Chapter 126 Unmasked Fate.
Chapter 121
Jax's POV
I pulled on my plainest shirt, the brown one with frayed edges that servants wore, and tucked it into worn trousers. My fingers fumbled with the buttons. They trembled slightly. I paused, staring at my hands until they steadied.
No royal robes today. No crown. No scepter.
I stepped outside the palace gates, keeping my head down.
This was how I'd been doing it lately, slipping out like a shadow. No guards marching beside me. No trumpets announcing my presence. No golden threads catching the sunlight and screaming "Your King is here!"
I just... walked. Like anyone else.
I needed to visit one of the cheaper ale-houses in town. Not because the palace didn't have expensive wines, the cellars overflowed with them. But I needed to get out. I needed to breathe air that didn't smell like perfume and politics.
My brain felt like it was boiling inside my skull.
Rosa. The elders. The power struggles. Everything about Stormfang Pack swirled in my head like a storm that wouldn't stop. Round and round and round until I thought my head might actually explode.
I pressed my palm against my forehead as I walked down the dusty street.
I wished Father would just wake up. I wished the gods would point to someone, anyone, who was trustworthy, who actually cared about the pack, who was truly anointed and ready. I wouldn't think twice. I'd hand over this kingship in a heartbeat.
It was crushing me.
My shoulders sagged under invisible weight as I moved through the marketplace. People bustled past, carrying baskets and bundles. None of them looked at me. Good.
Though it was night time.
I'd stepped out to get fresh air. To think clearly for once.
Rosa hadn't been around anyway since morning. I knew where she would be, out there in those strange places, looking for someone to warm her bed. My jaw clenched at the thought.
The news had reached me. Whispers, really. Servants talking when they thought I couldn't hear. Rosa and my beta. Together. Doing... things.
I didn't know if it was true or false. But there were so many rumors now, flying around like crows. And I'd received reports, actual reports, that Rosa had been seen in Alpha Dominion's pack. Messing around. Making a fool of me. Making a fool of the throne.
My fists balled at my sides.
I can't believe that Luna would cheat on me. But I needed proof. Real proof. Something concrete that would nail her coffin shut forever.
Real proof not the letter from madam Ravenna. Had it been she had where I could meet up with her to substantiate her claim. That would have been great but her disappearance from the face of the earth because she wanted to unravel the evil the fidelity of Rosa , bugged me alot.
I stopped walking and took a deep breath. The air tasted like dust and horse manure, but it was better than the palace.
Let me trust Rosa, I told myself. Maybe she's not a cheat. Maybe it's all lies.
But if the allegations were true...
My hands shook again.
If this comes out to be true. It would be something she would live to regret. The power above would not be able to save her.
I increased my pace tremendously along the dusty road. Had it been during the day I would have been recognized.
As I walked on the dusty road , I pondered who could help me reveal Rosa's lover. But I didn't know who I could trust with something like this.
I should have called someone in the palace but it was the last place to trust anyone. Everyone had an agenda. Everyone wanted something.
My mind drifted to the ale-house I'd visited a few weeks ago. The one where I'd disguised myself. Where no one knew who I was. If I am a lowly and weak omega or lycan king of the stormfang pack.
Since the shooting incident, I haven't been back.
I was grateful, so grateful, that my identity hadn't been revealed that night and most importantly I was not shut. My heart still raced when I remembered the bullets, the screaming, the blood.
The ale-server had died. That sassy young omega with the quick tongue and bright eyes. A few other pack members too. But the news hadn't spread. Not a single whisper had reached the palace about what really happened.
That showed how broken everything was. Terrible things were happening in the pack, and only fragments ever made it to me.
I swallowed hard and kept walking.
This time, I'd been extra careful.
To come out here, I had slipped through Gate D of the palace, the one only two guards watched me exiting the gate like a ghost. I'd put on strange makeup, smearing it across my face to disguise my outlook so that I can l looked ten years older.
I'd stuffed old cloth and something that felt like polythene into my shirt, creating a fake belly that jutted out in front of me. I'd glued on a fake mustache that itched terribly.
I scratched at it as I approached the ale-house.
The building had always looked the same. Rough wooden walls. A crooked sign hanging above the door. Light spilling from the windows along with noise, so much noise.
I pushed the door open.
Heavy music hit me like a wave. The beats were too loud, the singing off-key. The whole hall resonated with a sound that made my teeth ache.
Bottles clinked and clattered. Voices shouted over each other. Laughter exploded from different corners.
Young omegas in their waitress outfits and a bunch of omegas with short skirts weaved through the crowd. They carried heavy trays balanced perfectly on their palms, loaded with ale mugs and bottles of different colored drinks that sloshed with each step.
I scanned the room, squinting through the smoke and dim light.
I needed a strategic position. Somewhere, pack members wouldn't notice me. Somewhere quiet.
My usual seat, the one from last time, was already taken. Actually, the whole section was packed with different wolves. They were chanting something, pounding their fists on tables, drinking like tomorrow might not come.
I shifted my fake belly and looked around.
There, near the east wing, close to the exit door. That corner looked quieter. A raffia palm partition had been set up, dividing that section from the rest of the chaos.
Perfect.
I walked over, my footsteps heavy with the extra weight of my disguise. My fake belly bumped against a chair as I squeezed past. I winced.
Finally, I reached the seat and dropped into it. The chair creaked under me. I let out a long breath and adjusted my mustache again.
Footsteps approached.
A young omega walked toward my section. She had her back turned to me, her attention caught by another attendant somewhere behind the raffia barrier. I couldn't see who was calling her because of the partition.
"Just a moment!" she called over her shoulder.
I waited.
She turned slightly, still not looking at me fully. "VIP section, ten shekels per hour," she said in a practiced voice. Bored. Like she'd said it a thousand times today.
Then she tur
ned around completely.
Her eyes met mine.
Her tray wobbled in her hands. Her mouth dropped open. Her whole body went rigid.
"You!”