*Danika*
I was still pacing around in the King’s study for the past one hour and he was still not back. I didn’t want to disobey him and go after him, so all I did was pace from one end to another, a strong need to take one of those brown substances in the minibar, tugging at me.
Then after another thirty minutes and I didn’t see him, I stopped in front of his desk, eyeing one of the substances, grumpiness and boredom mixing to embolden me. I took an audacious step forward but came to a halt when hastened footsteps approached the doorstep. I was thinking it was the Alpha King and flew to the door to meet him. However, when the door snatched open, standing before me was an enraged Paisley. She was equally shocked to see me, judging from the wide-eyed look on her face.
“Danika?” She pushed in, her hands going on her waist, her partly naked breast nudged out to my face.
“Hey,” I said, stepping back, swallowing down bile in my throat and bringing my eyes down from her breast. That’s creepy.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Me?” I chirped impulsively, then regained myself fully and nodded. “Yeah, me? Of course, me,” I was stuttering. “I mean, yeah. I am here because someone broke into my room. Again.”
Her hands fell off her waist, her shoulders jerking forward with her body. She grabbed my shoulders and shook me. “Oh, my. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. The King went to check it out and asked me to stay here.” I jumped away from her encroaching hands, getting uneasy about her behavior. After what I heard her telling the King, I thought she would hate me by now. Why is she pretending to care?
Wait a second. How can I be sure she isn’t the one trying to scare me, so I would run off back to Lance’s quarters, so she can retain the attention of the King?
That’s it! She must be the one. I mean she is the only one that knows the King likes red colors and even though she was acting all nice to me right now, after hearing her say those things to the King and knowing how much she would want him focused on her, I’m certain she can go to any height to have me running.
“I’m so sorry, Danika. This is becoming more bizarre. Who could be doing this?” She went further into the study, motioning to me to follow her. She went to the minibar and grabbed a bottle with two glasses. “I think the King would need to catch the intruder once and for all. It’s not cool that you can’t even feel safe in your own room, in the palace for that matter! I think it’s one of the Omegas,” she said absentmindedly while pouring the contents of the bottle into the two glasses.
“I’m also very worried about who could possibly want to harm me… or want me dead…” I expressed, gauging her reaction. There was nothing. She is such a good actress. I can’t wait till tomorrow to talk to Alfred. I will have to seek his help in monitoring her because if I tell the King he might not believe me since she is his future Luna Queen. I rolled my eyes within. Omega indeed!
Such a fake-ass drama queen.
She passed me one of the glasses. “Take this. It would help calm you. I and Alonso take it anytime he is very bunched with so many pack issues. It helps a lot!” I nodded and placed the glass under my nose to take a sharp sniff. It smelt so sour that I almost retched my guts out. Nonetheless, in order not to appear a dummy to Paisley, I braved it and in one gulp I swallowed everything.
“Wooo!” Paisley did the same and dumped her cup on the desk, clapping her hands raucously. “That was a smooth move if you ask me, girl! You see why I like you? You are so much fun!” She poured us another round and I took it from her with a smile of thanks. I didn’t think I could go another round but I would just sip this slowly until the King returned.
I sipped the drink and went on to tell her, in case she still thinks me a threat to her union with the King, “All I want is to stay by myself in peace without anyone threatening my life, is that too much to ask, Paisley? I have done nothing wrong to warrant this.” I wave my other free hand about, still watching her.
“I don’t know, Danika. Trust me this is way beyond me. To me, you are the coolest girl ever! You don’t bitch or step on anyone’s toes around here, so here I am wondering the same thing as you, who would want to hurt a harmless person like you!” She swallowed the second glass and squeezed her face, letting out a loud puff of air before a pout.
Gad, she is doing so well at pretending! “Are you okay?” I had to ask her because she was acting like someone feeling nasty on the inside. Since she was my prime suspect, I might as well try to get words out of her, as I hear people spew out a lot when they have these substances in large quantity. This was why I wasn’t going another round. I wouldn’t want to spill my secret to her.
She shrugged as she poured another glass. “Who else but my dear Alonso. He hurts me so bad and I don’t know why,” she expunged, and this time sipped her drink. Her voice was sounding kind of broken, indicating the proportion of pang she might be feeling.
“Have you spoken to him?”
“I try to…” She looked down at the glass, swirling her long nail on it.”I linked him earlier this night because I was worried about where he was. He told me he was out on a business meeting and would be back in no time. I heard him come in while waiting in his room, but when he didn’t come up, I had to come down here to meet him!” she finalized with a sigh.
Hmm, business meeting indeed.
“I’m so sorry, Paisley. I don’t know what to say.” And that was the truth. I didn’t have shit to say to her, considering I’m kind of the reason it was happening. And truly speaking, I don’t feel bad about it! If there is anyone who is supposed to feel shitty here, I was the one.
So was she the reason he asked us to leave the restaurant? Then why didn’t he go to her when he came in?
I went to sit on the couch while she remained on top of the desk. This is getting more and more complicated. This was the moment when I needed to release my wolf into the forest to run until we have released all these pent-up bad energies.
“Do you think he can ever change towards me? Like back to what we were before?” she quizzed with a steady glance at me. “I mean we weren’t that sweet of a couple before, but to an extent, he was manageable unlike now.” She came to flop down beside me on the couch.
I averted my gaze from her to my hand bearing the glass, unsure of how to reply to her question. I want my mate for myself and not in the arms of another woman, and I didn’t want to give her any impossible hope, because I know as long as I stayed close to Alonso, our bond will always draw us close no matter what. So I settled for a compromising approach. “Why are you bothered with him giving you so much attention? You already have the crown, isn’t that enough?” I met her scrutiny once more and saw something indiscernible flit through them before she masked it very fast.
This time it was her turn to look away from me, her teeth going to hold down her bottom lip. “Would you be happy enough if Lancelot only gave you the name of a Beta female and not his heart?” she asked.
I shuddered at the question and shook my head. “Perhaps, you are right. However, I might not be in the right position to tell you how the Alpha King would feel about you in the future.”
She exhaled dejectedly and relaxed back on the couch. “You are right, Danika.”
Then a thought struck me and I decided to ask, “Can I ask you a question?”
“Yeah. Shoot!” She took a slow sip from her drink.
“Have you ever worried about what happens if he finds a second chance mate?”
Her head snapped to me with a look of awe. “I have never thought about that and that is because that is very, very unlikely to happen. The King already had a mate before who died.”
“What about you?”
“I don’t care! If I eventually find my mate, which I find very hard to believe due to my age, I would reject him because by then I must have been married to the King and given him an heir.” She spread her hands and placed them back on her head.
I hummed and was about to tell her never to say never when the door flung open and there stood the King, his eyes darting from me to Paisley and back. Then it fell on the glass in my hand and steadied. “What are you doing with that?!” he blurted, then recouped and flashed Paisley a murderous glare. “You don’t give someone’s mate alcohol when her mate is not around to take care of her! What if she gets drunk?” He came in and snagged the cup from my hand, and I was too weak to revolt. The drink was starting to take effect in my brain and all I wanted then was to locate my bed.
“Did you see it?” I asked him, standing unsteadily from the couch.
“Yeah.” He scratched the front of his hair, the silky waves looking tousled and my hand itching to brush them back. He eyes me dangerously which means he might have read my thoughts.
“You know what?” I blushed, getting uncomfortable with the two of them around. “I will have to go in and pray I’m not killed in the middle of the night in my sleep.”
“Are you sure? I can come sleep with you if you want,” Paisley suggested.
My eyes were the size of a bowl. I looked at the King and he shook his head, going to grab Paisley from the couch. “Don’t worry, she will be alright. I have placed a barrier on her door, so she can sleep well. As for you, off to bed!” It hurt to see how he held her close, but I knew he was doing that to divert her attention from her initial suggestion.
I nodded slowly at both of them and left to my room, having a feeling I won’t be sleeping alone that night.
…