His Forsaken Luna-Chapter 16: Quality Sibling Time

My heart still pounds in my ears as I walk through the halls further away from the Alpha Prince. Eyes prickle into my back, but my awareness of everyone melds into the background as I battle against my body’s urges. My pheromones were contained.

The only reason Eryx could scent it was because he’d been so close to me. I just had to ensure nobody else would get so close—that wasn’t an issue. People sneered and insulted me from a distance; only those with more power were more courageous than to instigate anything more. Any acts against me were small and always looked like an accident.

Slowly, the heat flickering in my blood and veins extinguished, cooling to the distance between Eryx and me. Although there was a slight throbbing sensation on the back of my neck. I refrained from touching it. It was the Prince’s favourite spot.

Doors swung open and the royal attendant stood to the side, bowing his head. The guards stood to attention beside the doors, holding them open for my entrance. "Her Highness, Princess Idalia is here, Alpha."

I stepped through the doors of Alaric’s grand study. It was twice the size of my room, with a black, iron spiral ladder on one side leading to a second-floor balcony where the bookshelves extended to the high ceilings. I’d relaxed there on the sofa plenty of times, hiding and spending time with my brother, who was a busy man. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Alaric was my only source of a shield against others in the palace. But he couldn’t always be there to protect me. It was why his mother and others got away with it so much. As the years went by, though, I relied on him less and less.

I didn’t want to rely on anyone. I may be the Forsaken Princess with little to no power, but Alpha blood still thrummed inside of me. It was becoming harder to act submissive to the Queen Mother, and I despised myself for hiding and using my brother as a shield.

Alaric read the situation entirely different. He thought I was creating distance between us. He thought I was beginning to despise him now that I was grown up. My half-brother was two years older than me which meant my father had an affair with Deyanira at least ten years before she entered the palace.

It didn’t matter how many times I tried to reassure Alaric I did not hate him. How could I? Why would I blame the child for our parents’ sins? If he had acted like a bully towards me, then our relationship would have been different.

In fact, I was certain I would either be dead or cast aside to the Frozen Forests (again, where I would die) or married off. Alaric did ask me when I turned twenty if I wanted to escape via marriage. My answer was a hard NO.

My steps were quiet as I focused again on the present. The large room was filled with warmth as the hearth half the size of the wall on the opposite side was alight, roaring with large flames. Alaric sat at the giant mahogany desk in the middle of the room, its size still looked regular with the large Alpha King behind it. It would surely swallow me whole if I took his seat.

Many grey and brown furs covered the floors, adding more warmth to the otherwise chilled floor. The floor-to-ceiling window behind my brother revealed the snow coated grounds of his garden. It was full of winter flowers that were accustomed to the blizzards, they sprung up from the grounds after the onslaught of snow and shone brighter in blues and purples, lighting a path for the King.

I would find Alaric walking mid blizzard at times, deep in thought as he hunched over some of the flowers. Nobody else saw this softer side to him, even his so-called mother. He couldn’t be looked upon as weak, especially when the palace was full of vipers.

Staring at the large blue drapes hung from the top of the windows, I wait as the wind howled and rattled against the glass, and Alaric’s quill scribbled along parchments aggressively. Minutes passed by, but I did not mind. It was usually a tactic he used on others but I knew he was focused on his task and wanted to give me his full attention once he was done.

That meant he was going into protective big brother mode. Alaric finished signing with a flourish and looked up, setting the utensil aside.

"What are you doing with Eryx?" Alaric questioned, getting straight to the point. His gaze flicked behind me, and the attendant, with his head still bowed, retreated and closed the doors in front of him.

"Is he not a friend?" I smirk, kicking my foot across the ground, playing dumb.

"You know he isn’t." Alaric sighs and leans back in his chair, fingers raking through his unruly locks, his piercing blue eyes pinning me to the spot with the Alpha "We are trying to make an alliance. I am sick of the wars and pointless deaths."

My head tilts. "And Prince Eryx feels the same?"

Eryx narrows his eyes at me. I did sound a little too distrustful for someone who is ’dating’ the Prince. "He is charming," I begin, almost shuddering at his charm, and snap my gaze to the flurries of snow outside the window to distract me and the slight rosiness in my cheeks- traitor. "But I have only known him a few days." My gaze flicks back to Alaric. "My loyalty is to you, brother."

Alaric nods. "It is what is best for our kingdoms. There are more powerful creatures concealed among us. If we are not careful, they could overthrow us, and we will no longer hold our place of dominance."

My brows raise at his words, and my back stands more at attention. "What creatures?" My voice drops to a whisper, finding this information difficult to process. It was impossible, right? "Can they really overthrow the Were supremacy?"

Alaric stands from his seat and strolls around the desk. "Creatures of Lore, my sweet sister." His hand clamps down on my shoulder as he looks down at me.

He does not say anything more on the matter for the rest of our time together, but my mind swirls around the term like the flurries of snow outside. While I’m distracted by this potential threat and the possibilities, my brother grills me about the Prince. I manage to ’sell our romance story’, or what little of it there is.

Alaric is no fool. He knows me well. I do not trust easily. I explained Eryx’s interest in me and I have not turned him down, more curious about the Southern Were than anything. This, Alaric understands.

"I will be careful," I repeated, squeezing my brother’s hand.

We walked in his garden, and the exercise was a must for both of us. For myself, because of the anxiety and stress from the past few days dealing with my heat, the three men who have bombarded my life like a hammer through a wall, and now these so-called Creatures of Lore that are deemed a threat by my powerful Alpha King brother.

On the other hand, Alaric needed to run more than anything to let off steam and release his wolf. But there was always work piling up. He was currently ’hiding’ from his aide; the poor Were always looked like he needed more sleep. Unlike everyone else in the kingdom, Rynak did not hate me—actually, he was so fixated and stressed with work he probably didn’t have time to listen to rumours or regard me with anything more than politeness between sovereign and servant.

"Please do," Alaric’s voice rumbled slightly, squeezing my hand back, unknowingly crushing my hand, and rattling my bones from his sheer strength. He still couldn’t control his strength.

"The Prince is intelligent and will not do anything untoward to you, but the way he watched you flee the hall was intense. Do you consider him a potential mate?" Alaric asked, frowning as we rounded back toward the palace.

Guards flanked the perimeter, but they remained mostly out of view, giving us privacy. It was only because I saw a shadow flash in my periphery that I remembered they were there. How could I forget? Alaric was the Alpha King.

"Ida?" Alaric stopped and looked at me with concern. "You’re not tolerating the Prince, for my sake, are you?"

"No!" I shake my head. "I told you, he piques my interest..."

You can do better than that. That inner voice reminds me of Eryx’s encouraging words about my acting skills.

"I..." I bite my bottom lip. That damned brute. I hate lying to Alaric. "I am considering him as a potential mate." To make it sound more convincing, I add. "He could take me away from this place... And it’s not like he is ugly..."

My cheeks tint red from the admission because that wasn’t a lie. Prince Eryx was too perfect to ever be called ugly and too brutal with hard edges to ever be considered classically handsome. His bronze features and sharpness in those otherworldly eyes were so compelling that not even the Northern Weres could deny his magnetic presence, no matter how much they loathed him.

My thoughts disgusted me. Eryx Solarius was the villain in my story, and villains did not ooze sex appeal.

After a long moment of observing my face, Alaric stated Soren would stay by my side whenever I was with the Prince before Rynak finally found him and my brother was called away to finally show up to the council meeting that started three hours prior. What a slacker.