Blood of the Wolf: The Crown (Mackenzie Grey Book 11), Karina Espinosa [top 10 ebook reader txt] 📗

which was why they were forcing Ollie to transfer packs. If I chose Ollie, it would give the Summits the opportunity to dethrone me, providing a way to give them what they wanted all along.

This smelled like Charles’s plan. I wanted to gut him here and now. He knew I would do anything for my brother, and with the Toronto Pack’s history with me, he wouldn’t have it easy there. This would be a punishment. All because of me. Back when I first arrived back to New York City after spending a year in Los Angeles, the Toronto Pack hired the fae to kidnap me. Bash and I fought the fae off, but the Toronto Pack never forgot about it.

If Ollie went to Toronto … I couldn’t let that happen, but how could I thwart it without giving the Summits ammunition against me?

Sweat beads formed on my forehead and my vision swam. I blinked a few times to clear my head, then black dots crowded the edges of my sight and I started to feel lightheaded. I fisted my hands at my sides to keep myself erect, but my heart was racing like a dozen horses on a racetrack. Suddenly, I couldn’t keep myself upright any longer. My knees buckled and I started to drop.

In the far distance, I could hear Liam scream, “Yer Majesty!” But it sounded so far away. My eyes rolled to the back of my head and everything went dark.

6

“Her blood pressure is extremely low. She needs to rest and stay away from anything stressful, which I know will be difficult due to the stressors of her job,” I heard Dr. Harris say as I was coming back to my senses. I wisely kept my eyes shut so I could listen in on their conversation.

“What exactly happened?” Bash asked someone in the room.

“The alpha of the Canadian Pack handed the Queen these transfer papers,” Liam said.

There was a pause before Bash said, “Damnit!”

“What is it?” Alexander asked.

“They’re targeting Oliver, her brother,” Bash said. “This has Charles written all over it. I’m sure of it.”

“Liam, will you excuse us?” Dr. Harris said politely.

“Of course.”

I heard the door close, and after a few minutes, Dr. Harris started speaking again. “She needs bed rest—”

“She won’t stay in bed,” Bash interrupted.

“Well, she’s going to have to for the sake of the baby. If she keeps putting herself in these high stress situations, she can have a miscarriage.”

“Ye must stay with her, Sebastian,” Alexander pleaded. “She won’t listen to any of us, but she’ll listen to ye.”

Bash snorted. “She barely listens to me.”

I could lose the baby?

My chest tightened and suddenly I felt bad. Though I hadn’t quite gotten on the baby train yet, something about hearing him say those words out loud bothered me.

The Summits watched me collapse, so they already knew something was wrong. There was no point hiding it. But telling them exactly what was wrong wasn’t something I wanted to do just yet. The same way they were using Ollie against me, they could easily use my own child. I couldn’t give them that opportunity.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw I was in my bedroom. Clearing my throat, I tried to sit up. Their gazes immediately snapped to me.

Bash helped me up and handed me a glass of water from the nightstand. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah, just a little lightheaded.”

“You can’t put yourself in these situations anymore, Your Majesty,” Dr. Harris stated bluntly. “I’m sorry, but I’m putting you on bed rest.”

I nodded again. “Okay.”

Everyone in the room froze. “Did we hear ye correctly, Yer Majesty?” Ranulf said, stunned.

I tried to smile, but I was a bit tired and could only manage a slight twitch of my lips. “Yes, you heard me correctly. I understand the gravity of the situation. I’ll stay in bed.” And I did understand the rationale. Some things were just more important. I was finally starting to realize that.

Alexander slowly smiled. “Thank ye, darling. Whatever ye need—”

I waved him off. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I just need a bit of help with the Summit, if you can get the Council to start working on it.”

“Liam told us,” Bash said, “about Oliver.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Bash, he can’t go to the Toronto Pack. Especially not after what they tried to do to me. You know how they’ll treat him. I can’t approve that transfer, but if I don’t, it gives them grounds to dismiss me.”

“I’ll handle it,” Bash said firmly. “I’ll call Jackson and see how we can figure this out.”

“Don’t approve the transfer, Yer Majesty,” Ranulf grunted. “We’ll handle the Summits.”

That was another route we could take, but I didn’t know how it would end and it was a risk I wasn’t sure I wanted to take. There had to be another way. Even if I had to fly Ollie to Scotland to keep him safe, I would. I wouldn’t allow the Summits to get their hands on him.

“Just hold off for now until we can figure something out,” I mumbled as I laid back down in bed.

“Why don’t we give the Queen some space?” Dr. Harris suggested. “She needs her rest.”

Reluctantly, they all filed out of the room, Bash stating he would be just outside in the common room if I needed anything. Once they were all gone, I sighed heavily and reached for my phone on the nightstand.

I scrolled through all my numbers until I found Ollie’s and pressed to video chat. I hadn’t spoken to him since he left. Our only communication since had been a brief text after he landed back in New York City.

After a couple rings, he answered, the noise level loud on his end. I watched as he got up from wherever he was seated and moved somewhere quieter.

“Hey, Kenz!” He smiled brightly when his face came on the screen. “Are you okay? Why are you in bed?” He looked at his watch. “It should only be one o’clock where you’re at.”

“It’s my