Chapter 6

Elena was stuck in her dreams. 

She knew she was dreaming, and she felt her body, but she was trapped inside of it, and she couldn’t find a way to get out of it. 

She heard someone speaking beside her bed, “She just experienced too many shocks in a short time. It stimulated her nerves. After some proper rest, she will be okay.”

It sounded like the kingdom’s doctor, Dr. Todd, but she couldn’t understand what he was doing here. 

Another voice in the room whispered something to him, but Elena couldn’t make out who it was. And then there were footsteps going away. But the severe headache she was suffering started getting worse. It almost felt like someone had just split her head in half. 

She knitted her forehead and cried out of pain. Someone took her hand and whispered to her gently, “Are you okay, L?”

Elena tried to open her eyes but failed. She then called the name she trusted most, “Cory…” Tears streamed down from the corners of her eyes. 

Cory responded to her. He knelt beside her bed and stroked her hair, “I am here, baby. I am right here for you.”

Elena felt relieved to know he was here. She then cried without opening her eyes. “I just had this horrible dream, Cory,” she said. “I dreamed you got another girl and wanted me to be your mistress.”

There was no denial from her beloved boyfriend, just a few moments of dead silence. Elena then knew she wasn’t dreaming. Everything which was stored in her memories was all true reality. She cried again and struggled to pull her hand out of his. “Go away!” she yelled.

Cory sighed right beside her bed. He knew it wasn’t the right time to have the conversation with her. He told her, “Have some good rest, baby.” and then stood up and left. 

Elena heard him walking out of the door. And pains and betrayals, and lies, all rushed back into her head. She wailed on the bed, curling herself up in unbearable anguish. 

After a while, she heard Nyla sigh in her head. She asked her, “Are you alright, L?”

Elena didn’t reply, just sobbed and cried. 

Nyla then said, “I know you are suffering, L. I am sorry for that. But I need you to get it together. We are in danger.”

Elena asked, snuffing, “What danger?” At that moment, she didn’t really care.

Nyla then said, “Look around, L. We are not in our bedroom!!!”

**

After leaving the basement of the mansion where he kept Elena, Cory went upstairs alone to the ground floor. 

Gable couldn’t help but ask him, “Shouldn’t we leave two guards there in case she needs something?”

Cory denied his suggestion. “No,” he said. “Only when we leave her completely alone will she start to think straight.”

Gable frowned. He wasn’t happy about Cory’s decision. Elena and Nyla were his mates. He didn’t want to go tough on them. But Cory’s decisions were always finalized and he couldn’t find an alternative solution, so he kept silent. 

When they went back to the sitting room on the first floor, a guard approached them. 

“The Beta couple refused to leave, Your Majesty,” he said. “They insisted on meeting their daughter.”

Cory frowned unpleasantly. He was still mad at Orion for questioning Jasper. Surely, Orion used to be a great Beta and had made lots of contributions to the Kingdom. But he was old and stubborn and should have retired a long time ago. The only reason he was still on duty was that Cory’s father, Alpha Jordan, thought Cory needed some extra help from the elderly. Cory had a second opinion.

“Bring them in,” he said. “I will talk to them in person.”

The guard retreated and then brought the Beta couple in in a minute. 

Orion’s face was dark and Eleanor was extremely nervous when they walked in. An hour ago, Elena passed out at the front door after she saw Cory. And Cory just brought Elena back to the mansion without even looking at them.

It was disrespectful and disturbing, considering Cory had already chosen that dragon princess.

“We need to see our daughter, Alpha,” after they stopped in front of Cory, Orion did the talk. “She passed out in front of us. We are worried about her. We must make sure she is okay.”

“I’ve asked Dr. Todd to check on her. She is fine now,” Cory’s tone was cold, and so did his eyes. “You can go home now. I assure you she will be taken good care of here.”

Eleanor couldn’t help but step out, “But she is our daughter, Alpha,” she said. “She is sick. She needs to stay with her family.”

“Then why don’t you tell me why she is sick?” Cory smirked. “Two hours ago, when she left the prison, she seemed fine to me. But after she went back home with you two, all of a sudden she was sick. Tell me how did that happen?”

Orion clenched his fists. He knew Cory was seeking confrontation here. Once he chose the wrong answer or made the wrong move, Cory would find an excuse to isolate Elena from them forever.

“We did the wrong thing, Alpha,” he swallowed his anger and bent his neck for his own daughter. “We shouldn’t have talked with Jasper. It was a stupid move. I am sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” Cory lifted his brows and pushed again. He had wanted this old man out of the picture for a long time. Now he finally got the chance to do it. Marrying Lennie meant getting unprecedented powerful support from dragons. From now on, no one in this kingdom could disobey him at any level. No matter if he was his father’s Beta or not.

Orion bit his teeth. The veins on his forehead bulged, but he bent his neck again, “Sorry for questioning your Beta, Your Majesty,” he said. 

Having been Jordan’s Beta for over 40 years, Orion had seen enough of arrogance and greed. He knew what a man like Cory really wanted. “I had no right to do so,” he said. “I shouldn’t have done it without your permission.”

Eleanor covered her face with her hands seeing this humiliation her husband was suffering. Cory, though, curled his lips into a satisfied smile. Orion always liked to speak to him in a tone like he was the superior. Cory hated him for that.

“Now we are talking about sanity,” he said with a snort. “As punishment, I want you to drop all your work and retire from today. Any disagree?”

“No, Your Majesty,” Orion’s voice was hoarse. It was such an indignity to be discharged by a 19-year-old like that, but the only thing he cared about now was his daughter. 

“I will have Jasper take over all my work by the end of the day,” he said. “Can we see Elena now?”

Cory narrowed his eyes as if contemplating, but after a few moments, he said “No”.

“The doctor said L needs some good rest without any bad stimulus, which, I assume, should be you two. For L’s sake, I forbid any of you to meet her.”

Orion’s eyes burned red. His wolf growled out of control. But Eleanor stopped him by pulling on his arm. They shouldn’t attack the wolf’s Alpha, the Kingdom’s King, in any circumstances. It would be stupid and suicidal. 

“The doctor said she is okay, darling,” she said, with aggrieved tears in her eyes. “We will find another time to visit her. Let’s go back home today. Please,” She begged. And her pleading was the only thing that stopped Orion from tearing Cory’s throat open. 

“Your father won’t be happy about what you are doing here, young man,” his eyes were filled with hate and anger, “Someday you will regret this.”

Cory just shrugged his shoulders. His father, Alpha Jordan, had stopped commenting on any Kingdom’s affairs since he retired a year ago. Cory took it as his father’s trust in his competency.

“Do whatever you want,” he said. “Believe it or not, the kingdom will only get better with me.”

Orion growled again but Eleanor pulled his arm and persuaded him to leave. No matter what they do or say now would only make the situation worse. 

Cory watched them leave with coldness in his eyes and snorted. When he turned around to go upstairs, he saw Lennie standing there behind the railing on the second floor. 

Meeting his eyes, Lennie curled her lips to a charming smile. Cory quickly ran up to her. 

“Hi, sweetie,” he said. “Did I disturb you? I am sorry. It’s all because of those ungrateful dogs. Sooner or later, I will exile them to the rogues’ land.”

Lennie pouted her mouth. She placed both her hands on his shoulders. “It’s not them who is disturbing me, darling,” she said. “How about your little mate? You promised me in prison that I can have her as my maid.”

Cory pressed his lips. At first, he wasn’t fond of this idea either. Elena was the Beta’s daughter, not just some Omega. But then Lennie said in that way she would allow him to sleep with Elena as all he liked. What the hell. He thought. Elena needed him just as much as he needed her. Eventually, she would concede.

“I am working on it,” he said, pulling Lennie’s hands to his lips, and then kissed them, “Just give me some time, sweetie. I promise I will make her your best maid.”

Lennie puckered her lips unhappily. She then slid her hand on his chest, finger circling his strong muscles, “Then please me with the right answer.” 

Looking up at him, Lennie licked her plump lips seductively. Cory felt his pants bulge, but he couldn’t do it now. They did it at the dragon’s palace because that place had some kind of magic power that could block the mate bond. Here back in his own kingdom, he had to be concerned with Elena.

He didn’t want to push her too hard, at least, not until she had agreed to stay for him.

“Give me three days,” his voice was hoarse with desire. “I promise by then you will have to beg me to stop.”