Chapter 55

[ 1,067 words ]

Lucien Volkov:

I didn’t want to leave her behind. The feeling had been gnawing at me ever since I woke up beside her. Last night, I had hurt her. That was why I had canceled this morning’s meeting to be with her. The council could wait.

And seeing her laugh had eased the tension off my shoulders.

“Lucien, I wish we could tell her she’s our mate,” Zorro grunted inside my head. He also seemed restless since morning, but I ignored him. When it came to Arabella, he was a softie.

“We’re trapped, Zorro,” I said with a sigh, “The moment she finds out, both she and we will be in danger.”

No. I couldn’t tell her. Not yet. She had only just started looking at me without that fear that was always there in her eyes. No. I couldn’t afford to push her away any further. Nor could I put her in even greater danger.

While standing right outside my room, I cupped her cheek, “I’ll be back by morning… we’ll have breakfast together.”

She nodded, and I couldn’t stop myself from leaning down and claiming her lips. Once I pulled away, I didn’t want to let her go. My arms instinctively wrapped around her tiny waist, pulling her against my chest.

She was too perfect. In every way.

My mate must be thinking I’ve gone crazy. I told myself, but Zorro only scoffed. It had been a while since he last met her.

She still didn’t know that the beast she had been seeing was actually me. Reluctantly, I let her go, “See you tomorrow, princess.”

“Travel safely,” she said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

Sigh. She was still mad at me.

I turned before I could change my mind and leave the Red Moon meeting to Bradley instead. The moment I stepped into the corridor, my gaze hardened, “Helena.”

The Housekeeper’s startled gasp echoed through the mindlink, “Y…your Highness…” I could hear disbelief in her voice.

Bradley was the one who usually handled household staff. I never contacted them directly, “Stay close to Arabella while I’m gone.”

After a brief pause, she replied, “Of course, Your Highness.”

“If anything feels unusual…” A warning crept into my voice, “Anything at all… mindlink me… immediately!”

There was another pause before a sharp intake of breath. Usually the lower-ranked werewolves or lycans weren’t allowed to initiate a mindlink with a royal family member.

She was not a fool to not understand that Arabella was important to me.

“Yes, My King. I’ll keep an eye on her.”

I severed the mindlink, but still there was an odd uneasiness settled in my heart. I couldn’t explain it.

Should I assign a guard to her? No. That would be too obvious. I could deal with my family, but I didn’t want my mate to feel trapped all over again.

I couldn’t break my mate even further.

She needed to feel safe in my quarters, but at the same time, posting a guard outside the room would only make her think she was being watched as if we didn’t trust her.

“Let’s not leave our mate behind,” Zorro whispered, “I don’t want to go anywhere.”

I chuckled while shaking my head, “We have a kingdom to run, Zorro. We will make it back as soon as possible.”

For a moment, I wanted to send a mindlink to Jasmine as well. As a head warrior, she was supposed to protect her future queen. But that would blow off. My family already hated her. I needed to talk to them first.

With a heavy heart, I got into the car.

***

Arabella Toussaint:

Should I change into training clothes before going to the fight, or would this dress do? No matter what I wore, I wouldn’t win.

I glanced down at my floral summer dress and laughed. For some odd reason, I wasn’t scared at all. Even if I died, perhaps that would be kinder than spending the rest of my life in this prison.

I stepped out of the king’s quarters and headed towards the western training grounds.

Halfway there, an Omega carrying a snack tray slowed down when she saw me.

“Ma’am? Where are you going?” I didn’t miss the curiosity on her face. I was already taken aback by the word Ma’am .

Telling her about western grounds meant inviting someone to follow me.

“Oh. Just taking a walk. There is no one to talk to me, and it’s pretty boring to stay indoors.”

She smiled with a nod, “Why don’t you go back to the quarters? Helena will accompany you shortly.”

“Oh really?” I clasped my hands, “That will be lovely…” I saw her going towards the queen’s chambers and then resumed my walk to the ground.

And why did Helena want to accompany me? Did she want me to chop onions for her? Nah. Later maybe. Right now, I needed to chop off someone’s head.

By the time I reached the training grounds, the place was empty. I looked around before letting out a slow breath. It was now getting darker, and I was having problems with my vision.

The blurry left eye wasn’t helping either.

There was still half an hour before Jasmine arrived.

“So, this is where you’re going to kill me,” I told myself. The thought should have frightened me; instead, I found myself smiling.

It was either Maya or death. There was no other option left.

“It’s good that you’re early,” a familiar voice came from behind me. “I was beginning to think you’d never show up,” I didn’t miss the amusement in her voice.

I turned around slowly, still smiling, and looked at her. She was here in her warrior uniform and looked beautiful.

“I almost didn’t come… it would have been embarrassing if you waited here all evening for nothing,” I said with a shrug.

Her amusement vanished for a moment, but then a cold smile settled on her lips, “Don’t get ahead of yourself, slave. You’re here because I allowed you to be.”

“Maybe,” my gaze drifted over the empty grounds before returning to her, “So… are we doing this, or you want to give me another speech first?”

Suddenly she got serious. Without another word, she reached behind her back and drew a gleaming dagger from its sheath.

“As you wish, bitch,” With that, she lunged at me.

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