The Alpha King's Princess
The Alpha King’s Princess – Chapter 51

The message that I hadn’t read from Armageddon was still in my inbox, but I just couldn’t focus enough to even think about reading it. If he was really my mate, then I had time. I couldn’t even entertain that thought more than I already had without dealing with my feelings for Candido.

Rather than opening the document, I went searching through the Moon Shadow mainframe for

discrepancies and glitches. I found nothing, but that didn’t mean they didn’t exist. I turned to the evidence of the attacks from New Moon that were flooding in when the chat box opened with a message from Armageddon.

You haven’t replied to my message. Are you avoiding me?

Yes. Yes, I was, and I wasn’t ashamed to acknowledge that, but I didn’t want to tell him that. Another message appeared

Did I frighten you? I know I can be… intense.

My lips twitched, and I replied.

I’m just not in a place to deal with a mate right now.

I could see him trying to reply, but nothing came. I continued working through my notes until another message popped up.

Neither am I. Not with any focus, and I would never want to throw away the Moon Goddess’ gift… It’s complicated. I understand. As I said before, when this is all over, we should talk.

I smiled, sniffling and wiping my eyes. Why couldn’t Candido talk to me like this? Why couldn’t he just be open and lay it all out? Maybe Armageddon was my mate, maybe he wasn’t, but I appreciated his openness and understanding.

Thank you for being honest with me. I can’t promise to be what you envisioned, but the Moon Goddess has led me here, so I can only trust in her plan.

He replied, Are you religious?

I never was before, I typed. But my life has turned out such that I have to believe that she has some sort of plan. That she has to exist.

Even if that plan is horrible? He asked.

I paused and asked, Are you referring to me or how your life has turned out?

That was probably too personal of a question for people who had only just met in person just once, but I couldn’t help it. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions. I was safer behind the screen, behind the mask. All of this was so much easier because I didn’t know him. If I didn’t want to meet him again, there was no guarantee that I would.

My life is complicated. Troubled. Full of secrets, not just Moon Shadow. It is hard to explain.

I nodded. Same.

Let’s speak about something happier. What’s your favorite food?

I laughed, charmed. I settled back into the cushions on my bed and replied, letting myself drift into the ease of talking to Armageddon as my computer scoured the mainframe for clues as to who the mole could be.

I am the biggest fan of chocelate cake with a large glass of chocolate milk on a bad day.

He sent a laughing emoji. I didn’t even know that we could do that on the Moon Shadow chat network.

My teeth are rotting just thinking about it.

I don’t know how long I stayed up talking to Armageddon, but I felt better when I logged off and caught a few hours of sleep. Armageddon was a nice guy. He seemed to have a good sense of humor. He teased me, but it wasn’t patronizing. That was probably because he didn’t know how old I was, or maybe he didn’t care. They said that meeting your mate, feeling that pull, put a lot of things in perspective and made you reconsider everything you thought was important to you. Maybe moving on from my feelings for Candido wouldn’t have to feel like I was giving up the world because Armageddon was such a nice guy.

Claire texted me. Hey, I’m picking you up and dragging you out of the house. Call it a break from your isolation. Be there in ten.

It wasn’t odd that she would pick me up, but her message caught me off guard. She would have messaged me earlier if it wasn’t something urgent. Did she know something? Had the wedding been moved up? I could see Sibyl pulling something like this.

I jumped out of bed and rushed through, getting ready.

With just a minute to spare, I hurried out the door and down the stairs. No sooner had I made it to the foyer, I felt his presence behind me.

“Hedy!” Candido called from down the hall, practically running after me.

I ignored him and headed outside, but he caught up to me quickly, grabbing me by my arm and turning me around as Claire pulled up in front of the house. I met her gaze through the window. Her eyes were wide and darting between the two of us.

“Hedy, you have to talk to me. This has gone on far enough.”

I wasn’t going to argue with him anymore, though. I’d said everything I needed to say. What he did about it afterward was entirely his decision. Honestly, I didn’t know what else to say. It felt like talking to a brick wall.

I looked up at him. His eyes were so tired, pleading, and desperate, but I saw no understanding in his eyes. He looked like he’d had a sleepless night, but I couldn’t feel bad. He deserved to toss and turn. He hadn’t changed his mind. He just wanted me to agree, to give in, to let things go back to the way they were, but I couldn’t do that.

I pulled away from him and walked down the stairs without looking back. I got into the passenger seat and didn’t look back at him. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him still standing there. His fists clenched at his sides. He looked like he wanted tell Claire not to go anywhere.

“Uh.. Hedy?”

“I thought we were leaving.”

Claire shifted gears and we pulled away. Team Gamma

-2’s jeep followed behind us, but I relaxed back in the seat.

“If you reach into the backseat, there’s food, though I promise to swear you wouldn’t eat a thing.”

I reached back with a laugh and pulled out the warm roast beef sandwich she’d packed.

“Thanks. Where are we going and what’s the hurry?”

“I didn’t want you staying in your room all day. I know all of this is hitting you really hard.” Claire sighed.” Seeing His Majesty like that was almost harder.”

I bit into the sandwich and shrugged. “He started this.”

She stopped at one of our favorite look out points where we’d go when we just needed to get out of the estate. She reached back and pulled out her own sandwich, leaning back in her seat with a troubled sigh.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She hummed, frowning thoughtfully. “It’s… nothing I think.”

“That frown says it’s more than nothing. Spit it out.”

She glanced at me. “It’s Francium.”

I wiggled my eyebrows. “Getting bored in bed or..?”

She scowled though her cheeks turned pink. “That’s not the problem at all. It’s just… I think there’s something wrong with him.”

I licked my lips. “Like what?”

“Well, we went to the show,” her lips twitched. “Well, we tried to, but it was cancelled. He wanted to take me out to eat but he didn’t want me to drive since I’d already driven to New Moon. I got in his car but… there was this scent in the car.”

“Like dirty socks?”

She shook her head. “Like b***d.”

I still and stared at her. “B***d?”

She nodded. “Lots of b***d. I asked him about it, but he said that sometimes he coughs up b***d when he’s late on his medication. He tries not to let it happen often, but it does happen. That would have been fine, but it wasn’t the scent of his b***d alone in the care.

There were other scents.”

She worried her l*p. “I almost… I almost wish Dad hadn’t trained me so well.”

I hesitated. There were only a few different reasons for someone’s car to smell like b***d and almost none of them were good.

“Animal b***d?”

She shook her head. “Francium’s… a bit squeamish. Or so he says.”

“Well, there could be other explanations. Injuries? He’s the VP of the rugby team’s administration. He’s probably had to cart people who got injured on the field to the hospital, or even people from his own pack.”

She nodded, but she didn’t seem convinced.

“What else?”

“I could be wrong,” she said. “Maybe it’s just a kink.”

“What is it?”

“He.. I think he tried to bite me,” Claire said. “On my neck. He didn’t. it wasn’t like a nibble. I definitely felt him opening his mouth wide. He pulled back and he looked so… scared. I don’t know what to make of that?”

My b***d ran cold.