Vindicator

Chapter 31

"Don't tell them that!" Karma snapped at Alessia.

"We need to" the wolf replied, not sure why she felt that way; but she didn't want to lie to Xander.

"We don't! Just minutes ago you didn't want me eating a damned pastry because it'd endanger us! Here you are about to spill all of our secrets! What the hell?!" Karma shrieked at Alessia, panicking. "Give me control!"

"No" Alessia said resolutely, before focusing back on Xander. Regardless, she took Karma's words to heart. She couldn't reveal everything, no matter how much her instincts told her to trust Xander. Besides, he wasn't the only one in the room.

"What do you mean by that?" Xander demanded, frowning.

"It means I have gifts to protect you, and others, your highness" she responded with a bow of her head.

"Then help me" he pled. "Help me understand what is happening with my mate bond. You said you can see them, right? Please, something is wrong with mine."

Alessia looked up to stare into those molten eyes one more time, nodding in agreement. "I will do what I can, I assure you" she vowed.

"Open a gate" she instructed Karma, returning control to her.

Karma blinked, her eyes returning to normal as control passed back to her. She turned her attention back to Xander, and met his eyes. She had to admit, he did have entrancing eyes. "We will return after we check on your bond" she said, brushing her thoughts aside.

Before he could respond, she'd already turned to the Queen to give her a respectful bow. "Your grace" she murmured, then turned and disappeared through a door nobody but she could see.

Xander returned control to Chance after Karma disappeared. Like Karma, he blinked and his eyes turned back to their chocolate brown colour. He turned to look at his mother and smiled brightly. "She's going to help! Surely she'll find the problem, right?" He said, trying not to get overexcited.

Aless smiled at her son and walked over to him. She wordlessly pulled him into a hug, leaning her cheek against his chest since he dwarfed her smaller frame. "Yes, she is a lovely young woman. If she can find a problem that needs fixing, I am certain she will do all in her power to fix it" she replied.

Relieved, Chance returned his mother's embrace. Xander was practically purring in his mind in joy, and it felt like everything was right in the world.

And then the Queen spoke again, a few moments later, bringing him back to reality.

"Chance..." she began.

The Prince frowned, releasing his mother to pull her away, holding her at arm's length. "I know that tone" he said, giving her a suspicious look.

She gave him a small smile, and sighed. "It's just...It is not unheard of for fated mates to not want to be together. It is rare, but not impossible...And oftentimes, those mates end up together merely for the sake of continuing the Alpha bloodline. I'm afraid, in your case, that is not one of the draws to being with your mate..." she said, hesitating to continue as she saw the miserable expression on her son's face.

"You think I haven't considered that?" He said, releasing his hold on her to drop his arms down as quickly as his mood just dropped.

"I'm sorry, my love...I just want to ensure you've considered all scenarios. And all options and opportunities" she said, adding the last part with a bit more emphasis.

Chance scoffed, walking over to plop into one of the chairs in the parlour. "What opportunities, mother?"

"Well...Xander seemed to have some form of bond with Kayla's wolf" she said cautiously.