."

"It only makes it worse." Louis nodded his head in agreement.

"I think I liked you better before this …" I said as I waved my hands between the two of them, "happened."

"You and me both." Mason sighed. I got the pleasure of walking in on them one night.

What? How do I not know about