Page 73 of Finding Love with the Fae King

Daphne gave an apologetic look while Peoni sat down. Her heart was racing, and her wings shuttered. “What’s going on?” Peoni tried to play it off. “What do you need me for?” Primrose ran up to the tent, wondering where her friend could be, but stopped when she saw all the high-ranking soldiers and one angered Alaneo.

“Tell me, Peoni.” I gritted my teeth and felt the leather on my chest creak as I tightened my muscles in restraint. “When did you start working for Cosmo?” A gasp left her lips as she looked from me and to Alaneo.

“I-I w-would never betray you, Your Majesty!”

“Lies!” I roared. The betrayal was radiating off her like the light sources of our kingdom. Alaneo could sense my reading, and his head immediately fell. A hand went up to his dagger as he pulled it from his side and pointed it at her throat. For the first time, I saw his fangs and his claws emerge from his body. His eyes grew to a bright red as he narrowed them at her.

His own power was going to be shown if he wasn’t careful.

“Do you know the penalty of treason, Peoni?” he growled. “Death, that is what you have earned!” I pulled Alaneo’s hand with the dagger away from Peoni as she sobbed. “Why?” Alaneo’s voice cracked. “Did you just use me to get what you wanted?” Peoni nodded her head as her tears fell again.

“Did you ever care for me? We aren’t mates, but I cared for you,” Alaneo whispered and put his dagger back in his belt. The room was silent, watching the altercation unfold; it was a damn drama all before our eyes.

“I cared for you, but then I found my mate weeks ago. Cosmo had him in the cells and said he would kill him if I didn’t do what he asked. I do care about this kingdom, but he has my mate!”

“You could have come to me, Peoni!” Alaneo yelled. “I would have helped you! You know I would have!”

A large cry left Peoni’s lips. “I just, I just, I was so scared.” Daphne let a tear roll down her cheek, the hardened soul of the last few hundred years letting her authentic emotions escape.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Daphne said. “I would have brought it up later if I had known he was threatening your mate.” Now I had two sobbing women in my midst.Great. Can I just kill someone already?

“What did you do, Peoni?” I asked, trying to bring back the awkward tension.

“I sprinkled the bathroom door with the alternant dimension portal so Carson could take Melina.” I growled out in anger as my fangs descended. Peoni may have done this to save her mate but put mine in danger.

My hands went around Peoni’s neck as I choked her with one hand. My inner fae was screaming to kill her, to end her, for trying to take my mate away from me. I had waited much longer than she had to find her mate, and now I wanted her to pay.

“Your Majesty, please,” I heard Alaneo as he touched my shoulder. I whipped my head around to let him know to back off. He bowed out, and I continued to strangle the traitor.

“You will be locked in the dungeons until I know what to do with you,” I spat.

Peoni dropped to the ground, and they took her to the makeshift prison we made in the northern part of our camp. Primrose had her hands over her mouth in surprise. Tears were in her eyes, her wings had drooped downward, showing her utter grief.

“Daphne, tell me where the hidden nobles are, so we can end this!” I snarled. “I’m done playing games. I want my mate and I want her fucking now, so tell me where they are, and I can’t promise you they will be alive when I get my claws into them!”

Even though Daphne gave me the information I wanted, I couldn’t trust her. She was put in a cell away from the other prisoners, just like Peoni. My anger rose within me, thinking of my closest fairy giving up all the information on my Melina. Not only did Peoni help put the enchantment on the water closet, but she also gave Melina’s whereabouts to Cosmo as she traveled through the city. They knew what we had done in the bedroom, watching to make sure I didn’t mark her. Fucking sick.

Once everything was over, I would find Carson and Peoni’s mate and figure out what to do with them at another time. Too much shit to deal with in such a short amount of time.

My heart hurt, knowing that we could have lost everything a lot sooner if I had not kept her by my side or had my own trusted guards watch her. Along with being betrayed by a close fairy and the pain it caused, I could feel how dejected Alaneo was. A mate bond was stronger than any force, but Alaneo had fallen for Peoni. Their rendezvous were hot and passionate, and it was the first time in many years he had settled for just one fairy. I prayed to the Gods he found his mate soon. I didn’t think he would ever be the same until he did.

The Fae Court cowards, as the soldiers had called them, found the miserable scum hiding in a dugout near the palace. It had running water, food, and electricity to help them hide for decades. They had planned to be safe while thousands of fae did their bidding.

The Court was now dissolved and running on just my power alone. As much as any king would have liked that supremacy, I felt it was unnecessary. The Court would be the representatives of the different races of fae, and my say would be the ultimate law. How could a king rule and not listen to the hearts of his people?

I sat down on my bed in the palace. It was dark, with nothing to light the room. Even the moon was resting this night as I took off my armor. Without Melina here, it felt completely empty. The shifters would stay for three days as we prepared the celebration feast that Melina would enjoy. I’d have the finest dress made, and we would finally be together again. Afterward, she would become my mate.

Now that the day was done, and the prisoners were locked away, I could visit my mate one last time before I fetched her in the morning. For once in my life, my reality was becoming better than a dream, but for tonight I would take second best.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Melina

“Damn,tookyoulongenough to get here,” Lucca complained as I trudged up to the spring. Horus was behind me, snickering and blowing bits of smoke through his nostrils.

I did not feel like I slept a wink the night before, which I guess I didn’t. Or did I really? This magic stuff was weird. Osirus had visited me in my dreams and not once was I resting while he was there. The thoughts of him kissing me, touching me, holding me, gave me the only energy I had left to walk the hour walk to the spring.Please let the war be over soon, I prayed wholeheartedly.

“Dear Gods, what is on your neck?” My hand slapped at my neck quickly. I didn’t have any concealer to hide the large mark that Osirus had put on my skin. That irresistible pleasure of him sucking, licking, and kissing could get my core wet in a matter of seconds, but the aftermath left me with a large hickey the size of a silver dollar. How in Goddess’s name it could show up on my body when he only kissed me in a dream was unexplainable. “Um, nothing,” I said, embarrassed.

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