The Alpha King's Princess
The Alpha King’s Princess – Chapter 13

If vampires and werewolves shared a cult, what else did werewolves and vampires share? More than that, if we had inherited the cult from them, what else had we inherited? Were we once truly at peace? How had we become enemies?

Was there even a chance that we could go back to being somewhat at peace? If there was a way to do so, it would make Moon Shadow’s mission easier, but I wasn’t sure that it was possible. The list of questions seemed to grow longer the more I thought about it. As I turned the corner and headed towards my next class, a bit of bright yellow tape caught my eye. Three workers had sectioned off part of the hallway.

“What happened?”

The worker shrugged. “Some youngest probably lost control and damaged the wall. Nothing much to worry about.”

I nodded but scanned the claw marks. They were oddly made, deeper in some places than in others. It was pretty characteristic of someone with super strength not quite controlling their strength. When their strength waxed and waned like that, it caused their attacks to be oddly uneven like that. But why would someone have lost control like that here? Had no one seen them? How was that possible?

Werewolves with awakened bloodlines didn’t tend to go through bouts of uncontrollable or unstable strength like that unless they were in the middle of shifting or something else was wrong. There was no other damage, so there couldn’t have been a fight or anything like that. Maybe he was right, but the marks were similar to the marks that had been left in Moon Shadow’s headquarters.

It seemed that I was right about an affiliate of the vampires being in the academy, but what could explain the marks on the wall and why no one seemed to really notice them. There were no whispers on the school forums about the damage done. There was a bit of jeering about it and some anger at the damage done, but nothing saying that anyone knew anything about what caused it.

My next class was literature, but I wasn’t paying attention to it, letting the professor’s words drift through my mind as I considered the attack on Moon Shadow, the book on vampires, and the passage in the Moon Goddess book. It was all connected somehow, but it wasn’t clear how it was all connected or how to catch the person who had infiltrated the Academy.

When class ended, I headed to the cafeteria.

“Hedy?”

I turned to look at Francium as he came towards me, looking no less determined than he had at the dinner. He was dressed nicely again today, a bit more casually than before. His smile trembled on the edges as he grew nearer. I really hoped he wouldn’t bring up his confession or anything related to it, but I knew that I didn’t have that great of luck either.

“Hi, Francium.”

He glanced around. “Is Claire not coming? You two seem inseparable.”

“She’ll be along in a little while.”

“Would you… mind having lunch with me?” Francium asked.

I gave him a thin smile. “I really don’t think that’s a good idea. I really don’t want to give you mixed signals or anything.”

I also didn’t want to feed the rumor mill as it were or give any of Francium’s fan club any ideas.

He flushed and ducked his head. “You… must be after someone else to not even give me a chance…, right?”

I considered not telling him the truth, but I thought more about it. Telling him I was interested in someone else might be the cleanest way to end this. Candido was certainly someone else, but he was also so much more than Francium was. I saw Claire coming down the hallway. Her eyes shot straight to Francium, and I smiled.

Even if I had any interest in Francium, he was way too high profile for what I needed to be able to do, but he and Claire would make a great couple. If he did join the Full Moon Pack, or she went to the New Moon Pack, there might be true unity between the three biggest packs. It would definitely help Moon Shadow’s agenda if that were the case.

“I am,” I said and raised my hand. “Hey, Claire. How was the office?”

“Long line,” she said and smiled at Francium, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “Hi, Francium… are you joining us for lunch?”

Her eyes were hopeful, but I doubted that he even noticed it as he stared at the floor.

He winced and shook his head. “I… I think I should probably get some work done. M-Maybe next time?”

He glanced at me. I looked at Claire, hoping to convey to her through my gaze that she should insist on him joining them, but she dropped her gaze and shuffled her feet, looking just a put out as he was.

“Right… well. Next time.”

I almost g*****d, but I couldn’t let it end like this. This was a prime opportunity to get them to spend more time together.

“By the Goddess, I can’t believe it. A mistress?” Someone whispered. “I guess like mother like daughter.”

“Not exactly. At least Hedy is serving the Alpha King. You think her mom would be proud of her?”

“Definitely!”

Fury burned in me. There was only one person in this school that could be spreading that kind of rumor. There was only one person in the school who would have reason to.

Someone laughed and I turned slowly. “Francium, would you look after Claire?”

“Hedy, what—”

I scanned the room, searching for Bella and Linda. I didn’t stop to explain but crossed the cafeteria as Bella threw her head back and laughed.

“She’s so pitiful. I feel bad for her. You would think she would have some more respect for herself…” Bella sighed dramatically. “But I’m glad she died without passing on any diseases to my father and he learned from his mistakes.”

I couldn’t stop myself. I had let Bella get away with a lot for lack of choice and not caring, but talking about my mother like that wasn’t it. My mother wasn’t a mistress. She didn’t have a disease. She was acting Secretary of Wolf Fang until she died. The only reason that she was never acknowledged as such was because Steven refused to have their marriage recorded and made legitimate. He tricked her for her family’s money, her beauty, and once he was done with her, he all but abandoned her.

She held that position and basically ran the pack while he was romancing Lilian. She died due to complications when she gave birth to me. I never knew her personally, just the pictures I had been shown and the few that had survived Lilian’s attempt to erase everything she was.

I reached the table, barely containing my fury. I didn’t want to cause a scene. I had to calm down, but as Bella and Linda looked at me, I knew they weren’t going to stop pushing until I reacted.

“What’s going on?” Claire asked.

“You know I hear that you are the people you hang around,” Linda said, looking at Claire derisively. “Do you serve the Alpha King too? He’s quite the man, isn’t he?”

Claire stepped forward, growling. I held a hand out to stop her from advancing. Claire’s status was well about Linda’s. With just a few words, she could destroy Linda and Bella’s social careers at the academy, but she never used her power because I wanted to be low-key.

It was amazing that even now, I could think about that when the fury was boiling in me.

“Linda, consider this a warning,” Claire said, her voice as cold as steel. “Shut your mouth or we’re going to have a problem.”

Linda shot to her feet, flipping her plate towards us, and narrowly missing throwing her food onto me.

“What if I don’t? Are you going to fight me, bitch? Then go on. Come and fight me.”

I held Claire back, though she didn’t even move. Bella’s gaze jumped between the two of us, and she smiled.

“You’re getting awfully offended for the truth,” Bella said. “Your mother was never married to my father.”

“Your father would be nothing without my mother,” I said coldly. “I’ve let you get away with enough, Bella. Don’t tempt me.”

Bella stood up and snarled at me. “And what are you going to do to me? You think my father will let you get away with it?”

I met Bella’s gaze, coldly. She paled and jerked back.

“Keep my mother’s name out of your mouth,” I said. “It would be best if you go back to pretending we’re complete strangers.”

Linda growled and swiped at me. I pushed Claire back barely a step before catching Linda’s arm, pulling her across the table and shoving her head into the mess of food that had been on her plate.