The Alpha King's Series
CHAPTER 45

CHAPTER-FORTY-FIVE

BRINLEY.

When Xander returned outside with Charles and me, the tension was thick. Finally, I placed a hand on Xander's should and gave him a warm, loving smile before excusing myself.

I couldn't be near Charles anymore. He was making me sick just thinking about what he said. First, he killed Caliana so Xander wouldn't have her as a mate, and now he's trying to get rid of me.

I didn't lie to Charles when I told him I wasn't going anywhere, I love Xander, and until he says he doesn't want me, I'm here to stay, and I will fight Charles with the last breath in my body.

Charles has so much hatred in him, and he is so self-absorbed that he wants all his relatives to be like him, first Xander and then his pour son.

I flop myself down on the bed and let out a sigh.

How can I tell Xander that Charles ruined his chance with Caliana and that the curse did not skip him? But, then again, how could I not tell him?

Why did Charles have to confide in me? Now I'm torn on what I should do.

“Maybe we should dig on our own," Sage says.

'How can we do that? I wouldn't even know where to start," I replied.

"You could talk to Mark. The Mortaga's have been around just as long as the Caputo’s,’ Sages suggests.

"You're right. But we need to talk to Mark's father. Since Harry was around his age, he would know more," I tell her.

Sages nods.

“That's a good idea, but Brinley, Until we find answers, we should keep this to ourselves. Maybe Charles is lying to you, thinking you would tell Xander and he would leave you if you were accusing his uncle of something like this,’ Sage exclaims.

“You're right. We will go tomorrow,’ I say, and she nods.

I don't know what time Xander woke up, but he was gone when I woke at 7:00 am. I looked through my closet and found a white sundress with bright orange flowers and a pair of white flats.

I'm not telling Xander I'm going to the Mortaga Kingdom today. But, if I do, he will want to join me, and I need to find out more about what's going on. But, I am not going to take Charles's word for it. If I told Xander what Charles said, it turned out he was only lying? Xander would hate me for accusing his uncle of murdering a child

I need proof.

"Brinley, what brings you here? I thought we had a meeting in a few days?"

I nod.

"We do,"

"Then what do I owe this pleasure of your company?"

I sigh. Mark is almost as bad as Charles... Almost.

Mark is all talk and empty threats but Charles? I might not know him well, but I can assure you his treats are far from empty.

"I need to see your father,”

Mark frowns.

"Can I come in?" I ask

Mark steps aside and motions me to enter.

The Mortaga castle is far more beautiful than I could have imagined, but I can't focus on that now; I'm on a mission.

To take Charles down.

"Why do you need to speak with my father? Are you going to rat me out to him like I am a child?" Mark laughs.

I shake my head.

"Mark, 1 am not here to discuss you're empty threats you made toward my son and me. I was going to tell you during our meeting, but since I'm here," I shrug.

"I am not a kid. I wouldn't run and tell your daddy that you made threats to a woman and her three- month son. I know Xander put you up to it to see if I could handle you independently, and I know he did to see if I could handle taking on the role of queen. But let's get one thing straight,” I tell him, poking his chest.

"I have dealt with men like you all my life, and I will not bow to your whim and have another child. I know Xander doesn’t want you to know, but our son was born with a heart condition, and he could die from it, and I don't want to risk having another baby right now. But maybe one day in the future, I might change my mind, and if I do, you will be the first to know,”

Mark was shocked by my statement.

"How did you know to figure it out? What was Xander doing?"

I shook my head.

"When I told him you made an empty threat, he was calm and said I could take care of it and he would interfere. He said I would have to take care of things when he wasn't around,” I shrugged. "I put two and two together,"

Mark rose a brow.

"Very good," Mark nods.

"Then why do you need to see my father?"

I sighed, shaking my head.

"I need to speak with him about Caliana,”

Mark's eyes widen.

After a few minutes of silence, Mark nods and leads me down a hallway.

"I'm not sure how much he will remember. Dylan's mind is failing us, I'm afraid.”

"What do you mean failing?"

Mark sighs as he stops in front of a wooden door.

"My father was diagnosed with dementia,”

“Oh,”

Mark smiles.

"He still remembers a lot, though; maybe he will remember the things you want to ask,"

I nod.

"Do you mind if I set in with you? Dylan can get aggressive sometimes, and Xander would kill me if something happened to you,”

"I don't mind. But then this needs to stay between us, and you will understand why shortly,"

Mark shakes his head and laughs before he opens the door.

When the door opens, I see an elderly man with white hair sitting in a chair looking out the window. Mark walks over to him and smiles, taking a seat next to him.

"Hey, dad, someone is here to see you," Mark tells him, and he waves me over.

I slowly approached him, and the older man’s wrinkles had taken up most of his face, and his skin was droopy like when you lose a lot of weight. I stopped in front of him, and he slowly lifted his head, and his bright emerald eyes widened.

"Jasmine?" His voice was raspy and sounded just as old as he looked, if not older.

I frowned and looked toward Mark.

Mark placed a hand on Dylan's shoulder.

"No, father. This is Brinley; she is the mate to Xander Caputo,”

Dylan's face wrinkled even more as he frowned and looked at Mark.

"I know Jasmine when I see her. After all, Jasmine is my one true love. I never told you this, son, because it was too painful. Jasmine was the woman I met before your mother. My father warned me not to get too close when I was fated to another, but Jasmine was beautiful, and I loved her with all my heart. The day I lost her was the day I lost myself, but Jasmine told me one day we would find each other again, and Jasmine has found me," Dylan told Mark, tears breamed his eyes and fell down the mountain of wrinkles.

I grab Dylan's hand

"I came back to ask you something important,”

Dylan frowns.

"Are you in trouble?"

I nod my head.

"I am. Charles Caputo has threatened me. He claims he killed Caliana, who was supposed to be my mate's mate,”

"Charles is a very crafty man, and you must watch your back, my beautiful Jasmine,”

"Do you remember anything about Caliana and Harry?"

"I was there when Caliana destroyed half the Kingdom, and I watched as Harry ripped a hole through her middle with his claws."

"She didn't try to fight back?"

Dylan shook his head.

"She could have, but she didn't. Caliana was a powerful being as long as she wore the blue sapphire amulet. I also Know why Caliana did it,"

"What do you mean?”

"Charles knew Caliana was in love with Harry, and she rejected her other mate for him. Charles was raged and decided to make it look like she chose the other mate instead of Harry,"

Mark frowns.

"How did he do that?" Mark asked his father.

"He told Harry she chose her mate, and Harry didn't believe him, so he searched for Caliana Harry, and I was close, and I was by his side the whole time. Harry saw Caliana hugging her other mate, and when he saw that, he became raged and killed the boy right in front of her. All Caliana was doing was hugging him as they parted friends.”

"How do you know that's what she was doing?" I asked.

"Because she told me everything as she was dying in my arms, told me where I could find her journals. Caliana said one day she would want them back,”

"I don't understand..” Mark says, frowning.

"If Caliana didn't destroy the town because Harry killed her mate, why did she do it?" Marks mutters. "Because the amulet knew she was in harm's way, and it was protecting her,"

"So, all that happened because of Charles?”

Dylan nods.

"But why?" I whispered.

"Because Charles wanted Caliana for himself,"

Everything was making perfect sense now. Charles was jealous, and if he couldn't have Caliana, nobody could.

"I'm afraid I won't be here long enough to return the journals to her,” Dylan's raspy voice cracks. "I will. Caliana will be my son's mate, and I can return them to her," I told Dylan.

Dylan stands from his chair, walks to a trunk at the foot of his bed, and pulls out an old worn-out wooden box.

Dylan sits and hands me the box.

"She must get these back. Every time she comes back, she reads them, and it helps her to decide which mate to choose,”

I nod.

"What about the Amulet?"

Dylan smiles and looks down at the box.

I cracked it open, and the oval-shaped dark blue sapphire amulet was there. I close it.

"You cannot let anyone know you have that, Jasmine. That amulet in the wrong hands could cause a lot of death.”

"I'll keep it safe...I promise,”

"She only wants to be loved," Dylan says, yawning.

"Okay, father, time for your nap,” Mark says, helping his father in bed.

Mark and I turn to leave.

"There is one more thing you should know, Jasmine,"

I stopped and looked back at Dylan.

"Charles is the one who killed you and took you away from me. Because I was going to tell Harry what he had done, Harry was angry with himself all the years and finally took his own life,"

"But, why did he kill me? Knowing you had a mate and it wouldn't hurt you?"

Dylan sighs, tears streaming down his face

"Charles was the only one who knew I rejected my mate for you. I told my parents my mate had died. I felt it, but it was a lie. I didn't feel bad for rejecting her, she was in love with someone else too, and we both wanted to see how things would be. She told me if it didn't work out with our plans, we would marry each other, and we did. I grew to love Gina, but nothing liked. I love you, Jasmine, James."

After all the information we learned, Mark and I sat on the patio, having a much-needed drink. "What do you make of all this?"

I shake my head.

"I honestly don't know. Maybe we can do research together. It would take less time," I say.

Marks nods.

"Are you going to tell Xander?"

"No," I shake my head.

"Not till I have the whole story.”

"Good idea," Mark nods.

"Well, we need to research Jasmine. We know her last name is James," Mark says.

Wait, James?

I frown.

"What is it?" Marks asks.

"Mark, my last name is James. Maybe Jasmine was related to my father Owen somehow,"

"You could be right. Did your father have a family tree book?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure Delores kept it because of her new mate,”

Mark shrugs.

"Can't hurt to try. Let's start there. Oh, Brinley, are you sure you are going to be okay? You know around Charles?"

"That sick man tried to buy me off. He wants Xander to be like him, no mate, be a mean and ruthless alpha king and loan shark,”

"What did you tell him?"

I smirk.

"That I wasn't going anywhere,"

Mark laughs, shaking his head.

"What did he say to that?"

"Let the games begin,”

Mark decided he was in on my mission to bring Charles down, and I'm glad that we made a friendship out of this. Of course, Xander won't be thrilled, but he has no say over whom I can be friends with. On the other hand, Mark isn't that bad of a guy. After all, he offered Dominic and me a room at his palace until Charles left.

But I needed to speak with Delores and get that family tree book from her, and I needed to find a safe hiding place for Caliana's box.

I wrapped it in plastic wrap until you couldn't see the wood. Then, I walked ten feet out of the greenhouse and dug a hole. I made sure it was deep and wide. Once I was satisfied with it, I placed the box inside and covered it with dirt.

I stepped on it to pack it down. If Caliana comes into Dominic's life, I will give her the box.

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I glance over at Xander, removing his tie, standing in front of our bed.

I sat down on the book I was reading and smiled.

"I was at the Mortaga Kingdom,"

Xander narrows his eyes.

"I told you I wanted to be there,”

I nod.

"You did. But I wanted to handle this on my own with you,”

Xander raises his brow.

"And did you handle it?"

I nod.

"I did. I told Mark he did scare me with his empty threats, and I didn't appreciate him talking about a child in that way,"

"What did he say?"

I shrug.

"He said nothing when I poked his chest and told him if he threatened me again, I would cut off his balls,” I lied. Mark knew what I was going to tell Xander and laughed, thinking it was a good idea for the time being.

"He said nothing?" Xander asks.

I nod.

"But I did tell him that if we did have another child in the future, he would be the first to know," I tell him honestly.

"But you said you didn't want anymore. We both agreed because of Dominic's condition,” Xander says, sitting next to me.

"I know," I nod.

"But you don't know what could happen. And who cares? It got him off our backs,”

Xander nods.

"That's true. After all, Mark called and told me you stopped by, and he also told me that you are tough as nails,”

I frowned.

"If Mark already told you...Then why did you ask me?"

"To see if you lie,"

I roll my eyes.

"I didn't lie. I told you."

Xander nods.

"I know,"

I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss his lips.

"I love you,"

Xander groans when my lips graze his neck.

"I love you too," Xander says, lifting me.

I squeal when I hit the bed with a thud.

"Since you were a good girl and didn't lie to me. You get a reward," Xander smirks.

Xander hovers over top me and kisses my lips

"I love everything about you. I don't know what I'd do without you," He whispers.

Then it hit me.

I could die by digging into the past. Charles could find out and kill me to claim Caliana’s box if he was to find out for an odd reason.

If that were to happen, we would all be in trouble.

Tomorrow I'm digging up the box and taking it somewhere I know it will be safe.

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