Page 27 of Aries Mated

ATLAS

Ihated the way Maeve’s hand was trembling in mine. She was absolutely terrified. I would have done anything to ease that feeling, but since I didn’t know exactly what this was about, I couldn’t. All I could do was support her, stay right by her side, and hope we got through this.

“It will be okay,” I whispered to Maeve, hoping that I was right. I tightened my hand in hers and held her close. “It’s going to be just fine.”

I was trying to reassure myself just as much as I was trying to reassure her. Nervous energy zig zagged through me and I wasn’t even sure why. If this was going to result in me losing my place in the competition, then what did that matter? I wanted out anyway. I had just decided that, making the firm decision to see where things went with Maeve, if she wanted me. But it was still terrifying. It was why I kept my bear at the surface at all times, but never quite shifting.

I thought I just overheard one of the Bear King’s guards muttering something. But I picked it up anyway in my half-shifted state.Did he just mention the princess?

All of a sudden, the puzzle pieces started to fit into place. If this was about Princess Azariyah and the kidnapping, it made a lot of sense. That was why the Bear King picked wanted Maeve and me to speak with him. Because Maeve was the one who saw Sly taking the princess and I was the one who found the footage. Maybe we would get a thank you for finding her and making sure she was safe. Maybe we would even be told the facts about what happened. I wanted that, especially with the media presenting it all as a misunderstanding. From what I saw on the video, it definitely wasn’t a misunderstanding, and from what Maeve had told me, Princess Azariyah had not gone willingly.

My nerves subsided a little and excitement bloomed. I couldn’t wait to get to the Bear King’s home if that was what we were going to find out. Tex hadn’t given me much to go on. I got that they couldn’t release everything, and that I really had no right to know anything, but it was still incredibly frustrating to be kept in the dark. It gave me a better understanding of the victims I had dealt with in my career.

Kai glanced at me, and I could tell he was just as worked up as I was. But we were both going to have to stay calm to make sure this wasn’t worse for Maeve. She was the most important person here, and we both needed to remember that. Especially since we were approaching the Bear King’s penthouse suite. It was a nice place with a bird’s eye view of the whole arena. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he watched some of the competition from here. So why didn’t he know what was going on right underneath his nose? I didn’t want to be that person who believed all rumors, but there was no smoke without fire.

It was a massive relief to see Princess Azariyah there with her father. She was safe, the police had obviously rescued her from Sly. I’d suspected as much because there wasn’t a big panic about her with everyone out on the streets looking for her, but it was still nice to actually see her and know she was alright. I let out a relieved breath, glad to have that tight knot in my stomach loosened a little. Unfortunately, she didn’t look as happy to see any of us. She sat on a couch next to her father, twisting her hands around in her lap. Princess Azariyah looked like she would have rather been anywhere else in the world but here. I didn’t know what the Bear King was up to. He hadn’t even looked us yet, as if we hadn’t even walked in the room. It was a real talent to ignore so many people in one room. This had to be some kind of power play. Typical Virgo. Not that I wanted to get into Zodiac politics at the moment.

But then, after what felt like a torturous lifetime, Bear King Mobius turned to smile at us. His expression appeared to be friendly enough, but I remained on edge. I just needed to know what all of this was about.

“How kind of you to come and see me,” he declared in a sweeping voice, like he hadn’t demanded we appear before him. “Please, take a seat and have some refreshments. What would you like?”

One of the king’s men appeared with a tray of drinks, but all of us refused. This wasn’t a casual meeting, whatever the king was trying to portray it as. We weren’t going to behave like this was all in good fun.

“Kai,” King Bear Mobius said, completely unbothered by our rejection of his refreshments offer. “Professor, research specialist in domesticated animals, ranch owner.” His turned to me, and my stomach churned. “Atlas, ex-army, police officer, a highly recommended one, I might add, darling of your clan.” Was this some sort of exercise in proving that he knew us, or some sort of threat? “Maeve, owner of one of the finest establishments in all of the Zodiac Empire, and mother to a teen boy.”

Yeah, this was feeling increasingly alarming by the moment. Maeve knew it too, I could tell by the way she leaned closer to me. Kai was keeping himself stoic and serious, ready to tackle anything that came his way.

“I suppose you all are wondering why I called you here today.”

We all nodded, too stiff to say a word.

“Well, Kai, I didn’t exactly call you here, but it is fine for you to hear this. As you can see, my daughter, Azariyah, is safe.”

I was starting to get the feeling that this wouldn’t be the truth telling meeting I had been hoping for.

“So, what youthinkyou might have seen at the parkour event and on the security footage was not what you believed it to be.”

“But, Sly…” I started, ready to have a fight about this, until King Bear shook his head to silence me.

“You did not see what you thought you did. It was not a kidnapping. Simply a misunderstanding.”

Maeve squeezed my hand hard. I thought she wanted me to speak for her, but then the words came tumbling out of her mouth. “But I saw Sly cover Princess Azariyah’s mouth and then watched her faint…”

“A misunderstanding.” The king made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “It might have appeared that way, but that was not what happened. The princess simply snuck away from her security detail to get some time alone. A minor rebellion.”

“But with Sly?” Maeve demanded. I was proud to see that she wasn’t going to be fooled by this bullshit either. “That seems very strange…”

“Nothing untoward happened to her,” the king replied, now starting to sound a little terse. This would probably be a good time to keep my mouth shut, but I didn’t.

“I saw him carrying her away,” I growled. “She looked pretty passed out to me. And he took her to that weird woodland area where there wasn’t anyone else around. You can’t tell me that’s okay.”

King Bear Mobius narrowed his eyes at me. “Nothing happened. You can see that, so why are you trying to push your own agenda?”

“I’m just going on what I saw—”

“What youthinkyou saw,” he corrected me. “I don’t think you actually saw a thing. That footage is so grainy, it’s hard to see anything. Am I right?” He wasn’t asking me, he was telling me. And I wasn’t the only one about to get a warning. “And I’m sure you were in chaos at the games. It’s always manic, isn’t it? You can’t be sure of what you saw either, Maeve. So, I think what we need to focus on is the fact that my daughter is just fine.”

This was a lot. I turned to look at Princess Azariyah, who seemed to sense my eyes on her this time. She snapped out of her nervous state and into her public persona. This calm and collected version of her was the only one we ever saw in public, this Azariyah was familiar.

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