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ADESSA.“The men who took you, did they hurt you?” He asked, and I contemplated whether I should admit my crime, but I didn’t want to. Telling someone I killed two people meant I really did it. I was still trying to pretend it was just a nightmare. “No. I was able to get away.” I replied before throwing another question to distract him. “So, you and Desiree. Did you get married?” “What?” “You said your wife might be hunting you and...”“I’m sure I said that so he wouldn’t wonder why people are looking for you just in case they come here.”“Well, I just want to know.” I smiled, pleased that he got distracted, but I knew sooner or later, we would be back on this topic. “Nope. Not married. Not engaged. Divorcee here.” He said.I dropped my gaze away from him, shaking my head and forcing a laugh. “Yeah, right.”Then, my stomach growled. My head tilted up, and I met Kael’s eyes. I smiled, embarrassed, as I placed my hands against my tummy. “I’m sorry.”His eyes flew to the side table w
KAEL.“Rasmus. You said you caught her in bed with Rasmus.” Her lips uttered these words, and rage surged within me. I had no idea if I was furious because Desiree cheated on me or because Rasmus was my cousin, and I expected better from him. “So we fought over her.”She shook her head. “No. I was not aware of any confrontation. You tried to move on while he tried reaching out to you many times over the first few months of our marriage, and then he stopped. He began calling again when he heard about your accident, but Miranda didn’t want any other Alphas to know you were in a coma, so every time he called, like with other Alphas wanting to speak with you, Dexter or Landon would make up excuses. But before that accident, you would simply decline his call.” The fucker had the audacity to talk to me like nothing had happened. I grunted in my head.“Have you met him? Face-to-face?” I asked. She shook my head. “We were supposed to attend an event, but you backed out when you found out h
KAEL. She began eating without inviting me to join her, which should be expected as she was still mad at me. But I didn’t mind. I had no appetite to eat. So I stayed back, leaning against the wall and watching her eat in silence. “How did you find out I’m here?” She asked after a while.“Rasmus told me.”Her head snapped to look at me, and at the same time, I realized something. “Fuck! Are you done eating? We need to go.” I told her.She nodded her head and didn’t complain. She came to the same realization—that this must be a trap, and we were both in danger.Adessa drank the soft drink up to the last drop without using any straw before putting the fries and the burgers back inside the brown bag. “Can we take the food? I don’t want to throw it.”“Yes,” I responded while peering out the window.“You have a car, right?” “Yes, but it’s Rasmus’ car. We’ll take a cab.”“Okay, okay. I’m ready.” She stood, holding the paper bags in one hand and the backpack in the other. “No. No, not the
ADESSA.I tried not to breathe so as not to draw any attention, but my heart was thudding so loudly that I felt I would collapse soon. I knew there was nothing to worry about because Kael was by my side. But then the possibility of them hurting Kael also terrified me. My hand raised, and I was about to grip his arm, but before I could touch him, my head was turned to the side, and his lips crashed into mine. I had no idea what just happened, but the moment his lips moved and began sucking and kissing me, I just found myself turning my body to face him so I could kiss him back. Like always, whenever he kisses me, the rest of the world ceases to exist. A soft moan escaped my throat as my arms snaked around his neck, and I pulled him closer, letting his body provide me warmth on this cold night. I would not deny that I missed him and the kisses I would get from him, so I savored the familiar way he held and caressed not just my lips but my whole being. I was still lost in the moment
KAEL. I asked for one bed, with no couch and little space to move around. In my defense, I wanted to make sure she was within reach in case someone barged in on us in the middle of the night. But I also want to feel her warmth. Not that I wanted more than just sleep, but... damn it! I had to admit I wanted her close. “I got you,” I mumbled, focusing on her amused face. Her eyebrows hiked up as if she couldn’t believe whatever she saw in my face before she straightened her posture. “Thank you. I want to rest now.” She said. “Of course.” I motioned with my hand, showing her the bed that was just three steps away from us. But instead of going directly to it, she picked up her backpack and made a run to the bathroom.Or should I say she made two steps to the small bathroom?I remained seated in the chair while she was in the bathroom. I tried to concentrate on our next move for tomorrow. I reached for my phone in my pocket, only to realize that my battery was empty and I had left the
ADESSA.I wiped the drool from the corner of my lips and scooted my body closer to the warmth I was hugging. I was already being pulled back to sleep when I realized I was leaning on a hard torso. I didn’t mind it at first, as I was so used to this position until it dawned on me that I didn’t have the privilege to do this anymore. My eyes snapped open, and I tilted my head up only to meet Kael’s gaze. He was already looking at me. Did he see me wipe my drool? Or worse, did my saliva drip onto his chest?“Hi…” I mumbled, but my hand quickly covered my mouth. I didn’t want him to smell my morning breath, but he was not even bothered at all by the looks of it. He smiled broadly at me before he winked, making my forehead crease. What was the wink for?Kael didn’t move and remained looking at me, the wide smile still plastered on his face. Until it slowly sank into me why he was smiling too much. Half of my body was almost on top of him. My arms were wrapped around him, and one leg w
ADESSA.“I just need to figure out who’s messing up our lives,” Kael said, and I tried to make sense of his words. Our lives? Or did he mean my life? Did I understand him correctly? I was sure someone was trying to sabotage mine, but him? I was still conversing with myself when he grabbed my hand and guided me out of the room. Everything after that became a blur.As much as I wanted to talk about what he said, I remained mummed, as I didn’t want any discussion in public. Hopefully, he could rent a car where we could talk privately.“Ready to go home?” Kael asked after he gave me the takeout bag from the drive-through. I nodded my head, and he began maneuvering the car to drive away.This was it. I needed to tell him about Miranda before we exited this city. But just when I was about to open my mouth, his phone rang. We bought a charger before renting a car, and he charged it right away as soon as we sat inside this vehicle. He turned it on just before we got our food. “Landon…” He
ADESSA.“Why Desiree?” Kael asked him right away.He didn’t even greet him.“Finally, you asked! Now, make sure you don’t fucking drop the phone on me while I’m trying to explain.” Rasmus was talking too fast.I understood him because whenever he called and attempted to speak Kael, Kael would hang up without hearing the rest of his speech.“Talk! I’m listening.” Kael said. “I don’t know any Desiree! That woman I fucked was named Savannah. That was the name she gave me, and it was too fucking far from Desiree!”“Why should I believe you?” Kael asked, and I tried to gauge his reaction if hearing Desiree fuck another man would elicit a foul reaction from him like he used to whenever this topic came between us at the early part of our marriage.But he was acting nonchalantly and “For fuck’s sake, Kael, you should know better that I would never take any woman that had gone to bed with. I would never take any leftovers—for my ego and for my sanity! If I knew she was the Desiree you were he
KAEL.I moved on to the green drink—the one for Adessa. Like the first two, I just let my hands move on their own while praying to Selene that I would not lose my concentration and momentum. I didn’t care anymore if someone was watching me. I hoped the first two drinks would be enough to confuse them if I actually knew what Adessa’s favorite drink was. Gratefully, my hands kept moving as if they knew what they were doing. My mind was telling me different measurements, but it seemed my hands knew and had their own calculations on how I should prepare and handle this drink. Also, I initially thought I would use a martini glass for it, but I subconsciously picked up the coupe one. I strained the mixed drink from the shaker and poured it into the glass. There were three cocktail drinks in front of me, and Landon was beaming as if we had already won. I was leaning on the counter, my fingers tapping on the marbled top, as I stared at what I had prepared before my eyes caught sight of a
KAEL.“A simple game of chance…” I murmured, repeating the words of the host.I listened as the task was given, and even after we were asked to begin, I remained in my place, staring at the counter in front of me. The challenge was to fix a cocktail drink for the princess, and whoever owned the drink she chose would get a chance to have breakfast with her. Simple as fuck, right? Well, it wasn’t. Because I had no fucking idea which drinks she liked. “How the fuck will we win this when her ex-husband is here? He obviously knows what she wants!” Alpha Randolf blurted it out, and I could hear the others agreeing. “Instead of complaining about something you cannot change, why don’t you move forward and do the task given and give it your best shot?” Prince Vaidas spoke with a calm demeanor before he walked over to the main bar, followed by his second in command.“At least there’s one person in here who still has the right frame of mind,” Landon said in a hushed tone.I had no idea if I
KAEL. I thought Adessa’s brothers would corner me, but it didn’t happen. In fact, I was ignored the whole time. Their attention was drawn to Prince Vaidas, so I could already tell they wanted him for her.But I didn’t give a fuck, because that whole time they were rubbing elbows with him, Adessa’s attention was only on me. I couldn’t count the number of times we smiled at each other and shared a toast of our drinks despite the distance. I felt like a teenager flirting with a girl behind her parent’s back. I knew my reality was more serious and too far from the simple life I was imagining. But instead of sulking, I reveled on this night, taking one step at a time and creating memories with her since I still couldn’t remember if we ever had moments of flirting like this. “Landon,” I called his attention as he was talking with some women. Yes, aside from the unlimited drinks and the loud music, there were also women who came and started taking our attention. I didn’t entertain anyone
ADESSA.After dinner, I was given time to rest before I was informed there was a cocktail party in one of the pavilions—a welcome celebration for the participants of the Royal Games and I would be attending. While they were dressing me up, I voiced some complaints about the lack of advance notice. Of course, I was excited. Anything that would let me see and talk to Kael was always something I looked forward to. So I was glad this was a cocktail party setting and not some formal dinner or such.I was presented with many dresses, and I finally chose the color red. This was the first time I would be wearing one as I always thought this color was too bold, and I always felt unworthy to wear it. But not anymore.Aside from wanting to look good in front of my husband, I want the others to see me as a strong female, and if they think they could use me for the title I hold, then they need to think twice. I was so excited for tonight, but then someone came to my room and briefed me on the eve
ADESSA.I never wanted to stop talking about my mother because I had so many questions, but I didn’t have a choice. The King refused to answer more questions. He said he was tired and we could talk about her some other time, but he made me swear not to repeat our conversation with anyone. During dinner, I tried to sway Esegar and Esaias, my two youngest brothers, who were seated on my sides, if they had an idea of what the task might be. They didn’t want to say anything, but in the end, Esaias told me there was a part where there would be a duel, and the loser’s head would be cut off in the end. He also added that even if the challenge was not a duel, there was still a chance of a head being cut off for every stage.My mouth hung open, and I felt my face burn as I listened to him. A part of me wanted to believe it was a joke, but he looked so serious when he said that, and he talked in a loud voice so everyone at the table heard him. I was dumbfounded as tears pooled in my eyes.
ADESSA.“And you did nothing to help her?” My voice was accusatory.The King’s eyes remained closed with his head leaning back against his seat. If I hadn’t seen his hand coiled into a tight fist, I would have thought he drifted off to sleep because he hadn’t replied for a long time. “So that was it. She got pregnant, and she had to solve that on her own.” I said in a bitter tone. “She was just as hard-headed as you are. She told me she didn’t need me, and before I could discuss things with her, she was gone.”“Please tell me you looked for her.”“My hands were tied…”“You are the King of this Kingdom! Your word is everyone’s command, and you got terrified?” Ironic that I was pointing out how powerful and respected he was, and yet I was raising my voice at him. “The other Guardians asked me if we had an affair. I denied it. I denied I was the father of her child.”My hand clamped over my mouth as I shook my head.“I thought I was protecting her. No one could command me to tell the t
ADESSA.My feet felt like they were gliding in the air as we walked out of the arena and were ushered into a coach that would drive us back to the palace. My brothers were in different cars, and I was the only one sharing this vehicle with the King. Despite my father’s dark expression, I couldn’t help but smile.“If you think I will allow Kael to finish the game…” he began. “Of course you will, Father!” I exclaimed sweetly, not letting my anger for him surface. I had to play smart if I wanted to make sure Kael stayed in the game. I slightly turned to face him, both hands clamped over his forearm. His gaze lingered on my hands before he tilted his head to meet my eyes. “He earned the right to be included, like all the other eleven dashing men out there. And if, in the end, he wins, then it means he is the rightful husband for your only daughter.” He scoffed before turning his gaze back to the front while my hands remained holding him. “A King will never resort to cheating and will
KAEL. “Kingdom of Absalom, welcome! Let the Royal Games begin!” The King’s voice roared around the arena, and the crowd applauded while goosebumps rose from my skin. This was it. There was no turning back.Never did I imagine I would be part of something I only read about while I was studying at the Alpha University. The other Alphas and I used to joke about this game. We wondered what the men had faced in the challenges and if they made it out alive. No one knew. As to what we’ve learned, they were not allowed to discuss it outside after the game was over.So, we joked about dragons and orcs and laughed about how we would decapitate their heads if we were there.But they didn’t look funny anymore. This was real life, and I had no idea what awaited me inside.All I knew was that we were asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement stating that none of the things that would transpire inside should be made public and a waiver that we entered of our own accord, knowing the possibilities of
ADESSA.“His second in command, Beta Landon Crawford of the IronCrest Pack.” The speaker continued, and I was left stunned.I was not able to stop my eyes from growing bigger this time, and Kael had seen that. A smirk tugged on his mouth as he stopped on the spot where he was to wait for his Beta. As soon as Landon was just a few feet from him, he began walking again while I was still trying to make sense of everything. Did Kael realize Dexter hated me? That taking him meant he would jeopardize him from winning? How was he able to fix everything in just a few days? Did he fly home to fix this and fly back here? How did he complete the registration for the games if he had been traveling? But how was he able to make Landon his Beta if he wasn’t home?There were too many questions in my head, and I knew I would never get an answer. But it certainly didn’t matter anymore. He was here, and Landon was acknowledged as his Beta. If there was anyone I could trust besides Kael, it was this m