Surrogate for the Alpha Prince in a Coma novel Chapter 331

Chapter 331

Josephine’s POV

Odette glared at Benedict, but when he complied, going silent and lowering her head, he started smirking and didn’t stop, even as after I caught her.

Not only was she smug as hell, but she was overconfident too. Looking at her, seeing the lackey she had become, complicit to my mother’s reckless ambitions, I couldn’t believe I had ever even thought of her as something like a friend. I never should have tried to convince Lily to accept her. I should have told Lily to take Grayson and head for the hills away from her. 1

Hindsight had clear vision though. Now, in the thick of this madness, I had to face forward, even if the future was uncertain.

“He can talk if he wants to,” I said.

She laughed as she looked at me. “He only gets himself into trouble. You would think that making himself black out drunk every night would be enough for him to want to stay out of things. He shouldn’t involve you. For now, you have the Queen’s protection, but who knows how long that will last?”

“I don’t need her protection.”

Odette laughed again, in earnest this time. “Spoiled little princess, never with a single thought in your head. You really think you’d survive standing against the Queen? She’d crush you under her heel if she wanted. Well, who wouldn’t? Do you even have a wolf? No wonder your fiancé left you.”

“I left him,” I growled.

She shrugged. “A stronger woman could have kept their man happy. If you had pleased him properly, he wouldn’t have strayed.”

“Leave her alone, Odette,” Benedict grumbled. “Her ex was a brute and we all know it. She’s better off.”

“Everything thinks she’s so perfect, but she’s not,” Odette snapped, her laugh vanishing now that I had a defender. Odette loved to tease others, but only against those she felt had no chance against her. She thought she was better than me, but with Benedict on my side, she was outnumbered.

“She’s more perfect than either of us will ever be,” Benedict said. “So leave her alone.”

“Then don’t tell her things she doesn’t need to know, you lousy drunk,” Odette said, angry now. “I’m going to talk to the Queen about this. You should know better.”

“Get out of here and don’t bother coming back,” Benedict snarled.

Odette huffed but still turned and left.

I looked back and Benedict, who seemed to have sobered some with the conversation. When he looked at me, it was with more focus than I had seen from him in a long while.

“You have to be careful, Josephine. Around your mother. Around Odette. Ladies in the court. Everyone. You have protections because of who you are, the Queen’s daughter, but the Queen is changing. Even you won’t be safe if you move against her.”

“Uncle. We could help each other. It’s not too late. We could -”

“No, kid. Save yourself. Get out of here, find your brother, and whatever you do, don’t look back until the rest of

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us are dead.”

Lilian’s POV

Morning came too quickly. Grayson and I spoke with Sonya and Mark first, and then Ivory, making sure everything was in order for the children to stay here, protected.

“I will treat them as if they were iny own,” Sonya promised.

“The royal guard will never find them here,” Mark said. “You have my word.”

With that assurance, we returned to the children who were just waking up. As we approached their door, they peeked out. Immediately, Madison deflated, her shoulders sinking.

“You’re leaving again, aren’t you?” she asked, her voice small.

“I’m so sorry,” I told her.

Tears started, though whether they began with Madison or with me, I wasn’t sure.

“This will be the last time,” Grayson said. “When we return to you, and we will return, we will never be apart again.”

“Promise?” Madison asked. Alex also seemed unsure.

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