The Alphas Forgotten Daughter

Episode 19: Chapter 10: Nighean bheag ruadh Part Two

As dinner moved on to the main course, and that theory of mine had been proved, I decided to keep my distance for now because I didn't want us to look too obvious. Small snippets of his inner monologue with Drathos slipped through, but I don't think it was intentional because he didn't seem to talk to me so much as about me. I waited for a moment when I thought that Sylas was sufficiently distracted talking about himself. Goddess bless the King and Queen for being so patient and indulgent of the buffoon that was my uncle before seeing if this was something we could do without the need for contact.

I wasn't confident of this plan a second time around because I suspected any wolf magic that was responsible for this needed each party to be open and willing without the mate bond to make contact. I concentrated hard and tried to project my thoughts onto Dacre.

"Dacre, I think we can talk telepathically without touch. Or at least, I heard your thoughts earlier when you were thinking quite hard, shall we say?" Dacre must have been mid-sip of his water as from beside me, I suddenly heard a rather hilarious spit-take that turned into furious coughing on Dacre's behalf. It took all my self-control not to burst out into a furious giggling fit!

"Mari! My love! You can hear me, thank the goddess! We will kill the usurper. He will never hurt you again!" Drathos growled telepathically. "Ok Drath, simmer down there pal. Let's not frighten the poor lass." Dacre interjected.

"It's fine," I thought. "It's nice to know the truth about your feelings for me. When you're caught off guard, I'm just sorry I don't have a wolf... That I'm... Not good enough for you both." As I admitted my true thoughts to them, I tried my hardest not to let my face betray my feelings and the conversation I was currently having.

I felt him tense up next to me. I gave a quick sweeping glance around, and it seemed that no one but I had noticed Dacre tense up. Thankfully, everyone was far too engrossed in their main courses to notice anything beyond their filet mignon. Like I said, wolves and their meat.

" Dacre between courses I'm going to excuse myself to the ladies room, wait a few minutes and then do the same then meet me in the foyer by the bathrooms." I said in my head as I carefully ate my food. He agreed with an acknowledging noise in our minds, he too was very engrossed in his steak. As I took a few more bites I could hardly blame him. It was all I could do not to lose my composure and devour my steak unceremoniously. I don't know what had gotten into me, usually I could take or leave meat and was by no means a protein fiend like most wolves. Tonight, however, I felt practically ravenous.

As the main course wound down and the pallet cleansers and drinks were passed around, I finished my cucumber and lime sorbet served with a margarita quicker than my dinner companions before making my excuses and heading for the bathroom. I nonchalantly got up and went through one of the sets of double doors off to the side of the ballroom with the brass plaque above that read bathrooms this way in cursive writing. I strode down the corridor quite quickly and used the bathroom at record speed. As I came out of the bathroom stall, I paused at the mirror and decided to use some of the complementary perfume and breath freshener in the baskets dotted around the marble counters.

Consumed with worry that Dacre was waiting for me, I rushed out of the bathroom. I was shocked and flustered to see the King coming down the corridor and not his son. Though the king himself was no less handsome than his progeny, he had a more refined attractiveness to him. As I cast my eyes toward the floor and tried to stammer a greeting, he chuckled gently and extended both his arms out and placed them gently on my shoulders. Seeing my body language, he pulled me in for a hug and softly said; "There's no need for that my dear, you are as good as family in my eyes." He finished the hug with a slight squeeze that made me wince with pain, to which he pulled away sharply and with fury in his eyes said, "So it's true then; The violence?" I just about managed a nod before pain shot through me for my defiance of the gag order. The king tightened his jaw before he said in a low growl, "He will pay. Stay strong." As he pulled his arms away and started for the bathroom door, Dacre came out of the bathroom.

As they passed each other, the king took his son's right forearm in his hand and his son took his father's in his. They exchanged a knowing look before nodding and parting ways. For a moment I was baffled, but then I remembered that strong packs had a telepathic link. Of course, ours didn't currently and hadn't since my mother was alive or so I had been told. The strength of a pack always hinges on its Alpha and if that alpha weakens, as my father did, so does the packs' power. Sylas, thankfully, never had and never will have such power. That fact had always given me a small amount of satisfaction, knowing Sylas was too weak to have such strength of mind in his wolves.

Dacre and I stood holding our breath as we watched the king disappear down the hallway and out of sight. Once the king was safely out of sight, I did one final check that the coast was clear. I grabbed Dacre's hand and began walking toward the end of the hallway towards a door that said staff only. I used my RFID bracelet to unlock the keypad and punched the code in. Dacre dutifully followed behind me as I hustled us into the supplies room. It was quite a large room where all the various bathroom supplies for both restrooms were kept and towards the back of the room was the second door that lead to the service corridor.

As I shut the door behind us, we stood in the center of the room staring at one another whilst a pregnant pause hung in the room. I stared into his gorgeous eyes for what seemed like hours before a primal urge overtook me. I closed the gap between us by pressing my body to his and placed my hands gently on his chest, partly because I wasn't tall enough to wrap my arms around his neck and partly because I wanted the freedom to pull away if I felt like I needed to. His worried expression softened, and he gently placed one hand on top of mine and the other gently around my waist to rest at the small of my back, pulling me ever so slightly closer.