Rite of Power - Rite 2

43: The Ruse

I couldn't help but wonder if all this was my fault. If I'd just listened to her when she'd insisted that she didn't need the recognition or the formalities, would we still have to go through any of this? Would Ulf have even found out about her if we hadn't stuck to tradition and invited him?

Candice may have still been a thorn in our side at some point. Be she wouldn't have been given the chance to create this much trouble. I was sure of that much. She would've been killed on sight the moment she'd stepped a foot into our territory. It was just the way that she'd been posed and done up to look like Selene that had saved her life.

And now she'd been allowed to get under all of our skin. Without letting Selene rip her mind to shreds there was no way of knowing what information that she'd given to Ulf. We could only assume that she'd divulged every intimate detail that she knew about all of us in her attempt to be his ally. I never should've let her stay alive when she left.

I certainly wouldn't have to be dealing with Caleb's grandiose idea that we could somehow shift the balance of power from the old world's leadership into our own hands. I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to breathe out my frustration with him, "We've been friends for a long time, but if you keep trying to force this issue, I'm not going to stop her from ripping your tongue out. She's not interested in her 'birthright' or political power, neither of us are."

He scratched the scruff growing along his jaw and blinked at me, "A few months ago, you would've taken my side on this." He frowned and slouched in his chair, "It's not like you to back down from a fight."

"She isn't interest in ruling our world," my shoulders moved in a sort of half shrug, "and a few months ago I didn't have a mate, just a girl that had been promised to me. Would you be this stubborn if it was Jeanette and not Selene that we were discussing?"

"Jeanette isn't an alpha," he rubbed the back of his neck and snorted. "Selene could very well be the strongest lycan of our generation, if she isn't going to take up the mantle of Alpha of Alphas, who will?"

"Her older cousin, Alexandria, it's her claim to take. Ulf has already admitted that she is still alive; she is the oldest living relative to him that isn't in a coma. It's her right to be heir."

"The woman who is contractually bound to produce the next heir of Opalescent Moon," he smirked.

"That contract was voided the moment I found my true mate," I shook my head. "That's why he wants to undermine us. He wants to claim the stronger of the two for himself."

"Exactly," he grinned. "You know as well as I do how hard it is to show tangible proof of a true mate bond. The fact that yours is visible when examined under the right circumstances," he spread his palms, "but no one can see that bond without seeing how powerful she really is, I'm just suggesting that we need to plan for that instance."

As if on cue, Selene strode into the room, with Sophie and Blake in tow. "Caleb, would you please stop antagonizing my mate?" she frowned as she moved past him. "It's a bit distracting when I can feel how much he wants to smash your face in." She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, missing the way that his face blanched.

"How are your patients this morning, Princess?" I already knew that her daily visits to Candice and Kalliope hadn't yielded any new information; I just wanted to change the topic of conversation before Caleb pissed her off too. Until we understood more about her new abilities, I wasn't going to risk setting her off in front of him.

"Miss Thompson," her lip curled up in a sneer as she talked about Candice, "is still alive and well, and will be able move and speak on her own after midnight, as promised." She folded her hands and rested them on her thighs, "Aunt Kalliope is much the same. Although, it seems there are some neural responses when I talk to her about family."