Free Fury of Obsession (Dragonfury Series Book 5) by Coreene Callahan

Bastian bit down on a snarl. Not surprising. The bastard would do anything—hurt anyone—to remain in power. Manipulation. Intimidation. Murder. The male dabbled in it all. Bastian should know. He’d watched Rodin maneuver while under the Archguard’s thumb as a ward of the state after his sire’s death.
    A murder Rodin had set in motion.
    Not that Bastian could prove it. The slimy bastard was smart. Rodin never got his hands dirty. He issued orders and expected others to carry them out. Which meant Bastian still didn’t know who killed his father—Sigvoid, High Chancellor of Dragonkind, the male voted in by pack commanders to oversee the Archguard and uphold Dragonkind laws. A crappy hand dealt at the eleventh hour. No matter how hard he pushed for information, no one talked. Ergo he couldn’t lay the blame at Rodin’s feet. That ship had sailed. No going back. No evidence to collect or guilty parties to charge. No closure of any kind. Just the pain of loss and the certain knowledge his sire had died safeguarding the future of his race.
    A tough job. One made more difficult by assholes like Rodin.
    To be expected. The political arena remained forever the same. Like a game of chess, the landscape never shifted, only the positions of the players on the board. Which was why he lived in Seattle, far away from all the bullshit. His sire had wanted something better—something more—for him. A real life. A chance at happiness, not the constant threat from power-hungry males who coveted his position.
    The entire reason behind his promise. One he’d made to his sire before his death. Never go into politics. Or assume the role of High Chancellor. No matter how many males asked him to lead the whole of Dragonkind.
    Bastian exhaled in a rush.
    So many years had passed since that fateful conversation. So much pain and strife since he’d turned away from his birthright. Bastian shook his head. He’d been so young—just seventeen years old, three years from his change and the ability to shift into dragon form. Too naive to understand what giving his word meant. Or what it would do to his race. Complete upheaval. Total turmoil. Brother pitted against brother. Sometimes Bastian wondered whether his sire had predicted what leaving the throne empty would do, and the kind of chaos that would ensue. Maybe that’s what he’d wanted. Maybe he’d known all along what his race neede d . . .
    Real change. Responsible government. A restructuring of Dragonkind hierarchy.
    Bastian didn’t know. His father was dead and gone, never to return. And worrying about what he intended? A total waste of time. Guessing games wouldn’t help. He couldn’t go back and change his mind. Couldn’t fix two centuries’ worth of problems, never mind know his sire’s intentions. He lived—day in and day out—with the reality of the situation left by his father. Well, that and the memories: the cruelty he’d suffered by Rodin’s command in the aftermath of his father’s murder.
    Sorrow tightened his throat.
    His mind supplied the rest, flashing images on his mental screen, reminding him of opportunity lost and mistakes made. So many botched attempts. Far too many males interested in the throne. Sigvoid had been dead less than a week when Rodin made a play for power.
    Hostile takeover at its worst.
    Dissention had been the result. And the position had yet to be filled. Years spent without a true leader had fractured Dragonkind, allowing individual packs to splinter off and lay claim to different territories. Now his kind no longer lived in a central location, but all over the planet. Some still backed Rodin and his twisted aspirations. Others wanted Bastian to step into the role, just as his sire had done. And with the two camps set in direct opposition? Bastian shook his head. Political maneuvering without end. Stupidity to the next power. Jesus. No wonder it was such a mess.
    No one could agree.
    Or understand why he refused to become High