Chapter 184: Chapter 185

Book 2. His Found Lycan Luna. Chapter 61

Jarit my teeth as I watch Cedric rise to his feet; he bows to me. Honestly, I had waited for this and knew without a doubt it would happen. Landeena guards were always and foremost for the empress or emperor, just like my men serve for me.

“We heard of her return, my King, we mean no disrespect. We appreciate your generosity in taking the Landeena people in. Still, we always stand behind Landeena. We just needed to be sure, and when her power vibrated through the sires, we knew she truly was a Landeena,” Cedric says, bowing his head. My brows furrow at his words, and I look toward Trey, who nods to Cedric, and it makes me wonder how far back Cedric and Trey went. It was clear Cedric respected Trey, but for whatever reason, it remained unknown.

“Keep her guardian close, my King. Trey is your biggest asset. There is a reason Tatiana forced Garret to sire Trey to their daughter,” Cedric says before offering me the Landeena sword. Trey holds out his arms for Azalea, and I hesitate a second before eventually handing her to him, and he swiftly walks off.

“You will come to see me the moment Liam returns to stand guard,” I tell Trey while taking the sword.

Surprisingly, it was quite light. The Landeena crest and marking ran the length of the blade.

“No need, I have returned my King,” Liam calls out somewhere, and I look up from the sword. My eyes glance around the crowd of Landeena people, and Trey stops mid-stride to turn to face me. Liam pushes through the crowd, his hands wrapped around Peter’s arm and Ester’s. Cedric growls at Ester, and she flinches away when Cedric steps directly in Liam’s path.

“You dare taint the Landeena name with your spawn” Cedric snarls at her but ultimately leaves her fate to me and steps aside. I glance at Trey, but Cedric is the one who explains. “Trey came to me when looking for Ester’s parents. I was the one that escorted the whore home.” Cedric explains, and Trey growls when Liam shoves Ester toward me. I press my lips in a line looking at Cedric.

“This sire your people have?” I asked curiously.

“To the firstborn Landeena true heirs, not illegitimate spawn, I knew I should have killed her when Trey told me to,” Cedric says, nodding to Trey before following his people off the castle grounds.

“Delivered alive, my king,” Liam says before tugging his shirt off. He tosses it at Ester, who crouches at my feet. I sneer at her, not wanting her anywhere near me.

“Cover-up,” Liam snarls at her before walking off toward Trey. He holds his arms out for Azalea, and Trey passes her limp body to him.

“My office now, Trey. And someone find Damian,” I tell them before turning on my heel and walking off. I knew they would follow. If not it would be stupid for her to try and run again with the Landeena guard present, having just walked off. I didn’t doubt Cedric to actually kill her. His snarl of disgust showed how he felt about her. Yet I had questions and I wanted answers.

Damian was leaning against my office door when I came in. He rubs his eyes, looking like he has only just awoken. He pushes my door open, and I step inside, followed by Ester and Peter. Trey walked in behind them. Falling into my chair, I sing out to Clarice who pops her head in. I knew she would be hovering around somewhere. She nodded to me, knowing what I wanted before wandering off.

“I am stationed outside her door. The Queen is tucked in bed nice and safe,” Liam mind links.

“When she wakes, bring her to me.” I tell him before cutting off the link. Looking around the room, Peter

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moved toward the window on the far wall looking out. His mother stood in front of him, and I motioned toward the chair next to Trey across from me. He growled but said nothing and only looked away when she sat beside him.

Damian flops down onto the chaise near the window where Peter is standing nervously and as pale as a ghost. I wanted to boil the bastard alive, yet Azalea had mercy on him for some reason.

“Someone better start talking. And fast,” I tell him, leaning back in my chair. Neither of them speaks until Damian does.

“I will pull fingernails and teeth if needed. So fucking speak!” Damian growls behind them. Trey looks over his shoulder at him before looking at his sister.

“Start from the beginning.” I tell her wanting to hear what she had to say. She looked away guiltily, yet something nagged at me the most. If she was at the Landeena Kingdom, how did she not notice Marrissa when she was here? She literally worked alongside her. Trey wasn’t here, and we found evidence to back his story. He was indeed off hunting Marissa with the Landeena guard and hospitalized, but Ester was, meaning she had to recognize her.

LORE

When no one said anything, I was about to ask when Clarice knocked on the door, she held a tray of coffee in her hands, and Damian immediately got up and grabbed his. I felt terrible he had been all but running everything, and I could see it was taking a tall on him, not that he would complain. I would have to send him off soon for a break. At this rate, he would be dead on his feet, with broken sleep and barely any time off.

I grab mine and thank Clarice, who seemed to hover and I sigh. Her eyes darted to Peter nervously like she expected me to drag him out and whip him to death. As tempting as that was, I wouldn’t do it. Not without Azalea now, I couldn’t risk the bond. She held all the power, and I knew she would be questioning everything now, so I needed answers to those questions.

.

Nodding to Clarice, she moves to sit beside Damian

“Now speak,” I turn to Ester, but she remains quiet. Trey sighs and leans forward, bracing his arms on the desk.

“Tatiana was to marry Garret to build an alliance. It was a contractual marriage,” Trey says with a growi.

“So, how do you play into this?” I ask him.

“I was originally one of Garret’s guards. Before Tatiana agreed to the marriage and moved to the Landeena Kingdom, I discovered she was my mate when we visited her Kingdom.”

“And Garret agreed to let you remain alive?” I asked Incredulously.

“He didn’t know at first. We kept it from him. It took 20 years before he figured it out. But Tatiana knew that divorcing him would put me in a dangerous position. Garret could have selected any of her sisters, but he only wanted her, refused the other girls despite her efforts to convince one of her sisters would be better.” Trey explains.

“So, how did he find out?”

“Cedric, He overheard Tatiana and me a few years before Azalea was conceived. Tatiana had trouble getting pregnant. They believed it was because of the bond, Tatiana agreed to the marriage yet she refused to let him mark her until Garret gave her no choice, kill me and he takes her by force, or she allowed him to mark her and I could remain as her personal guard,” Trey answers.

“There shouldn’t have been a bond once she was married and marked,” I say, and Trey sighs.

“Wrong. Azure and Landeena are moon blessed. They could still recognize their mates even after Garret marked her. She never stopped loving me and l’her. They could choose to reject their mates too, but Tatiana couldn’t go through with it. We believe rejection would have severed it on her end, not mine, possibly have killed me,” Trey says.

“Yet Garret killed his human mate for her?” I state, and Trey nods when Ester speaks up.

“No, he didn’t,” Ester spoke softly.

“You are not his mate,” Trey growls at her.

“You think I don’t know that? But she didn’t die. Garret turned her,” Ester snaps back.

“No. Tatiana would have known,” Trey said as they bickered.

“She knew. She found out before she died, she was furious that Garret wouldn’t allow her to be with you when he had his mate,” Ester says when Damian stands. He grabs a chair from beside the bookcase, brings it over to the side of the desk, and sits on it.

“Garret killed his mate. It is what started the hunter’s war,” Damian says, but Ester shakes her head.

Damian and I look at each other, and Trey stares at his sister as if he doesn’t recognize her.