Page 17 of Plug and Tame

She sat up straighter. “I don’t remember you telling me that.”

“Not explicitly. But Wolf King Bakker was your father. A few years after his wife, Wolf Queen Hannah died, he took a new wife: the Vampire Queen, Liddia.”

Her head was spinning.

“Are you saying Queen Liddia is my mother?”

No. She couldn’t believe that. If her mother was a vampiress, then that would make her a…

She crossed her arms. “No. Fucking. Way. I’d rather kill myself.”

She could practically hear Nathaniel’s eyebrow lifting.

“Do not sound so disgusted.”

“Trying very hard,” she said through gritted teeth.

Mary and Byron had always told her she was special, destined to unite the wolves, but they’d failed to mention exactly what she was. She hadn’t realised she was half-vampire, the enemy she’d grown up hating.

“And before you ask,” Nathaniel continued, “Liddia was not my mother, so you and I are not related.”

Kira tensed. “Good to know.”

It hadn’t even occurred to her to worry about that. Her mind immediately jumped to yesterday, when he’d taken her to the jewellery shop in the Capital. He’d discovered she’d taken the plug out and punished her…by fucking her ass. She’d even sucked his cock.

If he’d been her brother…

She groaned and covered her face.

Nathaniel was shaking with silent laughter—evidently hearing her thoughts through their mind link.

“It isn’t funny,” she growled, crossing her arms even as doubt crept in. “Are you sure we’re not related?”

“Positive. My father was a nobleman, but there is no royal blood in his veins. He is the King simply by virtue of his conquest. But there is one more thing you should know…”

“He killed my mother,” Kira said sullenly.

“Not just your mother, but the entire royal vampire line. My father was not satisfied with eliminating the royal wolf family. He wanted to dominate the world, and so he made himself the King.” He paused. “Kira, there are no words that could ever be enough…but please know how sorry I am for what happened to your family. Your parents, your siblings, your wolf selves, the people living in the Keep…and every single person who is still suffering because of that night.” His voice grew thick with emotion. “Words fail me. But I am so very sorry.”

“You need to stop apologising for your father’s crimes,” Kira said. “The Revolution was—”

“It was not a Revolution,” he said vehemently. “It was a massacre.”

Kira fell silent, stunned by the passion and grief behind Nathaniel’s words. He sounded as vulnerable as his fourteen-year-old self had.

“For what it’s worth,” he continued, “you should know that the history books are wrong about Wolf King Bakker. He did not abduct your mother. He truly was in love with Liddia, and she felt the same for him. She came to the Keep voluntarily, and their wedding was a much-celebrated occasion.”

“They were in love,” she murmured.

At least there was one thing Mary and Byron told me that checked out—even if they kept who my parents were from me. It made her feel a little more whole to know her parents had loved each other.

“Your father killed a lot of people to get to where he is,” Kira noted.

“Yes. And then he rewrote the history books to justify it all.”

“I’m glad you’re not like that.”

There was a long silence. And then…