The Alpha's Hunt Chapter 45

I couldn't tell you how long I walked the halls before Elise found me. It was embarrassing enough that I couldn't find my way back to my room but when she told me that I was in the wrong wing of the palace I just gave up.

She guided me back through the twists and turns of the halls and the stairs, it was like a jigsaw puzzle and I had no clue how I would get out of here.

One of these days I needed to sit down and map everything out. I knew that down the right corridor and past two hallways, down two flights of stairs and past three colorless doors was the door that led out of the palace- the one that Gabe used to get me out.

I hated to admit it but that was everything I knew and that was a piece of information that I’d keep safely tucked away until I needed it. 

“Has he told you anything about tonight's ball?” Elise asked while she dried my hair. I told her that it wasn't necessary, that I could fix it myself but she insisted, stating that it’d been her job since she was a little girl. Her mother worked for the royal family and her father had been a guard. He died in service to his king and her mother got sick soon thereafter, forcing Elise to step into the role as the King’s go-to. Mrs. Smith was the groundskeeper, she held the keys and the secrets while Elise was his hands-on help.

“Only that it’s tradition after the Hunt but I already knew that,” I said.

She dragged the brush through my drying hair and I felt the sharp bristles scraping against my skull. The beautiful ceramic back with floral print looked regal when I saw it through the mirror but it was her haunted expression that caught my attention.

“Why do you ask?” 

Elise looked up at me through the reflection.

“I want you to be careful with what you choose tonight. Our choices have a way of forming our path,” 

I shivered in the chair as though my senses heard something beyond her carefully chosen words.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

Her hands froze in my hair and she dropped the brush down on the table with a wide smile masking her worry.

“I’m sorry, I’m speaking out of place. Don't think twice about it,”

She grabbed the dress hanging on the door and urged me to step out of the robe and into the regal piece of clothing in her hands.

“Let’s get you dressed,” she said.

How was I supposed to not think about it? 

I knew that asking was futile, she wouldn't tell me anything. Her loyalties lay with Darian but I did feel like she was trying to warn me about something.

I had no idea what to expect but it felt like each day brought a new kind of pain, today it was MarryBell and Abby with Darian, I desperately wanted to know how Abby was doing but I was too afraid to ask her myself.

The dress fell to my feet and covered my heels- my back was exposed with a crystal lining going down my spine and I ran my hands down the silk fabric while framing the question in my mind before asking it aloud. 

“Have you seen Abby?” I bit my tongue as soon as I asked her. 

The worst thing that could happen was Elise running back to Darian and telling him that I was being nosey.

I never again wanted to be in the position I was in with him today.

I felt powerless, more than powerless, I felt weak and forced into submission by restraint.

Elise pulled the zipper up the side of my dress and laid a soft hand on my shoulder.

“I have,” 

The vague tone left me craving more of an answer so I decided to take a chance.

“How was she?” Being compassionate better not get me in trouble.

“I saw her when I helped clean her wounds,” Elise said quietly and looked at the bracelet in her hands. 

She put it around my wrist and stared at her feet while she walked to the door.

My heart squeezed in my chest as though someone held it in a tight fist and I clenched my teeth.

She barely turned her head when she said, “We should leave. You don't want to be late for your first outing as the Lycan King's chosen mate,” 

I honestly didn't care whether I was late or didn't attend at all but Darian's words echoed in my ears; Attendance is non-optional, especially for you.

I was hearing voices and sounds that these halls rarely ever heard as far as I knew. The palace was quickly filling with guests; the Alphas who were the guests of honor, one of their mates, and their right-hand man- then there were those of high stature in the Lycan Pack, people from the Dark Guard and the council, esteemed members of the Royal society and of course Darian and his brother who represented the royal family.

I followed Elise through the palace and ignored my heart beating intact with a ticking time bomb the closer we got to the ballroom. Everyone we passed on the way threw cautious glances over the room and some did a double-take when they saw me walking down.

Holy shit… 

I was freaking out, I wanted to turn back and go hide in the room but I couldn’t. It was too late, I was here now and my fate was sealed when Darian raised his head from talking to three members of the council, and his eyes locked on me as though he sensed me entering the room. 

“This is where I leave you,” Elise informed me.

I panicked, I didn't want her to leave.

“Please don’t,” I said, grabbing her arm before she could walk away.

“Whatever you do tonight, don't cause a scene, and do not disobey him.” She warned. The wrinkles deepened around her eyes, I hadn't noticed them before but they were prominent now. She looked at me with a scolding glare, wanting her words to pierce my skull and land on repeat in my mind.

I watched her turn around and walk composed through the crowd, leaving me to fend for myself, again.

When I turned back he was there, standing in front of me, so close that I could smell his cologne and the hint of whiskey in his breath. He held out his hand and something was odd about his face. He was smiling.

“Let me introduce you,” he said.

I glanced at his hand and instinctively wanted to slap it away but I knew better than to get myself killed.

I put my hand in his and watched the sea of people part for us as we walked across the floor.

He let go of my hand and grabbed the small of my back. 

Darian's fingers slid under the dress and I drew a sharp breath when he dug his fingers into my waist. Every nerve in my body was set on fire under his touch, a sensation I couldn't control, and one that worsened when he leaned down and his breath fanned my face as he whispered,

“The dress looks good on you, puppet, but tonight I want to see it on the floor,”

He released my waist and walked ahead, greeting some men who were all staring, eagerly awaiting to meet the king's chosen mate- me. 

I tried to shut out the other sounds and smile at the people waving and wanting to stop me and talk but Darian got to me, his words were overshadowing all the others in my head, and no matter how many times I swallowed I couldn't get rid of the bad taste in my mouth. He wanted to mate tonight. 

The room was starting to spin and the sounds all swirled together in a loud, screeching symphony that was burning a hole in my brain.

I saw their gleeful faces as I walked up to join Darian but one after the other the guests were intercepting my path and grabbed my hand.

“It’s such a pleasure,”

“You’re the king's chosen mate?”

“How is it being with such a legend?” 

“You must feel so safe here in the palace under the protection of the king,” 

Protection? 

Safe?

That ’legend’ bit had to be a joke but he seemed in awe of the fact that I was with the Lycan King. Darian’s reputation was no secret, his deeds, and his temper, the fact that he was as ruthless as they came- yet it seemed that half the people here would gladly take my place. 

Someone grabbed my wrist and gently yanked me away from the crowd and up the few stairs leading to the round tables where people were standing around, drinking and talking.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to my ear. 

“Be a good little mate tonight, don't make a scene, and don't defy me or I promise you there will be hell to pay,” he warned.

Darian pulled away with a smile, his eyes somehow masked the emotion of his fellow men and he actually looked happy.

How strange, I had never seen him like that before.

The warning was loud in my head and I plastered on a smile and shook hands with every person around the table. 

I even ignored the way that Council Chairman Mr. Light was gawking at my breasts. Darian ignored it too, how good of him.

“It’s is an honor to meet the woman who could tie down the Lycan King, we all began to think he would live out his life alone in this great palace,” 

I laughed. The kind of laugh you hear from women in movies when their bosses tell a bad joke but you need to stay on their good side. 

Darian got busy talking to the members of the council, the high lord would come in a moment to make his presence known and shake hands with the king before crawling back behind his big walls protected by the dark guard. I looked around the room to see where I could go or perhaps who I could talk to but that all changed when I looked towards the massive double doors leading into the ballroom.

Emanuel’s was the first face I saw and instantaneously a smile pulled on my lips but I tried to control it so Darian wouldn't see. The next face I saw made my heart warm and proud, seeing those two together, Iliana looked beautiful and happy on his arm as they entered the ballroom floor.

“Go, talk. You’ll come when I call,” Darian mused and I knew he’d spotted them.