Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King novel Chapter 159

Chapter 159: 0159

Lorelei POV

I couldn’t help it. It was just so ridiculously hilarious that a small laugh escaped before I could stop it.

"You have a really strange sense of humor, Paul," I said, shaking my head with a faint smile. "But... fine. If you insist, you can have the first bite."

Paul nodded once before pulling one of the wooden chairs over to the bedside table. After settling into the seat, he picked up the knife and fork and carefully cut into the steak.

I climbed back onto the bed and leaned against the headboard, resting my chin in my hand as I watched him lift the first bite toward his mouth, unconsciously holding my breath.

As Paul quietly chewed his food, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

"You know..." I said, tilting my head slightly as I looked at him, watching how calm and comfortable he seemed. "This is actually the first time you’ve ever sat down in my room."

Slowly, he glanced up from his plate.

"Aren’t you worried the Alpha King might walk in at any moment and find you sitting beside my bed?"

But Paul didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. He swallowed before meeting my gaze, his expression as calm as ever.

"I suppose that’s a risk I’m willing to take," he replied evenly. "Besides... it looks like you could use some company right now."

A small, wistful smile tugged at my lips as his quiet thoughtfulness warmed something inside me.

Once he had taken enough bites from every dish to convince me none of it was poisoned, I slowly reached for the spare fork resting on the tray.

After a brief moment of hesitation, I picked up a piece of what looked like the least suspicious roasted vegetable and cautiously brought it to my mouth.

The first bite had barely gone down when Paul shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"Uhm... Miss Ella... I mean..." He stopped himself mid-sentence, and an uncomfortable silence settled between us.

His shoulders stiffened, and he lowered his gaze to his clasped hands. His expression darkened with regret, and I noticed his hands tighten into fists against his knees.

"I owe you an apology," he said at last, his voice quiet and filled with guilt. "A sincere one. For the way I treated you when you first came to this estate."

I knew exactly what he meant.

He was talking about the day he dragged me to the underground cell to face that horrifying beast.

He was talking about the countless times he had looked at me with suspicion because he believed I was nothing more than a dangerous criminal.

He was talking about the day Chelsea attacked while he did almost nothing.

Now he knew the truth.

Now he knew I had never been a rogue and never been a thief.

The weight of those memories was written all over his face, clearly eating away at him.

Quietly, I set my fork back onto the tray and looked at his lowered head.

"It’s okay," I said softly, my voice free of resentment. "An apology can’t change what has already happened. But it can remind us not to make the same mistakes again."

I offered him the warmest smile I could manage, hoping it would ease the guilt weighing on his shoulders, though even I could tell the exhaustion behind my eyes was impossible to hide.

Wanting to steer the conversation away from the heaviness hanging between us, I shifted against the headboard and looked over at him.

"After everything he’d done for my family, I couldn’t just walk away. It felt like I owed him far more than I could ever repay, so staying by his side and serving him was the least I could do."

"So you chose to become his guard?" I asked softly.

I hesitated for a moment before asking the question that had been lingering in the back of my mind.

"Do you... ever regret it?"

After everything he’d witnessed while serving one of the most feared Alpha Kings in the territory, I couldn’t help but wonder if there had ever been a moment when he’d wished he’d chosen a different path.

Paul’s eyes drifted toward the window, his expression turning thoughtful. He remained quiet for a few seconds before finally answering.

"Sometimes," he admitted. "I think about what life would’ve been like if I’d gone back home instead. About leaving all of this blood behind and finally spending time with my mother and my siblings."

He paused, glancing around the room before letting out a quiet breath.

"But this life..." he said, gesturing vaguely around him. "It’s the only one I’ve ever known. It’s given me a purpose. Every day I wake up knowing I’m protecting the people who, in turn, protect my family. That makes all of this feel worthwhile."

A small smile crossed his face.

"And besides, if anything ever happens to me, the compensation the estate pays to a fallen guard is enough to take care of my family for the rest of their lives. Knowing they’ll never have to struggle again gives me a lot of peace."

A faint, amused smile tugged at my lips as I said. "So that’s why you were so willing to choke on my poison earlier."

At that, Paul blinked before a genuine laugh escaped him.

"You could say that, Miss," he said with a grin. "You could definitely say that."