Chapter 20: Just Like Your Mother

Troy-Three Nights Ago

"Troy. So, you came.”

As if I had a choice. Romero was the whole reason I was in this place, trying not to get struck by lightning or drown in the unrelenting humidity while Aaron was stranded on a beach in the Isles of Denali, enjoying a cool drink and tanning his nearly translucent skin on the soft, white sand.

I eyed Romero coolly as he neared, his cane tapping against the stone floor with each slow step in my direction.

"You look like your mother,” he said with a strange, slightly menacing smile. I bit the inside of my lip to stop myself from saying anything, willing myself to have a filter for the first time in my life. "But I understand that you wouldn't know her, would you?”

I swallowed, tucking my hands in my pockets.

"Ah, yes. That's what I thought.” Romero finally reached the bars, sitting down on a stool. The action took most of his strength, and he was quiet for a moment as his heavy breathing returned to normal. "You know I've been up here for twenty years, Troy?”

I nodded, once, watching the man as he coughed into his fist.

"Ah, yes. Twenty years in this tower. Almost longer than that Alpha below us has been alive, did you know that? I'm sure you assumed he wasn't the man that put me here, no, that was Talon. The half-wit's father. Ethan’s Beta. Of course, King James was still in power then.” He looked away from me toward the landing of the stairs, snickering. "Ethan. Ha! Tell me, have you seen his girl? The daughter, what was her name... Maeve? Say, does she look like her mother? Do you know who I' m talking about-”

"She looks like Ethan, Romero," I said bluntly, color rising in my cheeks at the mention of Maeve's name. In truth, I only knew what Ethan looked like from the handful of portraits I had seen scattered around the castle, but the resemblance was uncanny. Maeve was her father's daughter, the fair version of her father's dark and brooding characteristics.

"Ah, so he speaks more than one word at a time,” he laughed, a dry choking sound that made the hair on my arms stand on end. "I was told you didn't start talking until you were five years n

"I didn’t have much to say," I growled, struggling to maintain my composure. I hadn't needed to say much as a child, anyway, having grown up bouncing from island to island in the Isles, working on the ships for the pack of Poldesse that crept through the waters like ghosts in the mist. I was one of many orphaned or abandoned boys absorbed by the pack and used like workhorses.

But I was different. I had Alpha blood. I was a descendant of Romero. My mother was his daughter, Madalynn.

He chuckled. "So she looks like Ethan, eh? How unfortunate for the girl. Her mother was a real beauty at one time. Ethan's breeder, she was.” He paused, his beady blue eyes creasing with mirth. "And a sl*t."

I was taken aback by this comment and narrowed my eyes on him. "What are you talking about?"

He didn't answer.

Romero peered at me through the bars, his eyes cloudy with age. I wondered briefly if he could see very well at all now. "When do they come? The reinforcements?"

"A month, give or take,” I said shortly, watching his face fall and his eyes narrow.

"Ha! Damian has lost his grip on those wolves, hasn't he? Insolent sod.”

"You realize what you asked of us, right? How difficult it will be to get you out of Valoria?” I sneered, stepping forward. I had heard of Romero, and had known we shared blood. That's why I had been sent to Valoria when word of Ethan’s plans for the future of his family's hold on Valoria trickled down through the trade route. His daughter was being used to bring forth a new heir, the breeder a man from his new alliance with the Red Lakes pack.

Aaron, that little bastard, the man who had been so willing to divulge a wealth of knowledge about Maeve's family and their whereabouts but failed to mention a massive injury he acquired in Maeve’s presence. That missing piece had almost blown my mission.

"Damian needs me, Troy, in more ways than one."

I was surprised by this comment. Damien had been the Alpha of Poldesse for decades. He had been doing a fine job of it, too. He was a fair leader, but this Romero? Something behind his eyes rubbed me the wrong way.

"Oh, he didn't tell you, did he?" He laughed, a shrill sound that echoed off the stone walls. "Tell me, what is your mission, exactly?"

"I-" I paused, watching as the man's face stretched into a huge, sinister grin. "I'm here to facilitate your release. I'm acting as a spy for Poldesse-"

"Horace is the spy, boy!" He threw his head back in laughter, showcasing his white, straight teeth. He was in good health for a man of his age, especially for an ancient man who had been held captive in a dusty, cobweb-covered tower for two decades. He was being taken care of here.

He stopped laughing abruptly, narrowing his eyes at me.copy right hot novel pub