Auctioned to the Cruel King - Chapter 39: Chapter 39

Kayla’s POV
I turned around, lifting my hair to the side, offering my nape like some kind of early submission. It felt intimate—like I wanted him to take a go at my neck like he’d done some days ago.
Landon never got me a gift before, not once…not like this…not even when he first realized I was his mate or when he married me. Maybe that was why this felt much more different from everything I’d had with Lance this past week.
But anytime I wanted to believe this was my life now, that creeping feeling comes and I realize I’m only surviving on borrowed time.
Lance's fingers brushed my skin as he clasped the necklace, and just as the metal clicked into place—
Something changed.
His body stiffened.
A dense, dark presence unfurled from behind me—coiling like smoke, heavy and cold, sliding between my ribs and lodging deep into my spine. My breath locked. My wolf went still.
What? It wasn’t Lance. Not entirely, but it felt so real, like a dark wave of energy crashing into my chest. It's a bit familiar like what I felt from his Lycan form, but this was even much more terrifying.
Wild and unchained and old.
And just as I thought I would be suffocated by that aura, it passed as quickly as it came, but not without leaving a trail of dread in its wake.
I turned to look at him, startled, but he’d already moved away, face calm, though his jaw was tight and the words that followed came out thin.
“It’s… beautiful. Looks good on you.”
He didn’t meet my eyes.
Whatever that had been, he was hiding it. Or could I’ve imagined that?
I reached for the pendant gently. “It suits me, you think?”
He gave a stiff nod. “More than anything else you’ve worn.”
This? It was very simple compared to the rest of the jewels stacked in the dressing room. Still, I admired it. He returned to his desk-side and reached for the box I’d set down on the table. “I’ll be keeping this.”
“Okay…” I said, still shaken.
He shifted again, this time settling into a lean against the desk, watching me with something between curiosity and wariness. “So. What did you get up to today?”
I shrugged, trying to appear casual. “Got a visitor.”
“Who?”
“Cartier.”
There it was—the tick of his jaw. Slight, but not unnoticeable. For someone who claimed indifference so well, that reaction said otherwise.
“Cartier is the visitor?” More like the man could hardly be called a visitor. I guess so. “What did he say?” he asked, voice lower.
“Barely anything relevant,” I replied carefully.
“Hm.” He eyed me. “Getting a visit from Cartier is relevant. You say it like something is going on between you two.”
“Never. Only ran into him once… the day I almost fought Vivian.”
He’d ordered it too.
And stars, what a day that had been. I’d come close to losing it had the fight taken place—and not just the fight, but my life too. And that wasn't the last of that day. He’d been a cunt of a King then—
But I didn’t tell Lance that.
Instead, I played my next card carefully.
“Anyway,” I said with a faint smile, “I was thinking. Should we have dinner together tonight?”
His brow lifted, amused. “Together?”
I nodded. “In your chambers.”
His head tilted. “In mine? Are you sure?”
I tried not to think of how our last dinner ended or what my plan was. So, I met his gaze, steady. “I’ve never been more certain.”
For a moment, something like disbelief passed through his expression. Then he nodded, lips curving. “Alright then. Let’s have dinner.”
“I’ll find you then.”
I turned to leave, but his voice halted me at the door.
“You know,” he said slowly, “it’s odd you brought up Cartier’s visit when you could’ve skipped it without really asking anything more. I get the feeling you were trying to find something.”
I hesitated. Was I that easy to read? Or was it his alpha senses, sharper than us regular, or that he’d seen much to know?
Maybe both.
So I answered honestly—enough to keep him intrigued, not enough to risk anything.
“I wanted to know what kind of man he is. Since he moves so freely here.”
Lance exhaled through his nose. “Cartier’s a member of my court. Technically. But be careful.” He pushed off the desk and stepped closer, eyes darker than before. “You give Cartier a finger,” he said, “he’ll take the whole arm.”
My brows lifted. “Noted.”
“The next time he comes to you,” he added, “let me know. I’m still his King. And… keep Moira close.”
That was telling. Not friendly, then.
I nodded once. “Will do.”
When I stepped into the hall, Moira was waiting.
“You alright?” she asked quietly.
I linked my arm with hers as we started walking down the corridor. “Yeah. The King was… being the King.”
Her lips quirked.
When we reached the foot of the stairs, I tilted my head, glancing at her. “Do you know Cartier well?”
“Not very much,” she answered, too quickly.
“Hm,” I pondered. “Good. Then tell me something else first.”
Moira arched a brow.
“Who are you to the King?”
That made her blink fast. “I don’t know what you mean.”
It was strange, I’d thought before.
I stopped walking and turned to face her. “Come on. From the moment I arrived, it’s been you. Only you. You see me more than the guards, more than the maids. And the only one allowed in the same space with me, much like he trusts you the most. Is there a reason? I suspect you report to him but I think it's more.”
She swallowed, clearly caught. “You’re very observant, Luna—”
“Kayla,” I corrected, voice gentle.
She smiled. Soft and warm.
“You’re right, Kayla. I do report to him, but only when necessary, and not things you personally share with me.” He still watched her it seems. “But if you are worried why he trusts me, it may be because I was born in the palace. My mother was the personal servant of the late queen, the Alpha’s mother, and I’d live all my life serving him.”
That was reason enough. Which is why—
“Then you must know about Cartier,” I said, my voice low. “And someone named Cleo?”
Moira frowned. “Cleo?”
“Yes. Cartier mentioned him. It didn’t sound pleasant.”
She shook her head slowly. “Never heard of him.”
That was a bit too hard to believe judging from her first reaction. I was about to press when the sound of boots stopped behind and I turned to see Alaric’s bored gaze flicking between me and Moira.
“Excuse us,” he said politely to her. “I need a word with the Luna.”
Moira gave me a hesitant look, then nodded and slipped away.
I turned fully to him. “What’s this about?”
Alaric didn’t speak at once. His gaze raked over me like he was looking for cracks. Then he said, “Walk with me.”
I did.
Finally, he said, “Have you noticed anything... off about the Alpha lately?”
My brows pinched. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
He hesitated, then exhaled sharply, half a groan, half jumbled…like he didn’t know if he should say what he was thinking. Then he sighed, again. “I mean... have his eyes ever glowed all of a sudden? Have you felt anything strange from him? A shift... in his presence, in the air, maybe even in his scent? Anything that feels wrong.”
Feels wrong?
I remembered that moment earlier. The black, suffocating pulse I’d felt when he clasped the necklace. The way my wolf had frozen.
That... might’ve been what Alaric was referring to.
But I wasn’t sure I wanted to share it yet. Not until I understood.
“No. Not really.”
Alaric slowed his steps and looked at me like he didn’t quite believe me. His lips pressed into a tight line as if chewing on whatever he wanted to say next. Then, with a quiet breath, he said, “If you do notice anything... anything at all—tell me. Immediately.”
“Why? What’s going on? You keep dancing around it, but I’m not stupid. Something’s wrong.”
Like he was afraid of saying too much. “The full moon is close,” he said. “Three nights away.”
I tilted my head. “And?”
“And during this time... Lance isn’t always himself.” Alaric's eyes searched mine. “He can shift without warning. And when he does… It can end brutally,” he finished. “He doesn’t always remember. He doesn’t always know or be in full control of himself. That’s why I need you to tell me if you sense even the smallest change in him. If something in your gut says run—don’t wait. Call for me.”
An icy chill slid down my spine, curling tight in my lungs.
I was staring at him with wild eyes now.
“Do you understand?”