The Alpha King's Princess
The Alpha King’s Princess – Chapter 26

Allen sighed and glanced at me. “Miss Hedy, there is something you should know.”

“Before my birthday?” I repeated. The anger in me rose. Why wouldn’t Candido have mentioned that? There wasn’t a lot of time between now and my birthday to make sure this didn’t happen, but I couldn’t show my anger. I needed to know why. “You make it sound like it was supposed to be years from now.”

“Quite honestly, I had hoped that His Majesty would replace a way out of this agreement by now. He had been putting it off for years for good reason.” His lips twitched. “If he were to break the engagement now, I believe it would be the proper time, but he is a man of honor.”

I nodded. I understood that. I knew that. There was no one more honorable than Candido.

“What’s this very good reason?”

Allen hesitated and he sighed. “Personally, I believe that His Majesty would be… ill-served by have Miss Sibyl on the throne by his side. She is ill-tempered and… quite selfish.”

My lips twitched. “You could just say she’s a bitch.”

Allen laughed. “It is not kind to speak ill of people.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s obvious why you’re the Secretary.”

Claire didn’t like her either. I bet he heard enough about Claire’s dislike of her, her pack members, and a few other things every time they spoke, but it was interesting that Allen had his own reasons to dislike her.

“What else? This… deal was made a while ago, right?”

“His Majesty was in a vulnerable position,” Allen said. “Though I understand his reasoning, I also believe that Alpha Norton simply saw an opportunity to elevate himself through his daughter’s relationship with His majesty.”

I nodded. “I agree.”

“Aside from that, the truth is that all the rumors are a lie,” Allen said. “Who started the rumors, I can only guess. What their motivations were, we don’t know. I imagine that Alpha Norton might have had a hand in it to keep him isolated, but His Majesty has leveraged those rumors to protect himself and the Full Moon Pack.”

I nodded. “So, what is the truth?”

“Vampires infiltrated the old Alpha King’s estate and burned everyone inside alive.” He winced. “At the time, the Pack had been in the middle of a civil war due to issues of succession between Candido and his brother.”

Candido’s brother was someone I only knew of in passing. I didn’t know if he was older or younger, but I thought I’d heard that he was supposed to be the heir of the pack rather than Candido. Candido didn’t talk about his parents, but I had a feeling that I needed to look into it to get a sense of the truth of Candido’s deal with Norton.

“How did Candido escape?”

“No one knows,” Allen said. “He’s never told anyone what happened that night. He was young at the time, and the nature of the in-fighting was never quite made clear, but I was a lower-level pack member at the time. I wasn’t even a part of the government at the time.”

How had Candido found and chosen him to be his Secretary of State? Maybe I should look into Allen’s past as well. I knew that he was loyal to Candido, but it never hurt to be too careful.

“What does all of this have to do with the Red Moon Pack?” I asked. “

“Well, it was a mess. The surviving pack members fought for control, and Alpha Norton backed Candido’s right to be alpha at the time.” Allen shook his head. “At the time, it seemed like the only option. In exchange, Candido promised to marry Sibyl and unify the two packs.”

I set my jaw, trying to imagine it. I was a little fuzzy about when Candido had become the Alpha King, but from what Allen said, it seemed like he was young. He was probably in his twenties at the time. The ease at which Norton secured that marriage and the ease of backing Candido at the time felt too easy. Maybe that was my prejudice against Sibyl, maybe it was just my protectiveness towards Candido, but it all seemed orchestrated. I thought back to the sight of Sibyl in the foyer of the Estate. Where had she been that night that would have required a dress like that? Somewhere warm, for sure, despite the fall chill. It was too cool in the Full Moon and Red Moon Pack’s territories for her dress to make sense. She didn’t even have a wrap on, and there were no events going on that night. It could have been just a ploy to appeal to Candido, but I wasn’t convinced of that.

It was suspicious, but there was nothing more about it I could glean. Besides that, what did she usually do all day other than bother Candido? She reminded me of Bella: pretty and empty-headed, but she was cunning. What else did her father have her doing these days? There were so many questions to replace answers to and so little time. I thought back to my nightmare and shuddered.

I had to avoid that future at all costs.

“This estate is built in a different place than the old one,” Allen said. “It’s just a burned-down ruin now.”

I set my jaw. “You’re saying that Candido will marry Sibyl.”

“Short of replaceing his mate, yes.”

I frowned and looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“Legally, he couldn’t be forced to uphold the agreement if he were to replace his mate. And there isn’t a werewolf with good sense in the world who would try to pressure him into doing so.” Allen chuckled. “Even if His Majesty were to replace his mate after they were married, there would be nothing to keep him in that marriage.”

His lips twitched as if he wanted to say more, but he didn’t. I slumped into my seat. It was such a small hope. Finding one’s mate was said to be fated, that there was nothing that would keep you from meeting them, but the question of when was up in the air. Some people only met their mate mere days before one of them died. Some people had a lifetime with their mates.

With my luck, Candido will marry Sibyl and not meet his mate until I am long dead.

“How would someone even verify that? Legally?” I asked. “Is this some special branch of law?”

He laughed, “Yes. It is. I would be happy to provide you with books on the subject, but in short, mates have matching marks. They’re called moon marks. They match, but they only show after a couple has met.”

My eyes burned. I loved the idea. I loved the possibility that maybe, just maybe, there was a way to get Candido away from Sibyl without bloodshed, but the truth was that it had been four years since I’d met Candido. After four years of us being near each other, not a single mark had appeared on my body. I didn’t know what these moon marks were supposed to look like, but I didn’t have them.

I wasn’t his mate.

I nodded slowly. Later, I would be able to focus on trying to replace Candido’s mate before the wedding date. Much later. For now, I needed to get away from Allen. I needed to be alone to let these emotions that were roiling in my chest out. I finished eating and stood.

“His Majesty wants to know if you’re coming to dinner?” Allen said, “He wants—”

I didn’t hear the rest of what he said as I took off. My eyes burned with tears. I let them streak down my cheeks, but I didn’t stop or let the sob building in my chest out. I retraced the path I had taken around the Estate, then out into the woods where Candido had led me before stopping in the clearing.

It had been years since I had been in this clearing where Candido had found me covered in b***d. I still didn’t remember what happened the night I spent in the forest. Candido had never brought me there since he picked me up until today. I sunk onto a fallen tree, sniffling. I thought about the heat of his body pressed up against me. The dreams and every fantasy I’d had over the last couple of days and tried to let it go.

As much as I loved Candido, I couldn’t be the one to take him from Sibyl. The Moon Goddess had saved my life and given me a taste of happiness, but I couldn’t expect her to favor me so much as to give me everything.

I should be grateful for what I have instead of mourning what I don’t. Hadn’t that been how I’d survived and made peace with everything that had been taken from me so far?

Still, I couldn’t stop the tears from falling. My sobbing carried across the clearing and into the sky as the sun slowly sunk beneath the horizon.