Chapter 112

Carol’s POV

I wasn’t sure what to wear for a royal dinner, so I settled on a black dress that ended just below my knees and a pair of matching heels. I braided my hair and put on a little makeup to bring out my brightest features.

I still didn’t feel or look like a royal, but I wasn’t very worried about it. Aiden on the other hand looked as if he was made for this kind of thing. If I thought he looked good in his hockey jersey, he looked even better in a suit and tie.

His hair was naturally perfect, and he didn’t even have to do anything to it. I was jealous of how effortless he could look, and my chest swelled with pride knowing he was all mine.

I closed the gap between us and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling myself closer to him, wanting to feel his body against mine. I kissed him deeply and he returned my kiss.

There was a knock on the door, stopping this from escalating any further and I couldn’t help the groan that escaped my mouth.

Aiden chuckled as he pressed his forehead against mine, breathing me in and committing my scent to memory. The knock continued as he kissed my forehead.

“Are you ready?” He asked.

I shook my head and gave him a small smile as I said, “Nope.”

“Good,” he replied as he pulled the door open.

A young woman with blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, wearing a maid’s uniform, stood on the other side of the door. She looked at Aiden and her cheeks immediately turned pink. Then she noticed me standing behind him and she cleared her throat.

“Hello, I’m Tilly. Your assigned maid. I’ve come to fetch you for dinner,” she said, bowing at me.

I raised my brows.

“We are only here for a couple of days. Do we really need an assigned maid?” I asked.

Her cheeks grew even pinker as she lowered her gaze.

“The King insisted,” she explained. “If you’ll just follow me.”

I looked at Aiden and he shrugged as we followed Tilly out of the room and down the grand stairs. We walked across the palace and into a dining room area.

There weren’t a lot of people in the dining room, only a few. The King, The Queen, a young girl who was the spitting image of the queen, and a couple of servers.

“Oh, good,” King Bennet said, standing to his feet and motioning for a couple of empty chairs for Aiden and me. “Dinner will be served shortly. I hope you like red wine.”

I took a seat next to Aiden and smiled politely.

“Yes, red wine is fine,” I answered. “Thank you.”

“I hope you don’t mind we kept the dinner small. Kendra figured it would be better to have a more intimate dinner vs. inviting the Beta, his family, and the Gamma along with his family like I normally would.”

“Are you close to your Beta and Gamma?” Aiden surprised me by asking the King.

“Aren’t all Alphas?” He asked, furrowing his brows. “If it weren’t for our Gammas and Betas, we wouldn’t be very good rulers, would we?”

“I agree,” Aiden said. “My Beta is one of my best friends.”

“You’re lucky to have a good relationship with him. What about your Gamma?”

“He’s always been my father’s Gamma personally. I don’t really have a relationship with him yet. But I’m hoping that’ll change once I’m in power.”

“Do yourself a favor and reappoint the gamma once you are in power,” King Bennet said. “You’ll want someone you can trust in your corner. If you don’t have a relationship with your current Gamma, you can’t trust him. At least not yet.”

“Noted,” Aiden said, taking a sip of his wine.

“How is your father by the way?” The King asked, making Aiden freeze in his seat. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen and spoken to him. Is all well?”

Aiden was quiet for a moment, probably trying to figure out how much to say.

“He’s hanging in there,” Aiden said, making me look at him questionably. “Still running the pack with an iron fist per usual.”

The King let out a low laugh and nodded.

“He’s one of my fiercest Alphas. I’ll give him a call later and check-in. I don’t do that nearly enough,” King Bennet said, making my chest tighten as I glanced back at Aiden.

He didn’t seem phased though, or he was pretending not to seem phased.

Soon, the servers were bringing in a ton of food and my mouth started to water at the sight of it all. My stomach was growling angrily; I didn’t even realize how hungry I was until I smelled the delicious scents of this food.

I looked across the table and my entire body was still when I noticed the young girl, the doppelganger of the queen, glaring at me.

She was pretty with deep blue eyes and long dark hair that she had curled and pinned out of her face, revealing all her bright and flawless features.

She wore a pink strapless dress and a beautiful ruby-red necklace that brought out her olive skin. When she met my eyes, her lips were pressed in a thin line, and she continued to glare at me.

I felt uncomfortable under her scrutiny, and I tried to ignore her piercing glare as I took some helpings of food. Aiden didn’t even seem to notice her as he started to eat.

“Jenna, have you met Carol yet?” King Bennet introduced.

“I haven’t,” Jenna, the girl in front of me, said with a piercing look.

“Carol is my daughter from my first wife,” King Bennet explained. Then he looked at me. “Jenna is Elizabeth’s daughter.”

Queen Elizabeth abruptly put her fork down, clinking it hard against her plate from the motion, and then cleared her throat loudly, drawing his attention to her.

“Jenna is your daughter as well, Bennet,” she said through her teeth.

His cheeks grew red, and he too cleared his throat.

“You know what I mean, Liz,” he replied. “She’s not biologically mine.”

“You adopted her when she was born… which makes her yours,” Queen Elizabeth shot back.

He nodded and then looked at Jenna.

“I wasn’t trying to insult you, Jenny. You know that I love you. I was just explaining—”

“I know what you were saying,” Jenna shot back, her eyes narrowed at him.

“Let’s not fight tonight,” King Bennet said as he picked up his fork and started to eat the food.

As we ate, Jenna continued to look at me.

“So, you grew up with humans? That must have been horrible,” she said, her brows furrowed together. “I couldn’t have even imagined. What’s it like being an orphan?”

“Jenna!” King Bennet snapped.

“I’m just curious,” she said innocently as she shrugged one shoulder.

“I’m not an orphan,” I replied. “I was given to a nice family who took me in and treated me like their own. I didn’t even know I was adopted until recently. My parents are very loving and kind.”

“Sounds boring,” she muttered. “Meanwhile I’ve been doing extensive training so that I could one day take over this empire. It’s in my rights as the King’s daughter to take over once he retires. I’ve been born and raised for this.”

I had no interest in taking over any kind of empire, so I didn’t say anything.

“I bet you don’t even know how to use your magic,” she muttered. “It’s pathetic.”

Queen Elizabeth put her hand over her daughters and gave her a stern look.

“Princesses don’t speak like this, Jenna darling. Mind your manners in front of our guests,” she scolded gently.

Jenna rolled her eyes and turned her attention to her food.

The rest of dinner felt just as awkward with less conversation. I wondered what Aiden’s plan was to get information because I wasn’t sure how long I was going to be able to take this. I already had to deal with the mean girl type back at the Capital and now I had to deal with it here too?

Jenan was acting like I was returning so I could take what was hers but in reality, I didn’t want any of this. I just wanted to return to my normal life with my mate and pretend I wasn’t abandoned as a child.

Anger started to rise within me the more I thought about it, but I chose to swallow it down and say nothing more during dinner.

Once dinner concluded, Jenna and Elizabeth excused themselves without saying another word or sparing me another look.

King Bennet remained at the table, and he sighed heavily.

“I apologize for them, Carol. They aren’t fans of change,” he told me.

I shrugged.

“It’s fine,” I told him. “Honestly, no worries.”

He studied me for a moment and then leaned back in his seat.

“There are some things we should probably discuss though. I’m sure you have a lot of questions,” he breathed.

I looked at Aiden and he gave me a reassuring smile as he put his hand on my knee. I placed my hand on top of his, keeping him in place. I really didn’t want him to go anywhere while I had this conversation with my father. I didn’t feel comfortable here and something was telling me we weren’t as safe as the King was making it seem like we were.

“I do have a question that’s been eating away at me,” I confessed, meeting the King’s eyes.

He nodded and motioned for me to continue.

“Go on.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and kept my eyes steadily on his.

“Why did you abandon me? What made you give me away?”