Chapter 139 - Worries

Chapter 139 - Worries


“What the hell is going on here?!” Theo booms, his eyes blazing with fury.

I freeze as I see him, my heart pounding in my chest.

“King Theo! I told you that this is King Seth’s private area! You are—“

“Your King has done the same thing in my land!” he growls at Darius, who is much taller and bigger than him.

Seth stands up calmly and meets Theo’s gaze. “There’s nothing going on here, King Theo. We were just talking.”

Theo steps closer and takes in my state, his eyes flickering between Seth and me. “Talking? With your hands all over her? I’m not stupid, Seth. I know that you wanted her even before you have the mate bond with her!”

Seth’s jaw tightens as Theo approaches him. Standing tall and unflinching, he says. “I’m not trying to do anything, Theo. Kaiya and I were just having a moment.”

“A moment? Is that what you call it?” Theo sneers, grabbing Seth by the collar of his clothes.

I stand up, panic rising in my chest. “Theo, stop! We were just talking, I swear!”

But Theo doesn’t listen, his anger boiling over as he punches Seth in the face. Seth staggers back, but he doesn’t retaliate and just holds his bruised cheek.

Then he looks at me, “I am taking you back with me!”

“No!” I say. Seth and I are too close to some important discovery. I won’t stop now.

“You promised me, Kaiya! You said you will return to my side and follow my plans.”

“That’s only if I succumb to the mate bond–which I haven’t!” ‘Almost though’ my mind screams, but I push it back.

“But I can see that you are too close to succumbing to it,” he seethes. “I can sense it. The mate bond is pulling you towards him.”

“I won’t go with you, Theo. I made a promise to you, but I made a promise to myself, too. I will survive and once there is no more threat from the Moon Goddess, I will live with you. But not now, when we our chance to thwart the Moon Goddess is higher.”

Theo grabs my wrist. “No, I won’t listen anymore! You are going to follow my plan.”

I pull away, “No!”

Theo’s grip tightens as he drags me towards the door. Seth moves to follow us, but Darius steps in front of him, blocking his way.

“Let her go, Theo,” Darius says, his voice as calm as ever, but his eyes are steely.

He looks at Darius with disdain. “Stay out of this, Darius. This is none of your business.”

“It is my business when you are hurting my queen,” Darius replies, unmoving.

Theo scoffs. “Your queen? Well, she’s my mate, Darius. And I’m just trying to protect what’s mine.”

“She’s not your mate,” Seth corrects. “If I am going to be technical here, she is my mate and you are just her King.”

Theo turns to Seth and glares at him. “You dare challenge me, King Seth?”

“I’m not challenging you,” Seth replies, his voice low and controlled. “I’m just reminding you of the truth.”

“Kaiya!” he shouts. “Tell him!”

Instead of obeying, I remove his grip on me and shake my head. “Theo, I love you and this love for you goes beyond the mate bond. But I need you to trust me. You need to trust our vows to each other.”

After staring at me for a while, Theo’s grip on me loosens. He touches his forehead to mine and places a quick kiss on my lips–as if it is his way of calming down. When he closes his eyes, I help him by stroking his cheeks.

We stand in silence for a moment before Theo breaks it. “Okay,” he says. “I’ll trust you.”

I nod, holding his eyes, happy with what he said. “However, Kaiya, this will be the last.”

I still take a deep breath before explaining what Seth and I discovered. Theo listens intently, nodding every so often as I talk.

“Since you mentioned General Brandon and that same dark aura, I’d like to fill you in with the reason I am here.”

Theo shifts his attention to Seth and Darius and adds, “General Brandon Stine is missing. After his last letter from Weiller Island, we lost contact with him. We initially thought someone killed him en route, but we heard some weird rumors coming from the Stine kingdom.”

“Which is?”

“General Brandon has pulled the Stine Kingdom from the ground up and is now ruling it.”

I frown. “He said that he doesn’t want to rule.”

“Seems like it’s different now. We heard he plans to attack Orttenburg,” Theo says. “It’s the reason I am here. I am supposed to apologize in advance for what my ex-subject plans to do to your country. But now, seeing you with my Kaiya, I don’t feel like doing it.”

“Theo!” I scold.

Theo takes a deep breath and moves closer to me. “Sorry,” he whispers.

Then Seth and I look at each other. After an understanding passes through us, I shift my eyes to Theo. “Do you think it has something to do with the dark entity we’ve been encountering in the deep recesses of human minds?”

“Is it always there?”

“Not for everyone. Even now, we still don’t understand what it is exactly, and why it is there.”

Theo’s brows furrow as he ponders over my words. “I don’t know if it's possible, but maybe it’s the same as what General Brandon has and he has fallen under its influence?”

“Right now, we are still gathering more information on this dark entity and how it affects people,” Seth adds.

“But why attack Orttenburg? What does it want here?”

Seth and I look at each other again. “We think that maybe it’s because we are the ones who found its existence.”

After a short pause, Theo shifts his attention to me and asks, “Tell me what I can do to help you.”

“I need you to stay at Pitchford and protect Weiller Island, Theo.”

He nods before pulling me into a tight embrace. “I love you, Kaiya,” he whispers. “And I missed you.”

“I love you too, Theo,” I say. “But maybe you can stay for one more day?”

“You mean that?”

I turn to look at Seth. “Please?”

He groans before saying, “Suit yourself, but be warned that we will do something more taxing once he left.”

“That’s perfectly fine!”