Chapter 152: Chapter 152 The traps she laid out
_Alaric’s POV_
It took several minutes before Ezekiel and the rest excused Rowena and me. They might have cleared the air about the proposal Ezekiel had made to Rowena, but it still didn’t sit well with me.
I was angry. And it was surprising. I was never the type to worry myself about trivial matters like this one, but remembering that Ezekiel’s father had eyes on Rowena, shamelessly asking his son to compete with me for her, I couldn’t help worrying that Rowena might actually consider him.
Phillip’s voice rang out from somewhere in my mind, “Why would you even think she likes Ezekiel enough to accept his dumb proposal?” he asked in a mocking tone. “Ezekiel isn’t Rowena’s type. It’s pretty obvious, she wouldn’t accept the proposal.”
“And what about her grandmother?” I asked him. “Seraphina is hell-bent on getting Rowena remarried, she doesn’t even mind who it is. It makes me wonder if there was something other than wanting Rowena happy that she hid from us all.”
“You’re overthinking the whole thing.” Phillip paused and continued. “Perhaps you should speak to Rowena. The feelings from earlier, the connections I had with her wolf, are gone. I can’t reach out to Kyra anymore.”
Phillip had a point. Instead of overthinking everything while seated in front of her, I could just ask her directly.
Rowena snapped her fingers before my eyes to drag my attention back to her.
“Alpha King, what are you thinking about?”
I smiled at her tone, realizing how much I’d missed her.
The strict Rowena who only ever displayed her soft side when she was with me.
“Nothing much. Don’t worry.” I said, lying before I could talk myself out of it.
Rowena studied me for a moment with her calculated gaze. I noticed she loved doing that when she thought I wasn’t looking. This time she didn’t bother hiding it.
“Are you sure?” she asked, tilting her head in a cute gesture. “If you have anything to ask about Ezekiel and the rest, you can always ask. I’ll give the best answer than the ones in your head.”
And of course, she read through my thoughts in no time.
I stared at her for a long time, thinking it through. When I was sure I was ready, I cleared my throat and asked carefully, “Are you going to accept Ezekiel’s proposal? I mean if your grandmother insisted on you marrying him, would you accept him?”
I watched her face closely for any reaction after my outburst. This was really embarrassing.
“Too embarrassing, but it’s too late now.” Phillip sighed.
It took Rowena a few minutes before she replied. “No. I don’t want to and would never marry Ezekiel. Even if Nana says I should. I think I have the right to make my choice here.”
I almost let out a physical sigh of relief until the realization dawned on me. I wasn’t part of the candidates. Which means if Rowena says no to Ezekiel, her Nana would set her up with another man.
I needed to fix that.
Rowena and I conversed for a few more minutes. Nothing serious. Nothing complicated. Just two people seated and catching up.
I was deep into the conversation when Celeste’s voice came through our mind link.
Anyone who wanted to work in the Alpha King’s office needed to open a direct mind link to the King himself. That was me. So, we communicated through those links rather than phones.
“Alpha, I have something important to discuss with you. Can you spare me a few minutes of your time?”
I groaned mentally. This was one of the times when I could enjoy the alone time between Rowena and me.
But Celeste sounded serious.
And as if reading my mind, she added, “It’s about what happened to Rowena there.”
The two sisters were mind readers. Impressive traits.
Without another word, I cut the mind link off.
“Rest for now, I need to check on something.”
Rowena didn’t question me as I’d expected, and for some reason, I felt she wasn’t enjoying my company.
“Alright. I’ll be here when you return,” she said simply with a small smile that wasn’t very noticeable.
I contemplated something for a while, and when I was sure of it, I made the move. Reaching forward, I placed a soft kiss on her forehead. Light and steady. Nothing too special or irritable.
Rowena froze. Not the bad type of freezing. But the type that suggested that she wasn’t expecting that move and didn’t hate it either.
When I didn’t get any words from her, I walked out of the room, closing the door behind me.
I found Celeste at the restaurant of the hotel where she already had tea and breakfast laid out on the table.
The moment she saw me, she stood up, spine straight as she gave a small bow.
“Alpha.”
“Sit. Tell me.”
Celeste took a seat and began her explanation. She laid out the traps she’d secretly set for Virella and Theodore, one that no one expected me to know about. And she was just telling about it now.
This woman worked efficiently and effectively. Carefully and always calculating.
Her plan was perfect. Theodore might have connections in this city, but this woman before me seemed to have even better connections around.
She explained that one of her men tracked Theodore and Virella. Theodore had fled with Virella to the west and their means of transport was a big military chopper.
“I had a few people track them down to wherever they went. It was difficult, Theodore isn’t an ordinary man to underestimate. He made it very hard to trace them.” She explained, paused, and took a sip of the coffee before her. Her composure remained intact.
I just sat still and listened carefully. “So how do we find them?” I asked.
“I already did,” She said, flashing me a small proud smile. “They’re at a private island on the west coast. I only said it was hard to find them, not impossible. I just needed your permission to act. If you say the word and deploy military, we can capture them.”
Once again, I was impressed.
“Reid will get everything you need ready before dawn,” I assured her, and she bowed in appreciation.
“Also, there were traces of Drake back home. All of us being away from the capital had allowed him to sneak back in. Although I have men watching Alice, it still isn’t guaranteed that she hasn’t tried to buy her way through the security. We have to wrap things up here as fast as possible then return to the capital. There are bigger problems ahead.”
I let out a sigh and gave a curt nod.
“Thank you, Alpha. I’ll get going. I believe Rowena is doing fine.”
“She is,” I said.
Celeste stood up and turned to leave.
But she stopped.
She turned to look at me, her serious look back in place.
“One last thing, Alpha. Rowena is hiding something. I found out she was held at a gym and undoubtedly tortured. Please ask her and if possible, find out if there are hidden injuries or scars. She doesn’t have a wolf to heal her. We have to help her in our own way. It would only be possible if she opened up to someone.” A pause. “You.”
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