Chapter 57

Claire’s POV

My eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Are you playing with me right now? Since when do slaves get promoted?”

His lips twitched in amusement. “Has your trust been broken so many times that you find it so hard to believe people?”

“You don't want to know,” I muttered under my breath.

“Anyway, I'm being serious. No one has to know that you are my mate but it still feels improper for the mate of an Alpha to be on the same level as a common slave.”

I arched an eyebrow. “I am not on the same level as the other slaves in the Palace. You made sure to put me far beneath them. It's why your Luna can punish me as freely as she wants.”

An emotion close to pity flitted across his features. “I'm sorry about that. I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen again.”

“We’ll see about that,” I replied, doubting that anyone could make Sophie stop bullying me.

He cleared his throat before he resumed speaking. “So, concerning the promotion I was talking about, your only tasks would be in my room. No cleaning of the hallways close by and stuff like that. You also wouldn't be joining the others during the general cleaning.”

“Are you serious?” I queried.

“You no longer have to wear this ugly uniform, and yes, you would be moved to another room,” he continued, ignoring my interruption. “By tomorrow, you are going to have a closet full of clothes. I wouldn't want you to look unkempt anytime we go out together.”

“Wait a minute,” I murmured, getting back to my feet. “We are going to be going out together? Your Luna is nearly going to die out of rage and jealousy.”

“She is eventually going to get used to it, and can you please stop bringing her up every time? If I didn't know any better, I would have thought you were obsessed with her

“As if,” I murmured, rolling my eyes. “But you are really going to have to put a leash on her. I’m not sure how long I would be able to endure before lashing out if she started torturing me again. That would be a total disaster.”

He smirked. “Anything for you, Your Majesty.”

I scowled at the face that looked so much like his father’s. The man who had betrayed and murdered my parents. This sudden kind gesture of his, if we could call it that, was really frustrating. It was only going to make things a lot harder for me.

“And there it is again,” he suddenly said, causing my brows to knit together in confusion.

“Your eyes are very expressive, Claire, and they show me exactly how you feel from time to time. Which is why I am bothered by the hate that appears in them.”

I needed to put my emotions under control. “Don’t worry. I'm not going to kill you in your sleep.”

“It's not funny, Claire,” he murmured.

“Why are you even bothered by it?” I wondered aloud. “I'm sure that you come across so many people who hate you on a daily basis. Alphas are supposed to care more about respect and not love or hate from people.”

He scoffed. “You are certainly a newbie when it comes to what the Alpha experience is like. Yes, we are supposed to value respect from people more than love or hate but we still can’t see those emotions as insignificant. Love guarantees the support and sympathy of your people when you make mistakes.”

“And besides, I'm supposed to be bothered if I sense hatred coming from you. You are my mate.”

There was a knock on the door at that moment and we both froze.

If word got out that I was the Alpha’s mate, I wasn't sure what was going to happen but I knew that I wasn't going to like the outcome.

He gave me a reassuring look before calling out, “Come in.”

The Beta walked in and I could see the Alpha visibly go slack with relief.

Even if he had heard anything, Kelvin could count on the fact that he was loyal to him.

Or so I thought. No one could be trusted these days. Take a look at the Luna who was supposed to be the most loyal to the Alpha. She was certainly up to no good.

Charles looked from the Alpha to me, confusion and disbelief evident in his gaze.

“Please tell me that what I just heard isn’t true.”

Great! Just exactly what I needed.

“Kelvin,” he said, his tone questioning.

The Alpha got to his feet and faced his best friend. “It's true, Charles. Claire is my mate.”

Hearing him say out loud to another person sort of put a final stamp on it.

Perhaps, a part of me had foolishly thought that if he wasn't going to tell anyone about us, then the mate bond would eventually disappear.

Charles closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

It was an act my stepfather always did when he was mentally stressed.

“So, what’s going to happen now?” he queried. “And since when have you been keeping this from me? Were you even going to tell me at all?”

“I was going to eventually,” the Alpha replied and I couldn't help but hear the guilt in his tone.

“And as for what we are going to do, absolutely nothing.”

The Beta arched an eyebrow. “Then why are you two still mates? You should have rejected her the minute you found out.”

My dislike for the Beta was beginning to grow. I thought Kelvin rejecting me was the best thing that could happen but those words weren't supposed to come from anyone else.

“It has always been Sophie for you,” he continued. “And it's always going to be Sophie. Even if you were quite a manslut as a teenager, you still always had it in mind that you were going to end up with Sophie no matter what.”

The angry roar in my mind was so loud that I nearly didn't hear the words that came out of the Alpha’s mouth.

“Even if being with Sophie hurts me?”

Charles’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Alpha Kelvin heaved a deep sigh and then turned to start unbuttoning his shirt, giving the both of us a full view of his back.

The Beta rolled his eyes. “I know you have a very impressive body but now is not the right time to show it off.”

I would have laughed at his words if the tension I could sense coming from the Alpha wasn't so strong that it was really bothersome.

My eyes widened in horror and a gasp fell from my lips when the shirt finally came off.

“What the hell is that?” Charles queried, his voice barely above a whisper.

“First of all, how did you get all these cuts and why aren't they healing properly?” I queried as I reached out my finger to trace a particularly deep one.

He shivered when I touched him and quickly put his shirt back on before turning again to face us.

“It happens every time I have sex with my Luna,” he murmured, looking straight at Charles.