With Everything I Am (20 page)

“
Your
father has no choice but to accept this decision,” Callum retorted. “You’re released,” he declared with finality. He watched her body jolt and her temper flair but continued, “For placing my queen in jeopardy, you should be punished. But with respect to your father, instead, I’m giving you a year to find your mate and settle. After that year, if you don’t, you’ll be sequestered.”

Her face paled before it flushed and she breathed, “
Sequestered?
”

“Is that not what we do when one of our females refuses to seek her mate?” Callum enquired.

“But that’s for… it’s for…” she paused and snapped, “for females who are mad!”

“Prove your sanity,” Callum invited and he saw her face change in a way he, in his impatience and anger with her, and his father in his kindness and diplomacy, had heretofore missed.

Desdemona, daughter of Titium, wasn’t stupid, spoiled and ambitious.

She wasn’t nuts.

She was fucking crazy.

“I’ve no need to find my mate –” she started to declare.

“Desdemona –” Callum tried to break in.

She continued mutinously, “Because he’s sitting right in front of me!”

The air grew dense with shock and the sounds of shuffling feet. Sonia’s already tight body turned to marble against his frame and he heard her soft intake of breath.

Ryon approached to put an end to Mona’s insolence but Callum lifted a hand to stop him.

The deeper she dug her grave, the deeper Callum could bury her in it and he wanted her buried so deep he never had to see her face again.

“You declare this in front of your queen?” Callum asked with deceptive calm.

“Years ago, I felt the connection,” she threw out. “And, no matter what you say, Cal, you did too. I know it.”

Sonia’s body moved, those movements were slight but filled with disquiet.

He gave his mate a comforting squeeze before he said derisively, “Hardly, Desdemona.”

“What we had was good!” she cried desperately, leaning further forward.

“What we had was sex,” Callum returned dismissively and Sonia jerked in his arms which didn’t squeeze comfortingly this time, they tightened.

“I’m consort to a king!” Mona declared madly, moving up the steps.

Ryon shot forward, hooked an arm firm around her waist and stopped her.

Callum’s voice lowered but, even so, he knew every wolf in the room could hear.

“You were nothing but a fuck, Mona. A good one but I’d had better before,” he moved slightly his eyes never leaving Mona as he rubbed his temple against Sonia’s hair, making his message clear before he murmured, “And definitely better since.”

He heard Sonia’s breathing escalate as he saw her chest start to rise and fall with agitation but she kept her seat which satisfied him. This was an intense situation amongst a passionate people, something she wasn’t used to but she was handling herself, as he had guessed she would, brilliantly.

Mona didn’t handle herself nearly as well.

Fighting against Ryon’s hold, she snapped, “But she’s blonde. You
hate
blondes.”

“I’ve changed my mind,” Callum returned coolly.

To that, Mona’s arms went ramrod straight, her face grew red and she shrieked, “She is
not
our queen. She’s fucking
human
.”

Irreverence to his queen spoken aloud during an official assembly in a throne room.

Callum held back his smile.

Mona was so deep, even Titium couldn’t dig her out.

“Get her out of here, Ry,” he ordered.

“Released to find her mate?” Ryon asked, his lips twitching.

“Fuck no. Sequester her,” Callum answered.

“
No!
” Mona shrieked while she struggled.

“Okey doke,” Ryon muttered and a few wolves chuckled.

Sonia, he noted vaguely, had clenched her fists.

As Ryon handed Mona off to two warriors who led her struggling body out of the room, Caleb climbed the dais and stood at his right side. Then his deep voice rang out in the vast room.

“Are there those in this company who have issue with our human queen?”

No one spoke.

Caleb went on, “Are there those whose allegiance lies with Desdemona?”

More silence.

Caleb’s voice then announced loudly, “Then behold our new queen!”

Everyone looked at Sonia. Sonia blushed.

“You’re laying it on a bit thick, aren’t you, brother?” Callum muttered.

There were several chuckles, a few full-blown laughs and a room full of smiles.

“I thought the situation warranted it,” Caleb replied with a bold grin as he leaned against the side of his brother’s throne.

Callum threw him a look then turned his head, his mouth seeking Sonia’s ear and he asked softly, “Would you like to meet your warriors, baby doll?”

She twisted her neck and her green eyes searched his. She pulled in breath through her nose and, finally, nodded.

He stood up, lifting her to her feet. He slid his arm around her shoulders and tucked her into his side.

To his men in the room, he stated, his voice proclaiming proudly, “It’s time for you to meet Sonia.”

* * * * *

“Jesus, it’s brilliant finally to have something to do,” Calder announced, sitting back in his chair and grinning broadly.

Callum studied his brother from his seat behind a desk cluttered with the remains of the meal they’d eaten there while going through intelligence reports and notes on interrogations. For hours, throughout all of this, except for when Caleb had escorted her to the bathroom, Sonia had sat silently in his lap, even when they ate.

Calder, Callum knew, if he had not been of royal blood, would undoubtedly be the leader of an insurrection. All wolves had an abundance of energy, a zest for life, strength in their opinions and none of them shied away from a fight.

Calder was all that and a great deal more.

Calder, more impatient and volatile even than Callum, was a brilliant warrior, if a flawed strategist, who appeared to be at his most relaxed in the middle of a bloody battle.

His brother, Callum decided, needed to find his fucking mate.

And his brother, Callum decided, once this was finished, would go on a quest to seek her. He’d hand down the order himself.

“Though,” Calder went on, his eyes flashing to Sonia before he grinned, “it’s disappointing that we’re not going to have the mating ceremony. You’d love that, Sonia,” he told her. “Our people like a good party and A Mating is the fucking best.”

“Maybe after this is over, Callum will give Sonia a ceremony,” Ryon suggested, his eyes soft on Callum’s mate.

Callum’s eyes were anything but soft on his cousin.

Jesus, if he didn’t know better, he’d think Ryon had a thing for her.

“A Royal Mating is even better,” Caleb threw in, also grinning at Sonia. “A fucking blast.”

Sonia grinned back at Caleb and Callum’s arms gave her a squeeze to capture her attention.

This worked, her face swung to his.

“Would you like that, little one?” he asked gently.

She regarded him a moment before she shrugged.

“We’ll talk about it later,” he told her and she nodded. Callum looked at Saint. “Are our quarters prepared?”

Sonia’s body jerked in his arms but Callum’s attention was on Saint who was answering. “Yes, actually. They have been since you arrived. Mona ordered it.”

“At least she did something,” Caleb muttered and Saint laughed.

“Callum,” Ryon called and Callum’s gaze swung to his cousin and saw his eyes were
still
on Callum’s bride. “Since this is going to go down here, and you’ll likely be here awhile, why don’t you stay at Sonia’s?”

At Ryon’s words, Sonia instantly relaxed in Callum’s arms and he caught her throwing Ryon another very grateful smile.

“Fuck, Ryon, what are you on about? The king always stays at the mansion,” Calder put in.

“Yes, and a female of our kind would know and be prepared for that,” Ryon replied patiently. “A human, being initiated to our culture which is probably a bit overwhelming, Calder, might like the comforts of home while she gets oriented.”

Sonia pressed together her lips and sighed, clearly agreeing with his cousin.

Callum would never have considered this. Then again Callum had very little experience with female humans except, of course, fucking them.

“Would you like to go home, Sonia?” he asked, her head tipped back instantly and she nodded, this time happily, with her eyes bright on
him
, to which he smiled and murmured, “Then we’ll take you home.”

Which was somewhere they were going now.

It was high time for her injection and, after their play this morning, he was impatient to have her again.

Further, the idea of having her in her sweet, welcoming bedroom lit by Christmas lights was an idea he liked greatly. He just hoped the cleaners he’d commanded to be sent to her house had successfully scoured away all traces of the bloody mess he’d made of her two attackers as he’d ordered them to do.

He stood, taking Sonia with him and setting her on her feet. “Calder, you’re off tonight,” he told his brother and Calder nodded. He then looked at Saint. “We’ll meet tomorrow to discuss the turnover.” Saint lifted his chin and Callum then looked at Ryon and Caleb. “You know what to do.” They both nonverbally indicated they understood his order.

Then he took Sonia’s hand and led her from the room.

His SUV was at the bottom of the steps where he’d left it and he helped Sonia into her seat before taking his own, starting the truck and pointing them toward her farmhouse.

He’d driven several miles before the silence in the cab caught his attention and it finally occurred to him that Sonia had another full, turbulent, likely mystifying day.

“You okay?” he asked.

She was silent.

“Baby doll?” he prompted, not taking his eyes from the road.

She remained silent.

He glanced at her to see her arms were crossed on her chest, the bag filled with her medication in her lap, and she was glaring through the windscreen.

“Sonia?”

“Oh, am I allowed to speak now?” she queried sarcastically.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she snapped. “Just take me home.”

Fucking hell. She was pissed about something.

“Sonia, tell me what’s bothering you,” he ordered gently.

“Nothing. I’m perfectly fine and I’ll be
more
fine when I’m finally
home
.”

Callum decided that was probably not true because it appeared they would be arguing when they arrived at her home. He wasn’t going to engage in one in the truck. Further, he had to take that time to control his temper that she obviously didn’t realize today, regardless of how delightfully it started, the rest had been unpleasant for him to say the least. Furthermore, the coming days, or weeks and (although he hoped to God not) possibly months would be busy and taxing.

Therefore she’d failed in her responsibility to provide him what he’d
thought
he’d explained to her during their second day at the cabin was her duty to provide. An outlet. A release. Be that in the form of a casual conversation in an SUV about his day, holding her cuddled on her sweet bed in her sweet room and talking with her about his concerns about his people or fucking her so hard that when she came she cried out his name.

The latter of which was how he definitely decided he’d like to process his day.

And that was exactly how he was going to do it.

He turned into the short drive at the side of her house, parking behind the door of her garage and he shut off the engine.

She didn’t wait for him to help her from the SUV (another issue he had with her that he decided, astutely, to bring up later). She dropped down from the truck and stormed up to her dark house.

Then she stood at her front door, arms crossed, her bag with her meds dangling from her fingers, as he took his time (to calm his temper further, an effort which failed) sauntering to her house.

“I don’t have the key,” she told him when he arrived at her side using a voice that made this clear it was an accusation.

He had her key.

Saint had given it to him the day he’d arrived. It was on the ring with his truck keys, his SUV being something else Saint had provided for him.

He used the key to let them in while she glared at his keyring like she was willing it to combust in his fingers.

When they entered, her alarm started beeping. She turned to it and punched in the code then stomped into the house.

Callum took off his coat while slowly Christmas lights, inside and out, started twinkling from everywhere.

Callum glanced around.

Ryon wasn’t wrong. Sonia seriously had a thing about Christmas.

He listened to her tramping around upstairs as he went to her clean, pristine kitchen and opened the fridge, praying she had beer.

She didn’t.

She didn’t even have a bottle of chilled white wine.

He was searching the cupboards for spirits when she stormed in, having divested herself of her vest and scarf, and her eyes narrowed on her mail neatly piled on the counter.

“I see someone’s been taking care of my house,” she announced ungraciously and walked to the mail, snatching it from the counter. Not looking at him, she shuffled through it while she demanded to know, “Did you arrange that?”

“Yes,” he replied, turning back to open another cabinet in which he saw, thankfully, she had a number of bottles of liquor and one of them, to his great fortune, contained a very good whisky.

“I shudder to think of the state of my store considering I disappeared into thin air during Christmas season.” She aimed a glare in his direction as he discovered where she kept her glasses. “My girls are probably freaked!”

“Only if they have the uncanny ability of clairvoyance,” Callum replied calmly. “Regan arranged for one of our people, a woman who has a goodly amount of retail experience considering her mate owns Harrinton’s department stores, to tell them you had an urgent situation that called you away but arranged for her to manage the store in your absence.”

This knowledge gave her a start, as it would considering there was a Harrinton’s in every exclusive mall in the country. They were highly lucrative ventures and were known as the elite shopping experience.