Caught by the Mad Alpha King-Chapter 365: An odd guest [Win-Win]

Ethan chose, in the end, to stay in Palatine and try to get pieces of his old life back.

Chris had insisted he return to Saha with him and Dax. He’d insisted the way Chris always did, protective of the others feelings while pretending it was only logic. He even tried to blackmail Tania, saying the tiger would miss Ethan, like that would be the final emotional nail.

It hadn’t been pressure. Not really. It had been Chris’s way of saying: ’you’re allowed to leave, but you’re also allowed to come back. I’m still here.’

Ethan had stayed anyway.

And then Sirius happened.

Sirius was... an odd alpha. That was the kindest word Ethan had. An even odder prince. He kept his promise. Ethan’s name fell out of the headlines within days, like the palace had quietly redirected the entire media machine onto a different scandal with better angles.

Which should have been the end of it.

Instead, almost a year later, the Crown Prince of Palatine was in Ethan’s one-bedroom apartment while Ethan cooked dinner.

Ethan didn’t know when Sirius had started materializing at his door without it feeling like an event. Or when it had stopped feeling strange to see a man raised in palaces duck his head to avoid the low kitchen lamp. Or when Ethan had stopped wondering what the neighbors would say if they saw who was taking off his coat by the entryway.

The excuse, Sirius’s official excuse, was simple.

Ethan cooked well.

Sirius liked it.

Ethan pretended that was enough of a reason for a crown prince to sit at his small table like this was normal.

"I should charge you for the ingredients," Ethan said, finishing the sear on the steak and sliding the pan into the oven.

Behind him, Sirius hummed, the sound low and noncommittal, the kind of response that meant try.

Ethan wiped his hands on a dish towel and glanced over his shoulder.

Sirius stood by the counter, sleeves rolled to his forearms in a way that should have looked wrong on someone like him and somehow didn’t. He wasn’t wearing a crown. He wasn’t wearing his uniform. Just dark clothes that fit too well, like everything in his life had been tailored from birth.

His gaze followed Ethan’s movements with the quiet attention of someone who didn’t waste focus.

Ethan pointed the towel at him. "Don’t look at my kitchen like you own it."

Sirius’s mouth twitched faintly. "You’re the one feeding me."

"That’s not ownership," Ethan said. "That’s a bad habit."

Sirius leaned a shoulder against the counter with lazy grace that didn’t match the cramped space. "Then break it."

Ethan snorted and opened a cabinet for plates, because he wasn’t going to have a philosophical argument while he was timing a steak.

"You know," Ethan said, as casually as he could manage, "normal people invite friends over. They don’t acquire crown princes as repeat customers."

Sirius’s voice stayed calm. "Normal people also don’t have the Queen of Saha as a friend."

Ethan froze for half a second, then continued setting plates down like his pulse hadn’t jumped.

"That’s not my fault," Ethan muttered.

"It’s your problem," Sirius replied, still mild.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. "Are you running away from your consorts again?"

Sirius’s gaze drifted to the lamp above Ethan’s tiny table, the one with a thin layer of dust that only a ladder could reach. He dragged a finger through it slowly, like he was buying time before answering. Then he inspected the dust on his fingertip like it had opinions.

"Consort," he said at last. "It remained only one."

Ethan paused mid-motion with the tongs. "How so?"

"The other two decided to try their hands in politics," Sirius said, voice flat. "Without telling me. Behind my back, of course." He exhaled. "They were exiled."

Ethan blinked. Once. Twice. "You say ’exiled’ like you sent them to a spa."

"It’s a very unpleasant spa," Sirius replied.

Ethan turned the steak, stared at the sear like it could offer guidance, then looked back at Sirius. "And the last one is... what? Behaving?"

Sirius’s mouth twitched faintly. "No."

Ethan’s brows lifted. "Of course not."

"She’s been sending weekly reports to Caelan," Sirius said, as calmly as if he’d announced it might rain.

Ethan made a noise halfway between a whistle and a choke, then laughed once in disbelief. "I have to give her credit for commitment. That’s insane."

Sirius didn’t react. "She’s consistent."

Ethan slid the steak onto a board to rest, still processing. "So she’s a spy."

"Yes."

Ethan pointed the knife at him like it was Sirius’s fault personally. "And you’re letting her stay in your house."

"Yes."

Ethan set the knife down very carefully, like he didn’t trust his hands not to commit a felony. "Okay. Great. Excellent. Love that for you."

Sirius took a sip of wine.

Then, with the same mild tone, he added, "She tried to swap my inhibitors with potentiators so she could get pregnant without me noticing."

Ethan choked so violently he actually slapped the counter with his palm.

"EXCUSE YOU?!" he barked, voice jumping an octave in pure, offended shock. "That’s-what? That’s not-what do you mean swap? Like a medication switcheroo? Like she’s changing the oil in your body without telling you?"

Sirius looked at him, calm. "Yes."

Ethan stared at him like Sirius had just confessed that gravity was optional in the palace.

"No," Ethan said, a little too loud. "No. Absolutely not. That’s not a thing. That’s a crime. That’s several crimes. That’s..." he gestured wildly with both hands and almost smacked the dish towel off the counter, "this is why I don’t trust aristocrats with anything sharper than a spoon."

Sirius’s mouth twitched again, faint amusement threatening. "You’re loud."

"I am SHOCKED," Ethan snapped. "I’m sorry, do you want me to be quietly shocked? Would that be more royal?"

Sirius took another sip. "Either is fine."

Ethan leaned in, incredulous. "How would you not notice? Do potentiators not feel different? Does your body not..."

"I noticed," Sirius said.

Ethan froze. "You noticed."

"Yes."

Ethan’s expression went blank, then slowly turned murderous. "Then why are we sitting here like this is gossip?"

"Because she failed," Sirius said, unbothered.

Ethan blinked hard. "That’s not comforting." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"It is to me," Sirius replied.

Ethan made a strangled sound and dragged a hand through his hair, pacing two steps in the tiny kitchen like a caged animal. "Okay. Let me get this straight. You have one consort left. She reports to your father weekly. She tries to reproductive-trap you. And you’re keeping her."

Sirius met his gaze. "Yes."

Ethan stared. "Are you mentally challenged?"