Chapter 23 Bite Me Again
Adrian’s POV
“Your Majesty…” Levi repeated slowly, his eyes fixed on my bare neck, “where is your mark?”
The room went dead silent.
My jaw clenched so tight Derek snarled inside my head.
I turned fully to him, letting every ounce of my authority hit him like a blow.
“Is that really the question you want to ask me right now?” I said, voice low and dangerous.
Levi swallowed. “I…I just noticed it’s gone and—”
I raised a brow, stepping closer.
“Let me guess. You had a spy cam focused on my neck every second of the day?”
Levi blinked. “What?”
I tilted my head mockingly. “How else would you know what’s on my body? It’s not like I stood on the palace roof and shouted, ‘HEY EVERYONE, LOOK, I GOT MARKED.’”
His mouth opened. Nothing came out.
“And remember that run-in this morning? When Thomas nearly ripped your head off?” I continued, my voice low as I took another slow step forward. “I wore a long-sleeved shirt. Collars up. Buttoned. Completely covered. So tell me, Levi…” I stopped right in front of him. Face-to-face. Breath-to-breath. “How the fuck did you know I had a mark?”
His gaze darted instantly to his mother as though expecting her to answer the question.
Then back at me.
He was rattled. Shaking. Which can only mean one thing… They are definitely up to something.
“I—I just assumed,” he stammered. “It’s not news that you suddenly like your bride even though you hated her for so long. So I thought maybe you two…you know… marked each other in the heat of the moment.”
I snorted. Loud. Derisive.
“The heat of the moment?” I echoed. “Wow. Since when did you grow a brain?”
He flinched.
“Since when did you become so smart, Levi? Since when did you start thinking ahead? Since when did you magically understand mating marks and how they work?”
His mother stepped in, her voice sharp. “It’s not just Levi. Anyone with half a brain would know a mark is the only thing that explains why you’re acting differently toward your bride.”
I turned to her so fast she staggered back.
“She is not my bride,” I snapped, each word like a strike of lightning.
“She is my queen. Address her properly.”
Lady Margaret smirked. A slow, poisonous thing.
“Your queen? Has it escaped your memory, your majesty, that you haven’t crowned her yet? You only announced her as your bride…your soon-to-be queen.”
She leaned in just a little, voice lowering.
“Or have you forgotten our original plan?”
My eyes narrowed, my wolf itching to claw her brain out.
She continued, voice mocking. “The plan where Arabella serves as the placeholder for our political benefits, and you make Emily Logan your true Luna and Queen when she returns? Or should I remind you of the promise you made?”
I didn’t let her finish.
My hand locked around her throat, and I yanked her upward until her feet dangled. She clawed at me in panic, eyes bulging, her face shifting from red to a sickening purple.
Levi choked on a breath, fists clenching at his sides but not daring to move.
“Adrian…” he said, voice tight with fear. “It’s my mother you’re choking.”
“It’s Your Majesty to you, Levi!” I growled, my Alpha voice thundering through the room. “And let me remind you, dear aunt… I AM THE KING. Have I been too tolerant?”
Both of them whimpered, their wolves trembling at my command.
I squeezed once more, then let her drop.
She hit the floor, wheezing, coughing as thin trails of blood ran from the crescent marks on her neck.
I turned my back on them. “The meeting with the Royal Circle is happening tonight.”
I didn’t soften my voice. I didn’t pretend I was asking.
“And if I look for either of you,” I added quietly, “I will show you what I’m truly capable of.”
I mindlinked my Beta immediately.
“Send the invitations for a summoning. The meeting is before dinner. Anyone who questions it loses their tongue.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” he replied instantly.
I didn’t spare the other mother-son duo another glance. Not even when the boy reached out his little hand to touch my arm. I couldn’t.
I marched straight out of the hall.
But the second the door closed, I rounded up a corner far away from them, questions started tearing through my mind.
How the hell did Levi know about the mark?
How did he know it disappeared even before I did? When did it disappear?
My hand rose to my neck on instinct, to the exact place where Abby had bitten me.
Where the mark had burned into my skin like a badge I was proud to wear.
Now it is gone.
What did he mean by if I’m certain that Abby is truly my mate?
What the hell does he know?
I can tell that she’s my mate. Derek can smell her.
So what am I missing?
The uncertainty hit me like ice water down my spine.
I needed answers.
Fast.
I stormed through the palace halls straight to our room…and stopped dead.
Empty.
Her scent wasn’t just faint.
It was gone.
Like she never even reached the room.
A cold punch of fear slammed into my chest.
Where the hell is she?
Did something happen? Did someone take her to bully her again?
I snapped the mindlink wide open.
“Find the queen. NOW. All of you. I don’t care if you have to tear down the entire palace to do that!”
One guard responded immediately.
“Your Majesty, she’s in the kitchen.”
The kitchen?
Of all places? Are they making her scrub the floor?! I thought, and my blood boiled.
My heart didn’t slow down.
If anything, I moved even faster.
I took a sharp turn down the hallway, ignoring every omega who froze and stared like I’d grown two heads. Some even bowed shakily and asked if I needed anything…they’d get it for me, no need for me to come to the south wing personally.
I stormed past all of them and didn’t stop until I got to the kitchen.
Then I saw her.
Leaning lazily over the big kitchen counter, blowing into a mug, looking completely unbothered while Liana hovered nearby patting her back.
My whole damn world stood there in that messy bun and that maddening school uniform. I swear I’m banning that uniform. It makes her look like a feast served on a silver platter for a king…for me.
And the worst part? Other unmated males get to steal quick looks at what’s mine.
“Princess.”
It came out as a growl before I could stop it.
The mug slipped from her hand and shattered on the floor.
“Fucking hell!” she yelped, hand over her chest. “Why did you sneak up on me like that?! Look what you made me do!”
I saw Liana glaring at me like she wanted to stab me between the eyes…but when I turned her way, she immediately bowed and scrambled for a mop.
Maybe I imagined it. She wouldn’t dare.
“Don’t worry, princess,” Liana muttered, wiping the spill, “I’ll make another one before you go to bed.”
But I didn’t care about the damn tea.
I cared about her.
“I need you,” I said bluntly. Impatiently. “Now.”
Abby blinked at me. “Well, I need a shower, massage, and sleep. So…clash of interests, I guess.”
She turned to Liana. “I’ll be waiting for the new cup of tea.”
And with zero respect for my sanity, she brushed past me toward the hallway.
I caught up in two steps and grabbed her hand.
“What the hell is your problem? Let me go!” she snapped, jerking against my hold.
Electricity ripped up my arm when I touched her, and her breathy gasp proved she felt it too. So what the hell is Levi on about? Trying to get in my head? Make me question something that’s mine to feel?
I dragged her upstairs to our room…the only room in the east wing.
She cursed the entire way up. Called me every name except my actual name.
At one point I genuinely didn’t know if I wanted to choke her, kiss her, or do both at the same time.
But the second I pushed the door open and locked it behind us…
She stopped talking.
Just stared.
Everything she loved. Everything she once wished for. Everything I’d spent hours planning.
Her eyes widened, her breath froze as she took in the room with her mouth wide open.
“Holy shit…is this—some kind of joke?!”
My heart dropped straight into my stomach.
“You…don’t like it?” I asked quietly.
“Like it?” She turned around so fast loose strands of hair slapped her cheek.
“I LOVE IT!”
She squealed. Actually squealed.
Then started touching everything like a kid in a candy store.
The vanity.
The bedframe.
The walk-in closet.
She stopped dead at the rows of dresses.
“Oh my God,” she breathed. “And to think I was stuck in a pink room with pink clothes my whole life because Miranda loved pink…”
Miranda?
Who the hell was Miranda?
Her sister? But she’s an only girl.
A cousin perhaps?
I pushed the thought aside. I had bigger things to focus on.
“Abby?” I said.
“Hm?” She didn’t even turn. Too busy stroking a damn dress.
“I want you to bite me again.”
She turned so fast she almost dislocated her neck.
“…Sorry, what?”
“Bite me,” I repeated. “Again.”
She stared at me like I had just asked her to skin a goat in the living room.
Then she did the LAST thing I expected—