Back when Alpha King James was a young man, he refused the arranged marriage that his parents set up for him. We definitely hadn’t learned about that. He opted instead to select his own wife.This was Luna Queen Rosemary from our history books. In class, we learned that she was an unsuitable queen, being both too soft in nature and too weak in her health. But in the archive’s database were documents of abuse.The poor woman saw the palace physicians on a regular basis, not for sicknesses but for bruises, broken bones, small cuts, and lacerations. It was a sickening account of domestic abuse and violence.
I stood, trying not to let anyone see how much my knees were shaking. “I’m coming,” I told the man. “Is my bodyguard allowed to come with me?”He nodded. “Your significant other, Charles Rafe, has also been approved to join you.”Charles nodded, and he, David, Theo, and I all made our way to the door. When we reached it, the man shook his head. “Just the one bodyguard. Should you need to go in separate directions, the palace will provide additional security.”Charles gave David a serious look. “You protect my mother. Unders
I could see that Charles now fully blamed the Alpha King for the fall of his family. Thanks to the information we’d uncovered with Anthony Bellweather, we discovered that the Alpha King found the Rafe family too much of a threat.With a young son and heir to their conglomerate and control over much of the media on the far side of Orlune from Packhaven, the king had decided to silence any opposition preemptively. And he’d employed Anthony’s services, or rather, forced Anthony into service, to accomplish that.This totally made sense. From everything I had learned about the pack structure, who better to use than an alpha family who would otherwise
I tried not to let my mouth hang open at this, instead waiting for him to continue speaking. He let the silence hang between us until he was sure I wasn’t going to make a mess of things and then continued.“We happened to read your most recent article, the one that focused on us.”Heat coursed all through my body, and I prayed that I wasn’t blushing in a way that made me look stupid.“After our initial shock at seeing such a candid and unauthorized account of our personal life on display for the entire nation to read,” he threw these words out at
I managed to choke down a respectable quantity of dinner, and I was a bit sorry that I missed out on enjoying it. The roast was delicious, perfectly herbed, and juicy. We’d been served succulent vegetables and delectable desserts, all of which dried to ash on my tongue. I was eating with a monster. I was positive of it, and I was furious with him that my conviction of that was waffling.Once dinner was over, I gratefully retreated back to my bedroom. I hadn’t once seen Theo since the mousey man had taken him away, and he still wasn’t waiting for me when I got back.I collapsed to the bed, nearly ready to cry myself to sleep, when someone knocked
I awoke the next morning with my convictions restored. I had to get to Crescentshire and interview the Luna Queen. I didn’t even have the time to luxuriate in the fact that I had slept in a palace last night—like a palace for real.Nobody said that I couldn’t leave to go about my job, and after everything that I had talked about yesterday with both the king and the Dowager Queen, I had full confidence that if they knew I was going out for another interview, they would let me. I just wasn’t positive that they would be thrilled I was interviewing the Luna Queen.Surely, if she were guilty of the wrongdoing, she would simply deny it, and that&
The ride home passed mostly without incident. The security that I had been issued at the palace turned out to be a man who might have been my father’s age if I had one. He was the ranking guard within the palace hierarchy, creeping up on his retirement years.He didn’t have much to say, but he treated me kindly, touching his hat to me before leaving once Theo opened the door. Theo pulled me inside and started to hug me, but Charles pried him off, instead taking me in his arms and nearly squashing me.He covered my face in kisses and swung me around until I felt slightly sick to my stomach. “I was so unbelievably worried,” he said. “Wh
We touched down in Crescentshire at nearly bedtime, thanks to the time change. Being so far away from the city and its pollution, the air outside was cool, crisp, and loaded with the sticky, sappy scent of early spring. Here, we parted ways with Gwen. She took a rideshare back to Brindle Cove while the rest of us continued on to our hotel in Crescent Shire.The moment Charles and I found ourselves alone, he grabbed me, wrapping his strong arms around me and holding me so my back was against his chest. He palmed my breasts, and a purring growl rumbled deep in his chest.“You smell so unbelievably good.”