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Chapter 73
~Xavier’s POV~
The hotel room was quiet except for the soft rustle of fabric.
Alanna folded another blouse carefully before placing it inside her suitcase. The bed was already half-covered with neatly arranged clothes, docunts, and travel essentials. Her return ticket rested beside her purse, untouched since morning.
She paused, pressing her palm against her lower back.
"Just one more night," she murmured to herself. "Then everything goes back to normal."
Except nothing had felt normal in a few weeks. Jade had changed. The world around them had changed. Even the air felt heavier lately, like sothing unseen was waiting to happen.
A sharp knock sounded on the door. Alanna frowned. She was not expecting anyone. She had made sure she carefully finished her work two hours ago, tying up loose ends.
Another knock followed, much firr this ti.
"Coming," she called, walking toward the door while smoothing her dress unconsciously.
"It better not be room service trying to get to spend another night in their travel.." But the mont she opened it, her breath stopped.
Her jaw dropped.
Standing before her was a man every supernatural being across the realm would instantly recognise.
Tall, commanding, regal without effort and absolutely handso. Power clung to him like a living aura.
Her eyes blinked rapidly as she froze in place.
"Hello, Ms. Snow."
"Ma—Your Majesty..." she stamred, stepping back automatically. "I wasn’t expecting... you," she drawled the last word.
King Ash smiled faintly and walked into the room as though he owned the space. Which, technically, he probably did.
"I needed to check in with you regarding my Princess," he said calmly, turning to face her bed.
Alanna swallowed hard before closing the door behind him. Her fingers trembled slightly. "Jade’s fine, Your Majesty," she replied quickly.
The King turned toward her slowly.
"Then how co I did not receive our weekly report as planned?" he asked, his tone still polite but unmistakably firm. "Or did you forget our first and last agreent?"
Alanna gulped.
Her mind instantly drifted back to the first ti she had t him—the first ti she spoke to actual lycan royalty and how she had reacted, thinking it was all a prank.
It had been the second week of January. And for a month, she hadn’t bothered to contact her daughter.
Practically, because of two things. She had been on a work-cation with her new fla, got lost in the jungle, and when she ca out, all she wanted was rest and space.
The whole situation gave her clarity on the guy she was dating, with his nagging and blaming her for all the things that went wrong. In the end, they ended things.
She had just stepped out of her hotel room when two large n intercepted her. Before she could react, she was escorted downstairs toward a vehicle parked at the entrance.
A matte-black Range Rover Autobiography, customized with tinted armoured glass and polished chro detailing that scread ancient wealth and untouchable authority.
The mont the back door opened, and the man inside stepped out, her heart nearly stopped.
He carried the sa overwhelming presence he did now — the Lycan King himself.
He had thanked her first, thanked her for raising Jade, before he revealed the truth.
"She is my daughter," he had said simply.
Alanna rembered laughing nervously as he handed her a sealed file. Her hands shook as she opened it.
DNA results. Official seals. Royal authentication.
She had scoffed imdiately. "What is this? So kind of prank?" she demanded. "Why would the Lycan King co here asking for my child? Jade is mine. For all I care, this DNA result is fake and—"
"So is the star within a crescent mark on her chest?"
Alanna froze. Her mouth opened but no words ca out.
The King lifted a hand calmly. The door opened from the other side of the car, and Beta Zevran stepped out, carrying a tablet.
"You may believe what you wish," Beta Zevran had said evenly. "But doubting the Lycan King is considered treason."
Alanna nodded stiffly, suddenly aware of how dangerous the situation was. And thanks to the twelve warriors exuding danger, surrounding them, she knew this was no bluff.
Beta Zevran turned the tablet toward her. To her dismay, a video played.
It was a video of Jade sitting across from the King at a private dining hall, laughing shyly while speaking to him.
Alanna clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Goodness..."
That had been their first eting.
—
And now he stood in her hotel room again, watching her while waiting.
King Ash sighed lightly. "I am not angry, Ms. Snow."
Alanna straightened slightly, trying to maintain her composure. "Then... why are you here, Your Majesty?"
"My daughter is being bullied," he replied bluntly. "I do not like this."
Her expression tightened imdiately.
"She never told it was that serious."
"She rarely tells anyone when she suffers," he said. "That trait she inherited from you."
Alanna lowered her gaze.
"I need more from you," the King continued. "Her mates are present to protect her, but there are matters even they cannot oversee."
Alanna blinked. She lifted a hand quickly. "Wait... mate? What do you an by mate? Jade has found her mate?"
The King raised an eyebrow, amusent flickering briefly across his face.
"It appears," he said slowly, "that I am more inford about the daughter I barely see than the woman who raised her."
Alanna’s stomach dropped. "And no," he added calmly before she could retort, which he realised she loved doing. "She has not found her mate."
Relief flooded Alanna instantly. Her shoulders sagged as she pressed a hand to her chest. "Thank goodness..."
The King’s lips curved slightly. "But she has mates."
The relief vanished just as fast. Alanna stared at him. "...I beg your pardon?"
"She is mated," King Ash continued evenly, "to my Beta’s sons." Silence swallowed the room. "The triplet Alphas of the Zevran household."
Alanna’s eyes widened so much they nearly hurt. "The... the sa Zevran triplets?" she whispered. "The cursed heirs everyone talks about?"
"The very sa."
She staggered backwards and sat heavily on the edge of the bed. "My Jade?" she muttered. "Three Alphas? At once?"
King Ash nodded once. "And that," he said calmly, "is precisely why I am here."
He stepped closer, his expression turning serious. "Because forces within this realm have begun to move... and my daughter has unknowingly placed herself at the centre of them."
Alanna looked up sharply. Fear replaced shock. "What kind of forces, Your Majesty?"
The King’s gaze hardened. "The kind," he said quietly, "that once tried to erase her existence."
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