Mated to A Rival Alpha-Chapter 121: Choices; The Greatest Puzzle
[ALTUNIA]
"You’re her in so many ways, Lim Lim," Paloma greeted when Dalrae made her way through the Altunia palace. She hadn’t expected to see Dalrae here, but she knew for a fact that the only thing that could get Lim Dalrae from her comfort zone was simply Kim Rania.
Paloma wondered if the was something that happened to Rania that she didn’t know of, because frankly they had been in touch with Chang Wook for a while now and he could have told them, right?
Then again, the mad woman would verbally bind Chang Wook to a promise or something so she wouldn’t be able to tell them if anything happened to her.
It was a long gamble at this point and Paloma hoped that things weren’t as bad, because it would really be hard explaining to dalrae what had happened to Rani, if anything, and she wasn’t even aware of it.
Oshita, who had been watching Dalrae from the moment he had seen her, was also thinking the same way. Maybe they were overthinking and Dalrae had come to create an alliance with Altunia, given how rich their land was.
Then again, Dalrae had grown so cold over the months and she hadn’t been paying enough attention to the Incayon wolves, so that was just impossible.
"Good evening Paloma. I know you weren’t expecting me so how about I cut to the chase?" Dalrae began and Plaoma arched a brow like she hadn’t been expecting this from the women, but then it wasn’t like Dalrae was easy to understand.
If anything she was just as complex as Kim Rania herself. And that in itself wasn’t comforting in any way.
"Alright, I’m listening. What is so important that you wouldn’t send your warrior alone and you just had to come to meet me by yourself?
"You do realize you risked your life more than enough times on the road, right?" Paloma said, even though the more she talked the angrier she was at the thrust that anything would have happened to Dalrae.
Sure, Odelia would have been watching over her then, but still that wasn’t exactly the most comforting thing at the moment.
"Rania. My sister’s hurt and thought that I had to hear it from Jihoon of all the people. As upsetting as that is, I didn’t know who else to go to who wasn’t bound by the rules of this stupid kingdom.
"So yeah here I am, to ask the impossible for you, but before that, Paloma, It is clear that you care for my sister so much. It is quite confusing, and I wish to understand what it is that makes you a potential ally," Dalrae asked.
Paloma sent her warriors away, including Oshita, something that got dalrae curious.
Paloma and Oshita were like a queen and her most loyal warrior, and a guardian. She hadn’t ever stepped out anywhere unless Oshita was around, and to see that she was shooing Oshita away, went to tell a lot of things.
She wanted to understand and question but instead,d she just watched as the warriors bowed to their queen and walked out of the throne room, leaving the two of them.
"Go with them, Kylian. I’ll call you if I need you."
Kylian stared at Queen Paloma with eyes that warned the rogue queen not to try anything with Dalrae, because the woman may have been alone, but there was a whole pack ready to go to war for her, and it just so happened to be the strongest pack in the whole of Obren.
There wasn’t much to think of there, because, to them, Dalrae was their symbol of hope. She was the one reason that Kim Rania believed in humanity and proved to the whole of Obren that Rania was humane.
Dalrae was the reminder that no matter what happened, Kim Rania knew of love too, and as wild as it was, it truly was the truth.
"Alpha—"
"I won’t hurt her, Kylian. I know the stakes for me. I may not be scared of Incayon no matter how many wolves there are, but I’m scared of the psycho alpha, the woman who would murder the werewolf king himself if he looked at Dalrae the wrong way.
"Trust me, I do not wish to be on the side that Kim Rania points her blade on, because I know I won’t survive her. So go, mingle, and if she is done here she will see you out. I swear it," Paloma said to the skeptical warrior who then bowed to his alpha and left the room.
He was still staring at the two women in the hope that Paloma wouldn’t try anything stupid, because it would be a death sentence.
"Rania hated me, she banished me from Incayon, remember? She made me a rogue and I guess I got her madness to thank for the fact that I finally sat on a throne, no?" Paloma said to remind Dalrae of their current standing.
"Why then did she banish you? And don’t lie to me because I will eventually know, if it isn’t today, then a hundred years later, but we both know I will eventually know about it. Did you betray her? Did you sell our secrets to Nathaniel?
"Were you the reason she was hurt? Did you collude with her parents to make her life difficult to the point that they even had to disown her? Was that what you’re doing?" Dalrae asked, her tone going higher as she looked at the woman before her.
She had promised herself she would be kinder and that she would be better out there but then this was Rania they were talking about, a woman who didn’t deserve all the pain she had gone through. It wasn’t fair to her.
"Well then. Seems like you need the truth so bad, no?" Paloma asked as she got up from her seat on the throne and began pacing. It was a habit she always resorted to when she was nervous about the outcome and right now, Lim Dalrae was making her very nervous.
"Yes, I do."
"She banished me because I knew something so dangerous, a truth that would endanger my life if people found out. Rania banished me to save my life, so yes, I’m her ally, but I’m no ally of Incayon," Paloma said honestly and Dalrae just sighed.
She had been expecting the woman to be cryptic, but then this wasn’t exactly what she had been hoping to hear, it was like she was in a cycle that couldn’t help her no matter what happened to her.
"Tell me more then," Dalrae pleaded.
"I’m sorry, Lim Lim. That is Rania’s secret to tell. She sacrificed so much to keep that secret and I would be betraying her trust if I let it out," Paloma said and for a moment, Dalrae felt like there was something more than just Jihoon and Rania being mates.
If Paloma had known they were mates, which was obvious, Rania wouldn’t have banished her. Instead, she would have told Paloma to stay quiet. So what was it that Paloma knew that could have cost her her life if the people knew she knew?
"Was it about my parents? Did she find them? Did she tell you why she was protecting me from my parents, even though I never met them?"
