Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King

Chapter 114: 0114

Lorelei POV

I was so anxious I could barely lift my head. To think I hadn’t even greeted them properly, even after Skye had spent the last thirty minutes drilling proper etiquette into me. Still... they didn’t seem to mind, right?

Even though my gaze remained fixed on the empty plate in front of me, I could still feel four pairs of eyes resting on me.

Kaelen’s was easily the heaviest.

"You look really beautiful tonight," Darius whispered beside me.

I lifted my head to look at him.

"Thank you," I whispered back, forcing a small smile.

I knew that if there was a chance Kaelen was the enemy, then there was also a chance Darius was involved.

Yet I still felt strangely at ease around him.

Maybe it was because I wasn’t sleeping with him. I didn’t carry the crushing weight of expectations that came with giving myself to a man, especially one who had already hurt me once before.

I only saw Darius as a friend, if that was even the right word for whatever this was, and somehow, he had become a source of comfort.

Would I be hurt if it turned out Darius had been involved in the betrayal?

Yes.

But compared to Kaelen...

The thought of Kaelen being involved made something inside my chest ache in a way I couldn’t even begin to explain. It wasn’t just pain. It was deeper than that. Sharper. The kind that settled beneath my ribs and refused to leave.

Maybe that was why every instinct inside me wanted to disappear. My body was desperately trying to protect itself before it was given another reason to break.

My gaze drifted toward the head of the table only to find Kaelen already looking directly at me.

His amber eyes were darker than usual, filled with an expression I had never seen on him before. His jaw was locked so tightly that the muscles flexed beneath his skin, and one hand rested on the table, clenched into a white-knuckled fist.

"Since the woman has finally arrived," Princess Nala said, cutting through the suffocating silence.

My gaze immediately shifted to her.

"What is it we are waiting for?" she continued with a faint smirk. "Let us eat."

She leaned slightly toward her brother, the smile on her lips growing just enough to reveal her amusement. He was already looking at me with that same quiet, unreadable expression.

Even sitting across the table, the royal witch twins were every bit as breathtaking as they were intimidating.

"Let’s eat," Kaelen said flatly.

As if on cue, the maids stepped forward in perfect unison, uncovering the silver platters one after another. The rich aroma of savory sauces, roasted herbs, and perfectly seasoned meats immediately filled the dining hall.

"Try this. You’ll like it," Darius whispered.

He picked up the serving spoon and carefully placed a generous portion of slow roasted honey glazed venison onto my plate.

I took a small, hesitant bite before my eyes lit up with surprise.

"It’s really good," I murmured.

Darius’s smile widened, warmth softening his features.

"It’s my favorite dish here."

"You have really good taste," I said with a quiet laugh.

Little by little, the tension wrapped around my chest began to loosen.

I knew it.

I knew sitting beside Darius would help me relax.

Unfortunately, that fragile sense of peace didn’t last very long.

Clank.

The loud, deliberate sound of Kaelen setting his glass down on the table made me flinch, and every conversation around the table died instantly.

"There is a reason I invited you to join us for dinner tonight," Kaelen drawled, his voice dropping into a low, commanding register as those piercing amber eyes settled on me.

My stomach tightened, and every bit of the nervousness I had just managed to shake off came rushing back.

Why was he looking at me like that?

Had I done something wrong?

Was I supposed to say something instead of simply eating?

But how was I supposed to know? This was my first time dining in a formal hall surrounded by foreign royalty.

All I could do was hold his intense gaze while I waited for him to continue.

"The Prince and Princess," Kaelen said, gesturing toward the royal witch twins seated across from us, "are here to help you."

I frowned in confusion.

"Help me?" I asked. "With what?"

"With your wolf," Darius answered softly beside me. "They can reverse the suppression."

The instant those words left his mouth, my eyes widened.

My entire body went still, and my attention snapped toward Darius so quickly that the fork nearly slipped from my fingers.

"Really?" I breathed, my voice barely louder than a whisper.

I was terrified I was dreaming.

Terrified that if I spoke any louder, I would wake up and discover this moment had never been real, leaving me empty all over again.

Slowly, I looked away from Darius.

My gaze shifted to Kaelen before finally settling on the royal witches.

Princess Nala was staring at me with an intense, unblinking focus that made me feel completely exposed.

"What is your name?" she asked, her voice smooth yet commanding.

Lorelei.

The name almost slipped from my lips on instinct, but I forced it back down my throat.

"Ella," I whispered instead.

"Ella," Nala repeated, almost to herself. One perfectly sculpted brow arched as her gaze slowly traced every line of my face. "You do not carry the face of an Ella."

Those words sent an icy shiver racing down my spine.

I shifted awkwardly in my seat, the weight of her scrutiny making the thick fabric of my scarf suddenly feel suffocating.

"You said you would have to examine her first," Kaelen spoke, his deep voice cutting through the tension and giving me a much needed excuse to look away from Nala.

"That is precisely what I am doing," Prince Kalu replied smoothly.

Suddenly, the air inside the dining hall grew inexplicably heavy.

The temperature seemed to drop several degrees as Kalu began murmuring a string of low, rhythmic words beneath his breath.

His hands remained resting on the table, but his thumb moved rapidly across his fingers in a strange, calculated pattern, as though silently counting something only he could see.

After a long, tense moment, he released a slow breath.

"Ten years," he murmured, his golden eyes locking onto mine. "Her wolf has remained bound for ten years. Am I speaking true?"

Another violent shiver ran through my body.

My throat tightened so much that I couldn’t speak, so I simply gave a single nod.

Kalu leaned back in his chair with a heavy sigh, running a hand through his locs.

"This is the longest suppression that has ever stood before me," he said quietly. "Who could be cruel enough to imprison the wolf of one so young?"

My expression fell completely.

The dining hall slowly faded around me as my mind was dragged back to memories I had spent years trying to bury.

I was only ten years old.

My parents had taken me to a woman who claimed to be a powerful spiritual priestess capable of sealing supernatural abilities. They laid me across the cold stone floor of a shrine while she surrounded me with strange symbols, burned herbs that filled the air with suffocating smoke, and chanted words I couldn’t understand.

Then they forced bitter black liquid down my throat over and over again until my insides felt like they were on fire.

All of it...

Just to suppress my wolf.

Just to protect my sister.

"But can it be reversed?" Darius asked eagerly, leaning forward.

His voice pulled me out of the memory, but the atmosphere in the room only grew heavier.

"Yes," Kalu answered simply.

The moment I heard that single word, a shaky breath escaped my lips.

Relief crashed over me so suddenly that my shoulders nearly sagged beneath its weight. A warmth I barely recognized spread through my chest, filling me with a hope I hadn’t felt in years.

But that feeling lasted only a few seconds before Kalu added,

"But not in the way you would wish."