Chapter 223 It's About Time
Chapter 223 It's About Time
Adrian’s POV
I stared straight ahead as the massive doors to the courtyard burst open wider.
A small army of men marched in…maybe twenty, maybe more…boots thudding against the polished stone floors like war drums.
They were all dressed like they were coming to a battle and not a party, faces hard, eyes scanning every corner like they expected a trap.
At the front, leading them like a damn general, was Tristen Ravenwood. His shoulders were squared, jaw locked so tight I could see the muscle jumping from here.
Right beside him, matching his stride step for step, was Sebastian. That bastard walked like he owned the place, a smug tilt to his chin.
My jaw clenched so hard my teeth ached. The air in the hallway suddenly felt too thick, heavy with the scent of polished armor, sweat, and barely contained rage.
My wolf surged under my skin, pacing, snarling low in warning. ‘Easy boy,’ I told him calmly. ‘Breathe through the unease. We’ve got this.’
‘What can go wrong?’ I thought sarcastically, trying to psych myself up. ‘It’s not like I kept the man locked up in a fortified dungeon for half his life. And it’s definitely not like his daughter is currently pregnant with my child while he looks two seconds away from ripping my head off and using it as a throne decoration. Absolutely nothing can go wrong here after all that. I’ve got this. I’ve got…’
They kept coming closer, boots echoing louder, the tension stretching like a wire about to snap.
My prep talk died instantly the second they stopped a few steps in front of us. Tristen’s eyes…cold, burning with pure hatred…locked onto mine.
Sebastian stood just off his shoulder, watching everything like a snake ready to strike.
Shit. I'm blank.
I scrambled for the right words. ‘Say something, you idiot. You’re the King!’
My brain offered the dumbest options first. ‘Hello, father in-law. You look handsome today. How’s the weather in whatever hole you crawled out of? How was your trip…smooth, I hope? Traffic wasn’t too bad? Did you stop for snacks on the way to your daughter's coronation?’
A hysterical laugh almost bubbled up in my throat.
This was ridiculous. I was standing here, about to make it official in the presence of the whole kingdom, with my pregnant mate beside me, and I was mentally rehearsing small talk like some nervous teenager meeting his girlfriend’s dad for the first time.
Tristen’s growl ripped through the silence like thunder, snapping me out of it.
‘Be a man,’ I snapped at myself. ‘You’re the fucking King of this realm.’
My wolf snorted inside my head. ‘Not in front of your father-in-law, genius. Look at his face. He won’t mind ripping our mate away from us regardless of how she feels about it.’
I groaned deeply inside, the sound vibrating through my chest. ‘Thanks for the vote of confidence, buddy.’
Thomas, Philip, and two of my elite guards appeared almost immediately at my sides, forming a protective wall. Their presence helped, but only a little. The awkwardness was suffocating. You could’ve heard a pin drop.
Kira’s fingers suddenly pinched my arm hard enough to sting. Her voice exploded through the mindlink, sharp and frantic.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you saying anything?!”
“Well, what am I supposed to say? He’s your father…you say something!” I shot back quickly, trying not to let my panic leak through.
“Really? What happened to ‘I will always be there’ and ‘I’ve got this’? Don’t tell me you’re a chicken?” She sneered, that wild fire of hers crackling even through the link.
Before I could fire back, Tristen cleared his throat loudly, the sound like a warning shot.
I jumped on the opening. “Nice to have you here, Tristen… or should I say, Father-in-law?” I said, forcing my voice steady as I extended my hand toward him.
“Are you fucking nuts?! Why are you being sarcastic about it?” Kira’s yell nearly burst my eardrums through the link.
“Relax, babe. I’ve got this,” I told her confidently.
Total lie. I didn’t have this. I wasn’t scared of him exactly… but Kira was involved. This was her father. One wrong move and I could screw up the most important relationship in her life.
My hand hung there in the air between us, untouched as I waited for her to shake it. Tristen’s face only grew colder, like ice carved from pure fury.
“Say that one more time,” he growled, voice low and vibrating with so much hate it made the hairs on my neck stand up, “and I’ll have this entire place set on fire.”
I gulped. ‘Okay. Tough crowd.’
My wolf barked in my head. ‘Square your shoulders, dude! You are the King of the realm. Respectfully show him that you are not afraid of him!’
I snapped back at him internally. ‘I am not afraid of him. Besides, I’m also trying to be his son-in-law. Or, would you rather take over this conversation and win him over?’
My wolf went dead silent. ‘That’s what I thought,’ I said quietly.
Kira smiled then…soft, genuine…and took a small step forward, her hand slipping from mine. “Father,” she said warmly. “I’m so glad to see you.”
Only then did Tristen’s entire expression shift. The murderous rage melted, just a fraction, replaced by something almost human.
“My child,” he answered, his voice suddenly the softest thing I’d ever heard from a man who looked ready to commit mass murder seconds ago. The contrast was jarring.
‘He loves his daughter so much, Your Highness,’ Thomas said through the pack link, sounding almost conspiratorial. ‘What if we use that to our advantage?’
“And what do you mean by that?” I asked, genuinely curious because my only other plan involved dropping to my knees and straight-up crying for his blessing.
Thomas’s suggestion came fast and ridiculous. ‘We threaten him with the Queen’s life. Tell him if he doesn’t back down, we—’
“Are you high, Thomas?” I cut him off sharply. “How the hell would that help anything?”
Before Thomas could answer, I caught movement from the corner of my eye…Sebastian shifting slightly, his hand moving toward his belt, eyes gleaming with something dark and calculating.