The Alpha King's Princess
The Alpha King’s Princess – Chapter 64

I leaped out of the fountain, tackling the woman to the ground and slamming my fist into her face. Before someone else could get up, I twisted and took them down with a swift, sharp kick to the chest. Then I was up. Someone grabbed my jacket, but I was moving with too much force to punch someone else. My jacket was ripped off me. I didn’t stop. I turned into the force of it and swung at whoever had grabbed me.

My claws cut through empty air, but I didn’t stop.

I couldn’t stop.

There was so much rage in me and so much power. It felt like my power had come from a deep, overflowing well. I was furious and powerful. I tore through the groups of people. Not caring what was torn off me or what else was happening. Someone scratched me, and I felt it healing as I drove his face into the ground.

But wait. This wasn’t me.

I wasn’t the type to just fight people like this.

I wasn’t the type to reveal how much strength I really had.

It had to be the smoke. I had enough control to keep from killing anyone, but there wasn’t much more restraint than that.

I twisted again as someone dragged their claws through the leg of my pants, trying to grab me. I rammed my elbow into their face as I tried to focus the overflowing power in me to strengthen my mind and fight off the effects of the smoke.

I felt my usual temperament start to surface. I felt myself calm. The vicious anger was fading, leaving a calm need to defend myself. I had to make it out alive, but I didn’t have to kill anyone. I had more control than that.

I wasn’t going to let that man get the best of me.

“Miss Hedy!” Someone called, rushing towards me. I heard someone shouting they were the police and more.

There were ambulances. People were tackled to the ground and restrained, and my bodyguards surrounded me, easing me into a seat away from the rest of the group. One of them kneeled and started checking on me.

I dropped my eyes to the healing claw marks on my thigh. They turned red, then pink, and vanished. The man looked up at me with a concerned expression. I had never healed that fast before. Was that normal? It usually would have taken weeks, at least.

“Miss Hedy?”

“I’m fine,” I said. “I just… they were all.…”

“It’s okay,” he said. “The authorities will take it from here. These three are going to stay here with you while I replace somewhere nearby for you to get new clothes, okay?”

I nodded slowly, pushing my hair out of my face. He stood and hurried off. The remaining three changed their formation around me as I looked around. My heart was still racing, but I felt better than I had in a long time.

The rest of the people around me didn’t seem to be feeling the same. One of them was speaking into his cellphone, in short, clipped sentences. I bet it was the head of Team Gamma. They were probably headed here, or maybe not. They were likely en route to the temple. My lips twitched. Would Candido cancel the wedding when he found out that I had been in such an incident?

Probably not. His honor wouldn’t allow him to do that. Maybe he’d postpone it, delay it for a few hours, but he wouldn’t cancel it.

The police came over to ask me questions. I gave them as much as I could about the man, playing at knowing just enough to seem like a worried bystander without giving anything away. It would help Moon Shadow pick up the trail from the police reports. I would have to get the footage later and hopefully replace an empty vial or some sort. For now, I had to throw anyone else off about what I did know or didn’t know.

I turned back to look at the fountain and pointed. “He passed the fountain, and it started to smoke…like dry ice or something… I fell into it, and then… Then nothing.”

The police officer nodded and let his gaze drift over my bare chest. I let him look, though his gaze made my skin crawl. I shied away from him. One of the guards stepped in front of me.

“If you’re done,” another guard asked, growling at the officer.

“Of course. I hope that if you think of anything else, you’ll contact the police.”

He walked away as someone came over with a blanket. He had me stand and walk up the stairs, away from the damage, into a small boutique. I remember hearing about it. Sibyl wanted to get her hair and makeup done for the wedding here, but the budget was too small for that.

My lips twitched. It felt a little vindictive to be here.

“You poor thing!” A woman cried, coming towards me. “Let’s get you to the back and cleaned up! I’m sure we have something in your size.”

The boutique was half a spa and salon and half a luxury gown shop. It also seemed to be the only shop open based on the commotion outside.

Somehow the shop had avoided the issues of the rest of the store. I glanced at the doors and wondered if it was because they kept their doors closed that was the case. The smoke or gas hadn’t reached here.

The women tutted at me and got me into the back into a shower with fresh underwear that felt too elegant for me to wear. It was mostly lace with tiny bits of satin.

My lips twitched as I thought about it. It was all a bright white that made me think of weddings. I wondered if I was getting married to Candido and if I would wear something like this under my gown.

Or if I would do the same if I married Armageddon. I shook my head. There was no sense in trying to force myself to think about Armageddon like that right now. I still wasn’t over Candido. Would I ever be? I didn’t know. It felt unlikely, but who knew? Maybe Armageddon would think I was too young to be his mate, no matter how our instincts pulled us together.

I laughed. I hoped, for my sanity, I would get over Candido, but I was almost looking forward to their meeting. Would Candido be jealous? It seemed like he would be.

I hoped it burned him.

When I was clean, and they’d dried and curled my hair, despite my protests, they placed me in a dressing room with a few gowns. I shook my head at the selections. They were all long evening gowns. There was a soft pink one that piqued my interest, but it wasn’t in my size. It was too small. The red one was way too small.

The last one was in a bag. I hoped that it fit. I gasped as I unzipped it.

The dress was white. It felt like a taunt from the universe. I almost closed it and asked for something else, but I stopped myself.

Curiosity and longing got the better of me. I pulled it out of the bag and pulled it over to the mirror.

It was floor length, the perfect height for the nice pair of heels they’d left for me in my size. They made me think they might have been made of glass from how they sparkled.

I slipped into it, almost hoping it wouldn’t fit, but it did. The zipper was on the side, but there was a long line of ribbon to do up in the back.

An attendant came in to help me when I asked, and she gasped.

“Oh, it’s beautiful on you.”

I smiled to myself in the mirror. A few months ago, there was no way I would have been able to wear this. It would have been too small, but it fit perfectly. She cinched it to fit every curve it was meant to, and as I looked at myself in the mirror, I could barely recognize myself.

I heard the guards out talking with the clerks.

“What an interesting tattoo.” The clerk said. “How did they get it to be that color?”

I frowned, wondering what she could be talking about, when my eyes drifted to my chest, just above the hem of the gown. Gleaming like liquid moonlight, as if someone had just barely dragged a paintbrush over my skin, was a collection of lines and symbols.

I stepped closer to the mirror, squinting at it, and the passage Armageddon had sent me came to mind.

“Do you have a calendar?” I asked.

She nodded and offered me her phone. I went to the month and opened the lunar calendar on it. I gasped. Joy and hope filled me.

Today was exactly a month before my birthday.

One full moon.