Chapter 160

I was lead through the castle hallways for what felt like miles, up and down staircases, through
archways and down corridors, until finally, we reached a double large wooden door. It was about 5
metres wide and 5 metres tall and intricately carved with elegant designs.
One of the guards knocked and a few moments later the doors opened to reveal a huge room. The
ceilings stretched up forever and great chandeliers hung with a hundred individual candles. There
was little furniture except for one large throne and the far end. On it sat a young man sat
comfortably with a glass of wine in one hand. Around him were several guards and a few more
other men and women including my brother and father.
“Your Majesty,” the remaining ‘not-guard’ beside me said. “We found her roaming the halls alone.”
The man on the thrown’s lips curled into a smile and he got to his feet. He walked with confidence
with his chin held proudly high and his head of bouncy brunette curls bouncing with every step.
“Welcome to the castle, Luna!” he exclaimed as I exchanged looks with Connor and my Dad. Connor
was sending me the evils but Dad just rolled his eyes. “It’s an honour to finally meet you.”
I remained silent, eyeing the man and still trying to figure him out. His apparent friendliness was
one of two things: false pretence or sarcasm. The thought of it being legitimate was, at this point,
out of the question.
“My name is Lennard Giodarno, I’m the King here and I want nothing more than to see your mate
dead,” he said kissing my hand after striding across the room to us.
I gave him a forced smile before looking him dead in the eye and saying “interesting way to
introduce yourself.”
He let out a short laugh before turning to face my father, “She really is your daughter Nicolos. Not
only is she your spitting image but she has your mouth and wit too.”
“What can I say?” he replied with a shrug.
“How did you get out of your chambers?” he asked turning back to me with a sudden serious
expression.
Deceiving and bipolar. Nice.
“I walked,” I replied shortly not willing to make anything particularly easy for him.
“Were you trying to escape?”
“Yes.”
He smiled before looking me up and down, “I admire your honesty and that isn’t all. You’re as
beautiful as they say.”
I grimaced and shuddered on the inside but somehow managed to maintain my composure.
“It fills me with the greatest pleasure not to disappoint you, your majesty,” I replied with an
exaggerated curtsey.
He sent me a hard glare, “It is a shame my like for you does not extend beyond your appearance.
You could have made an excellent Queen.”
‘A shame’ would have been the last way I would describe a situation such as that.
He then turned his back to me and began striding back to the throne.
“Take her to the dungeons. A week should suffice,” he said coldly. “I have no obligation nor desire to
keep you alive. Count this as a warning and if you continue to cause me trouble, then who’s to say
what will happen.”
“Your Majesty,” my Dad interrupted stepping forward. “I don’t think the dungeon is necessary.”
“She’s Loren’s mate. Even if I wanted to, it would be hard to find sympathy for her,” the king
replied.
“She’s also my daughter,” he protested.
The King shrugged.
“She’ll still be your daughter in a week,” he replied. “Now take her away.”
“Your Majesty,” Connor interrupted. “Should we not treat her like one of us?”
The King then turned and looked at my brother.
“And why would we do that? She’s his mate.”
“Which makes her his biggest victim,” Connor said confidently. “She may not realise it yet but she
has suffered the most.”
I was thankful that he was trying but I still had to clench my teeth to stop myself from stating my
intense disagreement.
“My son is right,” Dad said. “She has to live with him, follow his every command, have child after
child after child, live under his cruelty… We should not punish her for being his mate. She had no
choice in the matter.”
“In fact, he dragged her from her home and forced her to stay in his pack. He pressured her into
mating with him and took away her freedom. She had no escape from him and thus, we should
offer sympathy, not further abuse.”
The King narrowed his eyes and looked to me.
“Is this true?” he asked.
I nodded. Partly. I thought.
“And who’s side are you on, little wolf?” he questioned looking me dead in the eye.
My Dad and brother both shot me glares, telling me to answer it correctly.
“Yours,” I said quietly.
“Very well. This is your only warning,” he said. “Next time, you will be left to rot in the dungeon. Do
you understand me?”
“Yes, of course,” I said quickly.
“Jones 1, Jones 2,” he replied turning to my Dad and Connor. “She’s your responsibility. Don’t fuck it
up.”
I smiled at the sweetly to which they responded with weary looks and eye rolls.
I could just smell the lectures I was going to get for this.
So sorry that I stopped updating without explanation. I’ve been away without my computer and
only a pad of paper to write on. After remembering how to type again and sorting through all my
scribbled notes and random sentences, I have managed to produce this and another chapter to
upload tonight. If you think I write a lot online, you should see the masses of notebooks, diaries and
papers that I sprawl my ideas onto haha! I hope I haven’t ruffled any one’s feathers too much and
please do enjoy the rest of the story 3)