Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King novel Chapter 30

Chapter 30: 0030

Lorelei POV

Should I baby-trap him?

The thought followed me all the way back to my room as I changed into a fresh, clean uniform.

It was a stupid idea.

A desperate one.

But if Callista had managed to use a pregnancy to steal Jaxen from me, wasn’t there a chance it could work on him too?

Dammit.

"Get a grip, Lorelei," I whispered to myself, my voice trembling as I carefully fastened the high collar of my gray dress to hide the dark bite marks scattered across my neck.

Alpha Kaelen was known across the territories for his cruelty.

And from what I had gathered, he was already in his thirties.

So what kind of man reached that age, especially a ruthless Alpha King, without producing an heir for an empire that practically demanded one?

If he wanted a child, he would have chosen a high-born alpha female from a powerful pack.

Not a nameless captured maid.

If anything, he would see the pregnancy for exactly what it was: a trap.

And then he’d probably drive a sword straight through my stomach just to erase the insult.

The thought made me shudder.

I was still pacing back and forth across my room when the door suddenly swung open, causing me to flinch.

But it was only Skye.

The second she saw me, her eyes widened and she hurried over.

"Where have you been?" she demanded, her voice sharp with concern. "You didn’t come back last night."

My heart nearly stopped.

Of course, I couldn’t tell her the truth, so I scrambled for a lie.

"I got lost," I said, and her brow immediately furrowed.

"This place is huge," I quickly added. "I was trying to get to my next chore and ended up losing my way. I was too embarrassed to ask anyone for help, so I just found somewhere to sleep until morning."

The moment the words left my mouth, she let out a long sigh of relief.

"Here I was thinking you’d escaped."

That made my brow twitch because I could do that. That had been the plan all along, after all.

"I had to cover for you, you know," she continued, crossing her arms. "Otherwise, people would have started asking questions."

Hearing that, I forced a grateful smile.

"Thank you," I said. "I owe you big time."

She waved her hand dismissively.

"Just don’t do it again. If Mrs. Vex had noticed you were missing, she would have had both our heads."

That made me swallow the lump in my throat. My fingers twisted nervously at my side before I blurted out,

"What’s the Alpha like?"

The words left my mouth before I could stop them, and my heart immediately dropped as I realized what a massive gamble I had just taken.

What a stupid question.

Within seconds, Skye’s face turned pale.

"Why... why do you ask?" she whispered.

Well, I was just in bed with him, so I’m trying to figure out exactly how fast I could get killed.

"Just curious," I replied instead. "I’ve heard stories about him, but you’ve been here for two years. I figured there might be some truth to them. Or maybe people are just exaggerating."

"Exaggerating?" she repeated in a harsh whisper.

Then she immediately stepped back and glanced toward the door, making sure it was fully closed before turning back to me.

"Ella, whatever horrific stories you’ve heard about Alpha Kaelen, double them. That man is practically a monster. He’s so evil that I heard even his mate couldn’t stand him and ran away."

My brows furrowed.

"He had a mate?" I asked, unable to hide my shock.

"That’s what I heard." Skye nodded. "I wasn’t here when it happened, but people who witnessed it said it was one of the worst periods this palace has ever seen. They say he was... different before."

"Different how?" I asked, and she shrugged.

I have been celibate for too long.

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