Dark Alpha: A Fated Mates Novel

48: FOR YOU

~SINCLAIR~

The next hours were eye-opening, to say the least.

He and Vannie went out to examine the damage done to the Inlands. As it was, it didn't look like they'd be the same for a while, as everyone was scarred from the last incidents. The Keepers didn't concern him with the dirty work. By the time he and Vannie reached the scene, all the bodies had been taken away and the blood had been washed off.

They would have to rebuild the walls from scratch and activate new hexes. But Sin had the idea that even if the walls remained down, nobody would dare attack the Inlands again. Seeing the damage made him angry enough to want to travel down to Crin and Aben, but Vannie advised against it. "We won't go to them. Not when we can make them come to us. On their knees."

He rather liked being on Vannie's good side. Only the Gods knew what bloodthirsty thing she had planned. "I can't wait to hear what's going on in that head."

There was also the issue of Maeve, which was the most important part. They were all going on with their day like nothing had happened, like an important part of their pack hierarchy hadn't been cut down. But she'd tried to kill their own, which was a crime punishable by the worst death, so their sympathy was significantly dampened.

"When I found out what she was doing and why she was doing it, I didn't have the heart to do what I should have," he told Vannie, when she said he could have avoided this by stopping Maeve in the first place.

Vannie wasn't buying it. "That's a lie. You were using her to make sure you came out victorious. You were using her to track your enemies."

He wondered if the lands had also given Vannie the ability to read his mind. "That's not the point. A part of me is glad she didn't die. She is redeemable."

His mate eyed him dubiously, but didn't comment further. When the Keepers that Maeve had tried to kill came to pay their tributes to Vannie, they were more reverent than he'd ever seen them. In fact, every Inlander they passed was more reverent than ever, looking like they would fall over to their faces and kiss her feet if she only asked it.

"You just won their devotion with your territory-saving skills," he teased. Not like she didn't have their devotion before. She grinned at him in response (she'd been doing a lot of that since they left the palace.)

He didn't want to leave her side, but she shared her attention amongst those that wanted it. There was nothing for his jealousy. Especially since Vannie didn't look like she shared the same need. His only consolation was the million marks she'd put on him. He didn't miss the sly looks Inlanders snuck his way after noticing it - which was the whole point of wearing a wide vest that was cut to show the tops of his chest.

Vannie's clothes, in contrast, were rather modest. They covered her neck up to her chin, and made him want to turn them into rags.

Marshall came over and told her that the Keepers had a gift for her, and she smiled. "I'll meet you at home, Sinclair." Home. That was bribery, her calling the palace her home. That was the only thing that saved her from having one territorial Alpha at her heels.

***

The Circle was quiet. The Elders managed to maintain their composure and remain on their seats, but he could feel how high the tension was.

Everyone of them had the thirst for revenge thrumming through them. And nobody mentioned Maeve, as if the very topic was now blasphemous. Which he supposed, it was now. It was a bit saddening, but he couldn't do anything about it.

"We welcome you back to court. We're grateful you're well and alive."

"After all of this dies down, I want you to address the Inlands. I'll hold court at the Great Hall. Provisions should be made for a weeklong celebration in honor of Queen Vannie," he said, in lieu of acknowledging the greeting. "We can talk about the war now."

"The Críns have crossed a line," an Elder said immediately, barely-restrained anger making her words short and choppy. "Had you just took my advice and burned the clan to the ground, none of these would have happened."

"We're not going to let this disrespect slide," the Elder's mate agreed.

Before this turned into a carnage of angry wolves, Vannie came in.

They all stood at her presence, and kept standing as she took her seat gracefully at the head of the table. He took his place behind her, standing while she sat. Someday, she'd ask for her own seat in the Circle. Till then, he'd enjoy staying right here.

"Cut off importation from the Inlands to Crin and Aben," she put in, after hearing everyone's take on what they should do. "When you do that, they'll be hungry and desperate in no time."

"They could just keep getting funding from other territories. Like Zhode, for example. The Alphas of Zhode and Crin are quite good friends." Vannie's face went carefully blank at that. "In fact, Your Majesties, we have good reason to believe that Zhode was also involved in this rebellion."

Sin let out a shade of the daemon at the Elder. He suspected the same thing, but nobody saw him hurling accusations when his mate was there to hear them.

"Summon the Alphas of the other territories and ask them to pay homage," Vannie continued tightly, as if she didn't hear. "If they agree to buy or sell with Crin and Aben, they declare themselves enemies to the Inlands, and will be punished accordingly."

Her voice was low and lethal, a combination that did things to him. Things that made him blood rush in his ears.

That predatory glint was back into the Elders' eyes, though they tried to play coy. "But wouldn't that be punishing the innocent?"

Vannie laughed. "Nobody is innocent in this. If the Inlands had fallen, all the other territories would be trying their best to gain from the chaos."

Everyone agreed. Sin agreed. He tilted her chin up till she was eye-to-eye with him. "What will you do when they come to you?"

She smirked. "I'll make them beg."

"Will you?"

Her eyes flared with the hunger he wanted to sate. He waited to see if she'd kiss him here at the Circle, if she'd claim him so blatantly, what it would be like if she did. The breathlessness began.

"You know how I love to see people at my mercy."