Alpha King’s Lost Luna by Aubrey Pepper

Chapter 67 He saved her twice

CA SSANDRA

That voice… deep, co arse, and gravelly. It was the kind of voice with a texture, one that was

impossible to forget. It had been lingering in my mind for the past five years, playing in a loop in my

nightmares.

For a moment, I tried to convince myself that I was making it up, because there was no way it was

possible to hear that same voice in the present day, here in my

chamber.

What was going on here?

I’d always had a sneaking suspicion that it’d been Margaret who’d wanted me to die in the inferno. She

had always disliked me and sought out any reason to keep me away from the royal family.

And yet, there were some factors that didn’t make that possible. Margaret didn’t have the right to

instruct soldiers. No one could, in fact, aside from their leader, the Alpha King. Not only that but soldiers

who had served in the empire’s military couldn’t be recruited as guards for the royal family. Even

though soldiers had the capability, they had seen too much bloodshed and troubled places to be

around the family.

So who were the men that had arrived at Rosepetal? And if this man was one of them, what was he

doing here now? Had Margaret hired him to go there and force the poison down my throat? And after

that, had he assumed life here as a guard despite the strict rules and restrictions that made it

impossible?

As my mind considered the possibilities, I took a long deep breath and studied Margaret. I didn’t want

to give in to this, not even for a moment, but I didn’t see any other option.

“I’ll go with you,” I said slowly, but then I glanced beyond me. “But only if you promise to leave my son

and Erika out of it. They aren’t a part of this.”

“Of course,” Margaret replied with a cold stare and then she turned to the guard and gestured toward

him.

As he approached, Finnick burst into tears.

“Mommy!” he called out, and he started running toward me, but Erika stopped him before he could

reach us. The maid then looked at me with a saddened

expression.

“Ca ssandra-” she pleaded, but I shook my head and smiled at her.

“I’ll be okay,” I assured them gently. While this was a dangerous situation, I didn’t think Margaret was

actually going to deliver physical punishment for what I had done to Adalyn. There was something

more at play, I was certain. Per the usual, I just needed to keep my wits about me and stay strong for

Finnick’s sake.

The guard pushed me to move forward and a small gasp escaped me. I took a deep breath, and just as

I took a step, I heard someone clear their throat.

“Well, isn’t this quite a scene?”

Kaleb stepped out of the shadows and entered the room. The king of Yurene glanced between

Margaret and me and then frowned at the guard who’d laid his hands on me.

“I’m always surprised by the way affairs are handled here in the palace,” he remarked as his eyebrows

knitted together. He raised his hand and flicked his fingers. Moments later, his guards rushed in and

swarmed around us.

My heart pounded in my chest. What was happening?

Margaret’s guards stiffened and began to protest, but Kaleb’s guards didn’t let up. The foreigners were

far bigger and stronger than the ones that were trying to take me, and for a moment, my lips curled into

a smile at the display.

“Release her,” Kaleb ordered quietly, and when no one moved, he repeated himself. “Take your hands

off of her.”

“Who are you to come in here and interfere?” Margaret demanded shrilly, and as her eyes narrowed, it

became clear that she didn’t know who Kaleb was.

But Kaleb recognized Margaret immediately. He grinned his smug grin at her and then tilted his head to

the side.

“I believe no one should attempt to execute an arrest without the King’s acknowledgment,” he said with

a glint in his navy blue eyes. “I don’t know if that’s some kind of awful tradition in this country, but in

Yurene, no one is allowed to treat a lady in this kind of manner, no matter what she’s done. It’s a

shame that Wegalla is

so archaic.”

Suddenly, Margaret’s face paled and her lip trembled.

“Y-your Majesty,” she quivered, and then she straightened her posture. “I’m

here on behalf of my son, you see a

he is very busy with palace business. This

filthy healer needs dealing with, seeing as she hurt his wife-”

“I didn’t know the King of Wegalla needed his mother to carry out his decisions,” Kaleb interrupted her

boldly, and he crossed his arms against his chest. “Shall we invite him down here to discuss this

further? I’m awfully curious to see what he would say.”

Margaret fell silent. Her nostrils flared and irritation painted her features. It was clear she was fighting a

useless battle. She stood there, motionless for a moment, and I tried to guess how this was going to

play out.

Asher’s stepmother wasn’t one who folded easily, but there was no way she was winning this

argument. Aside from being a member of the royal family and at member of the Crescent Pack, the

wicked woman had no legal jurisdiction or power to carry out justice.

She glanced at me for a moment and then sighed before turning on her heels. Her guards wasted no

time and followed her out the door. Once they were gone, Kaleb turned to his own men.

“Leave us,” he ordered in a voice that was stern yet still kind. “I must speak with. the healer and get to

the bottom of this ordeal. Wait outside of the chamber for me

and make sure that the vile woman and her guards don’t return. No further harm will come to Ca

ssandra Keller. is that clear?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the men said in unison, and without a moment’s hesitation, the enormous

foreigners bowed in respect and left the chamber. As they filed out of the room, relief bloomed from

within me. I hadn’t expected to make it out of this ordeal without getting hurt. If it hadn’t been for the

king of Yurene, there was no telling what Margaret would have done.

Once the door was closed behind them, I turned to Kaleb and offered him a

kind smile.

“Thank you,” I said gratefully as my eyes started to well with tears. “Seriously. I don’t know what would

have happened if you hadn’t shown up.”

“She’s a wicked person,” Kaleb noted. “I could tell as much from her eyes. There’s something wrong

there.”

“You can say that again,” I murmured as I ran a hand through my hair and smoothed down the front of

my nightgown.

“You know, this is the second time I’ve rescued you,” Kaleb remarked with a grin. “There’s a myth in

Yurene… a girl in trouble must marry a man if he’s saved her more than twice, otherwise ill fate will

descend upon her.”