"En… throne… what?"
Morgan slowly turned toward Alfie, his face scrunched in confusion.
"Alfie, what does that mea—"
Alfie immediately moved to kneel beside him, alarm flashing across his face.
But Mervyn was faster.
He cupped Morgan's cheeks between his hands and gently but firmly turned the boy back toward him.
"You are the greatest hope of this family, Morgan!"
The little boy stared at him.
Something burned behind Mervyn's eyes now—something caught between desperate love and an ambition he could barely contain.
"Let him chase after that blond! Let him do whatever he wants!" His voice trembled as his thumbs stroked Morgan's cheeks. "I don't care about him anymore! I don't need him anymore! I only care about you!"
His breathing quickened.
"Once you rule this realm as the Alpha Sovereign, everything will change. No one will ever be able to look down on us again! No one will be able to hurt us!"
A feverish smile trembled across his lips.
