Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King

Lorelei POV

"And then she told me my enemies are closer than I think," I blurted out a few minutes later.

Darius and I were now sitting alone at a wrought-iron table in the garden, and I had been rambling nonstop about Nala’s unsettling parting words. I was so distracted by everything she had said that I barely noticed the amused half-smile slowly tugging at Darius’s lips.

I suddenly stopped talking and narrowed my eyes at him. "What is it? What’s so funny?"

Darius casually shrugged, resting his elbows on the table. "I just find it entertaining when you get this serious. You always get this little crease right here."

He leaned forward and pressed a warm finger between my eyebrows.

"Right there."

My brows immediately knitted together even more, which only made him chuckle.

I pulled back with an annoyed huff. "This isn’t supposed to be funny, Darius!"

"It isn’t," he admitted, although the amusement was still obvious in his eyes.

"What if there are still spies in the estate?" I asked, lowering my voice.

"There are," he replied simply.

My eyes widened.

Wait... what?

"There are?"

Darius nodded, his expression finally becoming serious. "Why do you think Kaelen publicly claimed you as the Lady of this empire? It wasn’t just because he wanted everyone to know you’re his woman. He needed our enemies to think twice before trying anything with you."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "Even Chelsea, the maid who schemed against you, was working as a spy for the Council. Remember when you were drugged at the bar? She was the one who leaked your location."

Hearing that, a cold wave of dread washed over me, draining the color from my face. How much had she really hated me to go to such lengths?

"Kaelen..." I swallowed hard. "Kaelen didn’t tell me any of this."

Darius let out a quiet sigh, his expression softening when he noticed how shaken I was.

"I’m sure he planned to," he said gently. "You two only just got back together. He probably didn’t want to dump even more things on you and make you worry."

Hearing that eased the tight knot of betrayal that had been sitting in my chest. Of course Kaelen hadn’t told me yet.

We had barely gotten back together, and considering how much had already happened, I couldn’t exactly blame him for not wanting to throw another problem onto my plate.

Thankfully, the conversation soon shifted to something less terrifying.

Darius started explaining all the responsibilities that would now fall under me as the Lady of the Empire, and I quickly realized just how much I had gotten myself into. There were household accounts, security clearances for the inner-estate staff, foreign guests, imperial charities, and what felt like an endless list of other things I had never even heard of before.

By the time he finished, I was staring at him like he had just handed me an entire empire and told me to figure it out by Monday.

"Don’t look so terrified," Darius said with a small chuckle. "I’m sure Kaelen won’t let you work yourself into the ground."

Just hearing Kaelen’s name immediately brought a small smile to my lips.

Of course he wouldn’t.

"Here," Darius said, suddenly breaking me out of my thoughts.

He reached down beside his chair and pulled out a sleek black box before sliding it across the stone table toward me. "Kaelen asked me to give you this."

I frowned at the box, completely confused.

"What is it?"

"You’ll see."

I slowly untied the ribbon and lifted the lid, only for a soft gasp to escape me.

A phone.

But not like any phone I had ever seen before.

I carefully lifted it from the velvet lining, staring at the impossibly thin device in my hands. The entire front was almost nothing but smooth glass, with barely any frame around the edges. There were no physical buttons staring back at me, and the screen seemed to stretch almost perfectly from one side to the other. Even the camera lenses on the back were tucked neatly into a small raised section instead of sticking out awkwardly like the phones I had seen Callista and the higher-ranked nobles using back home.

It looked so sleek and expensive that I was almost afraid I was going to break it just by touching it.

"I’ve... I’ve never seen anything like this before," I murmured, running my fingertips carefully across the cool glass.

Darius leaned back in his chair, tapping his knuckles lightly against the table. "It’s a special-grade device made specifically for royal families and the Alpha King’s inner circle."

I looked up at him.

"With the number of spies and hostile factions watching us, normal phones are basically a security risk," he explained. "This one runs on a private network with military-grade encryption. It’s designed to prevent tracking, hacking, and even wiretapping."

My eyes widened slightly.

"Unless, of course," Darius added casually, "we actually want someone listening."

Though I honestly didn’t care about all those fancy security features, my face still lit up as I pressed the small indentation on the side.

The screen instantly came to life, glowing brightly without even the slightest delay, and I couldn’t help staring at how clear everything looked. The moment I touched the screen, it responded so smoothly that I found myself smiling again.

"Wait..." I paused suddenly, then I looked up from the phone and met Darius’s eyes. "Why didn’t Kaelen give this to me himself?"

Darius shifted slightly in his seat, awkwardly reaching up to rub the back of his neck. "Well... he’s been buried in duties as the Alpha King today, juggling council meetings while also setting up tighter security measures to ensure your safety."

"Oh."

That was all I managed to say.

Still, a small warmth slowly spread through my chest.

He wasn’t avoiding me like he used to. He was actually busy making sure I was safe.

The thought made my smile grow wider, and I became so caught up in it that I completely missed the strange, unreadable look Darius gave me from across the table.

With Darius’s help, I eventually got the phone fully set up. He showed me how the interface worked, helped me activate the biometric security, and then we exchanged contacts before he saved Kaelen’s private number right at the top of my favorites.

I stared at his name on the screen for a few seconds before a sudden thought popped into my head.

"Let’s take a picture!"

Darius’s grey eyes widened. "What?"

Before he could even finish processing what I’d said, I was already leaning across the table and tugging him closer by the sleeve while opening the camera.

"Smile," I ordered, angling the phone toward us as I gave the screen a small pose.

Darius stared at me like I’d completely lost my mind.

For a second, he looked like he was actually going to refuse, but then his gaze dropped to the screen before returning to my face.

Whatever argument he had clearly decided wasn’t worth the effort, because his shoulders slowly relaxed and the faintest smile finally appeared on his lips.

I immediately tapped the shutter.

Click.

And just like that, I had my first picture on my brand-new phone.

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