Vindicator

Chapter 30

Karma had been invited into the Queen's parlour to sit and chat over her experiences since joining the Forsaken pack. The Queen had been politely offering the she-wolf refreshments; but, as Karma still had not revealed her appearance, she had declined.

The Queen was, in that moment, sipping tea and enjoying a delicious looking dessert that Karma was trying not to stare at. She hadn't planned to be stuck in the palace for so long, and really should have grabbed something to eat before coming back. She was finding it hard to focus on anything but her body's cries for food, when it decided to cry out for someone else to hear. An embarrassingly loud grumble erupted from Karma's belly, causing her eyes to widen in shock and embarrassment.

The Queen looked at her, startled at first by the sudden noise, before breaking into a laugh. "Oh, dear, you poor thing. You must be famished! Please, I promise you that you're safe here. You can unmask yourself to eat, we won't be disturbed" she assured her. "Nobody will just barge into the Queen's parlour room" she added with a wink.

Karma debated internally, staring at the delicious pastry on the Queen's plate longingly.

"Just tell her you need to leave to eat, and you'll be right back" Alessia suggested.

"But her food looks so good" Karma whined back. "When will I ever have the chance to eat food from the Royal pack chefs again?!"

Alessia rolled her eyes, snorting at Karma's behaviour. "So that pastry is worth risking our lives for?" She demanded.

"One, the Goddess told me we won't die. Two, did you SEE the pastry?! And three, I feel like we can trust the Queen. She's right, who would barge in on her? I think it'll be fine" Karma retorted, starting off with attitude but quickly changing to reasoning as she convinced herself it was fine.

"I don't know..." Alessia said, sighing.

Karma's stomach answered for them, letting out another gurgling howl for attention. The Queen laughed and plated some desserts for Karma on the dainty china plate. Once done, she gently set the plate in front of Karma, nonverbally urging her to eat up.

With her mouth watering, Karma's decision was all but made. She reached up to her face covering, and began to undo the pins she had in place to keep it from unveiling her during a fight. While unclipping the last one, the sound of the parlour doors slamming opened caused the two women to jump in surprise.

"What did I tell you?!" Alessia shrieked at Karma.

Ignoring her dramatic wolf, Karma slipped the last pin back in place to secure her covering and turned to face the intruder. The Queen had jumped to her feet, about to admonish the uninvited guest, when she realized it was her son.

Chance had been wandering the palace in an effort to find Karma. As the women weren't where he first expected them, he'd had additional time to work himself up over the imaginary crimes that Karma had committed against his mate bond with Theo. With his target finally before him, and a lot of pent-up anger, he stormed towards the masked woman.

"You!" He said, pointing an accusing finger at Karma.

"Chance! What is the matter? This is not behaviour befitting the crowned Prince, nor is it normal for you! What's going on?!" The Queen demanded.

Karma was stunned to find the Prince was heading in her direction; mostly because of how angry he looked. She had just exposed her years-long secret to her father to save the man's mate, and he was angry at her?!

Ignoring his mother, and not giving Karma enough time to work herself up into an attitude, Chance strolled right up to her. Shocking Karma and Aless, Chance grabbed her by her shirt and lifted her up from her chair to hold her, dangling in the air, at eye level with him. "What did you do to my mate bond?" He seethed.