The Alpha King's Princess
The Alpha King’s Princess – Chapter 30

I chased after Candido for what felt like hours. We ran around the Estate several times before we left the nearby area and went further into the forest. We didn’t talk, but I felt the tension between us fading. When I caught up to him finally, at the edge of a stream he turned to me, his chest heaving. His eyes were bright and filled with moonlight.

“Your turn,” he said. “I’ll give you a ten second head start.”

“Ten seconds?” I cried back away from him. “That’s hardly fair!”

“You’re wasting time,” he said, leaning forward with a predatory smirk. “Make it a good hunt, little one.”

I shivered. I wanted to protest, but my body turned sharply, obeying before I could think more about it and taking off into the forest. Maybe I had used a bit of my power, but I couldn’t be sure. That hyper-aware feeling was growing fainter the farther I ran, but soon, it started to grow stronger again. I turned sharply, taking off across a river, jumping from rock to rock to confuse him before running into the forest and doubling back.

The feeling grew faint, then grew so acute, I felt his presence before he grabbed for me. On instinct, I twisted, spun, and avoided the swipe of his hand. I skidded around him as he turned to chase me. I shrieked with glee, avoiding him again as he lunged for me with a growl. I ducked around a tree and rounded it to leap onto his back. He didn’t even stumble as he avoided me. He caught me midair, turned and pinned me up against a tree.

Our lips didn’t brush, but I felt the full length of his body against mine. He let out a frustrated growl.

“… you’re sneakier than I thought.”

He backed off slowly. It took everything in me not to grab a fistful of his shirt and pull him back. Just once, I wanted more than I could have. Then, I wondered if he’d kissed Sibyl goodbye. The thought of sharing Candido’s lips with her made me sick. At the same time, I wanted to k**s him so he never thought of her again.

Did he think of her at all? He had to. He had plans to marry her. She was beautiful. He was a man of honor, but still a man. He had to have some fantasies about her.

“You look troubled,” Candido said. “Sorry that I caught you?”

I rolled my eyes. “You stink.”

He laughed as I turned sharply and headed back towards the Estate. My heart was pounding. I could still smell the warm, musky scent of his cologne and sweat though I was getting farther away from him.

He came up behind me and fell into step with me. “What are you planning for the rest of the day?”

“I wanted to go into the city.”

He hummed. “Shall we go together?”

I looked up at him. I wanted to agree. “Aren’t you busy?”

“Have I not said that you are welcome to my time?”

I worried my l*p. It was tempting, but I didn’t think I could handle going out with him just yet.

“No. I’ll be fine.”

Candido huffed. “I assume you’ll be going with Claire?”

“Claire is out with her dad. I’m just going to do some window shopping… Stretch my legs.”

Get some distance from Candido and all these thoughts. As I looked up into his brilliant green eyes, I had to look away. The image of that woman was still burning in my mind. There was a slight chance that I could replace some information about her in the city. People were always gossiping about the Alpha King. Besides, no matter how close we were, there was no way he would open up about the woman.

She was definitely dead, and even if she wasn’t, it was clearly a painful memory for him if he still kept her photo on his desk. One day I might be in a better position to ask him, but for now, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

“Take Team Gamma.”

I frowned, “What about you?”

“If my little girl doesn’t want me to go out with her, I may as well get some work done.” We reached the back door and he stroked my cheek gently. “Enjoy your time out and be safe… buy something nice.”

I shook my head. As if it would be that easy. He knew that I didn’t tend to buy things. After I washed up and got dressed to go out, Candido was outside waiting for me with Team Gamma.

He gave me his card. “If you do not spend at least a hundred dollars, I’m going to come replace you and buy something worth a thousand.”

My jaw dropped open. “Candido, you can’t just—”

“Maybe two. Especially if you only buy food.”

I pouted and glowered up at him. I took the card and got into the car, grumbling about his high-handed methods. I put the card in my purse and stuck my tongue out at him. He smiled, waved, and headed back inside.

The ride into the city was shorter than I remember, but that was probably because I was grumbling.

“If Miss Sibyl had been given his card, the pack would be bankrupt within a few hours.”

I blinked and look into the mirror, meeting the gaze of the guard in the passenger seat. I smiled at him.

“I promise not to bankrupt the pack.” I said and chuckled. “How is your wife?”

He got the usual dreamy expression on his face and his partner g*****d. “Not this again… Why would even get him started?”

“She’s pregnant,” he said. “She’s a few weeks along. I’ve already told her that she should go on maternity leave now, but she’s so stubborn, and…”

I smiled. Listening to him go on about his wife and the child they would have was warming and a sweet comfort for the ride. We went to a few stores. I didn’t know what Candido wanted me to buy, so I settled on accessories things that I wouldn’t have to worry about being too small for later.

A few pairs of shoes and a purse later, I had hit Candido’s ultimatum. I sent him a message.

Happy now?

For now, he replied.

I didn’t even want to know what that meant. I turned to leave and caught sight of Sibyl down the street. I ducked back inside, intrigued about where she was going. She seemed to be heading into the spa across the street. Somehow, I wasn’t surprised that she wasn’t going anywhere for business.

At least, that’s what I thought until she went inside, spoke to one of the people there, and were ushered upstairs. I narrowed my eyes at the sign.

Second Nature was a new spa in the city. I climbed into the car and searched the spa on my phone. On the surface, it seemed like a regular spa. They took appointments and claimed to have spa services that would make anyone more beautiful, but in one of the photos, there was something in the crest of the store that didn’t look quite right. I saved the image and planned to analyze it later.

We headed back to the Estate. I carried my things to my room and headed back down for dinner. Candido was there, and though we didn’t talk much, just sitting across the table from him made me feel better. He smiled at me lightly.

“I have missed having dinner with you.”

I pouted. “Then stop skipping it.”

He chuckled. “Petulant, little girl. I should turn you over my knee.”

My eyes widened. He stiffened and cleared his throat. “I would never hit you in anger, Hedy.”

My face burned as I thought about it. I wasn’t sure what to make of the jolt of excitement the thought went through me. Clearly, I needed to get out of her. I hurried through dinner with some excuse about homework.

When I got to my room, I opened my laptop to analyze the logo of Second Nature and check on the progress of the investigation of the murders. The autopsies had been completed, revealing that every victim had been drained of b***d. Even the ones with their throats torn open. I had thought they might have just bled out based on the size of the wounds.

There were a few broken bones and bruises otherwise, but it seemed all the victims had simply been drained to death.

They were also all of awakened bloodlines.

Were any of them members of Moon Shadow? If they were, how would I know who they were until I tried to call them? I sent out a check-in message across the network before going on to the results of the scene canvas.

There was a trace of some unidentified substance on the ground and splattered on one of the walls, but the analysis hadn’t been completed on it. From the color of it, it seemed like b***d, but there was something off about it. It was darker and if I looked closer, I swear there was something shimmering in it.

What the hell could it be?