The young girl nodded. “I needed someone to talk to. I’d been flying by the valley of the precious flowers when I saw you.”
“Precious flowers?” She rubbed a hand over her forehead, trying to make sense of what the hell was going on.
“The ones with all the colors. They are called precious. We love them so much that we dubbed them that way.” Razzy slipped her hands into the pocket of her pants. “I’m sorry if you were busy, but I was so upset. I couldn’t think straight.”
“What exactly is the problem?”
“Vikter prohibited me from being friends with the pack,” she said. “I have many wolf friends. This isn’t fair,” she snapped. “Why should I have to be unhappy because he and Brecc have drama?”
In that sense, Charlotte agreed. Brecc and Vikter’s issues should remain their issues. “Where is your brother?”
Razzy’s purple eyes went wide. “Downstairs in his office. He won’t be bothered, right now.”
Too bad. Charlotte couldn’t very well argue with the kid. She needed to talk to an adult. “Show me where his office is.”
Razzy bit her lip, a frown deepening over her eyes. “I don’t want you to get into trouble.”
“Honey, he’d be stupid to argue with me.”
The massive stone castle needed a fucking elevator. That and maybe a few walking escalators too. Charlotte swore they’d walked for five minutes before they finally got to Vikter’s office.
Razzy stood back, walking away slowly. “You don’t have to do this. I can take you back. I’m sorry I disrupted your time with your mates.”
She blinked. What? “No, you don’t understand.”
The door handle moved and Razzy took off so fast she didn’t get a chance to tell the girl to wait.
“Stop standing out there like a sulking baby, Razzy. Come inside,” Vikter said.
Charlotte pushed the door open, staring in wonderment at the giant library in the shape of a massive dome. The glass ceiling allowed for the clear view of the night sky or the sunlight to brighten the room.
“Nice office,” she said. The view inside was as amazing as the one outside.
Vikter swung around, a dark glower on his face and his lips tight. “How did you get here?”
“Your little sister is one very angry kid,” she said. “She needed someone to talk to so she sort of picked me up and brought me here.”
He slapped a hand on his forehead. “I’m sorry. She’s going through a phase. She hates all the rules and doesn’t understand I have a reason for everything.”
She took a few steps forward and another scan of the library. There were telescopes and maps of interstellar stuff she didn’t have a clue about but looked super interesting. “What could your reason possibly be to ask her to stop hanging out with her wolf friends?”
“There’s too much tension with the Ice pack,” he said, pointing to a seat. “Please. Would you like something to drink?”
She sat on an antique looking chair that reminded her of Game of Thrones. Too bad she couldn’t be Khaleesi. Unlike the queen of the dragons, Charlotte loved her wolves. Though right at that moment she felt like a queen anyway. “I don’t even want to know how old this furniture is.”
He laughed, filling a glass with wine. “You don’t. It might scare you.”
She took the glass he offered and watched him prowl around his office. She could sense he was agitated but tried to hide it. “Why the tension between you and Brecc?”
He stopped his pacing and met her gaze. “There was a time we were friends. Good friends. Our mothers were best of friends.”
She sipped on her wine and watched the play of emotions go through his face. “What went wrong?”
He started walking again, his long strides eating up the space in his large office. “His father. The man lost his mind when his mate died. Not that I can blame him.”
“So? What does that have to do with you two?”
He thinned his lips, a gold fire brightening his eyes. “His mother died in an accident. He blamed my family. He already hated my father, so when she died, he decided to start a war between our families.”
She gasped, placing the cup on a table next to her seat. Anticipation made her palms sweat. “People were hurt, right?”
He nodded. “Brecc’s father showed up here. My father and his father fought. His father killed my father.”
She put her face in her hands, her body wound tight over the revelation. So much pain and anger. She couldn’t understand this in such a beautiful and mesmerizing new world.
The door slammed opened. She jumped in her seat, her head jerking to the side to see who made the noise.