A Second Chance With My Tribrid Alpha King

AUDREY’S POV

“Audrey, please could you pass me the salad?” Liam requested, and I nodded. Stretching my hand to the salad bowl, I handed it over to him, who took his time scooping it generously onto Layla’s plate.

“Is this enough for you? You need more?” He whispered to her, but we all heard him. I knew Layla and Liam had known each other ever since they could comprehend things, but their body language seemed a little bit extra at the moment.

“I’m okay.” She nodded as she scooped a spoonful of salad into her mouth.

“Come here.” Liam muttered, placing his index finger under her chin, and drawing her face closer to his. He used his thumb to clean off the little cream stain on the side of her lip, then proceeded to lick it off. Oh wow!

“Hnnn.. hnnn…” Beta Justin cleared his throat, while looking at the both of them suspiciously. Even I, was very suspicious.

“Layla, Liam…” The king suddenly called out, grabbing everyone’s attention. “I think you should both let us know what’s going on between you both. And rest assured,” he paused for a moment. “there are certain things I would not tolerate.”

“No need for the warning, Dad.” Layla smiled warmly. “Well….” She exhaled deeply. “I wanted to wait for the perfect time to let you all know, but it seemed quite impossible, considering how touchy my mate is becoming.” She gave a small smile. The whole table fell silent for a moment. It wasn’t as if we hadn’t expected to hear what she said, but hearing her confirm it was just so suprising.

“Wow!” Beta Justin grinned, the king’s warm smile following suite. “Congratulations!”

“Oh, my sweet little princess!” The king’s grin got wider. “I would never have wished for a better mate for you, than Liam.”

“Congratulations to you both.” I smiled.

“Thank you.” Liam and Layla chorused.

“Layla and Liam. A perfect match indeed. Congrats.” The queen managed a small smile.

“Congrats to you both.” Sebastian muttered dryly, his eyes still on me. His eyes had been on me, ever since Logan and I walked in, holding hands. It had actually come as a suprise to everyone, most especially, Sebastian and the queen. I could tell he was jealous, and I wanted nothing more than to clear him off every misconceptions. I was only acting along because I didn’t want any reason for the king summon me again.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” The king directed his question at Logan. I couldn’t help but look at him. Actually, why wasn’t he saying anything?

“He knows already.” Layla informed. He does?

“You do?” Beta Justin asked, and he nodded with a small smile on his face. I didn’t know why, but I looked at him until his smile faded away. I liked seeing him smile, and I hated the fact that I did. I also hated the fact that he was just too handsome for comfort. Why couldn’t he just be as weak as I had expected, and as ugly as a frog?!

‘Oh wow. I thought I had seen it all when you both walked in, holding hands. Now you can’t seem to keep your eyes off of him?!’ Sebastian’s voice angrily hit me through our mindlink.

‘Calm down. I would explain later.’ I replied, before closing shut my link.

“Sebastian doesn’t like the look of things, does he?” Logan whispered beside me, catching me off guard.

“What?” I muttered in shock.

“Don’t you worry, he’d be fine.” He sighed, trying to look indifferent, but failed at it. I could tell he was so jealous and for a second, it felt good.

“Of course, he will.” I muttered in response. I guess he didn’t expect I’d give such a response, because he looked quite surprised.

I responded that way because I didn’t want him to believe there was anything still going on between Sebastian and I.

‘Or because you actually do not want to hurt his feelings?, my wolf taunted, making me scowl deeply. No! That wasn’t the reason why!

‘Fine then. Keep lying to yourself, but just know you can never lie to me. We are one’, she replied, making me more annoyed.

“You don’t have to scowl that much.” Logan muttered, and I couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“I’m not!” I suddenly yelled out, making everyone look at me. “Sorry.” I muttered, feeling embarrassed. I was so surprised when Logan chuckled.

“So sorry guys. We were so invested in a little argument, that she forgot to keep it low.” He smiled at me and ruffled my hair. I think that was the only time, I ever really regretted not being able to mindlink him! What the hell was he doing?!

“What are you doing?” I tried to keep a smiley expression, and he only chuckled more, making everyone on the table further surprised.

“Acting!” He inched closer and whispered into my ear. “Like I promised I would.”

“Whatever.” I sighed, struggling to keep a smile on my face. I patiently waited for breakfast to be over and once we were done, I literally flee out of the room. Why wouldn’t I, when all the while, Sebastian and the queen bored holes around my body with their burning gazes.

Logan and I made our way back to our chambers.

“What was the meaning of all that?!” I asked the moment we stepped in.

“The meaning of what?” He asked non chalantly, walking towards the bathroom. He pulled off his shirt and dropped it on the couch, making me swallow hard when I saw the chiseled pattern of his back. Logan may have been wolfless, but by the goddess, he was one of the finest muscular men I have ever seen.

“Why did you keeping touch me, and laughing with me, and just acting weird?”

“Because I was trying to help you put on a show for my father. Isn’t it clear?” He asked.

“Oh, please! You were just trying to get on Sebastian’s nerve.”

“And I shouldn’t.” I guess it was meant to be a question, but it came out as a statement. The next second, he was walking up to me with his naked abs on display. “I shouldn’t, right?” He asked again, closing the space between us, and looking into my eyes. I could feel and see the pain in his eyes. But the fact that he was standing so close to me, got me breathing really fast.

“Stop.” I managed to say, but it came out as a whisper.

“What should I stop doing?” He whispered in response, his breathe fanning my face. “Should I stop trying to make excuses for you, each time you treat me wrongly? Should I stop trying to make this work? Or should I stop myself from loving you, even when you keep hurting me?”

“Stop inching closer to me.” I managed to say. All he did was release a humourless chuckle.

“Of course.” He muttered, before turning and walking into the bathroom.

Once he was done, I released a sigh of relief and focused on the other prince who had been aggressively trying to connect with me, through my mindlink.

‘Sebastian.’ I muttered.

‘Meet me at the garden. Now!’

‘I’m coming.’ I replied, before shutting off my link. Thankfully, Logan was in the bathroom, so I easily made my way out. As I walked through the hallway, I saw a some maids and guards, which made my paranoia shoot up. Were they the ones that kept the king updated with information about me? Were they watching me now?

Trying to avoid getting the king angry, I opened my mindlink and tried to speak with Sebastian.

‘I can’t see you.’ He spoke, before I could.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

‘That’s because I’m not there yet. I cannot come to see you, Seb.’

‘And why is that?!’ I could tell he was already pissed. ‘First, you put on a show with your mate during breakfast. Now, you can’t come to see me?’

‘Seb, your father invited me to see him a while back.’

‘My father did?’ He asked. Atleast, he sounded a bit calm now.

‘He knows we have been meeting up. He knows I have been treating Logan badly, and preventing him from sharing the bed with me. I do not know how he found out all that.’

‘Ohhhh… I see.’ He muttered. ‘So I guess he threatened you, which was why you had to act like things were cool between you and Logan.’

‘Exactly.’ I sighed. ‘A week is already gone Seb. We just have to thread carefully for 3 more weeks. By then, we can do as we please.’

‘Fine. Now that you have explained, I feel more at ease.’

‘I know.’ I sighed. ‘How is the support hunt going?’

‘Well, I guess. Most of the Alphas my mother has secretly approached, are ready to give their support. So far, we have garnered over one third of the kingdom’s strongest bloodlines to our side.’

‘That’s great.’

‘Yes, it is. But we keep finding it so difficult to penetrate the mind of a certain Alpha, who happens to be the strongest Alpha in the kingdom.’

Hearing him say that, I didn’t need anyone to tell me who it was. ‘Alpha Ryan.’

‘Yes. He is proving to be very difficult to convince. I wouldn’t stress this much, if it wasn’t necessary that he is on our side. His support would go a long way in coercing the other saint Alphas to give their support to me, on the day of coronation. He is the only hybrid Alpha in this kingdom, and can be very influential.’

‘I understand. So what is the plan now?’

‘I am planning a secret visit to the cold moon pack in a few days. There, I would speak with him one on one, and try my best to win him over.’

Just then, a group of maids passed by, and I sure as hell loooked stupid, just standing in a spot.

‘Seb, I need to go now. Let’s catch up later.’

‘Sure.’ He responded, before I closed off our link.

I turned and headed back to my chambers. I laid on the bed and after a while, Logan walked out of the bathroom, with his towel loosely wrapped around his body. My eyes acted on its accord as it traced the his abs and the v line leading to his….

I quickly got myself. What the hell was I doing? He seemed to have been quite oblivious to my wanton gaze at his body, as he walked back into the bathroom with the fresh sets of clothes he had carried.

After changing, he walked out of the bathroom again, and that was when I looked at his face. Goddess! Why did my heart drop to the pit of my stomach in that manner?

I could tell he was sad, and it haunted me to no end. Before I could stop myself, I was already speaking.

“I apologized about your mom, because I really wanted to. Because you deserved that apology.” I sighed. He just remained silent as he combed his hair. “You should atleast, say something.”

“What’s the point? There’s nothing I would ever do or say, that would give me what I really want.”

Whatever he wanted wasn’t my business, but I found myself asking.

“What do you want?”

“You.” He responded immediately. We looked at each other for a few seconds, and my silence only made him chuckle. “I thought as much.” He muttered, and was about walking out of the room, when I quickly hopped down the bed and rushed towards him. He looked down at me in a questioning manner, and I literally stuttered my next words.

“We could start as friends.” I muttered. The smile that graced his face, was such that undoubtedly made me want to smile as well. While my senses yelled at me, telling me I was about plunging myself into trouble, I told myself it was for the best. For the king to take his suspicious eyes off me, I needed my relationship with his son, to be as believable as could be. It was just for three weeks, and all these would be over. What could possibly go wrong in three weeks?