Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King novel Chapter 88

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.

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