His Luna’s Vengeance

5.Nowhere to Run

I blink back my tears of anger, pretending that her words did not get to me. Apparently, this is what the entire kingdom thinks of me. I am nothing but a liability and it is even a miracle that the treaty is a deal.

I can’t lose my temper like this, not when I am in front of so many maids. All they know how to do is spread gossip faster than a bird flaps its wings.

Inhaling, I go back to the modiste and let her take my measurements.

More maids pour into the room holding jewelries, suggestive night wears and shoes.

I feel claustrophobic, suffocated, frustrated. I am on the verge of crying into my palms and all these people are standing around me, waving glittering items at me.

“Do you like ruffled sleeves?”

“No,” I reply.

“Would you rather wear blue diamonds or sapphires? Would you like your tiaras with more jewels?”

“I-“

“Is pale blue not prettier? Imagine it with silver embroidery! We could combine colors of This Greater Moon and Lower Moon if you would like!”

“Do you like white shoes?”

“Would you were bracelets or are the gloves enough?”

“But she would rather not wear gloves! The Alpha King shall present her with a wedding band. It would prove arduous to get rid of those-“

“Stop!” I explode, jumping off the red cushion I was standing on.

I can’t see anything but my tears, my chest feels like it is about to explode and I can hardly breathe.

“Just- just give me a moment,” my voice breaks as I hurry to the door.

“I shall do all of this later. I feel faint,”

And with that, I bolt out of the door.

My legs have better memory than my brain because I find myself hurrying down numerous flights of stairs, pushing past and running into palace staff.

Even when I make it out of the palace entrance, the air is not enough to fill my shrunken lungs.

I want to get out of here, I want to run back home. I don’t want to marry the Alpha King. Why can’t I k.ill him some other way?

I race through the gardens, disappearing over the hedges and running into a sort of Apple farm.

“Achilles,” I whisper his name, holding my heart as I gulp in air.

“Get me out of here. Please,” tears blurring my eyes.

I thought it was easy. I thought all I had to do was infiltrate the Greater Moon Kingdom, wreak havoc from the interior and kill The Alpha King. But now I am not certain that I can stomach these overwhelming wolves, bear their hateful and inferior stares, get married to my enemy or let him so much as kiss me. He wants me to get pregnant in three months. It is not nearly enough time!

My eyes dart towards a wall and I hurry towards it. I need to get out of here. I should have made a better plan. I should have thought of something that did not pertain to marrying the Alpha King. I’ve been given a second chance and now I am already messing everything up.

There is a small shed- something that looks like a small barn and I bolt into it, searching for anything that can help me escape.

I spot a ladder and drag it out, placing it by the wall. Once I am certain it is steady, I climb the ladder and stretch my hands but dread sinks inside my stomach when I realize that the wall is too high for me.

“What are you doing?”

I jump down from the ladder two steps at a time until I am on the ground, my heart beating at the fear of getting caught.

A man in a loose long sleeve linen shirt and breeches stands before me, his face masked by... the ugliest hat and net clothe I have ever seen.

His clothes are soiled with earth and some yellow substance, hands equally dirty and callused.

Gardeners look better than this.

“What are you doing?” I shoot back, peering at him suspiciously.

“I asked you the question first,” he folds his arms, muscles bulging underneath his shirt.

He is enormous in size, even huger than the other werewolves in the palace. My eyes dart towards his in panic, wondering if he is a higher ranked noble disguised in the clothes of a pauper.

But seeing his eyes are just a warm blue (no silvery irises) and not gray, I relax.

“You are wearing the ugliest thing on your face. You seem more suspicious than I do,” I say.

He lets out a sigh and tilts his head to the side.

“It’s called a beekeeping veil. I rear bees for honey,” he explains.

“And what are you doing with a ladder?” The beekeeper demands.

“Nothing,” I lie, wringing my fingers together.

“You tried to jump over a fence,” he says with incredulous disbelief.

“I did not,” I scowl.

“You did,”

“I did not,” I persist, narrowing my eyes at him.

His eyes seem to access my appearance to identify me. When he sees the diadem on my head, he takes a step back.

“You’re the human princess,” his voice is barely a whisper.

“I am not,” I lie pathetically, dread filling me.

I honestly cannot risk him running his mouth about this. If he does, I will be in huge trouble.

“Do you have a penchant for denying every truth?” His chuckles, voice light with amusement.

“I am not lying. I’m a werewolf... duchess,”

He lets out a snort and shakes his head, his shoulders trembling with silent laughter.

“There’s only four werewolf duchesses- all of which are old. A werewolf will not have to explain that he is a werewolf. Every werewolf can sense humans and werewolves alike, Princess Adeline,” he says, causing me to pale.

“How much?” I say, folding my arms.

“How much?” He counters, confused.

“How much to keep your mouth shut. I cannot risk anyone finding out I tried to jump a fence,”

“I don’t need your money, Princess. Thank you very much,” he says.

“Are you certain?” I eye his poverty stricken clothes.

I can tell he is rolling his eyes.

“You can pay me other ways,” his tone is light with suggestiveness.

My eyes narrow at him.

“I am a Princess. I will not touch you,”

Again, he seems to be rolling his eyes.

“Tell me why you are trying to jump a fence. Your wedding is in five days and your disappearance will cause a great deal of mayhem,” he explains.

I sigh and lean on the ladders, My heart twisting painfully in my chest.

“I do not want to marry The Alpha King,” I say, looking at my shoes.

“Oh?” He sounds surprised.

“It is true. Some of us would rather not become his property- even if we are few,” I add sorrowfully.

“But... I must. The land in my kingdom will soon be barren land parched by the flame of the underworld if I do not do something,”

“That sounds miserable,” he inputs, stepping closer to me.

I wipe the tears stinging my eyes.

“Did you... did you have your affection set on anyone else?”

I stare at him dubiously. For all I know, he may be gathering information to ruin me.

“My job pays well. I have a wife and children. I will gain nothing from your ruin,” he assures me.

I nod and stare straight ahead.

“Yes,” I confess, my voice a broken whisper.

“He was a Prince to one of the kingdoms that tried to plague our lands. When he found me... he stopped his people from attacking us. He tried to have peace talks, negotiations. But my father was furious and proud. He would never negotiate with an enemy nation that almost razed our kingdom to the ground. I do not know if my father thought I cared for him but eventually, he was going to ask for my hand in marriage. Perhaps that is why my father whisked me away to marry someone else... so I do not have to end up with the man I love,”

And Achilles would have given us protection, would have shielded us from any attacks from the enemy nations but my father was stubborn.

“Then tell the Alpha King,” he shrugs.

An abrupt laugh escapes my throat.

“Are you out of your mind?”

“What we werewolves have.... they call it a mate bond. A werewolf would never want to separate another from his or her mate. You speak of your Prince like you love him. The Alpha King is every cruel thing there is but he does not separate lovers,” he continues.

“But...”

“Your late mother Queen Nesta was betrothed to the Alpha King when she was young. But he saw that she loved your father and he let her go. What more of you?” He rises from his slouch against the barn, dusting off his hands.

“Thanks,” I simply say to the beekeeper.

“Do what your heart tells you to do, Princess. It is beneath your station to jump over walls,” he simply says before turning and walking off.

If only things were that simple. I tried it once in the past and The Alpha King killed my own mate.

But still, the question hangs over my head.

If The Alpha King let go of my mother when he saw that she fell in love with my father, then why did he kill Achilles when he saw that I loved another?