Page 14 of The Wolf Prince's Mate

“Don’t you think the prince should know about this? It’s his child, too.”

“Griffin can never know about this child, Mary. I can’t subject my unborn child to the life I had. You need to swear it to me.”

Her eyes filled with sympathy, and she slowly nodded, swearing to die with my secret.

CHAPTER FOUR

Griffin

The court was in a state of total disarray and mayhem. Voices stretched to their limits and bounced off the walls as everyone struggled to get their points across. There were threatening growls and visible veins, and the court’s code of conduct was hanging on a very violent thread.

“Enough!” Elder John’s authoritative voice boomed across the room, effectively silencing the rest of the elders.

I was moderately shocked at the display as he was one of the most level-headed persons I knew. He never raised his voice above the normal range.

“We are not going to make progress by arguing. Besides, the prince is still young and virile. I don’t see what the rush is.”

“If he is so young and virile, he should prove it by birthing an heir. The king has been dead for five years, and the throne has been empty ever since. It’s only a matter of time before someone decides to seize the opportunity.” A bald man to my right started, and the crowd murmured in agreement.

I rested my head in my palms, gently massaging my temples. I barely got any sleep with Lilith trying every trick in the book to get me to have sex with her, and this was definitely not how I wanted to start my day.

“A kingdom with no king is like a time bomb waiting to explode. It is seen as weak and lacks direction. It takes less than a minute to get a woman pregnant. I don’t see what the problem is. Is the princess unable to hold a child in her womb?” A voice added from the crowd, effectively clearing the tiredness from my eyes.

I raised my head, bestowing the culprit with the coldest look I could muster.

“While I understand the need for an heir and for the throne to be occupied, what I will not tolerate is you or any member of this court speaking ill of my wife. She has been through the most traumatic experience of losing a child, and I’ll let her take all the time she needs without any of you putting any form of pressure on her.”

I was obviously bluffing. Lilith recovered from the loss of our child years ago and was more than ready to try for another. I was the problem. But how was I supposed to tell the court that the woman I would’ve given anything up for now repulsed me?

How was I supposed to tell them that the thought of making love to her made me shudder and that intimacy with her felt like I was being dragged to my doom? What genius thought it would be a great idea for an heir to provide a successor before they were coronated?

Lilith was still as beautiful as she was on the first day I set my eyes on her, but that was the only part of her that seemed to have stayed the same. Everything else turned out to be smoke and mirrors.

“That settles it then.” The elder said, turning to the crowd. “We let the prince and his wife take their precious time while we find someone ready to lead and secure the welfare of the kingdom.”

The crowd was again divided into shouts of agreement and disagreement. I leaned back into my chair, watching and observing with disappointment.

This was barely the court I dreamed of leading when I was drafting my plans for the future. In fact, nothing was going as I planned.

The reform was facing more backlash than I anticipated. My mate had turned into an unrecognizable monster over time, and my business was currently hanging by a thread. It was a miracle how I still managed to hold it together without falling apart.

It seemed as though every aspect of my life fell apart the moment she left. Mira. I could still recall the shock I felt when the guard told me the dungeon was found empty, and they had searched everywhere for her to no avail.

Although our motives were different, my wolf fought me tooth to nail to run out and bring her back myself. Overcome with rage and a desire to punish her and make her pay for her actions, I almost gave in to temptation, but there was Lilith. She was already broken and dealing with the pain of my infidelity. I couldn’t break her further by organizing a search party for the same person that made me betray her trust.

That didn’t mean I stopped thinking about her. There was not a day that passed that I didn’t think about Mira, and with all that was currently happening, it was as though she was all I ever thought of.

There was the way she always seemed lost in my presence and the grace and kindness she extended to others even after all she had been through. But it hurt to think about the pain she caused and how she betrayed me. I sometimes find myself wishing Lilith was wrong about the pheromones, but there was no way that could’ve been.

The bottle was hers. It reeked of her, and it was too much of a coincidence that the first time I saw her, she was being accused oftrying to sleep with her Alpha’s son, and the next time she was in a similar position, it was me.

My wolf didn’t care about that, though. In fact, he has barely spoken to me since Mira left and has only engaged me when it was absolutely necessary.

“Let us give the prince a last chance to raise an heir. It’s his birthright, and he deserves to be given as many chances as he can get before we give up on him. Besides, he’s been a great leader so far. Look at all the technological advancements the community has made under him.”

A calm yet sturdy voice pulled me back to the present, and I forced a grateful smile on my face. It was nice to see people who were not just power-hungry but appreciated change and advancement in the community.

“In that case, how many years can we spare?” The bald man asked, and I seized the moment before the court was thrown into another argument.

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