Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King

Kaelen POV

"Alpha King," Elder Thomas began, his smooth, overly pleasant voice cutting through the heavy silence.

I was already in the worst possible mood, and seeing Thomas step forward with Viktor and Marcus only made my wolf growl in irritation.

Thomas had that same tight, practiced smile plastered across his face, but coming from a man who hated me with every fiber of his being, it felt less like a smile and more like a warning.

My guard immediately went up.

"Surely we can all agree that tonight is supposed to be a celebration," Thomas continued, his tone carrying just enough condescension to make my jaw tighten. "A gathering meant to promote unity and peace between territories. The last thing we want is for an occasion like this to be ruined by... unpleasantness."

At his words, my arm tightened around Lorelei’s waist, pulling her slightly closer to me.

I had spent the last few hours dealing with an explosive device hidden in my car, trying to figure out who had planted it and, more importantly, what the hell they were actually trying to accomplish.

The whole thing had felt too deliberate. The bomb had been placed so carelessly that it almost seemed like whoever planted it wanted me to find it.

Once the threat was dealt with, however, I had returned to the banquet in a surprisingly good mood, as my only thought had been getting back to Lorelei.

Only to walk through those doors and find another man with his hands on her, threatening her right in front of me.

And now this.

The elders rarely bothered to involve themselves in public disputes during social events, yet here they were, stepping forward together as if they had planned this little intervention beforehand.

I couldn’t help wondering if the bastards standing in front of me had something to do with the bomb.

But if they did, what the fuck were they actually after?

"A simple misunderstanding," Elder Viktor added smoothly, his eyes gleaming with barely concealed satisfaction. He looked far too pleased with himself, like a man who had just been handed exactly what he’d been waiting for. "Alpha Reed didn’t know who this woman was. In fact, most of us weren’t even aware that the Alpha King had taken a wife."

Dragging out the last part, Viktor’s gaze flickered down to Lorelei, and the disdain hiding behind his eyes was impossible to miss. After all, I was publicly claiming a woman who wasn’t his precious daughter. And since Lorelei and I weren’t legally married yet, making such a bold move tonight was basically a slap in the High Council’s face.

"Surely, in the spirit of tonight, a simple apology would be enough," Viktor concluded.

An apology?

A harsh scoff nearly escaped me, but then Darius caught my eye and gave me a subtle warning. That single look was enough to make me hold back the response already sitting on the tip of my tongue and actually consider the trap hidden beneath their words.

To be fair, they weren’t completely wrong.

Rumors had been spreading that I had taken an interest in a woman, but most of the nobility had no idea who she was, let alone that I would publicly call her my wife. Executing or severely punishing a pack Alpha for what could easily be dismissed as an honest mistake in front of the entire empire would only make me look unreasonable in the eyes of the High Courts.

I didn’t give a damn about looking like a tyrant.

But I did give a damn about Lorelei.

She had specifically asked me not to rush things, yet the second I saw Jaxen putting his hands on her, my anger had taken over, and I had publicly claimed her as my Queen Luna without even thinking about the consequences.

I had done it because I needed everyone in that room to understand exactly where she stood.

With me.

But if I acted recklessly now, the backlash wouldn’t fall on me alone. It would land directly on her shoulders, and Lorelei was still far too sweet and trusting to deal with the kind of vicious political games these bastards loved to play.

So, against every instinct in my body, I forced a tight, cold smile onto my face and relaxed my shoulders.

"You’re right," I said, my voice carrying clearly through the silent hall. "Mistakes happen. I’ll let it slide... but only this once."

I watched the High Council elders carefully, and for the briefest second, the smiles on their faces faltered.

They had expected me to take the bait.

They wanted me to lose my temper, turn this into a public spectacle, and give them a reason to paint me as an unreasonable ruler.

Instead, I had taken the easy way out without giving them the reaction they wanted, forcing them to quickly hide their disappointment.

"Please, Alpha Reed," Thomas said smoothly, giving Jaxen a brief nod. "The Alpha King has forgiven your slight."

Jaxen hesitated on the floor, his eyes nervously flicking toward me as if he was making sure I wasn’t about to change my mind and rip his throat out. When he found nothing but a cold, unreadable expression on my face, he finally let out the breath he’d clearly been holding.

"Thank you, Your Majesty... thank you," he stammered, forcing his trembling legs to straighten as he got back on his feet.

Elder Viktor stepped forward again, sweeping his gaze across the room like he was some kind of host trying to get the evening back on track.

"Let’s not allow this little moment of tension to ruin the evening. Tonight, we’re here to celebrate peace between our territories. And, as we’ve just learned, we also have something else worth celebrating. After his previous... shortcomings, the Alpha King finally has a woman who may become the Queen Luna of this empire. Let’s just hope that, as beautiful as she is, she proves to be a suitable match."

Quiet whispers immediately spread through the nobles.

Guests stole curious, calculating glances at Lorelei, although none of them were stupid enough to hold my gaze for long.

My fists tightened at my sides, and a muscle in my jaw jumped violently, but I forced myself to stay silent. I wasn’t about to give Viktor the reaction he was clearly fishing for.

My gaze shifted then toward Darius, expecting him to give me some kind of subtle signal, but my Beta wasn’t even looking at me.

His sharp eyes were fixed on the heavily pregnant woman standing a few feet behind Jaxen.

The woman who looked exactly like Lorelei.

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