The Princess's Revenge Chapter 111

Logan's POV

I followed the servant through corridor after corridor. The palace was a maze of hallways. My boots echoed on the floors as we climbed stairs and turned corners.

Finally, we stopped before a plain wooden door. It was so ordinary compared to the rest of the palace that I almost thought we'd come to the wrong place.

"The Alpha King is inside," the servant said, then hurried away as if afraid to linger.

I took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

The room beyond was small and simply furnished. A fire burned in a modest hearth. A single bed stood against one wall, and sitting in a chair beside it was my father.

He looked old. Not just old—dying. His face was gaunt, skin stretched tight over prominent bones. His hair, once golden like mine, had turned completely white.

"Logan," he said. His voice was weak. "Thank you for coming."

"I had no choice. You summoned me."

"Yes. Sit down, please."

I remained standing. "I'd prefer not to."

A ghost of a smile crossed his face. "Still stubborn. You get that from your mother."

My entire body went rigid at the mention of her. "Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't talk about her. You don't have that right."

Winston was quiet for a moment, then nodded slowly. "You're right. I don't. But I'm going to anyway, because I don't have much time left."

"What do you want from me?"

"To apologize."

I laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Apologize? For what exactly? For treating me like a bastard my entire life? For letting your court mock me? For pretending I didn't exist?"

"For all of that. And for what happened to Kiora."

Her name hit me like a physical blow. I hadn't heard anyone speak it in years.

"Kiora," Winston continued, his voice growing softer. "Your mother. She was... she was the most beautiful woman I ever met. Not just in appearance, though she was stunning. But in spirit. In strength."

"Stop," I said through clenched teeth.

"I loved her, Logan. I know you don't believe that, but it's true. I loved her more than I've ever loved anyone."

"Then where is she?" The question came out sharp. "You claim you loved her, but she disappeared ten years ago. Where did she go? What happened to her?"

Winston's face crumpled. For a moment, he looked even older, even more broken. "She's dead, Logan. Kiora is dead."

The words hit me like a hammer to the chest. All these years, I had held onto hope. A small, foolish hope that maybe she was alive somewhere. That maybe one day I'd find her.

"No," I whispered.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you years ago, but I couldn't. I couldn't face what I'd let happen."

"What you let happen?" My voice rose. "What does that mean? How did she die?"

Winston's hands trembled as he gripped the chair arms. "She was murdered, Logan. Murdered because of me."

The world seemed to tilt sideways. I stood there, frozen, unable to process the words I'd just heard.

"Murdered?" The word came out barely above a whisper.

"Yes."

Something inside me snapped. I lunged forward and grabbed the wooden table beside Winston's chair, lifting it and hurling it across the room. It smashed against the wall, splintering into pieces with a deafening crash.

"MURDERED?!" I roared. "She was MURDERED and you never told me?!"

The door burst open. Two guards rushed in, their hands on their sword hilts.

"Is everything alright, Alpha?" one of them asked, staring at the destroyed table.

"Get out," I snarled at them, my voice barely human.

"Alpha Logan, we need to—"

"I SAID GET OUT!"

The guards looked at Winston, who nodded weakly. They backed out quickly, pulling the door closed behind them.

I turned back to him, my whole body shaking with rage. "Who? Who killed her?"

"My brother. Wilder."

I stared at him, trying to make sense of the words. "Your brother? I didn't even know you had a brother."

"He changed his name. Took a new identity." Winston's voice was barely audible. "You know him as Winston Ashwood. The Alpha King of Aldermere."

The room spun. I grabbed the back of the remaining chair to steady myself, my knuckles white.

"Your brother," I repeated slowly, each word like broken glass in my mouth. "Your brother is Winston Ashwood. The man who's been threatening to invade Valdoria. The man whose armies have been massing at our borders. That man is your brother. And he killed my mother."

"Yes."

A sound came from my throat—something between a laugh and a scream. "All this time. All these YEARS. I thought she had just left. That maybe she couldn't handle having a bastard son. That maybe she was ashamed of me. But she was dead. DEAD. And you never told me!"

"Sit down, Logan. Please. This is a long story, and I need you to hear all of it."

Every instinct told me to leave. But I needed to know the truth about my mother. Against my better judgment, I pulled up a chair and sat.

Winston began. "He was two years younger than me. We grew up together in this palace, training to lead our pack. I was the heir, the future Alpha King. He was the spare."

"I don't care about your family history."

"You need to understand the context. Wilder always resented me. He thought he should have been born first, that he would have made a better king. And when our father announced I would take the throne, Wilder's resentment turned to hatred."

Winston paused, coughing into a handkerchief. When he pulled it away, I saw blood.

"Are you—"

"I'm fine. Let me finish." He took a shaky breath. "Wilder left Valdoria. He went north to Aldermere, to the court of King Caspian Ogden. Caspian was a peaceful king, a good man. He welcomed Wilder as a refugee, gave him shelter and employment."

"Wilder spent years building support. He made allies among Aldermere's nobles. He learned their ways, their customs. And all the while, he was planning."

Winston's face twisted with pain—not physical, but emotional. "Caspian Ogden had no sons, only daughters. The succession was unclear. Wilder saw his opportunity. He led a coup, murdered Caspian and his entire family. Every last Ogden was slaughtered."

I felt cold. "He killed them all?"

"Every single one. Men, women, children. The entire bloodline was wiped out in a single night." Winston's voice grew hoarse. "Wilder took the throne and renamed himself Winston Ashwood. He became Alpha King of Aldermere through blood and treachery."

My mind was reeling. "Wait. The Ogden family—they were dragon shifters, weren't they? How could Wilder slaughter them all? Why didn't they shift and defend themselves?"

Winston's face grew troubled. "I don't know. That's the question that's haunted me for years. The Ogdens were legendary for their dragon blood. Every generation had at least one member who could shift. They should have been unstoppable." Winston paused, his eyes distant. "Unless the dragon blood had already failed them. There are no records of any Ogden shifting into dragon form for nearly a hundred years before the massacre."

I stared at him in shock. "So Wilder knew they were helpless..."

"Perhaps. Or perhaps he gambled that the old stories were just myths." Winston's hands trembled. "Either way, he won. The Ogdens died like ordinary wolves."

The implications crashed over me like a wave. If the Ogden dragon blood had failed a hundred years ago, then what did that mean for Valencia?

"You look troubled," Winston observed.

"I'm just... surprised." My mind was reeling. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because Wilder—he didn't stop with taking Aldermere's throne. He wanted revenge on Valdoria too. On me specifically." The old king's eyes filled with tears. "He found out about Kiora. And he had her killed."

The words hung in the air like a death sentence.

"No," I whispered.

"I tried to protect her. I tried to keep your relationship secret. But Wilder had spies everywhere. When he discovered I had fathered a child with a woman I truly loved, he saw his chance to hurt me." Winston's voice broke. "Kiora was murdered on his orders. Made to look like an accident. By the time I learned the truth, it was too late."

"Why didn't you take revenge?" The words came out cold. "Why didn't you make him pay?"

Winston's face crumpled even more. "I had no proof. No evidence that would stand up in any court or council."

"Proof?" I repeated incredulously. "You're an Alpha King. You don't need proof to start a war."

"It wasn't that simple—"

"Yes, it was." My voice rose. "Your mate was murdered. The mother of your child was killed. And you did nothing because you didn't have proof?" His hand shook. "Wilder has spent years building his power in Aldermere. He's united the northern packs, created the strongest military force on the continent. And now he's preparing to invade Valdoria. To finish what he started. To take everything from me, including my kingdom."

"Why tell me this now?"

"Because I'm dying. And because you need to know what's coming." Winston's eyes locked onto mine. "The war with Aldermere isn't just about territory or power. It's personal. Wilder won't stop until he's destroyed everything I built, everyone I loved. That includes you, Logan."

"I don't care about your political games. I don't care about your kingdom or your war."

"You should care. Because when I die, Ashwood will invade. And Cliffwatch Pack is the first line of defense. You and your people will be the first to die."

"Then I'll fight."

"You need to understand the game you're playing, son." Winston coughed again, harder this time.

"Don't call me that."

"You are my son. Whether you accept it or not, that's the truth."

I didn't respond. I just yanked the door open and walked out, slamming it behind me.

The guards in the corridor jumped at the sound. One of them started to speak, but I ignored him. I walked quickly through the maze of corridors, not caring where I was going. I just needed to move, to escape the weight of what I'd just learned.

My mother had been murdered. Killed on the orders of my own uncle.

The rage building inside me was unlike anything I'd ever felt. My hands clenched into fists so tight my nails drew blood from my palms.

I needed to hit something. To break something. To make someone pay for what had been done.

I found myself in a garden. Moonlight illuminated carefully tended flower beds and a small fountain. The peaceful setting was at complete odds with the storm raging inside me.

I walked to a stone bench and sat down hard. My breathing came in sharp gasps as I tried to control the fury threatening to consume me completely.

A sound escaped my throat—half sob, half roar of rage. My vision blurred with tears I refused to let fall.

I felt it then—Valencia's presence in my mind. Not words exactly, but a sense of concern. Our mate bond was so strong now that she could feel my emotions even from across the palace.

*Valencia?*

*Logan! Where are you? What's wrong?*

I started to answer, started to tell her I was fine, that I just needed space. But the words wouldn't come. The lie stuck in my throat.

I heard footsteps on the garden path and looked up to see Valencia running toward me, her dress bunched in her hands. She must have fled our room the moment she felt my distress.

"Logan!" She dropped to her knees in front of me, her hands cupping my face. "What happened? What did your father say to you?"

I couldn't speak. If I opened my mouth, everything would come pouring out—the rage, the pain, the absolute need for vengeance that was consuming me from the inside.

Valencia's thumbs brushed across my cheeks, and I realized tears were falling despite my efforts to hold them back.

"It's okay," she whispered. "You don't have to tell me right now. Just breathe. I'm here."

We sat there in the moonlit garden, her hands on my face, her presence the only thing keeping me anchored to reality. Time passed—minutes or hours, I couldn't tell.

Finally, my breathing slowed. The immediate rage receded enough that I could think again.

"My mother was murdered," I said, my voice raw and broken. "She was assassinated. On my uncle's orders."

Valencia's eyes widened with shock. "Your uncle?"

"Winston Ashwood. The current Alpha King of Aldermere." The words tasted like poison. "He's my father's brother. He stole the throne of Aldermere through massacre and treachery. And then he had my mother killed because he wanted to hurt my father."

Valencia pulled me into her arms, holding me tight against her chest. "I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

I wrapped my arms around her waist and finally let myself break. The tears I'd been holding back for years came flooding out.

Valencia didn't try to stop me or tell me everything would be okay. She just held me and let me cry, her fingers running through my hair in soothing motions.

When the storm finally passed and I had no more tears left, I pulled back enough to look at her face.

"I need to kill him," I said quietly. "Winston Ashwood needs to die for what he did."

"I know."

"I need his blood. I need to make him pay."

Valencia's hand came up to cup my cheek. "We'll make him pay. Together."