Page 58 of Mated To The King's Gamma
He nods in understanding.
“How did Abbie take this news?” he asks, my brows furrow. That would have been a massive shock and blow to her, but she was okay. She understood and took it better than I could have ever imagined.
“Not well at first, but she understands why I did it,” I admit.
“Is that all?” he asks me. And I wonder how much Dustin did tell him.
“There is more, but I can’t tell you, My King. I won’t risk Abbie,” I tell him, and he nods slowly, pursing his lips, leaning back in his seat, and watching me.
“If I look into Sia’s background, what will I find, Gannon?” he asks, and my heart skips a beat at his question. It’s not a command. He is only asking so I can lie. He is my king, but my friend first.
“Are you asking because you already know, My King?” I ask in return.
“I’m asking as a friend. I am asking for my queen. Your queen. If there is anything I need to know, this is your chance to tell me,” Kyson says and I know right then that he has an inkling or some sense of what I’m hiding.
Unable to meet his gaze, I look away.
“Abbie’s parents weren’t involved,” I murmur; I won’t let him hurt Abbie. He will have to kill me before I let that happen. But I’m done with the secrets and the lies.
“Abbie won’t be punished for her family’s mistake, Gannon. You have my word, but the fact you never told me you found your mate in the first place has me worried. The fact you didn’t tell me says either you knew I wouldn’t approve or suspected something was amiss,” he says, and I turn my gaze back to him. I tilt my head to the side.
“I want your word, My King. Abbie stays out of it,” I tell him, addressing his title, not my friend, knowing there are two separate sides of him. A king demands, Kyson asks, and I want to know which part of him I’m dealing with.
“Your queen would have my balls if I tried. Rest assured, Gannon. I have learned from my mistakes. I won’t punish her like I did Azalea. We may be products of our parents, but we aren’t them,” he tells me, and I know Azalea will never let Kyson harm her, but I also don’t trust his Lycan side when it comes to the hunters, especially after what happened to Claire.
“Sia worked for the hunter organization, and so did her mother. Liam and I found out she was one of the hunter’s suppliers,” I tell him, and he presses his lips in a line, and I know I confirmed his assumption as he stares off above his head. A look on his face I have seen a million times when he is trying to control his temper. I’m just not sure if he is angry at me not telling him or mad at Abbie’s family’s involvement.
“Suppliers?” he asks me finally, after a few tense seconds.
“Yes, her mother was selling Wolfsbane to the hunter organization,”
“She was growing it?” he asks, looking a little shocked, but that is one part Liam and I couldn’t figure out; she had plenty in her house, but no growing plants or anything to suggest she was growing. More like she was the middle person in her dealings.
“We found no evidence she was growing, but she was definitely obtaining it from somewhere,”
“You won’t keep anything like this from me again. I understand why you did. But we could have figured it out together.”
“Sia was trying to weasel her way into the kingdom. She was very insistent I change her. I wanted to wait. When I refused her, she went to Liam and tried to have him kill me,”
“She wanted access to my kingdom?”
“It appeared so. All she talked about was coming here and me changing her. It set off alarm bells, but I never figured out her intention. She never told Liam anything that was suspicious, either. Then, when I thought we figured it out and she was willing to accept me, I walked into an ambush. Luckily, Liam knew me better than her. Brotherhood won over the mate bond.” I tell him the gist of it.
“You can go. Maybe see if Abbie and Azalea want to help Tandi. It will keep them distracted while we try and figure out this Larkin issue,” Kyson says, and I nod, all too happy to get out of here and back to my mate.
I make my way back to my room only to see Liam stepping out of it with a tray in his hands.
“Everything alright?” I ask him, glancing at the empty tray.
“Yep, fine, Clarice sent food. I told her I would bring it up,” he tells me, clamping a hand on my shoulder before walking off. Shaking my head, I wander into the room and find Abbie dressing Tyson. The toast is set on a plate beside her and a drink.
She picks up her glass, sipping the cordial and pulling a face. Tyson reaches over, stealing a piece of her toast and ignoring his cereal, and Abbie laughs, drinking most of her drink and picking up the other piece of toast.
“Something is wrong with the water around here, and I swear I can taste iron or some type of metal,” she said, shaking her head. “Does it taste funny to you?” she asks, holding up the glass. I move toward her, taking it from her. I take a sip of it before glancing at the red cordial. My brows furrow, trying to figure out the weird taste of it. It tastes familiar for some reason.
“It does, doesn’t it?” she says, watching me.
“Might be the old copper pipes,” I shrug, shaking my head. She shrugs while drinking the rest. I would have to let Kyson know so he can have someone test the water because it tastes a little funky.
