Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder by Alice Knightsky
Chapter 119 What Happened That Night – Part Two
The crowd was shocked that he had the audacity to try to argue for his daughter’s forgiveness with all the evidence provided.
King James stared at him a moment before he said, “Interject—what?”
“I am equally appalled by Madalynn’s behavior,” Romero stated, surprising us all again. Turning to his daughter, he said, “Madalynn, you are a disgrace to this family and to this pack. I believe every word of what Talon has said today is true, and I have put up with your sneaky, conniving behavior for too long. I believe the best punishment for you would be that you leave the capital immediately!”
“You mean… to return to our pack, Father?” Madalynn asked, her hands trembling with fear as she clearly prayed that was all he meant.
“No,” Romero said. “It pains me very deeply to say this to you, Madalynn, but from now on, you are no longer my daughter. I have no daughter. From now on, you are not a member of my pack. You are a rogue!”
“What?” Madalynn screeched. “No! Father, please!” she said. “You can’t do that!”
Romero looked to King James for permission, and the king said, “So be it!” and signaled for the guards to take Madalynn away.
“No! Father, no!” Madalynn shouted as the guards came and dragged the bride off of the dais. Romero had tears in his eyes as he turned and walked away. He had intended to give his daughter away that day, but not like that.
King James turned to me and said, “You’re one h*ll of a beta, Talon.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I only replied, “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
He wasn’t happy with me, or to be precise, he wasn’t happy with my Alpha.
Regardless of Madalynn’s behavior, what we did had officially cut off the political collaboration between the Isles of Denalis and our Drogomor pack.
Ethan did this without consulting the king and left the king no other options. So of course, King James wouldn’t be happy. However, the king wasn’t happy with Romero’s working with the West either. I guess, like my Alpha said, the king would have to “deal with it.”
The king clapped my shoulder and helped the queen to stand up so they could both exit.
To my surprise, the queen walked over and asked concernedly, “So is the breeder… Rosalie still alive?”
“Yes, Your Majesty, thank you for asking.”
Before she left, she smiled and nodded her head, “What a relief.”
Everyone else was leaving as well.
I let out a long breath, thanking the Goddess the drama was over.
I hadn’t expected for things to go as well as they had, but the fact that Madalynn was now out of the picture was what Ethan had wanted. There would no longer be the constant questioning towards him about marriage.
Instead, he would be able to carry on with his missions without disturbance.
“Alpha,” I called out as I entered his office, seeing him sitting behind his desk going over new paperwork that had obviously been delivered this morning, “it’s done.”
He looked up to me with a smirk of satisfaction. “Good. What did James say?”
“Not much, because Romero declared Madalynn a rogue, so the king just had her escorted from the capital.”
Ethan’s brow perked at the notion that she was now a rogue removed from the royal life she was accustomed to. “That’s it?”
I sighed. “I know. However, with Romero around, the king wouldn’t really be able to sentence his daughter to death.”
Ethan commented, “Romero is indeed an old fox.” I understood what Ethan meant. By proposing the punishment himself as a father and as the alpha of his pack, others would try to respect Romero’s decision, as long as it’s somewhat acceptable. Even the king would just let it be.
I thought of something, “Alpha, do you think Romero knows about the whole thing?”
He shook his head. “If it was Romero, I doubt we would be able to find anything. All of the witnesses would’ve been dead by now.”
“Alpha, but you still look concerned,” I commented
He pinched the bridge of his nose, seemingly a bit tired. Between the investigation and continuously leading the war operation, Ethan had not stopped working other than the first night he returned to the capital, as if he was rushing to get everything done as soon as possible. “Something feels off. Keep an eye on the witnesses.”
I tried to get some clarification from him, “Anything wrong with them?”
“I hope it was just me overthinking…. We decided to investigate, and we got the evidence.”
I realized what his concern was. “Too easy? You mean it was too easy for us?”
“Yes, as if they were handed to us.”
“Alpha, I don’t understand then. If someone is helping us, what’s their goal?”
My Alpha shook his head. It was very rare for him not to have a solid answer. “For now, just keep an eye on the witnesses and see what you can find, but I doubt you’ll be able to find much from now on.”
All the evidence pointing to Madalynn came smoothly. It was as if someone was made aware that Ethan and I started our investigation, so in order to distract us, the evidence was “sent” to us piece by piece.
If that was the case, then that someone would have already eliminated anything that they didn’t want us to find out.
Romero probably already knew that we were suspecting him. That was one of the reasons he remained silent, to try to stay out of Ethan’s way at this moment. If we continued to dig into his pack, not only Romero would complain, King James probably wouldn’t allow it either, because we were still “allies” at the moment, at least on the surface.
Ethan leaned back in his chair and commanded, “We have to focus our energy back on the war. How long until her due date?”
I had not expected this question. “About three weeks… but, you know, technically, it could happen any moment now.”
He got up to walk towards the window. His hand balled into a fist and lightly hammered into the wall. He didn’t say anything, but I knew how anxious he must be.
Rosalie had all his heart, and she was about to give birth to his child. There wasn’t anyone else in the world more important than the mother and child to Ethan, yet, he was trapped here by his responsibilities.
“Alpha, are you sure you don’t want us to…”
“I do, more than anything.” He looked towards me. “But Talon, this time, if I am gone to be with her, there is no way I would come back to the capital again. Do you understand?”
I froze as I just realized what he said. “Alpha?”
I wasn’t sure whether he was explaining to me or trying to persuade himself. I heard him murmuring, “Rosalie likes a peaceful and simple life. I cannot pull her back to these chaotic and bloody political and war affairs, I have to wait….”
I sighed. “Alpha, if there is nothing else you need from me at this moment, I’ll go get something done before our next steering committee meeting.”
“Let them know I’ll go back to the frontline tomorrow.”
“So quickly?” I was surprised.
He shook his head. “Yeah, I can’t wait.”
“Understood, Alpha.”
“Talon,” he called my name, and his voice was gentle and peaceful. This wasn’t the tone I was used to hearing, so I was a bit uneasy. “Thank you, man,” he said.
“Ethan, what the… don’t scare me!”
He chuckled. “Get lost.”
As I exited the room and closed the door, I saw him leaning against the window frame. It was almost sunset. His shadow was dragged long on the floor. He seemed extremely lonely.
“Talon!” A voice called out from down the hallway, causing me to halt in my steps and turn. Vicky was rushing towards me.
“Vicky, calm down.”
She stopped in front of me and caught up with her breathing. “Where is she?!”
I didn’t need to ask. She was referring to Rosalie.
While people from outside of our pack would probably try not to pry now that they knew this was a sensitive topic for Ethan, it didn’t mean that the few people who were very close to Rosalie would keep being quiet. Vicky being one of them.
I gestured for her to follow me into my room.
“Vicky, sorry, while I know, I can’t tell you that until Alpha is okay with it.”
I laid my jacket on the bed and loosened my tie. The clothes Madalynn picked were really uncomfortable. “This is for her security. We have to keep things like they are until we know everything is safe.”
The admission took Vicky by surprise as her mouth opened and closed, trying to let the information digest. “Then now that things with Madalynn are sorted, will Rosalie come home soon? There is no reason for her to be gone anymore, right?”
I knew how much my sister missed Rosalie. We all did, but I shook my head. “Not right now, Vicky. Things are a little more complicated.”
“Why?”
“She doesn’t want to.”
She looked very disappointed, and her eyes cast towards the floor.
Sighing, I stepped forward and wrapped her in a small hug. “I know how much you want to see Rosalie. Ethan is working on it. Give him time.”
Vicky hugged me back and gave me a nod.
She took a step back, and I saw my sister’s smile back on her face again, and her eyes were moist. “Talon, I’m so happy… just knowing she is alive and safe right now makes me so happy!”
“Me too, sis. Now, let’s do what we can to help Ethan win the war as soon as possible.”