The Three Kings

Chapter 12

"bitter are the wars between brothers"

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The Kings
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The week that Alexander and Xavier spent away from their mate was the longest and most difficult week of their lives. And that was saying something; they both have lived through wars, famines, and pandemics, but that week away from their mate was inexplicable torture.

And it started the minute they left that house, got in their car, and drove away. But they had to. They had duties to attend to, and she had to make a conscious decision about what she wanted.

On that Sunday, early in the evening, they arrived back in the UK. They were both mentally and physically exhausted. The distance from their mate was painful and left a dull ache in their chest. But, they pushed on. They had a meeting to attend too.

They got into a car that drove them to a remote location in Germany where their eldest brother, Sebastian, resided.

Typically, Sebastian was the one that attended the Annual Alpha Meetings, and because he didn't go this time, Alexander and Xavier were required to meet with Sebastian and discuss what they learned.

Immediately, after their arrival at Sebastian's castle, they were sitting in his office debriefing everything they had come to discover and learn. One discovery they purposely failed to mention though, was that they had found a little special someone.

And that caused a large dispute between Alexander and Xavier.

Before they left the states, Alexander and Xavier went back and forth about deciding whether to tell Sebastian about Hanna or not. And throughout the entire plane ride back to the UK and then the drive to Sebastian's castle, they still had yet to come to a conclusive decision.

Alexander wanted to tell Sebastian about Hanna. He thought that out of the three of them, Sebastian was the one that deserved to know the most. Alexander also thought that it should've been Sebastian that found her, not them.

Xavier disagreed.

He reasoned that telling Sebastian too prematurely would cause problems. If they told him, and she said that she didn't want to be with them, it would crush Sebastian's heart. And it would force him into getting on the first plane and flying out to get her. He wouldn't give her the option to reject them. He wouldn't give her a choice in what she wanted.

Xavier and Alexander already promised her the week to decide what she wanted. They weren't going to take that away from her.

Though Sebastian wouldn't force their mate into doing anything she would feel uncomfortable with, he wasn't ever going to let her go. He would refuse to let her go. Her choice wouldn't matter in his mind.

Xavier wanted to give Hanna the choice to choose, and Alexander wanted that for her too.

So, the came to the consensus that if they were to tell Sebastian, Hanna would feel like she was being forced into a mating and end up resenting them for as long as they lived. That was something none of them wanted. They wouldn't know how to live with themselves if she hated them.

Coming to this agreement left them both full of guilt.

Sebastian spent the first century of his life searching for his mate. He renounced his title to his brothers and traveled the world to find her. He dedicated his life to his mate; refusing to date or be with another woman. It's what drove a wedge between him and his brothers. Sebastian didn't agree with their philandering ways, and they wished that he would loosen up and learn to have fun.