Pregnant With Four Alphas' Babies: A Reverse Harem Romance Chapter 129: The Ghost is Alive

*Mark*

Tristan, Reece, and I are all just sort of standing here, staring into what can only be a secret tunnel that’s leading out of the library. The doorway seems to have been activated by removing a book about war, so maybe this is a secret place for the king to hide if enemies infiltrate the palace.

There’s a long pause while we each assess the situation.

Finally, Tristan speaks. “Should we investigate?” he asks.

“We should, but maybe that’s something we should save for later,” I say. “There’s a whole hoard of troops amassing out there, and I’m also worried about Eli. Has anyone tried to mind-link with him lately?”

Both Tristan and Reece shake their heads.

“He’s a competent Alpha,” says Tristan. “We don’t need to babysit him. But we do need to deal with Kane and Stephen before they get too comfortable. This passage though,” he reaches over and opens the door a bit wider, “is… interesting. I think we need to find out whether Gene is using it to listen in on our conversations. We also may be able to use it to find out what he’s up to.”

Reece nods. “I do think we should look into it,” he says. “But I also think at least one of us should back up Eli. And I can do that.” He pauses for a moment, and I can tell he’s using the mind-link. “He’s not answering,” he says. “I’ll get my warriors mobilized.”

“We’ll join you soon,” says Tristan. “This shouldn’t take long. If you need more backup in the meantime, let us know.”

“Thanks, Reece,” I tell him.

Reece nods at us both and heads out. I’m worried about Eli, but I know that Tristan’s right. He’s a strong warrior, and he’s smart. I’m sure he’s got everything under control and he’s just too busy to answer right now. I’m so relieved that Emily is out of our hair, and that Barbara is safely locked away in the dungeon. But even so, I don’t think it’s a good time to let down our guard around Rose and our children. I’m sure the other Alphas feel the same way.

There’s a flashlight on one of the bookshelves nearby, and though it seemed out of place moments before, now it makes sense. Even if it’s pitch-black inside, our wolf eyes can adjust, but I still don’t mind the extra help just in case, so I grab the flashlight as we head through the doorway.

It takes a second to adjust to the dark, but I don’t want to use the flashlight just yet just in case Gene is in here. I’d rather sneak up on him than the other way around.

We’re silent as Tristan and I move forward, communicating only in the mind-link.

‘It’s bigger than I thought,’ he says in my head.

‘I’m guessing this covers the entire palace,’ I say.

The corridor is very long and seems to split off in different directions. I imagine it leads to about every room in the palace.

We go forward for a while, choosing a straighter path so we can find our way back. Eventually, we hear voices and see a faint glowing light. Oddly, it seems like it’s coming from above us. It doesn’t take long to figure out why; there’s a wide path in the hallway that holds a winding staircase. It looks fairly high up, a few stories high, then it looks like it leads to an opening.

‘Do we have time to check that out?’ I ask Tristan.

‘I’m sure Reece and Eli will alert us if they need anything, and we can mobilize our warriors fairly quickly,’ he says. ‘I think it’s safe to take a few minutes to see what’s going on up there. I’m definitely hearing voices.’

‘Me, too,’ I say. ‘Let’s go.’

We wind our way up the staircase toward the landing above. Whatever Gene is up to now, he’s not going to get away with it.

* * *

*Kelly*

“I haven’t done anything to anybody,” I tell the strange old lady. She’s taken a few steps toward me, so I hold up my hands as both a defensive move and to show her that I mean her no harm. At least not yet, I don’t.

Instead of coming any closer, she seems to fall back into a state of emotional despair and backs up, plopping ungracefully down into her rocking chair. I take a few steps closer as she sits there sobbing.

“Who are you?” I ask. “Are you okay?”

The woman shakes her head, still sobbing uncontrollably. She’s so frail, and her clothes are so tattered and torn that I feel sorry for her, but I’m not sure what to do. I assess that she’s not dangerous; I could take her down without even trying, so I go with a gentle approach. I move closer and stand beside her, gently patting her back.

“It’ll be okay,” I tell her. “Please tell me who you are, and what you’re doing here all alone like this.”

That seems to have made things worse because she erupts into even louder sobbing, so I keep patting her on the back, hoping she’ll calm down. I won’t try mentioning being alone again, that’s for sure.

Finally, her sobs slow down, and she looks up at me. “You’re nice,” she says. “No one has been nice to me in such a long, long time.”

“Well, I think we can change that,” I say. “I have a lot of friends, and we’ll all be nice to you. Let’s start by introducing ourselves. I’m Kelly. What’s your name?” She seems so frail that I’m talking to her slowly, as if she’s a child. I doubt she’s talked to anyone in a long time.

“I—I’m Mar—Marcella,” she says.

I blow out a breath. Now I have to figure out whether I’m seeing a ghost, dreaming, hallucinating, or seeing something real. “The queen?” I ask. “Queen Marcella?”

She nods, then she blows her nose on an old piece of cloth that looks a bit too dusty for that kind of thing. “I was queen once,” she says. “It was wonderful.”

“What are you doing up here?” I ask. I’m hoping that now that she’s opening up a little, that I can find out why she’s here. I’ve already decided that she’s not a ghost, so Gene must have done something awful to this poor woman, his own mother! I swear, every time I turn around, I’m learning something about that slimy toad of a man that pisses me off more.

“Oh, I live here,” she says. “GeGe told me—he said that it’s not safe out there, that I have to stay hiding here. He promised me that as soon as it was safe, I could see him again.”

“Him?” I ask, but then I smell a familiar scent. It’s two of the Alphas, and they’re not far away. I back out of the room with a few steps and see them coming up the last of the stairs toward the landing. I hold up my finger to my lips, hoping they’ll realize that means I need them to approach quietly. They seem to take the hint and hold back a bit.

I go back into the room, motioning for them to follow me, carefully. They nod and approach, waiting just outside the door.

“How long have you been here?” I ask Marcella.

She looks up at me with a blank stare. “Oh, you look nice,” she says. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Kelly, remember?” I say.

She furrows her brow a little and frowns. “I don’t know a Kelly,” she says. “Are you the new maid? My room could use a cleaning.”

“Well, don’t you remember?” I ask. “I just introduced myself a moment ago.”

“There hasn’t been anyone in here in ages,” she says, and I can sense a little irritation in her voice.

I guess the Alphas sensed it too since they came around the corner. Marcella stood up and looked angry again.

“It’s okay,” I say to her softly. “These are my friends. They can be your friends, too.”

“They look mean,” Marcella answers gruffly. “You look nice, though.”

I smile pleasantly. “Thank you,” I say. “My friends are nice, too.”

Marcella backs up and sits down on her chair, returning to her rocking and sobbing.

“Marcella?” I ask. “Are you okay?”

“Marcella?” whispers Tristan.

I nod in his direction.

Marcella looked up. “Oh, hello,” she says. “When did you get here?”

I smile. Clearly, the woman has some memory issues, so I decide to go talk with the Alphas out in the hallway. “I’ll be right back,” I say.

But Marcella doesn’t answer; she just rocks in her chair and returns to sobbing. I motion for the Alphas to step out of the room.

“That’s Queen Marcella?” asks Mark in a whisper.

I nod. “Apparently so.” I keep my voice down. “She seems to have some memory problems, and I haven’t been able to get her to tell me much more than her name. And she looks just like Gene, so it has to be her.”

“I thought she had gone off and retired with the king and passed away,” says Tristan.

I shrug. “That’s what everyone thought, and yet here she is,” I say. “What should we do?”

“Well,” Tristan begins, “this could work in our favor. I think we need to watch for a bit and see if Gene is here looking after her.”

I laugh without meaning to. “If anything, he’s hiding from her,” I say, then I briefly explain how Gene had run, terrified, out of the room when he saw so much as a crack in the door.

“This could still be—” Tristan begins, but he’s suddenly cut off by the sound of Beta Adam’s voice screaming down the hallway downstairs.

“Kelly!” Adam hollers. “Come quick! It’s Rose!!”