Chapter 53 Unfinished Business
Adrian’s POV
Papers were scattered all over my desk like a battlefield after a war…reports, maps, alliance requests, all blurred together because my mind was still stuck on this morning.
My body was a traitor, still aching from that heated make-out session with my mate. We’d been so close, so damn close to finally giving in, her soft moans echoing in my ears, her body pressed against mine…and then I’d stormed in here, still rock-hard, desperate for her.
What did I do afterwards? The only thing a frustrated wolf could do alone…jerk off. Imagining her lips, her eyes fluttering shut, her cries… I was right there, on the edge.
And that’s when Thomas barged in. Mid-stroke. Caught like a teenager watching porn. The humiliation burned hotter than any battle wound.
Now he sat across from me in the study, that amused smirk plastered on his face like he owned the damn thing. His eyes sparkled with barely held-back laughter.
“I swear to the moon, Thomas, if you so much as laugh or giggle…”
He cut me off, holding up his hands in mock surrender. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty, but I’m your beta.
I don’t giggle. Betas don’t giggle. But I can roar in laughter.” He sniffed dramatically, like he was fighting back a sneeze, but I knew better…that was laughter building in his throat.
I glared at him, heat crawling up my neck. I wanted the floor to swallow me whole. Thomas, of all people, walking in on the King of all alphas handling his own business. Knowing him, he’d milk this for years. Subtle jabs, innocent comments that only I’d catch. And he’d already started.
Like earlier, when he burst in here…again, without knocking…to tell me about the commotion in the halls. My mate’s parents, the King and Queen of the North, were throwing a fit because they wanted to leave. Apparently, they felt “insulted” by how my queen was treating them…like slaves.
Why shouldn’t she? They deserved every bit of it. Aura for aura, right? They’d treated her like dirt her whole life, made her feel worthless, insecure. If they hadn’t built that foundation of cruelty, she wouldn’t be dishing it back now. I wasn’t letting them slink away just yet. They could stay and face it. They’d only leave when she said so.
We marched down to the halls together. King Ariston was red-faced, puffing up like he still mattered. “This is outrageous! A king cannot leave his throne vacant for so long. The people will run wild…chaos, theft, rebellion. What if there’s a rogue attack, your majesty?”
I stepped forward, my voice low and deadly calm, the kind that made warriors drop to their knees. “You and your family are forbidden to leave these grounds until my Queen…the Queen of all kingdoms…says otherwise. Don’t you know it’s a privilege to serve her? Most would kill for the honor.”
Ariston opened his mouth to argue, blustering about duties and thrones. But Thomas cut him off smoothly, clapping a hand on Ariston’s shoulder a little too hard.
“Oh, come on now, Alpha. A real leader knows when to…grip the situation firmly and see it through to the end. No pulling out early, right? Wouldn’t want to finish prematurely and leave everyone unsatisfied.”
What he said made no sense. But it did to me.
He said it with a straight face, all noble and beta-like advice. Ariston nodded grudgingly, missing it completely. But I caught it…the double meaning, the sly nod to what he’d walked in on. Grip… pulling out… finish prematurely. My face burned with embarrassment.
Thomas shot me a quick wink when no one was looking. Bastard. I nearly throttled him right there, but it was too damn funny in a mortifying way.
It didn’t stop there. During warrior training, he’d “accidentally” shout commands like, “Hold that stroke steady, men! No rushing the finish!” While inspecting guards: “Patrols need a firm hand…can’t let things slip through your grasp.” Everywhere we went, that damn look on his face, like he was one word away from bursting.
Back in the study now, papers still a mess, I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Thomas.”
“Yes, Your Majesty?” He looked up, all innocent.
“I can see you don’t want to be my beta anymore. How about guard duty at the border? Far border. The one with the bugs and no company.”
He grinned, unfazed. “We both know you can’t do without me, Your Majesty. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if we were lovers in past lives…”
I slammed my fist on the desk, half embarrassed, half just done with him. “That’s enough, Thomas. What about what I told you to investigate?”
“Which one, Your Majesty? I’ve looked into so many things lately…” He trailed off, that tease back in his voice.
I rubbed my temples, sinking into my chair. Let him have his fun…he’d earned it, I guess. “The sniffing hounds. Any suspicious scents around the palace? Dark magic?”
His face tightened, going serious at last. “Not yet. They’re still combing the grounds. I spoke to Dom and Stan…they swear they saw you enter before you actually did. Something wearing your face. But the hounds pick up nothing.”
That gnawed at me. A shapeshifter in our midst after so many years. Anyone could be anyone. How do you trust your own pack members?
“What about Sheila? When’s she arriving? I need her to purge this place.”
“Messenger hasn’t returned yet, but soon.”
I ran a hand through my hair, growling low. “We can’t wait. Send for a priestess from one of the other kingdoms. Now. Before this dark magic spreads further.”
The thought alone twisted my gut…someone impersonating me, getting close to Kira, touching her… No blade could hurt like that image.
“I’ll make it quick,” Thomas said, then paused. “Oh, and the other thing you told me to look into…the rose symbol on the princess’s shoulder. You’ll never believe what I discovered…”
“Your Majesty!”
A booming voice from the doorway interrupting Thomas, followed by frantic knocking.
What now? “Open,” I growled.
Two guards burst in, faces pale as ghosts, dropping to their knees…no, flat on their faces.
I knew those faces. The princess’s personal guards. My blood ran cold.
I didn’t wait for them to talk. “Where is she?” My voice came out a snarl, Derek surging forward furiously.
They trembled. One stammered, “The…the princess is missing, Your Majesty. We lost her.”
The world tilted as the word missing rang in my ears, loud and hollow, like a blade striking stone.
They lost her? Is she an item? My growl rattled the windows, deep and feral. “What do you mean, missing?”
The other lifted his head just enough to speak. “She was in class at the academy. Right there one moment…then gone. We questioned everyone…instructors, students. Turns out she ventured into the Dark Zone alone.”
The Dark Zone. Forbidden. Dangerous. Full of traps, beasts, old magic.
Fury exploded in my chest like wildfire. My vision sharpened, claws itching to extend. I marched toward them, ready to rip their throats.
But Thomas moved faster, grabbing both by the throats and hurling them out of the study into the hall like rags. “Your Majesty calm down, you’ll kill them!”
“Out of my way, Thomas,” I growled. Derek was raging inside me, panting, clawing to get out. Nothing happens to her. Nothing.
“Your Majesty, have you forgotten what will happen to you if you kill one of our own?” he said frantically.
I stopped cold, blood turning to ice. “How could I forget that damned curse?”