“I was stuffy,” was my response.
“You were stuffy?” His tone was sarcastic.
“Yes, Alpha,” I said with a bow but he did not seem to believe me. He walked to the window and looked out. I prayed in my mind that Tyler was long gone.
He closed the window and turned to look at me.
“You do not seem to understand your duty here. You must remain healthy in order to bear me a healthy heir,” he said to me and I gave a weak smile, relieved that he had not found Tyler.
“I will take that into account, your Majesty,” I said.
“Has someone been in your room?” questioned Dagen, sniffing the room as he did so.
“Diane was here not quite long,” came my response. Could he really sniff Tyler out?
“Diane? It is not Diane I smell,” he said.
I had nothing to say in my defense so I kept quiet.
“Why did you lock your door?” he asked me.
“Lock my door? I… I… I did because… I… thought… I…”
“Are you an idiot? Can you not speak?” he asked me.
“I did not want to be disturbed,” I finally said but regretted saying so at once.
“You did not want to be disturbed? Why? What was it you were doing?” he asked, looking at me with scrutiny.
“Diane gets here really early in the morning; I wanted to sleep in,” came my weak response.
Under the dim light, I saw his eyes darting about as though looking for something. Whatever it was he was searching for, he did not find it and his eyes finally rested on me.
“You've been sick,” he stated and I wondered if that was meant to be a question or a statement.
“I have,” came my reply.
“I shall stop by every night so do not lock your door, understood?” he quipped and I nodded my head.
He left after that and I collapsed on my bed in relief. Then I was immediately reminded of his last words. He was going to stop by every night? What for? I was getting used to not seeing him again. I hated that I was confused when he was around me. I wished desperately that I felt nothing for a man who only saw me as an heir-making tool.
****************
Dagen's POV.
“What really happened to Regina? Why did she fall sick?” I inquired from Nydia when I saw her in the morning.
“Regina? Why do you ask of her now? I will…”
“Tell me, Nydia. Was she poisoned?” I looked straight into her eyes to check if she was lying and I could see the surprise in her expression.
“Where did you hear that from?” she asked instead of answering my question.
“It doesn't matter where I heard it from; I just want to know the truth. Was she poisoned?” I asked her but she remained mute.
“I sent her to the meadow before her illness. She might have inhaled a poisonous plant or something like that,” she finally said when she saw I was not going to back down.
“A poisonous plant? Why send her to the meadow?”
“I wanted her to be out in the sun. A woman who's about to be a mother should not be cooped in her room all day,” that seemed like a reasonable response but I was not quite satisfied. Something had happened in my absence that she was not telling me. I would not have known about the poison if I had not seen Regina yesterday. The color of her eyes had betrayed that she was recovering from poison.
“Do you feel threatened by Regina? That she is here to take your position?” I asked Nydia. She seemed insecure about everything lately and I had done my very best to assure her of my love and loyalty to her. It was one of the reasons I had stayed away from Regina but I now suspected that she may be causing Regina harm which will only further complicate things. If Regina died without giving me an heir then I would have to wait for many years before I come across another mate and I doubted that I had many years to wait.
“Of course not. I understand that she is here to serve a purpose. When she has fulfilled it, she will die,” came Nydia's response.
I said nothing to this.
“Your Majesty?” my valet knocked on Nydia's door.
“Lord Edvin is here to see you,” he said and I left Nydia to herself.
“Edvin,” I greeted my Beta with gusto upon entering my private parlor where he was waiting for me.
“I wish I had the same excitement,” came Edvin's damper tone.
“What is it this time?” I asked, sensing at once that something was wrong.
“The council of Elders have brought something of great urgency to my attention,” replied Edvin.
“The Council of Elders?” They always brought trouble to my door. I had thought many times about how I could disband this group of strange men. They were not even called Elders because they were old but because they seemed to be very wise men indeed.
“It concerns your Luna.”
**************
Gina's POV.
Morning came quickly, too quickly in fact and I rolled my eyes when I saw Diane stroll into my room.
“My Lady! Did you even get any sleep last night?” she asked looking at my sleep-deprived eyes.
“That's no fault of mine,” I grunted in response.
“Was His Majesty here, perhaps?” she whispered and I shook my head vigorously, understanding what she meant by the question.
“He was here but not for what you think,” I said.
“Oooh, Lady Nydia was up most of the night. Her personal maid shares a room with me and as she got no sleep I know she was alone through the night,” said Diane.
“So?” I was not certain what I was to deduce from what she was saying.
“It means the Alpha did not spend the night with her which is rather unusual.”