Lycan King's Nemesis
Chapter 92

**GWEN**

"I must say you look more stunning, Gwen," The former Queen spoke up, garnering a blush that spread from my face to my arms.

"Thanks, Your Highness." That was all I could say and proceeded to pick up a yellow material and pretended to admire it. I could kill Abby for being the reason I was out with her mother today instead of her.

the Queen couldn't wait and insisted we went shopping for the materials to be used for the ball the next morning. Normally, the agreement was for Abby to go with her. Then this morning, she suddenly complained of having a severe backache which warranted me to come.

I knew it was a blatant lie. But I couldn't expose her. So, here I was wandering around eggshells around the Queen, and beseeching the goddess for this shopping to come to an end as fast as possible.

I could still see the hint of a smile on Abby's face when she suggested I went instead since I had nothing to do this morning. I was about to tell them I had training to attend when the former Queen decided to rope me in, believing I would make a better shopping partner than her daughter.

"So, Gwen..." She started conversationally, picking a purple fabric and flailing side to side. Her furrowed brow told me she didn't like it. "How has it been with my son?"

There goes it. The things I feared the most. I cleared my throat, dropping the fabrics in my hand. It began to weigh a ton. "It has been amazing, your_"

"Mother." She cut me off. "Call me mother. I would like to think I have made that impression on you by now."

I forced a smile with a single nod. "Of course, M-mother."

"Good." She picked another. "So, what were you saying?"

A maid was behind us with a cart. Not so close and not too far.

"As I said, it has been... adventurous." It was accompanied by a nervous chuckle.

"You have to feel free, Gwendolyn. You are the Queen and right now I am your subject. What was one of the things I advised you about Queens and subjects?" "That I should never let them see me as timid and weak."

"Correct." She pulled a sunny smile, silent for some time I almost rejoiced. Until she said the next words that made my jaw drop. "Gwendolyn... I know everything my son has been up to in my absence and you don't have to cover up for him. He doesn't deserve that."

"What? How?"

"I have eyes, child." She tossed in another fabric as we turned to another aisle bearing fabric gems. "A Queen does not only rely on her natural instinct, my love. You have to employ the instincts and eyes of others to get as much information as you can. You can't tell when it would come in handy."

"But I can't. He would catch me. Ashton is_"

"Men are not as smart as we give them credit for." She faced me, taking me in closely. "Why have you allowed him to ridicule you like that for so long?"

"I was trying to understand him," I cried. "He was hurt in the past."

"And you? Where you not hurt?"

"W-what do you mean?"

She chuckled. Dryly. "Oh, I love this." She picked a gem to observe and ended up tossing it in the mix. "It would fit your eyes."

That was not my concern. I was bothered more by what she said. Did she know about my past? About Julian? About my pack?

"You didn't expect me to make you my son's wife like that without doing a proper check on you." She scoffed. "I am not that daft."

I was dumbstruck, my heart thundering out of beat.

"Don't worry," She patted my right shoulder. "You have my heart. I don't mind that you haven't shifted yet, or that you were once in love with some dweeb!" Julian!

"All that matters is that you have a kind heart and have been an acceptable Queen. My son is finally seeing that you are the one meant for him. Do you see how he looks at you? He can't even help himself."

If the ground would open and swallow me this minute, I would not mind at all. "He still hates me."

"That is what you want to believe. But deep in there, I'm sure you know that's a lie." But it's the truth. Now that I think about it, I am more certain it was because of the coming of the former Queen Ashton's behaviour towards me chnaged. He didn't want me to spill all his shortcomings to her or the Queen to replace out I left him. That had to be it.

On our way back home, for a while the car was silent I was glad that the interrogation didn't continue. My fingers kept twitching as the idea of Ashton's deceit swirled in my head. I couldn't wait to confront him about it. The piece was finally coming together.

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The former Queen broke my heart by shifting in her seat until she was facing me and asked, "Have you guys talked about having an heir, yet?"

Chills engulfed my body and my fingers started to quaver on my lap. I glanced up. "I-we have been trying. I mean... trying to talk about it."

"Oh... That's fine. I mean, I'm not in a hurry, you two still have a lot of bonding to do and with the fortification taking place after the ball, I see no reason why it won't happen after that. Take your time."

She is not mad at me? Just like tha_did she say fortification? "Fortification?" I offloaded my thoughts.

"Yes, fortification," she repeated, fixing her eyes on me. "It's a compulsory ritual for royalties. It has been like that since the inception of our bloodline. The only reason I didn't insist on it after your wedding was because you two needed time and judging from the way your marriage was fixed, I knew Ashton wouldn't have agreed. And acceptance rituals become futile if the couples abhor each other."

I couldn't believe that this same ritual I had been yearning for was naturally coming to me. I know Abby promised to speak to Ashton about it, but since then she hasn't given me any feedback on his response. But with the Queen assuring me of it taking place, I knew I had nothing to worry about anymore.

The minute we got to the palace, the maids hurried out to pack our shopping bags inside. The former Queen appeared beside me. "I think your hair needs a trim." She took a strand and accessed. "It's spiking at the ends." She lowered it and sauntered ahead.

I watched her enter hence I dashed after her. My hair was spiked? No one drew my attention to that!

That evening at dinner, everyone was present; Ashton, his mother, Abby, Williams and me. And of course without shame, his mistress.

She had the guts to come out of her chamber to dine with us. My mouth itched to lash out at her and ask her to leave.

I didn't need to seeth for long as the Queen momentarily cleared her throat and asked, "Merit, I thought the Deltas are supposed to leave outside the palace? What are you doing here?" I forgot she didn't mention her when she told me she had an extra eye telling her everything that went on in her absence.

"I-I was... The King asked me to move in." Merit stuttered, looking to Ashton to save her. Unfortunately, he didn't bat an eye her way. I nearly choked with a laugh.

"Well, my son made certain impromptu decisions that are not healthy for his marriage and of course the Kingdom. You are a Delta and only required to come to the palace daily and even at that, you are not welcomed inside the palace but outside where your duty demands."

I dropped my spoon and entwined my fingers as my eyes zeroed in on her, waiting for her to counter the Queen. My ears were alert from our end, assuming Ashton would contend with his mother.

He didn't say a word.

So, it was true? His mother's word was the law. Ha!

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"Yes, Your Highness." She bowed her head. "I shall move out as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Merit. I understand you have come to care deeply for my son." She sipped from her glass, dropped it and shook her head. "But he is taken now as you can see. What we should look out for is the prosperity of their marriage and of the pack. Please, do try to understand."

"Of course, your highness."

"Good."

The remainder of the evening meal went smoothly. Well, for others, not for me. I was leaping with joy, unable to contain myself. Merit was leaving! There was no way in hell she would disobey the former Queen. That was for sure. And if she tried to trick her way through, I would inform the Queen of all of her disrespectful feats towards me.

She wouldn't dare.

"I can tell your spirit is high with the outcome of this evening's dinner," Abby said on our way out. "You have no idea, Abby. That bitch is finally leaving the palace. Do you know what that means to me?" "Yeah, I'm delighted too. She was starting to act like she was the Queen."

"Mhhmn... hey, has Ashton brought up the moving-out topic again?" I asked her in a hushed tone. She fluttered her head, skating her eyes about. "And we even have a bigger problem." "Which is?"

"My mother. If Ashton told her Tyler was my mate, what am I going to do?"

Fuck, that's true.

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