Vindicator

Chapter 13

"What?!" The king bellowed.

"That filthy little..." the queen sputtered, seeming to stall at the insult because she couldn't find a sufficient term to describe what she thought of her son's mate.

Chance was squinting at the phone, gasping from another surge of pain. He was holding out for his father to clarify his anger. Chance knew and loved his parents, he was confident that they would support him whether his mate was female or not...Still, he couldn't help that tiny part of him that was afraid. The part that thought "what if", and feared they'd be angry or disappointed in him.

"I'll kill him" the King muttered to himself angrily.

"No!" Chance yelped, Xander whimpering in his head at the idea of someone hurting their mate. "You can't hurt my mate, Father" he pleaded, pain lacing his voice.

The king scowled at the phone, knowing he was powerless to help his son with this predicament. He may be king, but one thing his authority had no control over was the mate bond. He could not command someone to accept or reject a bond, as much as he now wished he could. He also couldn't kill the mutt, or his son would feel immeasurable pain and possibly go feral, or die.

"Your father will not touch your mate, my love" the queen cooed reassuringly.

The king gave the queen a look, catching her unspoken meaning. He may not touch their son's mate, but that didn't mean the queen would let him off. He smirked at her, but then realization dawned on him and he frowned.

"Wait" the king said, finally realizing what he and the queen missed in their anger. "You said he? Your mate is male?!"

The queen looked at the king with a frown. "That doesn't matter, Reggie" she scolded.

"The hell it doesn't!" He argued.

"Don't you dare pull any homophobic shit with me!" The queen growled at her husband. "We will support our son, no matter who he is mated to!"

The king was used to his mate's strong will, and had long grown accustomed to her challenging him. He used to get angry when she would challenge and undermine him, especially in front of others; however, she made it clear that she was his mate as an equal, and she had no intention of being mated to someone who saw her as lesser than him. He loved her for her strength, her fiery spirit, and her big heart. Still, he sighed.

"That's not what I meant, my love." He said gently. "As a father, I support Chance wholeheartedly. As a king, though, I have to acknowledge that the prince being mated to a male presents...Unique challenges" he explained, trying to be diplomatic.

The Queen understood, but was still miffed. "I don't think this is an appropriate time to bring that up, Reginald" she scolded again.

"When would be?!" He asked in exasperation, knowing his mate was upset if she was using his full name.

"Perhaps when our son is not in agony from the betrayal of the mate bond?" She asked, a hint of annoyed sarcasm in her voice.

The king grunted in acknowledgement. He knew it was something they'd need to be prepared for. It would likely cause an uproar from not only the citizens, but the elders. He loathed that group of old cronies, but they were organized to balance the powers and keep the monarchy in check. Each pack voted an elder to represent them, so the representation was equal across the world. Due to this, he didn't expect there to be a single one of them who wasn't pleased to learn of this turn of events. The elders have long wanted to be rid of the monarchy, and this may be the excuse they've been waiting on to depose them.

"Tom, tell us what happened exactly" the queen ordered, wanting to know the events leading up to her son being treated this way.

Tom obliged, letting the prince focus on breathing. By the time Tom finished updating the king and queen on the state of things, Chance was back to normal.

"That little shit" the queen muttered. "Chance, you need to go reject him, or accept his rejection" she stated firmly.

"I am not giving up on my mate so easily" he replied with irritation. He had waited years for his mate, this wasn't going to be enough to scare him off.

"His plan is to torture you into compliance. He is nobody you should be mated to! He's a monster" the queen insisted.

"He isn't! He's just...Scared. None of us expected this, I'm sure he's just processing things and handling it poorly" Chance argued.

"That's no excuse for him to do what he did. He could beg me on his knees, and I'd never forgive him for hurting you in such a way. It's unforgivable" Aless exclaimed.

"Well it's a good thing you're not the one he's mated to" Chance said wryly.

The royal family continued to discuss and argue over how to handle the situation. Meanwhile, back at the Red Moon pack, Theo was exiting the shower after bedding one of the pack's she-wolves. He'd been taught from a young age that an Alpha was expected to save himself for his mate. Despite this, he'd never followed that rule before, and wasn't about to start now that his mate turned out to be a man.

He got dressed and headed back to the pack's medical wing, looking for his father. Finding the burly man shackled in silver as he'd left him, he smirked. "Hi dad."

The Alpha's healing had slowed to a normal human's pace with his wolf restrained by the silver. Due to this, his eye had swollen shut from where Tom had punched him. He focused his good eye on his son. "Theo" he said, his voice raspy from having not spoken to anyone since waking.

Theo marched over and plunked himself in the chair next to his father's hospital bed. "Looks like we're a sorry pair" he said with a laugh. "Your wolf has gone insane from the loss of his mate, and mine's going insane at the idea that his mate is a man" he continued, the humour leaving his voice.

The Alpha gave his son a sinister smile. "All is not as it seems, my boy. I've been thinking...The monarchy has been in place for far too long, don't you agree?"

Theo raised an eyebrow at his father, not following. "What do you mean, not as it seems? And sure, don't most Alphas want to get rid of the monarchy?" He asked.

"Exactly" Russell said, ignoring the first question. "And now we have the perfect weapon to use against them" he added with a slightly maniacal laugh.

"We do?" Theo asked, still not following his father's thoughts.

Russell snorted at his son's idiocy. "Contact our allies, tell them we wish to meet" he instructed.

Theo, annoyed at being ignored and bossed around, just rolled his eyes. "Why? So you can tell them what a pathetic excuse of a son you have since he's mated to the prince? Or so you can gloat for being the first one to realize the royals are done for? I don't want to plan the party that revolves around my own humiliation" he scoffed.

"No" the Alpha growled, annoyed by his son's attitude. Still, with his next sentence, he couldn't help the evil grin that split his face. "So we can plan to destroy the royals before they realize that you're not the prince's mate."

Theo's eyes widened, and he jumped to his feet in excitement. "I'm not?!" He asked, eager to learn he still had a future.

"No. You're his weakness."