Wolf's Claim (The Royal Heir #3) - Jen L. Grey Page 0,40

your fault. My dad always said in order to be an effective ruler, others shouldn't know you're struggling." Those words were uttered to me one night after my mother's last relative had died. It was her father, and he had always been instrumental to hers and my life. We had to meet with several alphas the night of the funeral, and I broke down crying in my room. He'd pulled me aside and spoke those words to me. "You should always hold your head high even when you're sad. As long as you appear strong, others will never underestimate you. It's not fair, but being picked for this life is not a choice. It's a destiny. He then wrapped his arms around me, told me he loved me and to cry it out before we went downstairs. We were twenty minutes late because both he and I mourned my grandfather together."

"Wow, your dad was a great man." He spun me around and stared into my eyes. "He'd be so proud of you. Hell, I'm sure he is as he watches from above."

"I hope so. Can you believe he got accused of being insensitive with their time and that a true king would not make their people wait?" I remembered being so pissed. Though instead of explaining why or being rude, he only nodded his head and told them he understood. That something had come up and that it wouldn't happen again.

A knock on our open door had us turning toward it. Kassie was there, and her face was a shade more pale than usual.

"What's wrong?" Whatever it was, it wouldn't be good.

"We just got a call from Brent." Instead of being angry though, she looked scared.

I growled. "What's going on?" Did they already have enough votes to eradicate Mason and me from the crown? I knew Brent had pull with several alphas, but I didn't think it could happen that quickly.

"No, they're being attacked ... slaughtered really." Kassie took a deep breath. "He's asked for help.”

"You expect us to want to walk in and help him after everything he just did?" Mason's body was stiff.

"Of course we are. They are our people." It's strange that right after our meeting, something like that would happen. "It's not their fault he's an opportunistic ass."

"You're right. Dammit." Mason frowned.

"That's what I figured you'd say. You always gotta go running off into danger." Kassie huffed, but there was relief in her eyes. She cared about our people as much as we did. "Tommy is already pulling the car around. Mona, Ella, and Louis are already at the elevator."

"We'll stay another night after all." I picked up the duffle bag and ran out the door. Might as well stay. They were going to charge us for the night anyway.

Kassie and Mason walked quickly behind me and caught up when I met with the rest of our group.

"I'll protect everyone except for Brent." Ella narrowed her eyes as she wrinkled her nose like she’d smelled something disgusting. "That asshole deserves to get hurt."

The elevator dinged, and the six of us entered it.

"I'm with Ella on this one." Mason chuckled.

"You both don't mean it." They were full of shit. They may not like him, but they would never let one of our own get injured. If he was calling us, that must mean he was singing a different tune.

"Let us have our moment," Ella grumbled as Louis shook his head with a small grin.

The door opened up when we got to the bottom floor, and Kassie hurried off to check the lobby. "Come on." She waved us on, letting us know the room was clear of visible threats.

"I know I haven’t earned your trust yet, but do you think this could be a setup?" Louis followed closely behind us, and his tone was a little on edge. "This could be a trap."

“He’s right.” Mason stopped in his tracks.

"It's not." Mona frowned. "We had someone we trust run by and check it out before we alerted Elena and Mason."

"Wait." That wasn't necessarily a good thing. "How long has this attack been going on?"

"Only about thirty minutes." Mona waved her hands as she pointed to our Suburban pulled in front. "Now let's go. It'll take about that same amount of time to get there."

We all climbed into the vehicle, and Tommy took off as soon as the back door shut.

We turned off the main road onto a small gravel driveway. The vehicle bounced, jostling us from side to side.

"Where