The Alpha King's Princess
The Alpha King’s Princess – Chapter 57

I shuddered, thinking back to the man and the glow of his eyes, the way his face had shifted and changed. I felt sick. He’d met Candido already and no one had ever noticed the difference.

The link between vampires and werewolves had to be stronger than I thought if they could slip into our society basically undetected.

Thad to talk to Candido. I had to try and keep calm during the conversation and not get upset with him. He was such a great man, sticking to his morals and all that, but this was about more than that.

Now that he had at least started to think about what vampires could want with werewolf women, why they showed up pregnant and so on, he had to start questioning Sibyl. Maybe he just believed that she was entangling herself with another werewolf to spite him or just to be willful and selfish, but maybe not.

I got out of the tub and wrapped my injuries as much as possible. Someone had left a tray of food and I ate it.

My hunger strike wasn’t doing me any favors if I had to contend with that man again. I needed every bit of my strength.

Maybe that was why I had been overpowered so easily. I slipped into the biggest, baggiest set of clothes I still owned, hoping that it would be enough to cover my bruises. I didn’t want to add more stress to this conversation.

Maybe I was feeling a little unsure, but I knocked softly. There was no answer. I pushed the door open as Candido let out a low growl and lifted a sheet towards his face. He reached out for the glass of whiskey beside him that barely had a thin layer of the stuff and drank.

He wrinkled his nose and looked at the glass with a glare.

Then he looked up at me. He set the glass down. His eyes were bloodshot and tired, but alert.

Well, as alert as they could be when he looked so tired.

“Hedy…” He swallowed as I closed the door behind him. I gave half a mind to pick up our argument or show him the video, but my heart softened.

He looked exhausted.

I crossed the room slowly. He seemed nervous, as if he thought I was going to slap him. I glanced over the mess sprawled across his desk. Papers were sliding dangerously towards the edge in no order, files were stacked up around him and everything seemed to be in disorder.

I picked up the decanter and opened it, pouring him another glass before closing it and placing it back on the shelf behind his desk. I picked the glass up and placed it in his hand before nudging him aside to gather the papers up.

It had been years of spying on Candido’s work, asking Allen, and just being in the area when he worked that had informed me of how he organized himself.

I resorted the papers, straightened the leaning towers of files, and set up the file holder he’d knocked over to place his files in order.

While I did this, he said nothing. I barely heard him breathing beside me, but i didn’t try to say anything.

When his desk was orderly and the file he was pouring over was in the proper order, I retreated from his space.

“I’ll be back with dinner for you.”

I walked out, setting my jaw against all the words I could say. He was in no position to listen to me. I couldn’t even bear the thought of burdening him further when he looked so exhausted.

A lot of the paperwork on the desk was about the attacks on the werewolf territory, but there were a few other files on people who had been at the rugby tournament. I didn’t know why he was looking into that, but I bet it had something to do with the two women Artemis had saved from those men.

I needed to check in with the progression of their interrogation. My mind whirled about what that vampire could know about my mother and me. If there was even a small chance that I could use it all to catch him and get information out of him, I would do so.

A thought struck me: where had Lilian gotten the poison she used on me from? It wasn’t something that should have been readily accessible in Wolf Fang, or any real territory. If I wasn’t wrong, Lilian was originally from a pack along the border.

“Miss Hedy?”

I stopped as a maid came down the hallway carrying a tray. She looked pale and a little worried.

“A-Are you joining His Majesty for dinner?” she asked.

My lips twitched, and I offered my hands. “Ill take it to him. I’m sure he’s ready to eat.”

She smiled. “I’m glad you two have made up. I’ll come back with your tray shortly.”

I didn’t bother to correct her or tell her not to bother. I just took the tray from her and went back to Candido’s office. When I entered the room, Candido’s head was down on his desk. His shoulders moved in the slow rhythm of sleep. The glass of whiskey was still just as full as it had been when I poured it.

I set the tray on the table beside the couch and crossed the room to him.

He looked so tired, even in his sleep, but he looked much younger too. I stroked his hair, smiling a little at the way he turned his head into my hand, just enough to press firmly against my head.

He murmured and seemed to settle into a more restful sleep. I sighed. I couldn’t let him sleep like this. He’d wake up with a pain in his neck and back and be in a foul mood. I pushed a bit of my power as I crouched down and slung his arm around my shoulder. With a grunt, Ilifted him from the seat. My legs trembled, still tired. I felt my power waning so I dragged him around the table as quickly as possible.

By the time I made it to the couch, I was panting and sweating. Why was he so heavy? I thought of the chiseled planes of his chest and shook my head at the thought. Of course, he was heavy. He was nothing but muscle.

Carefully, I got him onto the longest couch in his office. I shifted and pushed him until he was on his back and I could get him out of his jacket I unbuttoned his vest and shirt to the middle of his chest and pulled his tie off.

Then, I got his shoes off and got his feet onto the couch. I huffed, slumping forward to catch my breath.

I needed rest.

I probably needed food too. Eating the dinner the maid had brought him was tempting, but I pushed that thought away. A knock sounded on the door and the maid leaned in with another tray.

She smiled brightly and set it on the table beside the couch.

She looked so pleased with herself. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that we still hadn’t talked.

She left soon after and I went back to his desk with the plate she’d brought me. The staff had outdone themselves with the steak and seafood. I could practically taste the ocean as I read over Candido’s files.

I hoped to replace the book, but I didn’t look too hard, taking the chance to look through the files on the desk.

There were a lot of detailed reports from attacks on

New Moon attacked.

They looked like as though they’d been printed out.

The scent of fresh printer ink still wafted from the pages, so I guessed they had been emailed to him

That meant I could access them later.

I ate the rest of the food and covered my tray. I carried his tray to the table beside the couch and shook out a blanket over him.

As I turned to leave, his hand wrapped around my arm. I tugged, trying to get away, but he didn’t let me go.

“Hedy” he breathed. His brow furrowed.

I pulled again, but he growled and yanked me towards him and onto the couch. Before I could try and slip out, he turned, trapping me between his chest and the back of the couch. All I could feel was the heat of his body.

All I could smell was his whiskey and his cologne.

As rumbling sigh of contentment went through his chest as he tightened his grip on me.

I wanted to fight, but after my encounter with that vampire, I just wanted to rest and feel safe.

And there was nowhere safer for me than in Candido’s arms.

I closed my eyes and decided that just for now, I’d let go of why we weren’t speaking and just let him protect me.