“Ah, yeah, I did.” She went across to the wall opposite the chairs and touched the frame of the mirror she’d had hung, re-centering the thing on the nail it hung off of. “It didn’t start like that. In the beginning, she took the audiences as you alone, and at the end of each evening, I’d review everything and do whatever had to be done. That was so inefficient, though. We used the reflection in this mirror over here to communicate. I’d look at her and blink in code. We had other signals, too. And if things were really complicated, we tabled the issue so I could talk to her or Saxton more fully either during the breaks or at the end of the night. But that was pretty rare.”
“You worked so hard. You did us proud, Beth, and I never thanked you for everything you did to keep the throne intact. And you know what else? The Brotherhood told me you pulledthem together right after I disappeared. They said you were the reason they kept going.”
Beth felt her eyes start tearing up as she looked over her shoulder at her mate. “What else was I going to do.”
“You could have done nothing.” Wrath walked over to her. “You could have let it all go. Instead, you fought for the throne, you safeguarded the species, you took care of everybody—even while you were in mourning. And I’m sorry you had to do all that, but I amnotsurprised you could and did.”
“Well…” She put her arms around his waist. “I’m grateful to have my contributions acknowledged.”
“They have been. They are.” He dropped a kiss on her mouth. “And then I show up, and everything stops.”
Leaning into him, she rested her head on his pec. “Well, it was a good break the first couple of nights. But you know, I have felt a little useless—”
Knock. Knock.
“Come in,” Wrath called out.
At the door the civilians came through, Saxton entered with a wide smile. “I found what I think will do for the short term while the proper one is made.”
Tonight, the solicitor was wearing another dark blue suit, but he had on a full tie in red with littleHs interlocking in a pattern. As always, his blond hair had been perfectly fashioned, the gorgeous golden wave rising off his forehead and falling in perfect order.
“Well done.” Wrath smiled, revealing the tips of his fangs. “I knew you’d take care of it.”
At that point, a pair ofdoggenin workmen’s clothes came in with a—
“Oh, does your armchair not feel right?” she asked as she eyed the heavy piece of furniture the males were carrying.
“No,” he said as the thing was taken over to the other two. “This is for you.”
Beth went still. “For me…? Wait, what?”
Saxton bowed, as did the two males, and then she and her mate were alone again. “I don’t understand, Wrath.”
He walked forward with his hand out into the thin air, and George immediately got up on his paws and ran interference, stopping his master before Wrath knocked into the new addition.
“I want you to join me here. I want you to be a part of the blessings and the disputes and the complaints…even the heartbreaks. In fact, if you need me to be King, then I need you to continue to make your contributions. You and I will do this together, as a team.”
As emotion started rising, she had to blink away the tears. “I don’t understand. I…” She had to clear her throat. “They’re here to see you.”
“And you’re their Queen.” Wrath took her over and sat her down. “But you’re not going to be in the corner. That’s where they told me you used to sit, and that’s not fucking right. No, from now on, you’re right with me. As a team.”
Wrath sat down beside her and looked over in her direction.
“What do you say,leelan? I can think of no one more sensible and compassionate or more intelligent and respected than you. And before you talk about people coming here only to see me, you need to know that the front desk mentioned to me just the other night that the civilians have missed you. They’ve been asking about you, missing you, worried something was wrong.”
Beth lowered her head as she ran her palms up and down the padded arms. The fabric was plain and red and it matched the gingham print on the other two chairs.
“Did this come from the common area at the Wheel?” she asked because she was in total shock and couldn’t think right.
“I don’t know. Do you like it?”
“I do.” And then she smiled at him, even though he couldn’t see her, and wiped her face. “It’s perfect, actually. This whole thing…is perfect.”
“I missed a lot of anniversaries,” he said roughly. “And I’m going to make them all up to you, one by one. I figured I’d start tonight so that by this July we’re back on track, and I wanted to begin with something really big. Be with me, here, in this job I do. And this time, let’s have it really be the two of us. Together.”
His head was still turned toward her, the wraparounds so steady it seemed like he was really staring at her.
“You don’t have to do this,” she hedged. “I mean, you could have kicked it all off with some roses or something.”
