Given less than an hour to pack his belongings, he had no choice but to obey. Marched through the halls by the Council’s guards, Brady’s cheeks grew red as top tier magic users jeered him on his way to being unceremoniously dumped outside the Council property along with his luggage. Brady at last realized the extent of the corruption that had turned his life into a disaster.
Without magic, Brady was stuck at the side of a dusty, dirt road. Sitting on one of his suitcases, weighing his options, he realized there was only one. Taking out his phone, he called the only magic user he hoped would still speak to him. And when Mystia heard what happened, she came and transported him far away from the evil and wrongdoing within the Council’s walls. Squeezing his eyes shut at the memory, Brady’s heart broke all over again—not for himself, but for all the low level magic users left behind, abandoned to a worse fate than what Brady had endured.
Pressing his fingers against his closed eyes, Brady willed himself to not cry because, as he learned in years following his banishment, they did nothing to help anyone. Exhaling, he pushed those memories aside, focusing instead on the mission that lay ahead. With the help of the Blackwood Pack, he would seek and destroy the Witches’ Council members responsible for the enslavement of low-level magic users.
After reviewing the recent orders of the new Keeper of All Magic and the response, Brady feared Remy and Carson would believe the invitation to appear before the Witches’ Council was issued in good faith. But he knew otherwise; his gut was telling him it was a trap. Lost in his thoughts, Brady didn’t hear the knocking or the door to his guest room opening.
Sticking his head in, Theo asked, “Brady, are you finished?”
Pulled out of his musings when he heard his friend’s voice, Brady looked over his shoulder at Theo. “I am. It was simply delicious.”
Grinning, Theo sat down in the other chair. “I’ll let Miss L know you enjoyed it. She was helping me this morning because Steel was up most of the night.”
“Why was that?”
“Oh my gods! No one told you! Ian gave birth last night to two princesses and one prince. Ki will go crazy when he sees them. According to Miss L, there’ll be a week of parties in Scotland celebrating their births.”
“I don’t understand…why Scotland?” asked Brady.
“Because Ian is a Scottish Wolf. Actually he is King of the Scottish Wolves and the pups are the first royal babies born in…in…well, a really long time,” Theo said.
Brady stared at Theo, his eyes narrowing at the news. “Let me see if I understand. The Ian I met last night is of royal blood?”
“Yes...”
“But…but…all the Scottish Wolves were killed including the entire royal family,” Brady murmured.
“I know! That’s what everyone thought, but it was wrong. The King and Queen entrusted Ian to his nanny and her husband. They took him to Scandinavia where they lived in hiding. Then, just recently, Ian learned that other Scottish Wolves also survived so now he has subjects. Isn’t that the coolest thing ever?”
“Subjects?” Brady pursed his lips. The breakfast he enjoyed was now leaving him with a sour taste in his mouth as his mind conjured up another form of enslavement. Whether it was by levying burdensome taxes or high rents, the results were the same forcing people into poverty until they might as well be in shackles. Now they were probably going to use the last of their food stores to celebrate the birth of royal heirs.
Unaware of the dark turn Brady’s thoughts had taken, Theo continued. “Well, I call them subjects but Ian and Colton won’t.”
“Oh? What do they call them?” asked Brady.
“Uhmm…a pack, I think…at least that’s how they’re treated. Ian hired Logan to design a hospital, clinic, new housing, a school and a lot of other stuff and Dire Enterprises will build it.”
“It sounds wonderful but who’s paying for all of it?” asked Brady, his frown deepening.
“Duh, Ian and Colton, of course,” Theo said. “They’re using Ian’s inheritance. Isn’t that nice of them?”
Confused, Brady asked, “Are you sure, Theo?”
“About what?”
“Who’s paying for it.”
“Of course I am…who did you think was paying for it?” asked Theo, puzzled.
“Ah…” Brady paused. Distrust of the powerful and wealthy was now his default position which is why he’d questioned Theo’s answer. But accusing his friend of being a liar would hardly be polite, no matter how hard it was for him to believe who was footing the bill for such an ambitious project. Deciding to drop it, Brady said, “I was surprised, that’s all.”
Nodding, Theo replied, “Yeah, I get it. When Ki, pooh bear and I arrived here, we had major doubts about the Alpha because of our past experiences. Ki’s parents sold him, and our parents gave us to Arald. So we came with a lot of trust issues, but found Jackson wasn’t at all like our parents. There were a few hiccups, but all in all, it was our best decision ever when we agreed to join the pack.”
“I’m really very happy for you,” Brady said, smiling. “Have you given any more thought to planting a garden?”
Theo’s face lit up. “Uh-huh. Pooh bear and I talked about it last night and he promised to help me after we get back from our honeymoon. And I know the perfect place…right outside the back door. It’s close to the kitchen so it’ll be easy for me to take care of.”
“I’d love to see the spot.”
