The Alpha Queen and Her Rogue Kingdom

CHAPTER ELEVEN

ELINA

As soon as I could smell that familiar scent, I knew who it was without having to turn to look for it, and although I tried to maintain my composure and continue pretending that everything was fine, my traitorous body reacted almost instantly, searching for him as if that was what I was really waiting for today, and the moment my eyes met his, I felt a torrent of contradictory emotions, I felt a kind of strange relief, as if all this time I had been short of air and was finally able to breathe again; I was concerned at his appearance, the dark circles under his green eyes, his hollow cheeks from the weight lost, and his hair so long it practically reaches his shoulders.

I felt guilty because I know that I am the cause of his appearance, and while I cannot be sure how much my departure affected him, I do know with certainty the damage that the war has caused to the kingdom and therefore to him, because his life is that kingdom, he himself demonstrated it when he decided to choose the tranquility of his alphas over my well-being; and finally, I felt an almost uncontrollable rage with him for daring to show his face here when he knew that I would come, but above all, I felt angry at myself for having felt all of those emotions, for allowing his mere presence in a place to affect me in this way, I thought I would be stronger than this, but it is clear that I overestimated my ability to forget about Bastian.

And although it felt like an eternity, our gazes only met for a second before I turned again and tried to control my frantic heartbeat, Zane seems to sense that something is wrong and he looks at me with a frown, then he turns to look in the direction my eyes were a second ago, and I feel him tense next to me immediately upon seeing Bastian, then he turns to see me with a strange expression, a mixture of concern and jealousy, and then he does something I didn't expect from him: he leans towards me and asks me in a whisper if I am okay, when I nod my head lightly, he kisses me on the forehead while his finger traces circles on the small of my back .

I don't know if he is doing it on purpose to annoy Bastian, but I think he is succeeding because I feel a slight commotion in the rear right where he is sitting, and my hearing is on edge to catch even the smallest of his movements, I feel someone whispering to him in a reassuring way, I recognize the voice almost immediately and I surprise myself for not having noticed August's presence next to him before, I don't understand how I could have missed that detail, but I suppose that the arrival of Bastian caught me off guard.

The ceremony begins, and I can't help but get frustrated at not being able to see what is happening back there, so I start to use all my other senses to know even the smallest detail, to the point that I can't even understand what most of the things are being told most of the time, even Zane has to repeat things to me twice because I am not paying attention to him, and although I know that he seems to be trying very hard not to get upset with the situation, I can notice that with time his patience becomes more exhausted with each passing second.

"We can go anytime you want," he whispers to me.

"What?" I answer surprised.

"It seems like you are not having a very good time here, if you want us to leave you just have to say so," he repeats, and I am puzzled for a moment.

"We can't leave, I have to talk to King Arnold about my cause, I can't leave without meeting him or at least he gives me an appointment for a meeting, I know this situation bothers you, believe me, I am not very comfortable either, but this is important, you know it, just have a little patience please, I swear I am not doing any of this on purpose, it's just that the whole situation is a bit puzzling to me, you told me it was possible that he wouldn't come, I am just shocked, that is all,” I whisper to him, and he purses his lips.

"I really thought he wasn't coming, I am sorry, I should have inquired more about it," Zane responds.

"It's not your fault," I answer, putting a hand on his leg, and he takes my hand to bring it to his lips just like he did when we first met, and I immediately know that this gesture is going to annoy Bastian as much or more than the first time.

"Just tell me when you want to leave and I will make the arrangements right away," he replies with a smile, and I nod.

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The ceremony was quite long, much longer than Bastian's, or at least it seemed like an eternity to me, and as soon as it ended, we were informed by a palace clerk that the newly crowned King Arnold knew of our intentions to speak to him, and for this he had set aside a moment for a brief meeting before the evening banquet, to which of course we were invited, and I could not help the smile of satisfaction that spread across my face when I heard the news.

"This must mean that he favors our cause, doesn't it?" I ask Zane who seems just as surprised to me.

"I am sure he is intrigued by you and will want to meet you in person, I saw him look at you at the ceremony, he seems to have heard the rumors, this is good, I think if we do things right we can get his support," Zane responds and I nod in agreement, hardly able to hold myself still until the time of the meeting.

However, my excitement does not last long, since the moment the palace employee who had come to inform us of the meeting returns to take us to the small room where it will take place, my heart stops when I walk in with Zane and as soon as the door opens, my nose fills with Bastian's scent, which makes me frown thinking that my mind is playing tricks on me, but then I hear Zane curse under his breath.

"But what the hell is he doing here?" Zane mutters, and I turn to see Bastian and August sitting on the couch in front of a huge window, they both look just as surprised as we do and I feel the urge to turn around and run away from there, but just as I am turning to leave, King Arnold enters the room and tells us to take a seat on the sofa in front of them, while he settles in a chair in the middle of the room and in front of everyone else.

What the f**k is going on here?

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