The Alpha King's Princess
The Alpha King’s Princess – Chapter 58

I woke up slowly, alone on the couch and wrapped up in the blanket that I had put over Candido the night before. There was faint light coming through the window. It couldn’t have been any time later than five or six in the morning. My body still ached from the night before, but I didn’t feel as bad as I had. I lifted my head to look at the tray on the table. There was only one, and it was different from the one that had been there last night.

I bet it was breakfast for me. I set my jaw. I needed to eat. I needed my strength, but that didn’t mean I had to eat with him or in a way that he knew I was eating. I could sneak out later and get something to eat.

My heart lurched at the thought. That man was waiting out in the world somewhere until I knew how to spot him, avoid him, or could capture him, it wasn’t safe. Not with the wedding still on track to happen.

That conversation last night was clear cut: Candido knew that Sibyl was unfit to be his wife in any way, and he was still going to marry her because of this agreement from years ago.

I sat up and looked across the room to where Candido was sitting at his desk. He hadn’t changed from last night, so I guessed that it wasn’t too early. I wiggled around until I could pull out my phone, but it was dead.

My lips twitched. Even if I had thought to show him the video, I couldn’t until I charged it.

My heart clenched. My stomach turned. The more I thought about Sibyl and Candido’s marriage, the more I knew this wasn’t right. It didn’t matter if this was all a set-up or if Candido was banking on Sibyl’s secret to come out one way or another and free him eventually.

It was wrong on every level, and I knew it.

Part of me knew he knew it too. It was why he was so tired, why he was pouring over all these reports, why he was trying to push me out.

Maybe my words were shaking him. Sibyl’s actions had to be shaking him.

This marriage shouldn’t be happening at all. I clenched my fists in the blanket. The scent of Candido’s skin and cologne still lingered in my nose. I should be with him. It should be us planning our wedding. I knew this. I felt it with everything in me.

My thoughts turned to Armageddon and that indescribable pull I felt towards him. My mind couldn’t make sense of it. That pull wasn’t fake. It was powerful and all-consuming, but I also had moments of intense awareness about Candido. Candido might not have confirmed it for me or let me confirm it in the book, but I wasn’t stupid. It meant something.

Did it mean I have two mates? What did that even mean for me? Would the Moon Goddess do that to me of all people? Would I have to choose, or was it that I was reacting to both men because they were so similar in terms of the roles they played in my life?

Armageddon had been my mentor and my leader in Moon Shadow since I joined. There wasn’t the same sense of absolute safety between us that I had with Candido, but I trusted him.

Candido was everything I had ever known in a protector these past four years. Instincts or not, my heart was set on Candido.

Forever.

I shuddered at the feeling that rushed through me at the thought. Forever. It should be me and Candido forever. I had never felt that so deeply before, but now that the thought had arrived, I couldn’t let it go, and it wouldn’t fade.

The thought of waking up next to him, naked after our wedding night and every night after went through my mind. I could feel the heat of his body against mine.

Maybe we’d fall asleep on the couch together more often than not. Maybe we’d take over the Red Moon Pack together and get the werewolf together the way I always thought we could. Maybe I’d tell him about Moon Shadow and my life as Pandora.

Maybe he’d appreciate everything I’d done for him or force me to stop, but either way, I wanted to know. I needed to know, and there was no reason why I shouldn’t be able to replace out.

Sibyl was nothing. If I thought I could get away with it, I’d kill her without a second thought, but I couldn’t.

Even if they didn’t figure out it was me, Candido would be framed, and it would just make more of a mess.

No, murder wasn’t the answer. I just had to get rid of her. I just had to stop this wedding. Not just for the pack or the world, but for me and us. I loved him too much to let him marry Sibyl.

It didn’t matter if he was indifferent to her. I wasn’t indifferent to the idea.

But I couldn’t say that now. He hadn’t even looked at me. He hadn’t spoken. I doubted he’d realized I was awake. He was staring at the pages. He looked so focused. I lay back, content to watch him for a little while and just think about everything I knew now, from the investigation into his past and the vampire who seemed ready to kill me or just toying with me. I still wasn’t sure about Candido’s connection to the Blue Moon Pack. I wasn’t sure about the connection between vampires and werewolves or the Moon Goddess. I wasn’t even sure if it would matter in the long run.

War was coming. Maybe I should stop searching for paths to peace and start going on the offensive. Wasn’t that the entire purpose of Moon Shadow? To ensure that vampires stayed out of our society and that we were unified under one king?

“We can start that conversation now, if you want.” He said suddenly. I looked up. He didn’t lift his head. His voice was distant.

I turned and slipped off the couch. Talking now wouldn’t do anything for us. It would do anything for the war that was coming. I glanced at the stack of files and looked away. I needed to see what Candido was seeing and get Moon Shadow organized for the fight that was coming.

Who knew when they would strike next?

“I have homework,” I said as I headed to the door. “And unless it’s about stopping the wedding, I don’t have anything else to say.”

He let out a deep sigh and I thought about getting back to my room and sending him the video, but I stopped myself. I couldn’t present just a video. He’d block me out and pretend that it had nothing to do with me. He’d push me out of the investigation no matter what I’d say. Hell, he might even try and put me on house arrest despite what the man had said.

He would never trust anyone in the house again if I didn’t have more to give him. He didn’t have the time to investigate this with everything that was happening and there was no way that the other alphas would even consider helping him with Norton stirring up such a mess about the wedding. He’d get Team Gamma-2 to watch my every move and I just couldn’t deal with that and still be an effective member of Moon Shadow.

I needed more information before I talked to anyone about it, especially Candido.

“Hedy, please,” he said. “At least… At least bring your homework here. I could help.”

It was tempting, but I didn’t turn back. He had to know that I was serious. He had to know that he couldn’t change my mind about this, and I couldn’t seem uncertain about where I stood on this. Besides, I could research what I needed and be right in front of him.

Besides, he hadn’t said anything about calling off the wedding or even a plan to get out of it sooner rather than later than later, and the desire for forever still thrummed in my b***d.

He was going to marry Sibyl regardless of what I said or did for now.

It was better to focus on something else. Anything else until I could come at it from another angle.

Tracking down the man in question was the best thing I could manage to do with all this energy I seemed to have now.

I opened the door without a word, walked out, and closed it behind me.

“Hedy,” he called again, but I kept walking, blocking out his voice as much as I could.

It was hard t keep walking. My feet felt heavy like something was pulling me back towards the office, but I couldn’t turn back.

I wouldn’t.