“We should teach her a lesson,” one of them smiled wickedly.
“Follow us,” another said but I folded my arms and dared them with my eyes to make me move.
“Are you deaf?” one of them had stepped closer to me and had raised her hand to hit me but a loud voice stopped them.
“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?”
I was surprised to see Dagen and even more surprised to see Dagen stand up for me.
“Alpha Dagen,” they all chorused with pretty smiles.
“She spilled wine on me,” the lady who had almost slapped me explained to Dagen.
“So?” quipped Dagen and they all looked embarrassed.
They muttered silly things under their breath and hurried away.
“Why are you embarrassing me? Can you not stay still?” he asked me, his eyes filled with fury.
“Stay still?” I scoffed and walked away.
I had had my fill of the ball already and quite frankly I wanted to return home.
But where was home? There was no such place like that for me.
I walked outside and wandered into the garden. I found a quiet place to sit and before long I drifted into a comfortable sleep.
*******************
Dagen's POV.
Kane was still quiet within me and that left me feeling uneasy. I had accused my wolf of making me vulnerable to my feelings but now that he had been quiet I felt even more vulnerable.
When the ball was over I told my men to have Regina ride in another carriage. I could not bear to see her anymore.
Earlier when I had seen her getting bullied by a group of rather silly-looking women I had felt the need to intervene but instead of being grateful, she had scoffed at me.
It baffled me really. No woman would have dared to do so and I was going to make her pay for it when I was more settled at home.
“It is good that you have told her to ride in another carriage; it was rather uncomfortable being with her earlier,” Nydia said, pulling closer to me.
“It was,” came my rather absentminded response.
The deal I had made with Kane was harder than I had thought. It seemed almost impossible to put Regina out of my thoughts but that was no fault of mine.
“I think Alpha Raphael is quite the man; imagine him displaying his entire harem today! And what more? They all work for his wife,” said Nydia trying to start a conversation but my mind was on other things. I really couldn't care less what Alpha Raphael did but I did have a question for her so I asked, “Alpha Raphael called you aside earlier, what did he want with you?”
“He seems interested in Regina. He wanted to know if you would be willing to dispose of her in the near future,” came her response. Her face hinted that there was more he had said that she was not willing to divulge.
“I see,” came my noncommittal response.
“What do you think? We won’t need her once she births your heir, Raphael seems willing to buy her for a good price,” Nydia said.
“Gina is not a slave,” I said, feeling the familiar rush of anger that welled up inside me when I had seen Regina eating with Tyler.
“But she’s yours. You can do with her as you please,” I detected something in Nydia’s tone that was unfamiliar.
“Are you jealous?” I asked.
“Should I be?”
“Why would you be?”
“You seem to care for Regina a lot. You have taken to calling her Gina,” she pointed out.
“I made a toast to honor our love in front of people who matter, how can you be jealous of Gina?” I was getting quite annoyed. For some reason, Nydia’s presence was irritating me.
“There’s no need to be angry; it’s only natural that I am a little worried you might choose your mate over me. After all, you did not reject her,” came Nydia’s response.
I said nothing during the rest of the trip.
I was not quite certain myself if Nydia had nothing to worry about.
When we arrived at the palace I noticed that Gina was taking forever to come out of her carriage. Was she trying to avoid me? I did not think much about it and left for my room at once.
It was not until the next day that Diane asked me if Regina was not returning to the palace that it dawned on me that she had not come with us.
“What do you mean she’s not in her room?” I demanded from Diane, the maid I had assigned to look after Regina.
“She is not in her room, your Majesty,” came her response.
Where had she gone to? Had she used the ball as an opportunity to escape me? Was she mad? If she was seen by one of those greedy lusty bastards she would never see the light of the sun again. No matter how much she hated me, how could she be stupid enough to go off like that?
“Tell Abbot to prepare Baron for me,” I instructed her.
Baron was my personal horse which I used when I wanted to travel alone.
Minutes later, I was on Baron’s back.
**********************
Gina's POV.
I woke up hours later to see Tyler seated beside me. He was eating an apple and appeared lost in thoughts.
“My Lord?” I said taking note of my surroundings. I had fallen asleep in the garden and that was where I still was.
“You’re awake,” he said with a smile.
“Is the ball still on?” I asked.
“No, everyone has left besides you. Why did you not follow Dagen? Has he tired of you?” he asked me but I remained quiet. Whether or not he was tired of me the truth was that he did not care if I existed or not.
“I can help you if you want to leave him,” said Tyler.
“Let us leave. This is the perfect opportunity!” cried Raven.