Alpha Prince Unexpected Mate
CHAPTER 79: AVA RELISH

"He has to be, she's his mate." As each word settled on her ears, her heart broke into large pieces, and fell to the ground, shattering into smaller pieces. She stood at the door, still with her ears pressed to it, waiting for Lancelot to deny the accusation.

He was the Alpha King of London Pride pack, there was no way a lowlife human could be his mate! No, the goddess couldn't have been that stupid. She waited and waited, but Lancelot said nothing to deny what Peter had just said. She heard the butler speak up.

"That makes a lot of sense. I always knew there was something going on between you two, right from the second you introduced her as your...secretary."

Yes. That was what Lancelot had made everybody believe. He had lied to his entire family to keep the human here, close to him. By the goddess! It all made sense now, how could she be so stupid?!

All those times he had carried her along, kept her close to his side, he had even gone on his four days expedition with her. All of those were just excuses to keep her close to him!

Several degrees from different prestigious universities around the world, and yet, Lancelot was able to play her for a fool. She had allowed all the signs to pass her by, blinded herself to all the signals. Of course, she had always known something was wrong with the human woman, but she had never imagined that she would be Lancelot's mate.

The both of them had this planned?!

Beads of sweat formed and trickled down her forehead. Her palms became damp with sweat, and her stomach curled in a tight knot. Ava did not understand exactly she was feeling. It was something between anger, confusion, hurt and betrayal, or a mixture of them all. This revelation had flung her into a state of emotional crisis.

After seeing Lancelot's rather dramatic entry into the throne room, she promised herself to make sure she got to the bottom and found out whatever secrets he was hiding. She knew he would leave the palace soon after the coronation, his mind seemed distant all through, like he didn't care what was going on.

So, immediately the coronation was over, she rushed to the car park and hid among the bushes, hoping that he'll come. At first, it seemed as though he wasn't going to leave the palace. She had stood for almost an hour, and was just about to give up, when she saw Lancelot hurry towards his black Tesla.

She hid carefully and watched him start his engine. Immediately, she rushed into her red Toyota and started the engine, making sure she followed his trail carefully. She got to the hospital the same time he did, but knew it would be risky to follow him behind directly, so, she waited, and patiently. She sat in the waiting room and masked her face with oversized sunshades. Ava counted the seconds as she sat down, and when she finally decided to stand up, Peter, the Butler from the palace and a strange woman she had never seen before, rushed into the hospital, side by side.

So, she decided to follow them closely. Until they finally got to the door of the VVIP hospital ward, where she stood right now, listening to the most devastating news of her entire life.

"What are you going to do now? This is a really big news, how do you intend to handle it?" the feminine voice spoke up, it had to be the strange woman from earlier.

"I intend to keep it a secret, at least for now." It was Lancelot's voice she heard next. Ava had to cover her mouth to stop her from scoffing aloud. She was so bitter, she feared that if she made even the slightest noise, she could be heard. "This must not leave this room, I beg of you," Lancelot could be heard pleading with them.

Within her, Ava chuckled bitterly. Too late Lancelot, it had already, she thought to herself.

"You have our word, Your Grace. We would not speak of this outside," she heard the butler say.

Fools! All of them, each and everyone of them were fools for thinking they could mess with her for so long. She would show them, each and everyone of them.

Ava could not stand there and listen to more of what any of them had to say. She was already at her limit, if she heard one more word from any of them, she might just step into that room and strangle the bitch lying on that bed. She turned on her heels and dashed out of the hospital corridor. She did not look back or even say a word to anybody until she was in the safety of her car. Finally, she could scream and punch her steering wheel as much as she wanted to. Ava groaned in anger and banged her fist against her steering wheel, while screaming at the top of her voice. She continued to do this until she felt calm enough to drive, before she put her car on ignition and drove off, back to the palace. Her eyes narrowed on the road, with fury. She had to do something about that Roxanne girl, and she had to do it fast. There was no way she was letting a mere scrawny human get in the way of what she had worked so hard for all her life, she was born to be Luna queen, and nobody was going to ruin that for her.

Her grip on her steering wheel tightened. Absolutely nobody.

When she arrived at the palace, she alighted from her car and walked straight into the palace building. She was going to meet the one person who could make her nightmare go away; Madeline. But first, she needed to know if the new queen dowager was on her side.

As she stepped into the palace, a group of girls-childhood friends from high school and college, all daughters of lords and dukes, rushed to her. Cheering her on with the congratulations, she would soon be the Luna queen after all, right? Ava could not imagine how they would make mockery of her if they found out Lancelot didn't want her. Their chastisement would be worse than their adoration and praises, she knew this because she knew they all envied her, and the position she was lucky to have gotten.

Her name could not crumble into pieces for anything.

Ava finally found a way to excuse herself and push past them, heading straight for the stairs that led to the series of royal rooms. She was lucky to replace the corridor empty, which meant she couldn't be caught transferring her aggression to anyone, it was not a very good look for a Luna-to-be. Especially not on the day of her Alpha King's coronation.

She walked straight towards the queen dowager's door and didn't stop - not even to think - until she was in front of it, knocking steadily.

Finally, she heard the queen's voice call out for her to come in. Wasting no time, she pushed the door open, and walked in. She tried to appear steady, even though her legs were shaking in anger.

Madeline turned her face towards the door, hoping it was Lancelot who had returned or someone who bore message of Lancelot's return. Instead, she saw her future daughter-in-law, mounted at the front of her door with a displeased look on her face.

The elderly woman took few steps away from her window, which she had been staring at, and moved closer to Ava. She took one long look at her, before speaking.

"Ava child, are you alright?"

No. She was far from alright. Ava thought. But, she couldn't hit the queen with all the painful facts yet, it might complicate matters for her. If Ava was going to be successful, she was going to have to think things through thoroughly, and operate by taking one step at a time, always.

So, she kept a straight face and bowed to the queen dowager.

"Yes, Your Highness. However, I come baring news of Lancelot's previous, and current whereabouts."

Madeline's eyes lit up with sudden and immediate interest. She had been dying to know what had warranted Lancelot to walk out of his coronation ceremony, without a single care.

Madeline cleared her throat and straightened her stance, trying to hide her eager curiosity.

"Speak child," she ordered, and Ava rose up her head.

Ava had to tell Madeline what was going on, she knew Madeline would be able to solve the problem; their problem.

"His highness left the coronation earlier, and has taken no heed to the rituals coming up, because he is with the human woman, Roxanne Harvey, the one he introduced to us as his Secretary." Even as she mentioned it now, pain continued to squeeze her heart within her chest.

In that instant, Madeline froze in anger.

The human woman? Again!

This was it, that lady just had to go, or she would end up being the end of them all.