Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King

Lorelei POV

My face burned throughout the entire ride back to the estate.

It still felt like a fever dream I would wake up from at any second, but the feeling of Kaelen’s fingers firmly intertwined with mine while he drove with one hand kept reminding me that this was actually real.

Somehow, after everything that had happened between us, Kaelen and I were finally together, just like I had always wanted.

Then his earlier words came rushing back to me.

"Let’s get married."

Another wave of heat rushed to my cheeks, and I immediately buried my face in my free hand with a quiet groan. He couldn’t seriously be thinking about marriage already. Could he?

Beside me, Kaelen let out a soft, amused chuckle, and I knew he had noticed my reaction. That only made my face hotter, making me want to hide even more.

Thankfully, we reached the estate a few moments later and pulled into the garage.

As soon as Kaelen put the car in park, he finally released my hand, and I took the opportunity to escape before he could tease me about my increasingly warm face. I hurried out of the car, hoping the cooler air would help.

Instead, I was greeted by Darius standing in the garage with his arms crossed over his chest, while Paul stood beside him looking like he had just seen a ghost. His eyes were wide, and his mouth was practically hanging open.

Unlike Paul, Darius didn’t seem surprised in the slightest.

"You returned faster than I expected," he said calmly, his eyes shifting from Kaelen to me.

For the briefest moment, the corner of his lips lifted, and the small flash of relief in his expression didn’t escape me.

Seeing him again made some of the tension in my chest ease too. Without thinking, I hurried forward and wrapped my arms around him in a warm hug.

The sudden contact made Darius stiffen for a fraction of a second, his posture suddenly rigid beneath my arms.

Then, keeping his voice low enough for only me to hear, he whispered, "Just so you know, I made him go after you."

I pulled back slightly, a gentle smile touching my lips.

Of course he had.

I had already suspected as much. There was no way Kaelen’s sudden appearance on the highway had been a coincidence, and knowing Darius, he had probably been the one who pushed him into action.

"Thank you," I whispered, my voice filled with genuine gratitude. I didn’t know what Darius had said to Kaelen or what exactly had convinced him to come after me, but I knew one thing for certain. If it hadn’t been for him, I really might have been gone for good.

Unlike before, however, Darius didn’t hug me back. His hands stayed firmly at his sides, keeping a careful distance between us, and the sudden change in his behavior made me pull back slightly.

But before I could ask him what was wrong, a large hand suddenly closed around my arm and yanked me backward.

I stumbled out of Darius’s space and straight into Kaelen’s chest, his arms immediately wrapping around my waist and pulling me firmly against him.

"You really shouldn’t be getting this close to other males," he whispered into my ear, his voice low enough to send a shiver down my spine.

My breath caught as my heart fluttered wildly against my ribs. "What are you saying?" I muttered, glancing around us to make sure I wasn’t making a scene. "It’s just Darius!"

"I don’t care. He’s still a man," Kaelen murmured, his warm breath brushing against my neck and making another shiver run through me. "You are my woman... and I am a very jealous male."

Before I could respond, he lightly nipped the shell of my ear, causing my eyes to widen in absolute horror.

I stared straight ahead, completely mortified when Paul immediately looked away, coughing awkwardly as though the gloomy sky had suddenly become the most fascinating thing in the world, while Darius remained completely unfazed.

Somehow, his calm expression only made my embarrassment worse, and I squirmed in Kaelen’s arms, desperately trying to free myself from his suffocating hold, but he refused to loosen his grip.

"You already have her," Darius finally said, one eyebrow lifting. "There’s no need to still be so insecure."

The comment immediately earned a low, dangerous growl from Kaelen, and his arms tightened around me as he pulled me closer.

"I’m not insecure," he shot back defensively. "I just love her too much."

As if that wasn’t enough to prove his point, he leaned down and pressed a soft, lingering kiss against the corner of my jaw, right beside my ear.

At this point, I was convinced my face had turned as red as a ripe tomato. I thought I had already seen every side of Kaelen, from the cold Alpha and dominant leader to the tormented man hidden beneath it all, but this version of him was completely new to me.

This soft, ridiculously possessive side of him, casually throwing around the word love without even a hint of shame, was almost too embarrassing for me to handle.

I could probably survive it in private, but doing this in front of his guards was an entirely different matter.

As if he had finally realized just how mortified I was, Kaelen pulled his lips away from my neck, and the suffocating grip around my waist loosened slightly, though he still refused to release my hand.

He turned his sharp gaze toward Darius, and just like that, the playful man from a moment ago disappeared, replaced by the commanding Alpha everyone in the estate knew.

"Have all the staff, maids, and guards line up in the main courtyard right now."

Darius gave a brief nod, and without waiting for anything else, Kaelen tightened his fingers around mine and led me back inside the grand building.

A few minutes later, I found myself standing beside him on the elevated stone steps overlooking the courtyard, staring down at more than a hundred estate staff members arranged in neat rows below us.

Low, frantic whispers moved through the crowd as they murmured among themselves, and several of the maids kept sneaking bewildered glances in my direction, clearly wondering why Kaelen had suddenly summoned everyone.

My eyes, however, immediately found Mrs. Vex.

She looked noticeably thinner than I remembered, her face drained of the harshness that had once made her so intimidating. From what I had gathered, she had been demoted from her position as head housekeeper after everything came to light.

Although she hadn’t been directly involved in Hawke and Chelsea’s dark schemes, the long list of her own offenses had finally caught up with her, from favoritism and cruelty to the systematic mistreatment of the lower-ranking staff.

The moment our eyes met across the courtyard, she visibly flinched before quickly lowering her gaze, shame written all over her face.

Kaelen stepped forward, and his presence alone was enough to silence the entire courtyard. He began making his formal announcement, his deep voice carrying across the quiet grounds with the kind of authority that made it impossible for anyone to interrupt.

After addressing the recent security updates and changes within the staff, he paused, allowing his words to settle over the crowd. Then, before anyone could even begin to wonder what was coming next, Kaelen reached for me and wrapped an arm firmly around my waist, pulling me against his side.

"Starting today," he declared, his sharp amber eyes sweeping across every person gathered below us, "Lorelei, Miss Lorelei to all of you, is now the Lady of this empire."

The second he said those words, my eyes widened, and my breath caught in my throat.

For a moment, I could only stare at him, unable to process the weight of what he had just declared. My heart hammered against my ribs as the reality slowly sank in, leaving me too stunned to even react.

I certainly hadn’t expected those words to come out of his mouth, especially not in front of the entire estate.

But Kaelen’s hold on my waist remained firm as he continued, his voice taking on a harder edge. "You will treat her with absolute respect. Anyone who goes against her, disobeys her, or attempts to cause her the slightest harm is going directly against me and the Empire itself."

A stunned silence fell over the courtyard before, almost as if they had rehearsed it, everyone lowered themselves into a deep bow.

The respect in that moment felt completely different from anything I had ever experienced. With Kaelen standing firmly beside me and his warm hand resting against my back, I slowly straightened my posture and held my head high.

I was no longer a prisoner, a shadow, or some mistress forced to remain hidden in the background. I was his woman, standing beside the Alpha King himself.

Why should I ever lower my head to anyone again?

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