Freeing Starr

Dinner was coming to a close.

I sat quietly throughout the entire thing, speaking only when I was spoken to.

Leon’s family was a lively bunch. They talked and talked about everything and tried to include me in the conversation. That, of course, happened after they interrogated me about my life back in my old pack. Before I could have responded, Leon had hurriedly shut that down, stating that I had a bad experience and wasn’t ready to talk about it.

I could’ve already felt the judgemental stares, and it was slightly uncomfortable.

I sat there anxiously, my leg lightly bouncing as I waited for everyone to get up and say their goodbyes with a smile glued to my face.

Leon’s father, Leondro, was currently speaking with his brother about a death that happened in the Kingdom recently, and I couldn’t help but listen in.

“You think it was an assassin?” Leandro asked Dave.

“That’s the only explanation. Reya came to our Kingdom with no family, no friends, and no clothing. Almost as if she was on the run from something. She didn’t associate with anyone and kept to herself, getting an old broke down home on the border.”

“How did she get verified to enter the Kingdom then?”

“She had an ID.”

“Was it fake?”

“Most likely.”

Leandro turned his head in my direction, and I immediately froze up and lowered my eyes. The guy was intimidating, and the pressure that rolled off of him pressed down on my shoulders with a vengeance.

“I’m assuming you’re aware of this?” He asked Leon, who sat beside me.

Leon glanced over at me in thought before turning to his father, “Of course I am. At first, I thought it was an incident pertaining to the war but ruled that out when I found out the person was human and completely unrelated to us. I already caught the person who gave out fake IDs and instructed the real estate department to avoid having humans live on the border for the time being.”

“And the assassin?”

“Never found. However, there were strange rumors saying that a little girl wearing a black hoodie was spotted around that area at the time of Reya’s death. I sent the guards out to inquire, but nothing came up, so I decided to drop the case.”

Leondro nodded, “Good choice. If it’s an assassin, there’s nothing we can do about it since it’s already been a few days. They’re probably long gone, and Reya wasn’t an official citizen of our Kingdom, so we can’t waste time looking into it. Focus on the war and ask the dealer to contact me privately. There’s something I need to find.”

My head snapped up at that, and I looked across at Leon in confusion.

“Yes, father.”

Questions circled in my mind like crazy and because I was already deep in thought, I felt when Leon slipped in silently.

“Peach, are you ready to leave?”

I hesitated slightly, “Leave?”

“Yeah. You’re uncomfortable, right? I’ll walk you to your room. Doesn’t look like these people are ready to leave the table yet.”

“Is that okay?” I asked worriedly, “if you’re not ready to leave, I can wait.”

I looked over at him as he got up from his seat and came to place a hand on my arm, lightly guiding me up and out of my seat.

“I’m gonna call it a day and get Starr settled in,” he announced to the whole table, causing all eyes to fall on us.

I fidgeted slightly and lowered my eyes. At that point, it was like a habit I couldn’t shake off.

Stacia teased, “Don’t go getting me grand babies before the mating ceremony now. Actually... that wouldn’t sound so ba-”

“I can get you one if you’d like mother,” Leona pitched in jokingly.

Stacia shot a glare at her, “Don’t joke about things like that.”

“Yes, don’t,” Leondro said, throwing his daughter a stern look that said to ‘behave’.

Leona shrugged helplessly and chuckled.

“Anyways, it was nice meeting you, sweetie. I hope we get to hang out together in the future. Maybe shopping?” Dave’s mate smiled kindly at me, and I returned the smile and nodded along.

“I’d love to. It was lovely meeting everyone.” I muttered in response.

Dion, Leon’s uncle, snorted, “You don’t have to go, girl. She’s trying to get you alone, so you can tell her your life story. Women and their insatiable curiosity.”

Dave’s mate rolled her eyes, “If you didn’t talk, no one would realize it’s you, Dion.”

“Alright, guys, enough of that. I’d also like to go shopping if you’re okay with it, Starr. Let’s make it a girl’s trip,” Dion’s mate chimed in.

Stacia clapped excitedly, “sounds like a great idea. Count Leona and I in.”

“Why am I being dragged into this shitfest?” Leona mumbled.

“Language.”

She rolled her eyes, “You just don’t want to leave me in the castle by myself. Maybe I should find a cute guy at the mall to flirt with.”

“Not unless you want to hear of his disappearance,” Leondro stated.

“As former King, you shouldn’t say that about your subjects.”

“Former King is the keyword there. I can kill whoever I want to now.”

Leon coughed awkwardly, “Let’s not entertain thoughts like that, please. As the current king, I can’t be hearing this conversation. Let’s go, Peach.”

I nodded along as he led me out of the dining room and toward my floor.

“So how was it? The dinner, I mean.” He asked, guiding me up a flight of stairs.

I pursed my lips in thought, “it was alright, I guess. I was expecting a more hostile environment but it wasn’t so bad.”

“That’s great. You looked a little anxious so I figured you were ready to leave.”

I nodded then fell silent, trapped in my thoughts about the conversation I heard earlier. I wanted to bring it up and ask but I wasn’t sure that I was allowed to. Curiosity wasn’t always a good thing.

As if reading my mind, Leon asked, “You have something you want to ask me? I can feel your hesitation, Peach.”

He stopped walking and turned to me, tilting my head up to look him in the face, “if you ever want to ask me anything. Feel free to. Don’t be afraid of how I’d react to your questions. I can promise you that I’d always give an honest answer.”

I hesitated slightly before nodding, “that conversation you had with your father...”

“About the assassin?”

I nodded, “you mentioned the dealer at the end of it. Do you mean the dealer who runs the black market in your kingdom?”

His eyes brightened with understanding as he chuckled and started up the stairs again, “Yes I mean that dealer.”

“So the royal family is aware of the illegal smuggling in and out of the Kingdom?”

“There’s a black market almost everywhere you go. You shouldn’t be so surprised.”

“... but from the sounds of it, you have dealings with the black market.”

He nodded, “Of course. Not everything we do can be done legally without gaining criticism from the people. Sometimes a leader must know when to bend the rules in order to maintain them.”

“So you use the black market when you want to do something illegal? Aren’t you afraid of getting blackmailed?”

“Peach... we don’t just use the black market. We own it.”

“What?” I asked in surprise.

“The black market that’s running in our Kingdom is owned by the royal family. We had long since gained control over the entire thing years ago. That way, we can limit how negatively it impacts the Kingdom but still use it when we need to.”

“So the dealer...”

“Is a great friend of mine. His name is Gideon but we call him Bigs.”

I was shocked into silence. So basically while all the packs secretly involved themselves with the black market behind the King’s back, the King knew the entire time?

“So why do you punish packs who are caught doing trades?”

“Because they are caught doing trades. I have no problem if it’s done in secrecy, but from the moment it’s been made public, as the King, I have to take action. I’m running a Kingdom, not an illegal smuggling ring.”

I muttered without thinking, “well technically you’re running both.”

As we came upon my bedroom door, Leon laughed and opened the door, gesturing for me to go inside, “you’re right. I do run both, but no one knows that do they?”

I stepped into the room and went to sit on the edge of the bed, eyeing him as he leaned himself up on the wall, next to the door.

“I know.”

He eyed me in amusement, “are you gonna tell on me?”

I hurriedly shook my head, “of course not.”

“Then no one knows.”

“So... the fact that the dealer is in contact with Zion right now...” I trailed off nervously as I eyed his expression.

It was completely calm and as I looked into his eyes, his wolf just stood there gazing back at me, just as calm.

“I know all about it.”

I nodded then brought up the real question, “so are you going to tell me why you’re letting all this play out instead of stopping him? You know the people call him the Rogue King, right? Aren’t you offended?”

“Of a mutt with barely any power? Hardly.”

“Why?”

He leaned off the wall and approached me, coming to kneel in front of me so we’d be at eye level. His hand came up to cup my cheek and I closed my eyes as I felt the warmth of his touch vibrate throughout my entire body.

“I promise I’ll tell you everything later. For now, I want you to focus on adjusting to the castle life and preparing yourself for our upcoming mating ceremony. That’s all that matters right now,” he leaned his head forward until our foreheads touched and I felt my insides begin to stir as his eyes glanced down at my lips.

The wolf behind his eyes began to shift slightly as if restless.

“I... I want to get stronger.” I muttered.

“You’re already strong,” he murmured back.

“No, I’m not. I struggled to fight against an omega. I’m an Alpha.”

“That was before you connected with your wolf, though. I assure you it wouldn’t be the same if you were to fight against her again now.”

“What if I fight against an Alpha male then?”

He paused, glancing back up at me in surprise, “you’re planning to fight someone?”

I hesitated slightly, “Zion...”

His eyes darkened as he pulled away and stood, turning his back to me.

“That’s not necessary. I already plan to deal with the situation myself.”

“I want closure, Leon.”

He began to pace around the room, “and I’ll give you that closure.”

“I want to get my own closure. All I’m asking is to have a conversation alone with him when the time comes. If it sparks a fight, I want to be ready.”

“No.”

“Le-”

He turned to me angrily and growled, “I SAID NO, STARR!”

I jumped in surprise and lowered my head, my body trembling in fear.

I said nothing after that and just fiddled with my fingers, listening to his heavy breathing as he tried to calm himself down.

A few minutes later, I heard a sigh before his footsteps began walking toward me.

I looked up as he stopped in front of me and flinched when he raised a hand, only to relax when that hand came to cup my face.

“I’m sorry for shouting. I didn’t mean to startle you... If you want to get stronger... I’ll teach you myself.”

I became hopeful, “does that mean y-”

“No. I don’t agree, peach but I’m not going to stop you either. We’ll deal with it when the time comes. I’m doing this so that you can survive an encounter alone with any dominant male Alpha, not just him. I plan to avoid the two of you meeting at all if possible.”

I pursed my lips but nodded, “thank you.”

He leaned down and kissed my forehead, “you’re welcome. Is there anything else you need before I leave?”

I shook my head but then paused, “Can I get a small notebook? Like a journal or something? I have a habit of writing my thoughts down on paper. It’d be nice if I had like a diary or something.”

He nodded, “Alright, I’ll let mother know. Have a good night.”

“Goodnight,” I watched as he quietly left the room then sighed and threw myself back on the large, comfortable bed.