He had lied to his maid for which he was not happy about and felt truly guilty inside but she cannot be told about a whole new realm where he was the prince of shapeshifters of all kinds. Adaline would blow a fuse if she ever got to know that without proper reasoning and that would be only an understatement.

So she knew they were visiting an uncle who had broken his hip bone.

​​

Which king Nicolas was not happy about. The moment they had arrived in the castle it was the first thing that his uncle had questioned him about.

"You guys broke my ass for what? For coming here, do you know how precious it is? People stare at it!" He growled in frustration. He was the king of all shapeshifters and here he was being told to human that his ass was broken.

"I'm sure they do." Cassandra agreed to hide her smile, "But not that we are here how about we get to work?" She said, directing his attention to the matter at hand for which they were called for abruptly. Apparently, it was necessary as said by the council members that the royal family had to give its input on the matters including the future king and the main advisor to him which were the Rivera brothers.

This week Alexander was starting his journey of becoming the new king and being the king's assistant to know what it was like from the very closest. It was going to be difficult for him and very difficult but Xavier was going to be with him every step of the way, so that, there was a chance by Alexander did not Excel, Xavier could cover him up.

Alexander had covered his scent very well to not let anyone know that he was nervous inside but Xavier was glancing at him knowing well what is going in his mind. His nerves as he understood were just because he was taking on the responsibility of a whole species on his shoulders but somehow he knew deep inside, along with his beast, that he was not meant for it. He knew that he was not dominant enough and he was supposed to be the strongest of all.

And that was the moment that he knew he had to get along with his brother. Xavier was the only one who had happened to consider what was going on in his mind as his brother without judging him for his lack of confidence.

King Nicklos was a strong man, well built and proud but on the inside, only the close family members knew how weak he was getting every day. His bones were showing and he could not swallow his food. His body was shutting down and then side and he was barely surviving.

Every day he took a step closer to meet his mate in heaven. The only thing stopping him from meeting hell was completing the promise to make sure that the kingdom survived till the next heir came. He had made it through mostly and now Alexander was the crowned heir.

"Boy," his uncle called and Xavier looked over, "I heard about your mate. Congratulations. Take your time in telling her the truth. She should know but with time and when she is ready. They need to know the difference between the laugh that comes from the heart and the bond that would affect them slowly, not as much as it does to us but it would make its effect to the human as well."

Xavier nodded. "Yes uncle, I understand." Adeline first had to realise her feelings for him so that she did not confuse those with the mate bond that was just a connection she felt towards him. Things would get tricky for him otherwise.

They entered the study of the king, soon to be Alexander's and took their seats respectively at the conference table.

"The last three girls kidnapped, Nothing is known about them." The king sighed, the tensions were getting to him and his face showed it. "It is hardly fair the those three was such a young girl and just newly mated, one pregnant too, only to be never found again."

Xavier had read the files; girls were being kidnapped and they were only three in number from three different states. This time it was the heavily guarded capital of the Lycan country which only meant that these people were getting more bold day by day.

"Was there anything else in common between the girls kidnapped?" Xavier asked as he lightly swirled around in his chair. They had to be a connection because all three of them were girls and were newly mated, so that was the first pattern that he could notice which was right in front of him as well.

The councilman that was in the room shook his head. "No sir. Apart from being newly mated, that was within the last 12 months there was nothing between them. Not even their blood types."

That disappointed him.

If common blood types were no longer an option then they had to rule out the possibility of vampires taking them away.

Witches would never kidnap Lycans away and risk a war. Then came sirens and other water creatures but they know that Lycans and land animals would never survive underwater which again ruled them out unless provided with the herbs, which did not waste on shifters who were not their mates.

Then who of the following creatures in every realm could it be?

"I don't get it. . ." Javier spoke, uneasy on receiving such information which led them nowhere, "if the kidnappings were in tens of numbers I would have understood but these are just three and that's it?" He waved his hand to the girl's information. "Why only three?"

"Javier!" Cassandra chided, horrified.

"That's alright." The king spoke from his chair, waving it off. "I understand where is coming from. Given the possibility that they had the opportunity to take more than one woman then only three, yes that does arise more suspicions." He agreed to nod to himself.

Alexander was the only one who had not given any kind of input on this topic and the king had noticed this. His I out was needed.

"Alexander," Nickolas called the boy who looked up immediately. "Do you want to say something about the kidnappings going on?"

Alexander moved his head slightly to the side and Xavier knew that he was going to shake his hand in front of the king.

"Uncle, if you don't mind me saying, can we rest for the night before dinner?" Xavier intervened and raised his arms beige whom, stretching him and cracking his bones. "I'm dead tired."

"And I don't care if you're dead!" Cassandra growled, "Behave!" She snapped making Xavier sit up straight.

The king turned to his younger nephew and nodded as he observed the boy. Everyone nodded respectfully to him, their beasts bowing down to his in respect. His eyes did not leave the young boy's head until he left the room and the door was closed.

"What do you think about Xavier being the king instead of Alexander?" He asked his trusted advisor who had been with him for the last decades of his reign.

The man silently thought about what was said to him and then nodded thoughtfully. "Xavier is a wildcard whereas Alexander is a grounded man. If it comes to trusting The Kingdom with someone, with all its traditions, one could trust Alexander but if we talk of reaching new heights and treaties one could trust Xavier on that."

The king sighed, equally torn in between the two. "I was hoping you could provide me with a better answer. What you said is I have been thinking for the past years. Both of them are highly capable but Alexander. . . Xavier is who I feel is better."

"The decision I believe comes to the family in deciding which one is worth if you are not testing them both." The assistant offered. "I believe we could provide a series of tests for both of them to see which one is, better where."

Nicolas nodded. He hated testing both of his nephews to see which one was better than the other but it was also important from the point of view of the king who had to choose the next ruler.

"But," the assistant hesitated and Nicholas gave him his go-to. "Xavier has a human mate which can be a disadvantage. First of all, there is a threat of rejection and then there is the possibility of a dying give in the childbirth."

Yes, that was something you have to worry about given the fact that humans were more fail as compared to young Lycan girls. The possibility of light and girl died during childbirth far rare than human doing it. Human mates were not that rare but they were extremely fragile which was not well sat in the shapeshifting community.

The king closed his eyes. The decision was going to be one of the hardest.