𝐀𝐥𝐩𝐡𝐚 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠'𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞

39. Dirty Little Secret

Narcisse raised his head slowly to meet the gaze of the King. His hands and feet had been chained to the floor, restricting his freedom to even move around inside that damp little dungeon cell. His body was covered in red and blue bruises. His eyes, however, depicted that he was calm and unbothered from inside and this bugged Xavier to a great extent.

King Xavier scoffed once again. "It shocks us how you do not even show an ounce of remorse for the sin you have committed."

"The sin that I've committed you say, Your Majesty?" Narcisse smiled as he shook his head. "Please. Do not give me all the credit for something that you and your father have done."

"Under your influence, of course." Xavier retorted.

"What type of King is a king who is easily swayed by others?" asked Narcisse with a triumphant smile on his face.

Xavier gritted his teeth and clenched his fist in order to control himself from shifting right then and there to murder the bastard in front of him. He got distracted when he heard footsteps approaching. The guards behind him bowed on the arrival of the Duke and the Duchess Lily walked towards him and put her hand on his left shoulder. "Calm down, Xavier."

Narcisse chuckled. "As if His Majesty has ever calmed down on your request, Duchess Lily. The only one who can overpower the Alpha King is his mate."

Motivated by their guilt-ridden silence, he decided to ridicule them even more. "Guards! Go fetch your Queen Persephone this instant. Your King needs her. His mate!"

Duke Lorenzo sneered at him. "Why call someone else when Ariana has returned already?" He spat.

The smile on Narcisse's face had faded and the color from his face was drained. "If she returns to him, all of my efforts would have been for nothing. Why the hell is she back!" He thought in horror.

Narcisse took a deep breath and shook his head in denial. "So what? Even if she is back, she shall never be yours. Do you really think she will believe your words over your actions? You're sadly mistaken, Your Majesty!" He spat. "And even if she believes in your reasons and miraculously forgives you, she won't be able to forget that you rejected her. That you chose her own sister over her. Her self-respect won't allow her to."

Xavier stood stunned, listening to every word which fed his insecurity and fear of losing his mate. His mind had started to ache already at the thought of his Ariana rejecting him when he offers his heart at her mercy.

"You don't have to listen to any of his words, Xavier. Let's go." Duchess Lily took a hold of his arm and dragged an absent-minded Xavier out of the dungeon, followed by Duke Lorenzo while Narcisse's shouts could be heard in the background.

Xavier, Duke Lorenzo and Duchess Lily were seated on sofa of the meeting room of the King while a maid prepared them tea. Duchess Lily took the cup from the maid's hand and offered to Xavier. "Here. It shall help you relax and think better."

Xavier took the cup and muttered a thank you to the Duchess as well as the maid. The maid bowed and left, giving the higher-ups their privacy.

Duchess Lily took a sip and started talking. "I can't help but agree with Narcisse on one thing. Even if you explain everything to Ariana, it is highly unlikely that she will believe you. After all, she cannot possibly trust you. So, don't hurry and dump all your trauma on her. Firstly, show her by your actions that you truly care for her. That she can trust on you and your words."

"It may be too late, Lily." said Duke Lorenzo. His thoughts wandered to the time he had witnessed the closeness between Sean and Ariana. He feared that their relationship might have gone further as he recalled Alpha Nathaniel calling someone Ariana's "lover boy."