Chapter Five
1140 Words
The black night enveloped me as I stood in the palace garden. There was still the sweet scent of jasmine and cherries in the air. And it stuck to me when the lady in the red dress had fled.
She had taken a part of me away so that, as it were, they had starved them. The hollowness hurt my chest. I just wanted to run her down and get my arms around her waist and never release it. Her odor alone caused something wild and novel in me.
There was a voice that came through my mind.
"Your Majesty."
Bradford brought me to myself. My Beta was very near at hand and was waiting, with countenance undecipherable.
I scowled and attempted to retain the dying sweetness of her odor, but it was already mixing with his.
"What is it, Bradford?" My sentence sounded more pointed than I wanted.
"I am sorry, Your Majesty," said he, bowing. But the werewolf Alphas are waiting. It is time you meet them."
My lips parted, and the question slipped out before I could prevent it.
"Do you know who that woman is?"
He has obviously been surprised. "What woman?"
I stared, and he stared. The one that you very nearly scared to death.
His eyebrows came up a little, but otherwise his face remained composed. "No, I do not. Did she offend you in some way?"
"She—"
Bradford held up his hand, like to shut me up. "Do not worry, Your Majesty. I will handle it. I told you that it was foolish to bring these Alphas here. They are foxes. They cannot be trusted." His tone hardened. It is only clear that they sent that woman there to do something. There is no need to worry. I will deal with her."
My patience snapped. "She is my mate."
Bradford froze. He turned back to me and, with his eyes open, scraped his boots on the stones.
"Your Majesty... Did I hear that right? Did you mean she is your mate?
I gave a single nod.
"Are you certain?"
I narrowed my eyes at him. Have I told you of what I did not know, Bradford?
He lowered his head quickly. "Forgive me. I did not mean to question you. But the matter is serious." He glanced at me nervously. Pardon me once again, Your Majesty, but it is difficult to believe.
I said nothing, only stared.
He let out a strained chuckle. "Do not worry. I shall learn all that can be known of this red-dress girl. And I will discover it, so long as she has set foot in Mysticrock.
The manner in which he did so bothered me. My wolf fidgets restlessly and growls within. Bradford went on as though he were after a criminal.
"I would never do anything to the Queen of Queens," I said hastily, as though I had read your mind. "I would not dare."
The title caused my chest to tighten, and with no restraint, I felt a little smile breaking through. Queen of Queens. That was what she would be.
My wolf, Axel, was jumping impatiently and madly inside me.
We walked out of the garden in silence, but my mind was racing with thoughts. All her thoughts returned to her. The way her dress had swayed. How her smell had stuck to me. I felt drawn toward her as if by chains I could not loosen.
Bradford and I moved down the long walks of the palace. In front of it was the hall where the Alphas met. Here we could hear their voices.
"...heartless..."
"...arrogant..."
"...pompous..."
I smirked to myself. Cowards. They might say anything against me in secret, but none of them would dare to do so openly.
Bradford stood still at the heavy doors. I entered very quietly, followed by Bradford. I gave a small nod.
The guard struck the butt of his spear to the floor. "Bite thy tongue," I came to myself.
The doors creaked open. The sound within was cut off immediately.
Axel was urging me on to the extreme and bade me cut through the press that he might have his own.
Then it hit me.
Once more it was carried on the air—jasmine and cherries, more strongly this time. It surrounded me as fire.
She was here.
I bowed my head in acknowledgment, and my gaze swept all over the room.
A still greater odor greeted me as I came to my throne-like chair. She is here. That is enough.
Hello, Your Majesty," the Alphas said in unison, and their voices were forced and flat.
Axel had to push as far as my bounds allowed me and bade me pass through the press in order that he might have his own. Faces blurred. I was searching only for hers.
There was no sign of her red dress. There was no sign of her dark hair. My heart hammered faster. I would find her. I had to.
I stared at him, and he stared at me. I stared at him, and he stared at me.
A voice rang out.
"Olivia, get up. King Rowan is here."
The words oozed with annoyance.
I looked up in the direction of the sound.
There was a man standing there glaring, his hand pushing roughly against the back of a kneeling woman picking something out of the ground. I heard the deep rumbling in his chest.
My jaw clenched. Nothing made me as angry as a man who abused a woman. I didn't need any special abilities to understand what kind of man he was.
Then she stood.
The red dress moved around her like the petals of a burst of color that put the rest of the room into the shade. My breath caught.
I never liked the color red. It discussed the death, about blood, about that evening that the rogues had killed my parents.
But for her, it was different.
She raised her head as though she had smelled me. Our eyes locked.
The world stopped.
Axel scratched himself inside of me.
Her gaze broke away quickly. She tilted her head a little in the direction of the man who was lying next to her and mind-linked him. And then, with no scruples, she turned and strode briskly to the back door.
No.
She was leaving again.
My legs were straining to give the pursuit when the hand of Bradford flashed forth.
I stared at him, and he stared at me. You must remain; you have no choice but to deal with the Alphas.
I looked at him, and he looked back.
The doors closed behind her.
My pulse pounded in my ears.
Would I lose her again tonight?
Or could this be the last opportunity I could ever have of possessing her?
- Writer
