“Nina is my queen?” His voice was low and filled with his growl. His body trembled as he stepped closer to the council member and grabbed him by the throat. “Who gave you the right to select my mate?”
“My king…you said that if you haven’t found your mate or selected a mate yourself, that we could select for you.” He clutched that hand on his throat as he struggled to speak.
“I said you could select options for me. Not to select my mate.” Rowan growled as he threw down the council member. “Not once have I agreed for Nina to be my mate. And you decide to yell at a wolf because she made very good arguments towards Nina. Amy is right.” Rowan stepped on the man.
Nina stood and screamed. “Uncle Thinius.” She pushed onto the stage and Rowan froze. The room seemed to drop a few degrees as Rowan’s eyes snapped to Nina's.
His voice was even lower when he turned back to the councilman. “Let me get this straight. The person, the only person you chose, that you said was worthy to be my mate, isyour niece.” He growled so loud that the floor trembled. “How dare you!”
Everyone froze, including Nina. “My king, please.” Another council member stepped forward. “We haven’t finished our selection process.”
Rowan turned to face the others. “This will be addressed later. But I will say this now. I am not selecting a mate until this war is handled. You can pick whoever you want, but no one will become queen until everyone is safe.” The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop.
“My king, you need an heir.” The man, Thinius, stammered.
“I have already selected an Alpha to be the heir apparent in a decree that is in my personal safe.” Another gasp went out. This was the first time a wolf would be in line to be the King.
“My king, we haven’t discussed this.”
“It is not your choice.” Rowan screamed. Obviously losing his hold on his wolf. “I am the King.” He closed his eyes and pushed off the wolf under him and strode back to the podium. He clicked a few buttons and everything disappeared. “This is not why I am here, and you all do not need to listen to the internal issues of the council while they are still in power.” His words hit like a sledgehammer. The council members all dropped to their knees and bowed.
“My king, this isn’t what we intended.” Thinius called out, panic clear in his down-turned eyes.
“I am done with you for now.” Rowan called over his shoulder. He focused on the crowd. “Those of you not staying on campus will be moved into the remaining residence, or to an apartment building that was graciously donated by my father to the school, but has remained untouched. If you are already in the residence and think the apartment building is a better fit for you, let Vince and the secretary know. Any application to move will be looked over and approved by MYSELF only.” Rowanemphasized himself. “And just to be very clear here, I do not decide based on rank. If I think you deserve to move based on your academic record and achievements thus far in school and in your pack, I will move you. Now there are single-bedroom, two-bedroom, even a few three-bedroom apartments, so you can group together and make a request together.”
“Is it the building off the forest by the teacher’s building?” Another student called.
“Yes.”
There were some murmurs. “There’s two penthouses in the building.”
“One actually.” Rowan’s ears miss nothing. “I stay in the other when I am here and I really don’t feel comfortable sharing my space. Unless I agree, the other penthouse will stay empty.” Rowan’s eyes briefly caught mine, and I felt my brows furrow. I finally settled back into my chair. “Anyway. Back to everything at hand. It has been brought to my attention that Alpha Amy had donated over three million dollars to make sure everyone here could afford food and textbooks for this semester. Since we are making you stay on campus, all the Alphas have agreed to donate every month to ensure that food will be provided for free going forward. The text books will also be donated. So, for the remaining years of your stay in school, you will not have to worry about anything. As your parents will only have to pay the tuition and everything else will be provided for you.” Rowans turned to me again. “Alpha Amy, it is up to you what you want to do with the remaining balance on the food cards, as they will be discontinued tomorrow.”
I thought about it for a moment. “The money left on the card can go to the students. I donated the money so that they didn’t have to worry about school and having to work. The money is no longer mine. They can use it for next semester’s tuition, tofurnish their new accommodations or whatever else they may need.”
Wendy turned and grabbed my hand. “Amy, take back the money.”
“It’s okay Wendy. Use it. I don’t need it.” Wendy had tears in her eyes as she nodded and turned back.
Rowan nodded. “Now that everything is clear. I just want to recap. Going forward, you all will stay in school year round. You will have expedited courses. Your families will send you your clothes and you will have an armed guard escort you to purchase everything you need to furnish your new accommodations. Food and everyday necessities will be provided by the school by donations from the packs. Now, are there questions?”
The room was silent as everyone was processing the information. I called out. “I think if we do, we can ask later.”
Rowan smiled and nodded. “Yes, if you have questions, or if there is something you don’t understand, you can ask the secretary or Alpha Vince. If you need to speak with me, you can leave me an email.” There was silence. “Now, I would like you all to go to your rooms. If you currently don’t have a room, go to the cafeteria. I will come to speak with everyone that I need to soon.” Then Rowan turned and walked off the stage.
Chapter Twenty
Everyone walked out of the auditorium in silence. Everyone was worried that there was going to be the dreaded knock on their door. But thankfully, my father never listened to others.
I checked my phone to see I had over twenty messages from my dad, mom, and Cass.
I was sending back replies when I turned onto my floor, made my way to my room, unlocked the door and, still staring at my phone and kicked off my shoes. I turned towards my bed, and I bumped into a chest.
I froze. This was my room, and no one else should be in here. I slowly raised my head from my phone and I stepped back.
“What are you doing in here and how the heck did you get in?”
Roman smiled. “I’m the benefactor for the school. I have a key that’s a universal key for a hidden lock under the knob.”
