Marked Twice by the Alpha King Chapter 171

**Ava's POV**

Day four. The blinds let in these thin strips of sunlight that danced across the ceiling. Pretty, I guess. But the silence was so thick I could've screamed just to hear something.

My bare feet hit the cold floor when I rolled out of bed. The chill shot straight up through my body, waking me up completely. Blake had said to chill here for a bit, let things cool down back at the manor. Made sense, right? Very thoughtful Alpha King move.

Except nobody told me what "a bit" actually meant.

I caught my reflection while brushing my teeth. Dark circles under my eyes. Not horrible, but enough to show I'd been sleeping like crap. Every night in this stupid comfortable bed, I kept reaching for something that wasn't there. Someone who wasn't there.

*Get it together, Rivers.*

My phone buzzed. Tyler's voice came through all business-like: "Miss Rivers, bringing Lucas at ten for training."

"Cool, thanks Tyler." I hesitated. "How's Blake been doing?"

"Alpha King's swamped. Northern Lights stuff keeps him busy."

The line went dead. I stared at my toothbrush. Northern Lights stuff. Of course. That gorgeous silver-haired woman was still hanging around, probably sitting way too close to Blake in meetings, touching his arm while they discussed "important diplomatic matters."

I spat out toothpaste harder than necessary.

Ruth showed up at eight-thirty with breakfast. Her smile was professional, but her eyes? Total mom worry.

"You're getting skinny, honey." She set down the tray. "Want me to whip up some of those chocolate scones you love?"

"I'm good, Ruth." I sat down, staring at the perfect eggs and bacon. It all looked amazing. I just couldn't bring myself to care.

Ruth lingered by the table, fidgeting with her apron. "Anything you need, you just holler, okay?"

"Really, I'm fine."

But she kept standing there, like she wanted to say more. Finally gave me this sad little nod and left.

The dining room felt huge after that. I sat there listening to myself chew, the sound echoing off the walls. This place was beautiful and quiet and making me want to climb out of my skin. I actually missed the chaos back at Blackwood. Missed Lucas's feet pounding down hallways. Hell, I even missed Sophia being a total bitch to me.

At least that felt real.

By nine-forty-five I was changed into my training gear. Black fitted training shirt, dark workout pants. Took me way longer than it should've to pick them out. Not 'cause I cared how I looked. More like I needed to feel useful. Like an actual trainer instead of some lost puppy Blake had dumped here.

Lucas bounced through the door right at ten. Kid was practically vibrating with excitement.

"Ava! Holy crap, you should see what those Northern Lights people brought! These glowing crystals that pulse like heartbeats! Tyler says they use them for some ancient ritual stuff!"

"No kidding?" I started laying out the training mats, half-listening. Lucas always made me feel better. Like someone turning on lights in a dark room.

"And yesterday? Tons of reporters showed up, but Dad had Tyler kick 'em all out. Sophia was super pissed about it. Said they're always trying to get pictures of her."

My hands stopped moving. "How's Sophia doing these days?"

"Great! She and Jackson are together like, all the time now." Lucas flopped down to help with the mats. "Yesterday they walked around the garden forever. She looked really happy, you know? Like, genuinely happy for once."

*Happy. Good for her.*

I kept my face neutral, focusing on the stupid mats. Sophia being happy was fine. Jackson making her happy was none of my business.

"Oh!" Lucas suddenly got all whispery and conspiratorial. "I heard Tyler talking to some guards yesterday. Something about investigating stuff? And it sounded like it was about your dad?"

Everything inside me went cold. "Lucas, you shouldn't be listening in on grown-up conversations."

"I wasn't! I was just walking by and heard them." He looked hurt. "Tyler said something about leads going nowhere, and then he mentioned Jackson..."

"Lucas." My voice came out sharper than I meant. "Let's just train, okay?"

The kid's face fell. He nodded and moved to the center of the mat, but I could see the confusion in his eyes. The little flash of hurt.

*Nice job, Ava. Take your crap out on a seven-year-old.*

For the next hour, I tried to focus on helping Lucas with his balance drills. He was getting better—faster reflexes, better control. But my mind kept wandering back to what he'd said.

Blake was investigating Dad's case. I knew that. He'd promised. But leads going nowhere? What kind of dead end had they hit? And why the hell would Jackson's name come up?

When we finished, Lucas started packing up his gear. Then he just stopped and looked at me.

"When you coming back to the manor?"

"Don't know yet. Maybe a few more days."

"I miss you." His voice got really small. "Training there feels weird without you. And Dad's been super grumpy lately. Like, more than usual."

My throat got tight. "Your dad's just busy with important stuff."

"But he misses you too, right?" Lucas tilted his head. "Like how I miss Mom sometimes?"

Kids. They cut right through all your bullshit without even trying.

I crouched down so we were eye-level. "Some things are complicated, buddy. Not stuff you gotta worry about."

"I know." He nodded seriously. "But I want you both to be happy."

Tyler showed up to collect Lucas a few minutes later. The kid gave me this huge hug before leaving, like he was afraid I might disappear.

After they left, the villa went back to feeling like a tomb.

I wandered around for a while, then grabbed my phone. Ella picked up on the second ring.

"Ava? Girl, you sound like hell."

"Thanks. I'm fine, just bored out of my mind."

"Bored my ass." Ella never sugarcoated anything. "You sound like you've been locked in solitary for months. Blake's still got you stuck up there?"

"I'm not stuck. I'm resting."

"Resting?" Her voice shot up. "Honey, resting is when you choose to chill out. This is more like getting banished to the middle of nowhere."

That actually made me laugh. First real laugh I'd had in days.

"You think I'm being dramatic?" Ella continued. "Yesterday some Northern Lights jackass came into the Lodge, drunk off his face, bragging about how their priestess is gonna be the new queen of Silverpeak."

My laugh died. "What?"