Chapter 49: Chapter 49

Sage sighed as she walked into the hospital room, knowing her father was handling Jason. She took her seat beside her mother and watched her sister.

Rosalie furrowed her eyebrows as a sharp pain shot through her back then her side. She gasped out and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ignore the pain.

"Mom, you okay?" Sage asked.

Rosalie groaned, "N-no...hurts...."

"Do you want me to get the doctor? You're not bleeding or anything, right?" Sage asked, panicking.

"Mate! Help mate!" Rosalie's wolf suddenly yelled.

Rosalie snapped her eyes open, "Where's your father?"

"He was in the dungeon torturing Jason." Sage frowned.

"He's hurt."

Rosalie shot up and sprinted out of the room, mind-linking all of the guard to go to the dungeons. She shifted as soon as she was outside, her teeth bared and ears flat against her head as she sprinted towards the cells.

One of her warriors howled in triumph, she followed his howl. She skidded to a halt when she found five men dragging a barely conscious Dimitri through the woods. Warriors kept running in and attacking them, but more of the weird black eyed men kept running in as well.

She snarled when she found Jason shoving Dimitri forwards, forcing him to walk faster. She dodged warriors and other creatures, when she was close enough she attacked Jason.

He growled and grabbed her by the throat before throwing her into a tree. She shook her head and got back up, baring her teeth at him.

He only smiled at her before hitting her across the head with something. She struggled to clear her vision, she could feel the blood flowing from her head.

"Nighty night, your majesty." Jason snarled before hitting her again.

"Demetrius!" She screamed through their bond.

"S-stay. S-safe. Love you." Was all he said before the connection was cut.

When Rosalie woke up she tried tracking them down, but she couldn't find their scent or Dimitri's. She whimpered and turned towards her warriors, many of them were just waking up while others were dead. She looked back at the forest that was bathed in the sunset's bright colors.

She made a silent promise to find her mate before focusing on her warriors.

Sage shook out her fur as she stood up, wincing at the headache forming. She felt someone lick her cheek and looked over to see a dark brown, almost black wolf watching her with concern. She immediately recognized his soft brown eyes and relaxed.

"Mason." She whispered in their bond as she saw him barely standing.

He whined a little and motioned towards Rosalie, Sage licked him on the cheek and trotted over to her mother. She rubbed her head on Rosalie's shoulder, earning the queen's attention.

Rosalie looked towards her and licked her between the ears. "He's gone."

Sage didn't have to ask, she already knew who Rosalie was talking about. She whimpered and rubbed her head on Rosalie again.

"I know, honey. We're going to find him." Rosalie linked her, nuzzling her.

"What are we going to tell the kingdom?"

"The truth. We already hate the skin-walkers and by their scents when I saw them, they're skin-walkers. Including Jason."

"Jason? But then how was he mated to Sara?"

"Hybrids can happen, but the good news is, Sara isn't pregnant. He didn't mark her and that's the only thing that improves her chance of becoming pregnant with his pup. It's good she isn't, her body wouldn't be able to handle it right now."

Sage didn't say anything else, she nudged Rosalie along and started helping the warriors.

Once everyone was settled in the infirmary, Rosalie and Sage went to speak to the council.

This is going to be difficult. She thought as they walked into the council's room.

Everyone looked up and frowned at the queen and princess' dark looks. The lead councilman hurried over to them, concern in his eyes.

"What happened?" He asked.

Rosalie swallowed, "Skin-walkers took Dimitri...the bond is cut, I can't mind-link him."

The room fell silent as the councilman stared at them in shock. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"A female can't rule the kingdom alone." Another councilman stated.

Sage glared at him, "A female is just as capable as a male. I don't want any of your sexist thoughts."

"Excuse me?"

"You're excused." Sage seethed.

"Like father like daughter." The man grumbled.

The lead councilman rolled his eyes at the other man. "Rosalie is the queen, she can rule with Sage helping her."

"But Rosalie will grow weak without her mate. Surely, the skin-walkers will allow the bond to open enough that she's going to feel everything he's feeling." A third man said.

Rosalie sighed, she bit her lip as she placed a hand on her belly. Sage watched her actions, her eyes widened.

"Another one?" Sage whispered, low enough for only Rosalie and the lead councilman to hear.

Rosalie nodded, "I was supposed to wait until next year since I've been getting sick easily. We forgot about..."

The councilman nodded, "It's okay, Rosalie. I want you on bed rest at all times, did Dimitri know?"

Tears ran down her face, "No....I just found out."

The councilman gave her a reassuring smile, "Everything will be okay. Sage, don't you have your mate?"

"Yes, but...he's injured badly from the fight."

"I see. Unfortunately, I can't make the final decisions without the whole council. But I am the only non sexist one in here. I have an idea." He grinned.

He stepped away and faced the rest of the council.

"Sage will rule by herself, considering her mother is pregnant and her body is going to need all the rest it can get. Her mate is currently injured and he'll need the training to become a king. I believe she's perfectly capable of ruling alone. She's just like her father, she thinks like him." He announced.

"That is the worst idea I've heard! She's a woman!" A man sneered.

The councilman narrowed his eyes, "Says the guy who's afraid of his wife."

"If I can prove to you that I can rule alone then, you'll let me rule until my father is brought back? Without choosing a random warrior to rule beside me." Sage questioned.

"I agree, it's time for the rules to change. You have one week to prove to us that you can manage to rule. You'll still have your mother to go to for guidance." A councilman sounded.

A chorus of agreements echoed in the room, the lead councilman faced Sage again.

He smiled and hugged her, "Prove them wrong, Sage. Show them that a female can rule alone."

Sage smiled, "Thank you, Logan."

Sage gently grabbed Rosalie and walked out of the council's room. As the doors closed she sighed, Rosalie grinned and hugged her.

"You're going to do great." Rosalie whispered.

"I hope so." Sage replied.

Sage sighed as she searched through the documents and books on skin-walkers. She wanted to know as much as she could about them. Where they usually live, all their abilities, their mates, history, how to catch their scent once they cover it, and so on.

While doing this, she already organized all of the guard's schedules, started creating war plans for their war with the skin walkers, spoke to all of the alphas around the world, made sure they had back-up in case they needed it, and created a place for those who can't fight, to hide in. That was in only two days and she felt proud of herself, she was amused with the slightly annoyed sexist council.

Logan would give her some tips here and there on improving the kingdom, but was surprised when she was already one step ahead.

"Sissy!"

Sage snapped her head up to see Winter sprinting into the office, a worried look on her face. Sage quickly closed the book and rushed over to her younger sister.

"What?" She asked.

Winter caught her breath before answering. "Sara is fweaking out! She's compwetely fweaked out! Like...really fweaked out!"

Sage chuckled at her little sister before picking her up. "Well, why don't we go and check on her?"

Winter nodded, Sage chuckled again before walking out of their father's office. When they reached Sara's hospital room she was looking at a male nurse with wide eyes. The male nurse seemed concerned and slightly hurt as he looked back at her.

"What's going on?" Sage questioned.

She placed Winter down as both of them looked at her.

"He's my mate...but how? I thought Jason was my mate!" Sara exclaimed.

The man frowned, "Who is Jason?"

Sage sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "He was Sara's mate. Maybe he's you're second chance mate?"

"You said they don't exist." Sara replied flatly.

Sage pursed her lips, "I did say that, didn't I? Okay, well...maybe they do. I was sixteen at the time, so, I wouldn't have believed me either."

Sara frowned before looking back at the male nurse. She bit her lip, "You are hot."

Sage chuckled as so did the man, he shook his head. He then smiled down at the slightly confused she-wolf.

"Thank you." He said softly.

Sage smiled, "He won't be like Jason. Don't push him away."

With that, she grabbed Winter and walked out. She frowned as she thought over what had just happened. She knew second chance mates didn't exist unless two mate less wolves meet and fall in love. Or if a mate less wolf meets a human and so on.

This is weird. She thought to herself.