Chapter 23 Chapter 23

Chapter 23 Chapter 23
" What are you doing?", Edwina asked with a loud gasp, distancing herself from him in a moment. Both of them stared at each other in bewilderment. Even Hades couldn't take his eyes off of her. He was even more puzzled when his canines poked his lips.

Was his wolf trying to mark her?

On the other hand, Edwina felt guilty after she read through his mind. If she had been a little late to back away from him, he would have made a disaster. It was forbidden in the lands of Wolverton World to claim someone as a mate except with the approval of the Moon Goddess. Since she had her mate already, there was no possibility that Hades was her second mate.

Edwina clenched his teeth harder when he saw the guilt in her eyes. She cared for her mate more than anyone. It was his thoughts that he couldn't accept easily. Hence, he blurted his words out after an awkward silence,
" I..uh.. Sorry..we should go back now.."

Edwina didn't say anything. Hades nearly rushed for the exit with Arrax & Radolf's meaningful eyes watching him.

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The ride back to Red Darkling was spent in awkward silence. They had so much going on inside their minds that no one talked or mentioned what happened at the Moon Gala.

How was she going to explain to Ace?

A strong sense of guilt crossed her mind. Edwina bit her lips hard, trying to hold down her cries that threatened to come out every single moment.

" STOP!", Hades's cold empathetic voice halted the carriage, snapping her attention back on the street where she had finally noticed that they had arrived at the castle. Hades looked mad for no apparent reason. Although no one could understand the reason behind it, he was aware of his anger. He was mad at himself for giving too much to Edwina. He was mad at himself that his wolf felt weak towards Edwina.

Edwina stiffened slightly at the sound of his door slamming. She followed him outside carefully until they saw Mistress Angelina with her peasants, waiting for them at the entrance.

" Your Highness!", Angelina bowed to Hades coquettishly, faking a genuinely concerned face. She secretly cast a glance at Edwina's face and gritted her teeth harder.

" What are you all doing here?", Hades asked in a confused voice, staring at Angelina and her maids who seemed worried. Angelina sniffed her nose at misery, spoke after taking a long sigh,
" This is bad, Your Highness! That creature has fled away from our dungeon."

WHAT!!!

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" EVEN MY DUNGEONS CAN'T CAPTIVE ANYONE! IS THAT HOW YOU PROTECT THE KING OF ALPHAS?", Hades roared at his guards, their eyes almost popping out in disbelief that someone had managed to deceive their eyes.

Edwina was equally shocked as the others. She wrote to Axel to beg forgiveness from the king. In that way, at least his life was going to be saved. She even strictly warned him not to leave the dungeon under anyone's influence. Then how could he leave Red Darkling without telling her?

Angelina twisted her lips in disgust. Staring around the empty dungeon, she muttered trying to sound cunning,
" Your Highness! There must be some mole in the castle or else how can someone leave the castle without being caught red-handed?"

Hades agreed with Angelina's words mentally. He snapped his head back at his guards, ordered grimacing,
" Search around the castle and find out who came to meet the prisoner in my absence."

Angelina was well prepared from the beginning. She took care of everything and had placed the crumpled letter not too far away. Then it happened too fast. One of the guards saw the note and picked it up out of curiosity. He read it at a glance and then notified the king who was looking mad,
" My king! You should see..this.."

The letter was brought to Hades soon afterward. In a moment, the air around them probably lowered a few degrees. Nostrils flared, and Hades couldn't believe the content of that letter. He clutched it in his fist, whirled to Edwina who was clueless,
" Is this the reason you were acting obedient to me, Alpha Edwina so that you can betray me? Did you write this letter to this creature? You know him from the beginning?"

Disbelief flashed across her eyes as soon as he told those words. It was true that she wrote to him but she never told him to run away like a coward. Edwina stepped forward to take a look at the letter. Her lips parted in disbelief, looking at the contents that she had never written to Axel. Edwina tried to understand him calmly,
" Your Highness! This..I never asked him to leave.. You are mistaken.."

" Tell me, you didn't write to him?", Hades growled, interrupting his words. He was turned towards her, ready to grab her anytime out of rage. Edwina fell into silence for a while. She nodded her head in bewilderment before saying,
" But I didn't ask him to leave..Your Highness..I just warned him because he is from my pack."

But Hades didn't hear her words anymore. He paid attention to her betrayal. She supported someone else even though she was sleeping with him. How could he expect loyalty from someone whom he imprisoned in his castle?

Hades squeezed his eyes shut in self-regret. Grinding his teeth together, he blurted in a painful voice that broke Edwina's heart,
" You lied to me, Edwina!"

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" I am so proud of you!", Alpha Duncan rested a hand on Hades's shoulder. A big smile tugged on his lips when he heard the sound of whipping inside.

Just like this, no one paid attention to Edwina's words. They all believed what was written in the content. Even though Hades wanted to listen to her once, the evidence held him back. As per tradition, Edwina was getting whipped inside. Long, thick, fat iron chains fell on her back from both sides. Despite her unwillingness to make any noise, her body couldn't endure the pain anymore. She whimpered painfully and cried sometimes through her broken voice.

Alpha Duncan was glad to see that Edwina wasn't a blockage in their motives. At first, he thought that the king was always going to side with her. Now, her betrayal was revealed, and she was punished too. Alpha Duncan added venomously to stir the rage of fire more,
" Such betrayers should be hanged. What are you waiting for Hades?"

Hades shook his head saying 'No'. His face hardened in pain when the sound of whipping increased. He blurted after swallowing thickly,
" We can't hang someone's death without proper evidence. "

Alpha Duncan was unhappy with his words. He wanted Silas to follow his every wish without questioning. Hence, Alpha Duncan was a little mad but Angelina's voice made him happy again,
" Of course, we have, Your Highness!"

Angelina walked to them gracefully, followed by a woman who was crying and begging for mercy. Her maid threw the crying girl ruthlessly in front of ruthlessly. Angelina threatened her in an empowering voice,
" Tell the king! Who asked you to deliver the letter to the creature inside?"

The maid who was assigned to the task kept crying harder. Just a while ago, she saw how Angelina had beaten her younger sister in a locked room downstairs. If she didn't tell the truth, her younger sister was going to be killed. The maid admitted in a whisper, tears of guilt flooding from both her eyes,
" It was.. mistress... Edwina..She told me..to send the letter.."

Silence descended around them. Hades was too silent as if he had just been stabbed with a knife. Even if she betrayed him, he never wanted her death. God knows how much willpower he had to stay calm after hearing her cries from the dungeon.

Princess Laura was also present in the commotion. She never believed that Edwina could do something lame. On the other hand, she knew very well how greedy Angelina was for powers. She pointed out, giving Angelina a suspicious glare,
" How did you find all this, Mistress Angelina? When did you start giving attention to the dungeon?"

Angelina smiled back stiffly, and replied with an arrogant voice as if her status was already confirmed,
" Obviously, as a future queen of Alphas, I have to pay attention everywhere, Princess Laura."

Then she snapped her attention back at Edwina who didn't say a word. Fluttering her eyelashes innocently, Angelina asked Hades,

"What is your decision, my king? Please keep in mind that you can't back aw
ay from our traditions. Alpha Edwina must be hanged for her planned betrayal of our king."