From Princess To Queen
Chapter 49

Council

It was an awkward silence in the room, but Cortez spoke first, “We will be glad to do the coronation for you and the wedding but keep in mind it needs to be done soon.”

“We know, and it was going to happen this week, but I had gotten my first heat since we mated. We will do it in at least a week and a half. We have some people we want to invite and ensure they have enough travel time to get here. I will email you the exact date and time if that is all right with you, Cortez?”

“Yes, that is good. Now let us address the actual elephant here, your mother.”

“I have not gone to see her but did have her magic put on hold where she could not use it while in the cells. If you all want to go see her and take her to your cells till you decide what the best punishment will be for her crime.”

“We will do that, Clara, but you do not have to come with us; Dunken or Xavior can escort us there, and we will go from there.”

“Thank you! I will have Dunken take you with a few guards, and he can report back to us.”

The gentlemen got up and walked out with Dunken, who led them to the cells along with two guards. They went to Meira’s cell, where she lay down looking less for the wear. They ensured she had food and water to drink to help with some of her strength but to look at her; she was not vibrant like she usually looked. The loss of her mate had taken a toll on her, and she wanted to get out to go back to her pack and a new mate.

She nodded at the men who came to see her and stood up, walking to the bars but was told not to touch them as they were silver coated with wolfsbane. She looked at them with pleading eyes but knew she would not get far with them as they would question her antics that had taken place when her mate was fighting to keep the crown. Meira also knew they must keep her alive to help perform the coronation on her daughter.

Cortez and Damian knew that Clara was torn on what to do about her mother and did not want to handle this as it was too much for her to bare.

They questioned why she did what she did when King Matthew fought his daughter. She could not give solid answers except that she wanted him to win so that Clara could lose or would have to submit. They knew the fight was till death. They had to remind her about that. She was not happy about being caught, and they knew that. Cortez looked at Damian with a raised brow and moved his head to leave.

“We must return to the office and speak with Clara and Xavior,” Cortez stated.

“Why? Damian asked.

Cortez did not say anything else to him and just walked, mind-linking both Xavior and Clara to meet back in their office. They approached the door but heard voices speaking, and they remained just outside so as not to interrupt their meeting.

Xavior approached the door and invited them inside the office. He, Clara, and a pack member were reviewing the items they wanted for the wedding and coronation. When Liza and her business partner saw the gentlemen walk in, they slightly stiffened their spines. Both men did the same, as all four were not mated yet. The following words out of their mouths stunned everyone in the room, ‘MATE’ they all said simultaneously, and that was that. Meetings were over as both men and women took hold of each other and left their mates’ homes.

“Well, I did not expect that at all, and I thought they already had mates?”

“They did not have them,” Dunken stated.

“Damian’s mate died the day after they had met, so this is his second chance mate with Liza, and for Cortez, he never had one nor wanted one until now,” Xavior claimed while laughing.

“Guess we will have to wait till tomorrow to resume these meetings.” Clara shrugged.

“Dunken, what happened in the cells with Meira?”

“Not exactly sure. She felt different but unable to understand completely, and I know that they stopped questioning her Cortez wanted to leave and come here to talk to you guys about something. That is until they met their mates.” He stated, rolling his eyes.

“Wonder what they wanted? But we can finish reviewing these decisions and have them ready when Liza and Chelsy return tomorrow.”

They worked on the colors, decorations, dresses, and tux they wanted to wear to their wedding and coronation. They kept the colors to be the same because it was all going to happen at the same time. They even set the date and time for all this and where they wanted it to occur. It would all happen inside a building on the premises, which usually held pack meetings if they did not want to hold them outside. The wedding ceremony was going to take place first, and the initiation of Xavior into the royal pack, which he will then be a full member and not acting as just a mate any longer.

Soon after, they will take their places for the coronation, which Damian and Cortez will perform. Having Meira, there will be up to them, but it was not required. They finished up their party plans setting everything to the side. Now it was time to discuss the food with the head chef of the pack. He came in, and they discussed their wanted cakes, pies, and food assortments. He told them he could have everything ready for a week from this Saturday and have hors d’oeuvres set up before the wedding ceremony. They agreed this would work while the others would cook the dinner and serve it right after the coronation ceremony.

The following day Damian and Cortez returned with their mates in tow and entered the office. They would have rather stayed in bed with their mates, but business had to take place for now. Liza and Chelsy had little to do when they arrived, as Clara gave them everything stacked together. The ladies were pleased and packed up their belongings and apologized on their way out for their behavior from the previous day. Clara laughed, shaking her head, letting them know it was all good and there was no need for apologies.

They kissed their mates and took off to their office in Liza’s house. Damian thought about her office and business being run out of her house and wanted to mention this to Clara and Xavior. They had a seat since it was around eleven already. Clara sent for lunch to bring to them so they could continue their meetings.

“We will have both ceremonies on the same day, which will take place a week from this Saturday, starting at one pm. Our wedding will occur first, then shortly after the coronation, along with dinner.” Clara explained everything else to them.

“Good, glad replaceing our mates helped with that decision. Also, I want to know why Liza has to run her business out of her house?” Damian states.

“We both want to bring this up as well. We are planning to expand our pack and make it more modern since Father wanted to keep it running in the past. He did not pay much attention to the members and just let them be, but I noticed, and we are making changes. Here are the plans which have to be finalized with one of our members, who is an architect, and drawing up plans. There will be apartments, with businesses, a recreational center, and two swimming pools, etc...”

“Well, you are on it; this is good, and the funds are okay to do all this?” Cortez asked quizzically, looking over the plans that Clara drew up.

“Yes, we have the funds, but we are going to do the ones that are more important first, like the apartments and businesses, then the rec center, and we will add new homes and update the current ones.”

“You have thought long and hard about this, and it is good. It brings in revenue for the pack and members, and they are very excited about having these changes made. All are willing to help, and many have resources to help us too.”

“You are going to make one heck of a queen and already have started. I have also heard that you have some mad skills at fighting?” Damion questioned.

“Cortez, did you want to tell them about Meira and her questioning?”

“Oh yes, sorry about that...I had to cut it short as something was off about your mother.”

“What do you mean off?”

“I cannot put my finger on it, but you said she used magic and poison when you were fighting, right?”

“Yes,...Where is this going?”

“Why was she using magic during a fight, if you do not mind clarifying that for us again?”

“She said she wanted him to be stronger than me.”

“She is not Meira, Clara; we believe now that she changed images with her once the trial was over, which means she had her twin sister killed,” Cortez stated.

“YOU MEAN THAT WAS NOT MY MOTHER, AND IT WAS LIBBY ALL ALONG?!”

“Yes, I saw it when Damian questioned her and something that she had done....”

“What do you mean had done?”

“She changed her image quickly and then back to Meira. It was so quick that Damian could not see it, but to a witch, it was noticeable to me.”

“Well, shit, so we killed my mother and not Libby?”

Yes, that is correct.”

“This is what will happen, the crowns that we are to take over and wear the day of the coronation, she has had access to those this entire time, and I bet my bottom dollar that she put some poison on them will cause our death. Take those crowns and put them on her forcibly, of course, give them a spell that will bind her to them, then kill her with beheading and make sure you burn her right on the spot.”

“Clara, that is ruthless even for a princess, soon-to-be queen,” Damian stated.

“I do not care anymore; I am sick and tired of people trying to take what is rightfully mine through the likes of Libby.”

“As you wish, Princess Clara, as you wish.”

With that, they left the office and went and did as she requested, Meira/Libby was standing there waiting for them to return, but she saw that they were wearing heavy gloves and handling both of the crowns. She was nearly snarling and showing her fangs when she realized what was happening to her. Cortez put the king’s crown on her head, pushing it down as far as it would go, then doing the same to the queen’s crown. He mumbled a binding spell, picked up a tool from the table, and beheaded her.

The crowns were still attached to her when her head rolled, just like Clara requested. He set fire to her and cleared the ashes out of the cell. Damian could not believe that he would do that per his request of Clara. Cortez looked at him and shrugged his shoulders;

“It’s a witch thing,” and laughed as they walked up the stairs.

They could not believe that the princess was right about the crowns, nor could Damian believe that Cortez was right about Libby switching out Meira at that last minute, and nobody realized it. Xavior knew Clara needed to grieve about losing her mother a few weeks ago, but how could she know that Libby still did that to her sister? Saying she was beyond pissed off is an understatement.

“Xavior, after all this crap is over, I want to go away on a nice long vacation to decompress with everything that has gone on. I am overwhelmed with everything. Think we can do that and mingle amongst the humans since they do not know we exist?”

“Yes, darling, we can, and I will take care of the arrangements so you do not have to worry about anything.” He kissed the top of her head and went to work looking for places to take his beloved.

He was planning on doing this as a surprise and taking her on his private plane, which he would still do. He contacted Dunken to come to see him as they would need some help running the pack while they were absent. He also involved Cortez and Damian and let them know what he was planning, and all three were too happy to help out when they took off.

He had to figure out what to do with his pack as the new members were slowly coming in. Rayland was doing a good job, but he was ready to return to being the pack’s gamma. He told Xavior how he felt, and Xavior felt terrible for putting him through so much. He decided to return to his pack and work there for a few days before he had to return, get married, and take on the crown as king. He was excited but nervous at the same time. He did not know how he was going to handle anything afterward.

“Rayland, thank you so much for standing in for me while I am with Clara. You have no idea how much we both appreciate you, so we have decided to give you and your mate a month of vacation in Europe. I am taking Clara to Greece and Italy for a couple of weeks as we do not want to be away any longer than that.”

“Wow, I do not know what to say to this. When do we leave?”

“You will leave the week after we do, and Damian and his mate will come here and cover while we are both gone.”

“What about Dunken? Why not have him come back home?”

“He has been with me at the palace, helping us run things with Clara, and I want him there. It will be fine because he will come home once we return.”

“Who are you guys going to have as beta there?”

“I will be acting Beta even though I am a king, but by rights, Clara is the actual queen and is running the packs. I will guide her like I have been doing.”

“Huh, cool!”

They solved some housing issues, and Xavior was flustered as they needed new homes and apartments. Rayland saw the stress on his alpha’s face and knew he had to do something, so he had some contacts that he made while in Felix’s pack and called in reinforcements to help build some single-family homes and duplexes, which would be a temporary fix.

His men got to work, and four new homes were up in no time. Old ones that were abandoned were rehabbed and ready to go. His mate helped out where she could when Rayland allowed it. They turned a building into small-room apartments with communal bathrooms until other accommodations were made. Everything was falling, and Xavior could not be happier than he was now.