Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King

Chapter 88: 0088

Lorelei POV

Those words felt incredibly strange.

I turned to Skye, my eyes narrowing slightly. "Did you know about this?"

At my question, Skye shifted awkwardly on her feet, guilt flashing across her face.

"I actually haven’t seen him around for the last two days, but I didn’t think anything of it," she admitted. "Guards get reassigned to different posts all the time."

That was true.

In fact, it happened all the time back at my old pack too.

But something about this felt different.

I should have at least been told, especially since Paul had been assigned to me from the very beginning. We had finally started getting along, and now he had suddenly disappeared without a word.

And the timing...

The fact that he vanished right after everything that happened at the orphanage felt like far too much of a coincidence.

Something wasn’t right.

"Is he in trouble?" I asked, turning back to the new guard, but he shifted uncomfortably again, deliberately avoiding my gaze.

"I’m not at liberty to say, miss."

Those words... those exact words... only confirmed what I had already begun to fear.

"Where’s the Alpha?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"He’s... well... he’s..."

"Is he in his office?" I cut in.

Before the guard could answer, I was already moving, carefully pushing off with my good foot as I headed down the polished hallway.

"Miss... Miss Ella!" the guard called, quickly hurrying past me before stepping directly into my path to block the way. "The Alpha isn’t in his office right now."

"Then where is he?" I asked. "I want to see him."

The guard remained where he was, refusing to move.

"I don’t think this is the right time to see him, miss," he said cautiously. "He’s... not in the best mood."

His words made me hesitate for the briefest moment.

Knowing how unpredictable Kaelen could be with his emotions, did I really want to confront him while he was already angry?

But if Paul was in serious trouble because of me, then the least I could do was explain what had really happened.

"What about the Beta? Where is he?" I demanded.

If I couldn’t speak to Kaelen, then at least I could talk to Darius. Unlike Kaelen, Darius wasn’t purely reactive. He was also the only person who could walk into Kaelen’s office whenever he wanted without caring or flinching at his anger.

But the guard continued to hesitate, and it was starting to seriously irritate me.

I’d only just met him. I didn’t even know his name, and he already seemed a hundred times more annoying than Paul had ever been.

Without waiting for an answer, I sidestepped around him and continued down the hallway, hoping I might find Darius somewhere familiar, maybe in the courtyard.

I ignored the guard as he repeatedly called after me, keeping my pace steady until his voice suddenly turned sharp.

Without warning, he lunged forward and grabbed my arm roughly, bringing me to such an abrupt stop that I nearly lost my balance.

"Miss Ella, please," he said through gritted teeth, sounding as though he was barely holding on to his own patience. "You can’t just wander around the estate like this. If the Alpha finds out I let you..."

"Then let me go," I shot back, wincing as I tried to pull my arm free, but his grip only tightened. "If you won’t tell me where the Beta is, then let me find him myself!"

The guard’s jaw clenched.

"I can’t do that," he said, no longer bothering to hide the coldness in his voice. His fingers dug even deeper into my arm, forcing a sharp gasp from my lips.

"You’re hurting me," I said, but he didn’t loosen his grip in the slightest.

"We’ve spent enough time outside," he replied. "I have to escort you back to your bedroom immediately."

"You don’t have to hold her so tightly!" Skye immediately came to my defense, rushing over and trying to pry his thick fingers off my arm.

The guard didn’t even hesitate.

With his free hand, he roughly shoved her away, making her stumble backward.

"These are the Alpha’s orders," he said coldly. "Please don’t make this difficult for either of us."

He threatened me.

He had actually just threatened me.

I wanted to refuse, but the more I struggled against him, the tighter his grip became.

"What orders?"

A deep, suffocatingly cold voice suddenly echoed down the hallway.

My breath caught sharply in my throat.

I turned toward the sound and found Kaelen standing just a few feet away, dark, oppressive energy rolling off his massive frame.

His amber eyes met mine for only the briefest second before they dropped to the bruising grip wrapped tightly around my arm.

Instantly, his expression darkened into something terrifying.

Without waiting for another word, the guard immediately released my arm and lowered his head in a deep bow.

"Alpha..." he stammered, his voice shaking uncontrollably as Kaelen slowly walked toward us.

The contrast was almost laughable.

Just moments ago, he had been cold, rigid, and completely unyielding toward me and Skye. Now he looked like he was about to collapse from fear.

"I was only following your direct orders to keep an eye on her every move, Alpha," the guard rambled, desperately trying to justify himself.

By then, Kaelen had closed the distance between us, his overwhelming presence making it hard to breathe.

I had really hoped I would find Darius first.

Instead, it was Kaelen.

My heart pounded as I braced myself for the scolding I was certain was coming.

But to my surprise, he reached for me, gently wrapping his large, warm hand around my forearm.

Carefully, he rolled the sleeve of my sage green sweater up to my elbow, and a low, dangerous growl rumbled deep in his chest the moment his amber eyes landed on my skin.

The spot where the guard had been holding me was already an angry shade of red against my pale skin.

"When I gave you that order," Kaelen said quietly, his eyes never leaving my arm, "what was the very first thing I instructed?"

He hadn’t raised his voice.

If anything, he sounded almost calm.

But the terrifying aura radiating from him made the new guard tremble so violently that I thought he might pass out.

"T... that Miss Ella’s safety and well-being were the number one priority, Alpha," the guard choked out.

"Then what is this?" Kaelen asked softly, his gaze still fixed on the marks marring my skin.

The guard’s face drained of all color. His knees gave out beneath him, and he dropped straight to the floor.

"Alpha, I swear... I didn’t mean to. She was trying to get past me to find the Beta, and I only grabbed her because I was trying to stop her from wandering around the estate..."

"Is that so?" Kaelen’s voice dropped even lower.

The guard opened his mouth, but no words came out. He looked completely paralyzed by fear.

Meanwhile, I found myself staring down at my own arm, trying to figure out if it was really worth all this drama.

It was a little red and throbbed slightly where he’d grabbed me, but it wasn’t anything serious. The mark would probably disappear within a few hours.

"Get out of my sight," Kaelen ordered flatly, his thumb absently brushing slow, soothing circles over the reddened skin. "Go to the barracks and think about what you’ve done."

The guard didn’t need to be told twice.

After giving one last terrified bow from the floor, he scrambled to his feet and hurried down the corridor without looking back.

"Are you alright?" Kaelen asked, his voice noticeably softer as his full attention settled on me.

I blinked, completely caught off guard.

I had fully expected him to be angry with me this time.

So why was he standing here, gently caressing my arm instead?

"Yeah, I’m fine," I whispered, my heart doing that strange little flutter again. Then my voice grew quieter, and before I could stop myself, the truth slipped out.

"I don’t like him, though. He shoved Skye."

"Is that so?" Kaelen replied, raising an eyebrow. "Then I’ll assign you another guard."

I quickly shook my head and gently pulled my arm back from his grasp.

"I don’t want another guard," I said firmly, meeting his gaze without flinching. "I want Paul."

The instant his name left my lips, Kaelen’s expression changed.

The warmth that had been lingering in his eyes disappeared, replaced by a cold, unyielding wall that sent a chill racing down my spine.

"That is not possible," he said, his tone leaving absolutely no room for argument. "You may have any other guard. I’ll even let you choose one yourself. But Paul is no longer an option."

"Why?" I demanded before I could stop myself. "What did you do to him?"