The Alpha's Stolen Luna - Chapter 174: Chapter 174

: Sutton
My head shot in the direction of the Dawn Stalkers. I can’t believe I hadn’t noticed but he was right. Hannah was nowhere in sight. Panic gripped at my stomach.
“Do you think he…”
“No, that’s not why we’re concerned,” he admitted.
“Then why…?”
“Our plan to get her away from Anders depends on both of them showing up or neither of them,” he said.
I half glanced toward our friends in time to see Amos and Tarvyn slip away. Lucas had been very vague about his plan for saving Hannah from Anders. Well, no… he hadn’t even been vague really. He just kept telling me to trust him, which I did entirely. But now that I knew there was a snag, it was too hard to let it go.
“I don’t understand, Lucas,” I told him. “What was your plan?”
“Separating them was our best bet,” he said. “Here would have been the most ideal. The only reason they wouldn’t show was if they were leaving. That would have given us a window to get to her as well. But if she’s up in their rooms… we can’t get near her. She’s going to be well guarded now.”
“So… so you don’t think we can save her?” I asked worriedly. “Lucas, she can’t go back with him. He’ll never let her go now.”
He pulled me closer, lowering his face until it was next to mine. His hand cupped my cheek as his lips grazed along my jaw.
“Lucas… now really isn…”
“Shh,” he hushed me. “Act like nothing is wrong. You’re enjoying yourself, remember? He’s watching us. He can’t suspect something is wrong.”
I swallowed my objection. Leaning into the charade as we continued to move with the music.
“What are we going to do, Lucas?” I whispered through a fake smile.
He caressed my face, genuinely this time.
“Don’t worry, baby,” he said. “We’re working on a backup plan. Motty isn’t the only one who made some new connections this week.”
He gave me a wink. I couldn’t tell if his confidence was part of the act or if Max had linked him new information. I didn’t like being in the dark, but he was right — I just needed to trust him. So, I tried to push my worry aside. Deciding to focus on the night.
We began to mingle with the other attendees. Eating and drinking. I happily let the sparkling wine go to my head to keep me from dwelling on Lucas’ foiled plot to kidnap my sister. It helped that more than one council member approached us to express their approval and admiration for our fight for innocence. It meant a lot to hear it from them directly. I was actually having a rather stimulating conversation with a female council member when the room suddenly went quiet.
There was no hiding Lucas’ tension this time. His whole body went stiff beside me, pulling my attention to whatever it was that had everyone so entranced. Entering at the front of the room was a group of people I didn’t recognize. Most of them were clearly security, flanking a very handsome couple that the crowd was parting for. Councilman Erhardt pushed to the front of the crowd to greet them.
“Prince Raphe, Princess Nomi, what an unexpected surprise.”
I felt the color drain from my face. No longer wondering why Lucas has suddenly put himself between me and the newcomers.
‘I thought Soloman said they never come to these things…’ I linked Lucas in a panic.
‘They don’t,’ he replied stiffly.
“Well, we heard that this year’s Alpha’s Summit was already coming to a conclusion and I just had to see it to believe it,” the man I assumed was the prince announced. “This must be some kind of record. You all do tend to prattle on during these things.”
A rigid round of laughter sounded from the audience.
“Indeed,” Erhardt replied. “It was a rather productive gathering this year.”
“So I heard,” Prince Raphe replied. “Don’t mind us, everyone. Please, go back to enjoying yourselves. We’re here to mingle tonight.”
He waved off the attention of the room. The noise level slowly rose back to its original decibel after the music resumed. I bit my lip to help keep my composure but Lucas seemed to be having a harder time. He was slowly guiding us toward the edge of the room near an exit. Instead of being out on display like we had the rest of the evening, both Lucas and I were almost desperate not to draw attention to ourselves.
I tried to hide my interest, but my eyes kept darting toward Prince Raphe. My newfound uncle. It was hard not to let my mind go there now that I had a face to put to the name and relation. Particularly when he went to speak with Anders. I found it curious that Alpha Anders seemed just as uncomfortable with the prince’s presence as we did. Perhaps even more so.
They were congregated away from the rest of the crowd. Everyone had been giving the Dawn Stalkers a wide berth all night as it was. But that only made it easier to observe the seemingly heated conversation Anders and Prince Raphe were having. A conversation that had Anders storming off at the end of it.
Motty stayed close to my side. I guessed she sensed our distress and was helping to fend off anyone who wanted to approach us. I really was grateful to have her here. Max, too. Thanks to them, I thought we may just get a window of opportunity to slip out without causing a stir. However, that hope was dashed when the woman who accompanied the prince suddenly appeared in front of us.
“Alpha Lucas,” Princess Nomi greeted, “I hope you aren’t planning on leaving before we get the chance to meet your… rather intriguing new mate.”