The Alpha’s Cursed Queen (Eternal Oath Saga #1)

Chapter 15

Darian

I told myself that I would stay away from anything related to Alice.

I even threw away the report Jimmy had compiled for me.

So, why am I sitting across the road from the elementary school where Alice’s daughter goes? Why is Jimmy’s report sitting on the passenger seat next to me?

I try not to think about it, my fingers tapping on the steering wheel as I look at the school. Parents are arriving to pick up their children. Some of the kids are still exiting the building into the little playground where the parents meet them.

I see Alice pull up. She parks at the curb and gets out of the car. She’s wearing a pale blue blouse with puffy sleeves paired with a dark pencil skirt that reaches her knees. Purse in hand, she strides over to the gate. One of the teachers greets her and then motions to somebody in the playground.

That’s when I see the little girl.

She’s older than she was in the picture I saw. Her hair is braided, and her smile is broad, filled with mischief and love. She runs over to her mother, arms outstretched, and leaps into her embrace.

My eyes settle on Alice’s face. She’s looking at that little girl with an adoring gaze. I roll my window down slightly, and I hear her ask, “How was your day, Mira?”

“It was okay. Mrs. Jefferson said I was too smart for my own good. Is that a bad thing?”

Alice frowns at her. “Maybe Mrs. Jefferson should keep her opinions to herself. I’ll talk to her.”

“Don’t talk to her.” The girl holds Alice’s hand as they walk back to the car. “She also gave me a sticker ’cause I got all the answers right. Everyone clapped for me.”

Mira smiles. One of her front teeth is missing.

“Where’s your scarf?” Alice asks.

“Right here.” Her daughter retrieves a green scarf from inside her jacket, and I freeze.

I recognize that scarf. It’s the one I got Alice for her birthday!

She kept it?

Alice kneels in front of her daughter and carefully wraps it around her neck. “You should wear it so you don’t get sick. I told you there’s a cold spell going on with all the rain. You have to make sure to stay covered up.”

“You worry too much, Mama.”

“Because that’s my job.”

Mira giggles. “You have too many jobs, Mama.”

I am so focused on the scarf that I don’t think too much about why the six-year-old girl is so articulate.

I lean back against my seat as they drive off.

She kept it.

I look out the window, dazed.

Why did she keep the scarf?

What am I even doing here? I keep telling myself to stay away from her, and now I’m parked outside her daughter’s school, obsessing over the scarf that I gave her years ago and she kept. Maybe the scarf was simply not important to her? Maybe she forgot who gave it to her? Maybe it’s not even the same scarf!

I try to find reasons to walk away, but nothing I tell myself gives me the assurance I need. Do I need to hear it from her mouth? Do I need to hear her tell me that she hates me, that she never wants to see me again? Is that what will finally get me to give up?

My wolf feels restless, desperate to go after her, to touch her. My hands tighten around the steering wheel. I can’t do this. I shouldn’t do this. As long as the white witches’ coven retains its power, Alice will always be in danger.

The mark on her ankle is the sign of a dark witch. I don’t know how Alice, a wolf shifter, can bear that mark, but the ritual that was meant to seal her powers remains incomplete. According to the white witches, Alice had to be branded on her back for the seal to be completed. If I drag her back into my world, the white witches will stop at nothing to take her from me. And with how powerful they have become, and how far their influence has reached within my kingdom, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop them.

I can’t be selfish.

I need to do what’s right. If anybody else finds out Alice is alive, the white witches will go after her, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to protect her. Even if I have the ability to protect her, it will start a war between the white witches’ coven and the Wolf Kingdom. There is already growing friction among the wolves; adding to it will be catastrophic.

Right now, the only reason Willow and her father still have some level of control within the royal palace is because of the coven. If I strip the white witches of their power, there will be nothing standing in my way.

The idea intrigues me. This could work. I’ve already uncovered quite a lot of financial discrepancies between the funding provided to the witches and how much they are spending. If I can fast track everything, maybe I can approach Alice. I don’t mind raising her daughter; I’ll even give her my name. If I can convince Alice to forgive me, if I explain everything to her, maybe she will—

The memory of her writhing on the floor, pleading with me, comes to mind. That defeated look in her eyes, that dull acceptance of her fate—it all comes crashing down. Will she forgive me? I don’t think so. I don’t know if she ever will. My insides are twisting. I have to at least try. If I just talk to her…

Hopelessness fills me. As always, when it comes to Alice, I can’t think straight.

Get her to forgive me, or stay out of her life?

I can’t decide which path to follow. But without Alice, I know I’m a shell of man. I need her. I didn’t realize how desperately I needed her till I saw her again.

I start the car, my heart aching.

I don’t know what to do, but I do know that I would give anything to see her smiling at me again, to see that trust in her eyes when she looks at me.

But Jimmy was right. I need to be real with myself.

That’s never going to happen.

*****

I look at my second-in-command. “Are you sure about this?”

Jimmy has his hands in his pockets as we walk down the street from the hotel. “That’s what I found out. She was on track for partnership. With you getting her pulled her from this project, chances are she will not be considered a candidate anymore.”

Troubled, I look straight ahead with a distant gaze. Getting in the way of Alice’s career wasn’t what I wanted.

“I’ll talk to Katherine. You go deliver these papers to the bank and look into the excess charges I pointed out. This account should be dormant. I want to know where these funds are going and when the account was activated. Make sure the bank manager understands discretion, Jimmy.”

“Wait.” He holds out his hand to stop me. “I thought the plan was not to get involved with Alice.”

“I don’t know what the plan is,” I say grimly. “But I’ll be damned if I let her get hurt because of me. Go deal with the bank situation. I’ve got this.”

As he leaves, I consider this new development. A bank account belonging to my father, which should have been dormant, has been reopened. One of Jimmy’s connections in the palace forwarded a bank statement to him. The man found it in the office of the shifter who’s in charge of the royal treasury. How did a personal bank account get activated without my knowledge or, obviously, my father’s?

I make my way to Pinnacle Group’s office building. It’s been a few days since the meeting. I’m going to see Katherine tomorrow night, but I would prefer that this conversation take place in a private setting.

When I enter her office, her expression is cool and aloof. “Mr. Kassel. How can I help you?”

“I believe my assistant reached out to inform you that we didn’t want Miss Lane working on our collaboration.”

Her demeanor turns frosty. “Yes. We have discussed that with her.”

“It seems that there was a miscommunication. What he was supposed to say was that we were very happy with Miss Lane, and we would prefer that only she work on this project.”

Katherine gives me a wary look. “You expect me to believe that you asked your assistant to send me a message praising Miss Lane’s work and saying you will only work with her? I hope you understand when I say I find that hard to believe.”

I stare at her. “What’s hard to believe?”

“Did you think we would switch lawyers for some reason after our meeting took place?” she asks coolly.

I curse myself silently. “Well, it has been our experience that changes can occur. In any case, please have Miss Lane present at the dinner meeting tomorrow.”

I’m about to leave when she says, “Unfortunately, before your assistant passed on the erroneous message, Miss Lane declined to continue with this project.”

I turn around to face her again. “Alice didn’t want to work—”

I cut myself off, but it’s too late.

“Alice? So, it’s true, then. You do know each other.”

“She’s an acquaintance—” I begin, only for Katherine to make a stifled sound, her arms crossing over her chest.

“I never do this, Mr. Kassel. I would never jeopardize a business deal, especially one so important to my company. However, Alice is dear to me. She’s a very close friend. I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but I do know that you broke her heart. She doesn’t wish to be around you. Whatever happened between the two of you, I will not jeopardize her mental health for anything, including this project. She will not be working with you on it.”

“Her mental health?” I frown. “What is wrong with her?”

“You saw her. She was physically ill after the meeting with you. Whatever happened in the past must have been terrible for her to have such a harsh reaction. I will not let you two be in the same room together.”

I stare at her. “So, she’s going to avoid me?”

“There is only one man that Alice has ever loved, and that is her deceased husband. I will not let you wreck her life. She has no interest in you. I saw the way you were looking at her, and I saw how she reacted to you. You clearly have some intentions when it comes to her. Those intentions are not going to come to pass.”

My anger stirs, along with a vein of ugly jealousy.

The only man she has ever loved? That human?

I’m her fated mate, and she gave her love and her heart to some insignificant human?

Listening to the way Katherine describes Alice’s relationship with her deceased husband has my blood boiling. The man may be dead, but he died with Alice’s heart. This anger and jealousy are irrational, but my wolf is a beast. It doesn’t care about rationality. All it cares about is that our fated mate gave her heart to someone else. She mourns the loss of a different man. And in her eyes, I am nothing.

“If you want to continue with this collaboration, you will ensure that Miss Lane is part of it. If not, you are welcome to wait another couple of decades for somebody else to produce this technology, Miss Lockhart.”

The way the color drains from her face makes me smile callously. She should never have admitted how important this project was to her. She showed all her cards.

“You can’t do this—”

“I can,” I say simply. “We will not cooperate with any lawyer other than Miss Lane. If she does not show up tomorrow night, you can consider our agreement off.”

With that, I walk out of her office.

As king, the weight of the responsibilities on my shoulders has always forced me to think with my head, ignoring my animalistic instincts. For the first time, I am letting those instincts take control.

Another man? She gave her heart to another man?

My beast is raging within me, desperate to get to Alice. It needs to claim her, to mark her, to make sure that ghost from her past no longer reigns in her heart.

The voice of reason inside my head is fading.

When I find myself outside Alice’s office building, I feel a hint of hesitation, but I crush it.

“There is only one man that Alice has ever loved, and that is her deceased husband.”

“She has no interest in you.”

I make my way inside. I don’t know if Katherine will tell her friend about my ultimatum, but I’ll make sure she knows.

What am I doing?

My claws dig into my palms. I need to find out. Did she ever care? Was our bond so weak that she fell into another man’s arms with such ease?

She slept in his bed. She gave birth to his child. While I suffered these past seven years, miserable and unhappy, she was in love with another man.

My wolf is pissed.

The receptionist tells me Alice’s office number, and as I head to the top floor, I try to decide what I’m feeling. Anger? Hurt? Jealousy?

Seven years. Seven years I spent crushing my heart into nothing, into dust, and she spent it giving hers to someone else.

A woman is sitting outside Alice’s office, and she looks up at me. “Can I help you?”

“Is Alice in?”

“Yes, but—”

I walk past her and open the door.

Alice is sitting at her desk, a pen in her mouth as she looks at some papers. “Holly, set up a meeting with Richard Gre—”

She sees me and goes pale.

I close the door behind me quietly, gazing at her. The anger drains into something else. “It’s been a long time, Alice.”

She doesn’t say anything, just watches me.

I walk over to her, and when I see a photograph on her desk, I reach for it, but she quickly slams it face down on her desk. “What do you want, Darian?”

My jaw tightens. “Is that a picture of your precious husband?”

Her expression shifts for just a second before she narrows her eyes at me. “Should I ask if you keep a picture of your mate in your wallet? It’s not my business, just as this is not your business.”

The window behind her chair is large and overlooks the city. I stand by it, my hands in my pockets as I stare at the sky. There’s a restlessness growing inside me.

“My wife,” I finally correct her after a few moments of silence. “Willow is not my mate.”

In her reflection in the window, I see her shoulders twitch. But when she speaks, her voice is calm. “Is there a difference?”

I look over my shoulder at her. “You’re a wolf shifter. Just because you’ve been hiding out in the human world, it’s no excuse for forgetting your roots. Marriage is for legal purposes. Mating is where the wolf spirits get involved. My wolf does not accept Willow.”

I wait for her reaction, but her back remains stiff. I cannot see her expression since she is not facing me. When she does reply, her tone is rigid. “I want to know why you are here, Darian. Haven’t you punished me enough? This life that I have built has nothing to do with you. I would appreciate it if you left me alone.”

Her words sting me. “Nothing to do with me, huh?”

Now, she turns in her chair to look at me. Her countenance is blank. There is no anger in her eyes. In fact, I could almost say that they look empty, devoid of emotion.

It infuriates me.

Have I been the only one pining all these years, like a fool?

I move to stand in front of her, and with one hand, I hold her by the jaw, tilting her face up to meet my burning gaze. “Everything you do is my business. Did you think you could hide from me forever?”

She bats my hand away, a hint of irritation entering her eyes. “Don’t try to bully me in my own territory, Darian. I’m no longer that weak little girl you tortured just for kicks. You can’t hurt me now. And if you try, I can disappear all over again. And next time, you’ll never find me.”

Fear strikes me in the heart. She means it. She really will vanish again.

Then, her previous words register on me.

“You think I tortured you for fun?” My throat tightens as I realize that all this time, that’s what she’s been thinking of me.

“You expect me to believe any different?” Alice rises to her feet, her eyes flashing at me.

“That can’t be further from the—”

She holds up a hand, stopping me, and I see the exhaustion in her eyes. “Look, Darian—sorry, Your Majesty.”

It’s my turn to flinch now.

“You wanted to teach me a lesson, and I learned it. I should’ve stayed in my own lane. I should never have even looked at you. Believe me, I will not make that mistake again.” She makes her way around the desk to put some distance between us. “You’re married, or mated, whichever. I’ve been in the human world for seven years. I’ve never looked for you. I’ve never tried to reach out to you. I know my place. I am no longer associated with the Wolf Kingdom. I would appreciate it if you would leave me alone. I’ve built a life here. However mediocre it may seem in your eyes, it is my life. I don’t want your shadow to fall on it. You and I have nothing to link us. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

I stare at her, stunned. “It’s that easy for you? To throw me out of your life?”

She says nothing.

“What do you mean, I taught you a lesson?” I watch her closely, my voice tense. “I wasn’t trying to do anything like that. You don’t understand the circumstances—”

“Save it. I don’t want to remember.” She looks me in the eye. “It’s in the past. I swore to myself I would never live in the past. What are you here to do, Sire? Is this just another attempt to ruin my life? Do you have some other plan to humiliate me or try to destroy me? Just tell me. If you want me to disappear, I’ll disappear. I have far too much to lose this time around to bother with pride.”

It’s not anger that’s coming from her; it’s resignation. She thinks I’m here to hurt her. She thinks I want to humiliate her.

The very core of me is trembling. “I’m not a monster, Alice,” I murmur, my wolf unhappy.

“To me, you are worse than a monster,” she responds softly.

I stare at her. A monster. All this time, that’s what she has thought.

I step toward her, a storm raging within me. “Everything I did that night was to protect you, Alice. I didn’t stand there laughing while they sealed your dark magic. I didn’t smile when you were screaming. You can call me many things, but a monster I am not. What I am is a selfish bastard. I wanted you to live. I didn’t want to lose you. If that meant I had to make a deal with the devil, then I did.”

Her face is white as a sheet, but she doesn’t back down. “Well, at least one thing you’ve said is true. You truly are a selfish bastard. I’m not naive anymore, Darian. I’m not going to believe everything you say. You had plenty to say before, and what did believing it get me? Just tell me why you’re here.”

I clench my jaw, the distrust in her eyes eating at me.

In response to my silence, she walks away from me again. I take the opportunity to pick up the framed photo that she hid from me. There’s no picture of her husband, just one of her and a small child in her arms.

When I look over at her, her eyes are filled with fear.

“Don’t worry, Alice,” I say bitterly. “I won’t hurt your child. Or you. I heard you married a human. Did you love him?”

She’s silent once again, and I move closer to her.

“Where did you meet him? If I broke your trust so badly, how were you able to trust him? Or was it one of those things where he knocked you up, so you had to marry him?” I’m getting angrier by the second just talking about the man who had everything I have ever wanted: the love of this woman who can never be mine. “According to your friend, Katherine, he was the love of your life. What about me? Am I nothing to you?”

She still doesn’t answer me.

“Well, what was it?” I roar, unable to control my emotions. “You simply moved on from me in a heartbeat? We were fated mates—”

“Fated mates, yes, and you took another woman into your bed.” Alice storms over to me, her eyes tense. “We were fated mates, and you led me around by the nose till you had the one thing I valued, my trust, and then you shattered it.” She shoves me backward, a vicious agony in her eyes. “We were fated mates, Darian, and you watched the woman you are now married to kick me in the face and humiliate me. Don’t make me laugh,” she spits out. “You wanted to punish me because the fates had made the mistake of pairing us together. Well, you got what you wanted. You broke me into so many pieces that I still can’t find them all. You did what nobody was able to do my whole life. You made me wish for death. Does that make you happy?”

She pushes me up against the wall now, and I see the cracks in her facade, the broken woman underneath.

“Did it please you to see me crawling on the ground, begging for mercy? Did it satisfy your anger? Are you here to do it all over again? Did you come here to hurt my daughter? To hurt me, using her? Because I will burn everything to the ground before I let you touch her. She is mine. She’s the only good thing in my life, and I’m not going to let you take her. You are the worst thing that ever happened to me, Darian Kassel. I wish I never met you. I despise you in my very core. If I have hated anyone in my life, it’s you.”

I stare at her, unable to speak, my mouth dry.

Before I can even process her words, the door opens, and her assistant appears, her face pale. She asks, “Miss Lane? Is everything okay? Should I call security?”

Alice glares at me, her chest heaving. Holding my gaze, she breathes, “No. Mr. Kassel was just leaving.”

I stare at her for a few more seconds before moving past her and out the door.

I walk out of the building and down the street. Without stopping, I head toward a park that I know leads into some woods. My pace turns into a run, and once I’m sure I’m away from any humans, I shift into my wolf form. I dash through the trees, trying to escape the agony, this horrific pain that is ripping me apart.

“You are the worst thing that ever happened to me, Darian Kassel.”

“If I have hated anyone in my life, it’s you.”

“I wish I never met you.”

A howl of misery leaves my throat. My wolf, broken-hearted, screams into the silent forest.

And it doesn’t stop.