Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King novel Chapter 231

Chapter 231: 0231

Lorelei POV

On the other end of the line, Raven let out a long, heavy exhale, and the frantic edge in her breathing finally began to ease.

"Right... Jaxen has always been a scaredy-cat when push comes to shove." She paused before letting out a small, self-deprecating laugh. "Moongoddess, I don’t even know why I got so worked up. I was panicking so badly that I was actually considering packing my bags and coming back to the estate."

A quiet chuckle bubbled up in my chest. "And then what?"

"To keep you safe, of course!" she declared dramatically.

A warm, genuine smile touched my lips at her protectiveness. "You do know I have an entire army of security guards here, right? Including two who are constantly breathing down my neck and probably listening to this exact conversation as we speak."

My gaze drifted toward the bedroom doors, and sure enough, I caught Paul pretending to help the decorators move a heavy wooden side table while sneaking glances in my direction.

That made my smile widen.

With my wolf senses slowly returning, pretending to live like a normal human was becoming nearly impossible. I could feel every gaze, hear every whisper, and pick up on the smallest shifts happening around me. It could be overwhelming sometimes, but moments like this made it surprisingly useful.

"I know, I know..." Raven admitted with a light groan. "How could my pathetic security skills ever compare to the Alpha King’s personal guards? It was just a panic thought. I was so worried that I felt like I’d be more at ease if I were right there beside you."

"And I’m so grateful for that, Raven. Thank you for always having my back," I murmured, turning my attention back toward the sprawling estate grounds. "But seriously, you don’t have to uproot your entire life and come here, especially not because of someone like Jaxen."

I leaned against the railing, letting my gaze wander across the grounds below.

"This is my fight now."

And it really was. More than anything, I wanted Jaxen, Callista, and my parents to pay for everything they had put me through. I had no forgiveness left in my heart for any of them. They might not have physically killed me, but they had made me suffer for two decades straight, and a part of me desperately wanted them to experience that same agony.

I just hadn’t figured out exactly how I was going to make that happen yet.

To put Raven more at ease, I shifted the conversation and began telling her what had actually happened at the banquet. I explained how Jaxen had dropped to his knees, shaking like a leaf as he begged Kaelen for mercy simply because he had dared to put his hands on me. I also told her that he probably would have been slaughtered right there if the High Council elders hadn’t stepped in to save him.

"Why do those High Council elders have so much power over Kaelen anyway?" I asked, my brows drawing together as I remembered how hostile they had been toward both of us. "Isn’t being the Alpha King of an entire empire enough? Especially when he’s clearly the most powerful person in the room?"

Even with Kaelen’s explosive temper, he had still held himself back and allowed them to speak, which only made me more curious about the authority they seemed to possess over him.

"Because as powerful as Kaelen is, that’s exactly why the Council exists," Raven explained over the phone. "They’re there to keep him in check and reassure the common wolves. Every creature, no matter how powerful, needs some kind of counterbalance. Even if the Alpha King claims he has good intentions, the people need to know that he can still be held accountable if he ever goes completely out of control. The High Council is that check on his power."

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