Accidental Surrogate for Alpha by Caroline Above Story
Chapter 382 Cora’s Decision (Ella)
“What?” Cora asks, laughing a little as if it’s a ridiculous notion. “What on earth could I have to pick and choose from?”
“Let’s back up a little,” Roger says, tugging her into the room and gesturing towards one of the chairs around the table. As she settles herself into a seat Sinclair pulls over the little armchair that I’ve been using when I feed Rafe, and I murmur my thanks to him as I settle down in it. As Roger begins, Sinclair swiftly hands me all of the things I need to feed Rafe – a burp cloth, a little blanket to throw over my shoulder, etc. – and I smile to myself at his consideration in anticipating my needs without me having to ask.
My Alpha is a warrior, but he’s also a sweetheart. And I’m grateful for him every day. Everyone waits for me to get settled, but then once Rafe is happily eating Henry begins.
“We discovered,” Henry begins, his eyes moving between me and Cora, that Xander has fled east to Adalaxia.”
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“Shit,” Cora sighs, slumping down in her chair. My emotions match hers. We knew that Xander was on the run we’d largely decimated any of his that martial forces in taking out his priests. But our great fear was that in the time it took us to regroup, that he’d leave the country and find allies who might help him.
And it looks, now, like he did precisely that.
“Is Adalaxia…a good place for him to go?” I don’t know a lot about the neighboring kingdom, especially as I was raised as a human and hadn’t known that overlying the map of the human world there was a hidden world of wolf kingdoms with its own wars and politics. Of course, ever since Damon broke the secret of the of the wolves to the human world those maps have increasingly combined to become one, but still – what I don’t know about wolf politics could probably fill its own book.
Which, considering that I’ll likely soon be Queen, is…unfortunate. But I force myself to pay attention to Henry’s answer.
“Adalaxia is a notoriously ruthless wolf nation,” he sighs. “They stick even more strictly to what they perceive as the traditions of wolf kind even more than we do. In comparison to them we are…ridiculously liberal.”
“What does that mean?” Cora asks, crossing her arms over her chest, her face worried and confused.
“It means,” Roger explains, “that Xander has likely found allies with a group who would not be on board with our own nation’s current policy, which is that wolves and humans are equal and deserve to be treated with the same respect. They would also,” he continues, hesitating now and looking between me and Cora, “really not like the fact that we’re having this conversation with our mates. For Adalaxians, women are…”
“Second-class citizens, at best,” Sinclair finishes for him. “And at worst, property.”
“What?” I gasp, my eyes going wide. ” Seriously? Are they also a nation that’s been frozen in time for five hundred years?”
“I mean, it’s not a bad way to think of it,” Roger says, tilting his head to the side. “Women there are not taught to read or write, they have almost a completely separate culture and stay strictly within their homes. It is…not great, in terms of rights.”
“Gross,” Cora says, her face clearly displaying her disgust. “Though, it makes sense why Xander would go there, considering how he tried to use Ella as his broodmare.”
“Precisely,” Sinclair says, nodding along with her. “And they’re staunch nationalists and monarchists as well. They’re likely to respect Rafe’s claim to our future throne as Xavier’s grandson, not as my son. And, as such, would see Xander’s claim to the role of regent as… legitimate.”
“That’s all so ridiculous,” I say, sighing as I look down at my baby, this innocent little person around whom so much revolves.
“Agreed,” Sinclair says, reaching out to place a comforting hand on my shoulder. “It’s unfortunate that he was able to get there so fast. This would all be much easier if we had caught him at the border, had been able to prosecute him here without having to go through a foreign government to do it.”
“Why?” I ask. “Can’t we just…demand that they give him back? Extradition, or whatever?”
“We could,” Sinclair replies, looking seriously down at me. “If I was King. Which, currently, I am not.”
I blink up at him for a second, confused, and then put all of the pieces together. “Ohhhh,” I say, my eyes going wide. Because while all of the other claims to the throne within our country have been disposed of, and it’s rather a foregone conclusion that my mate will take the throne….
He hasn’t done it yet. Which means, technically, that he doesn’t yet have access to any of the powers which would allow him to make any of these demands.
“Well, how fast can you do it?” Cora says, sitting up straight and looking easily at Sinclair. “Can we do like… some kind of quick and dirty coronation? Slap a crown on you and get you on a throne by morning?”
We all laugh a little at the idea of this, but there’s no real cheer in it, because I think we all know the answer. “It’s more complicated than that,” Sinclair says, running a hand through his hair. ” First, I have to claim it, and then my claim has to be ratified by the governors. It’s…all a bunch of bureaucratic nonsense. Interestingly the kind of bureaucratic nonsense that the Atalaxians don’t care about. In their country, I’d have been king the moment I killed Damon. But,” he shrugs a little, rueful. “That’s what we get for wanting to live in a nation in which the people have a say in their lives. It’s a better process – but it takes longer.”
“Well,” I say, looking up at him. “Can we get it started?”
“We can,” Sinclair says, nodding down at me. “But this is where your choice comes in, Cora,” he says, shifting his gaze to her.
“Seriously,” Cora says, spreading out her hands on the table. “I can’t with the suspense anymore. Can one of you please just tell me what’s going on?”
“Until Dominic is King and we have access to the state military and protection,” Roger says quickly, “we don’t think it’s a good decision to split up anymore. Which we all agreed to.”
“It has been a disaster, hasn’t it?” Sinclair says, looking down at me again. “Every time we try to leave you two home for safety, we either get torn up or you do. Or both.”
“So we’re staying together from here on out,” Roger says, gesturing around the room. “The six of us. Or, well,” he glances at Cora’s stomach. “Six and a half.”
“I would like to point out,” Cora says, “that this was my plan from the start – but noooo, I wasn’t allowed to go to the sewer, was I?”
“Yes, you’re very clever,” Roger says placatingly, rolling his eyes a little before moving on, which makes me laugh lightly. “But, Cora, if we get everything started with Dominic’s coronation, that means that…”
He hesitates now, as if he knows what he says will hurt her.
“What?” she pushes, dying to know and getting a little frustrated.
“It means that you wouldn’t be able to go to the temple any time soon,” Sinclair finishes. “To ask your mother for answers to the big questions you have. About your baby, and about your mating.”
“Oh,” she says, sitting up straight in her chair and thinking it through. “Oh, I see.”
I nod along with her, seeing the point now. Because after we discovered that the priestesses of my mother’s temple in the city had been infiltrated by the Cult, it has been shut down for the moment. Besides, that temple was more of a place of worship than a true conduit for my mother – the closest of those temples, where priestesses live in dedication to her and are able to truly call on her presence, is hundreds of miles away.
And if Cora wants to go and ask her questions?
We either have to do it now, before the coronation begins? Or she has to wait and that waiting could take quite a long time.
I purse my lips, wondering what the right choice is. Because what matters more now – answering my sister’s big questions? Or chasing down the man who tried to kidnap my son?