Alpha's Secret Bride-Chapter 88: Whispers of a Forgotten Mother

"The meeting is going to take place in the Throne Hall and the main royal mansion entrance with a big automatic door transfers you to a royal carriage that will drive you directly to the throne Hall immediately after screening. Only those who are invited by the alpha king are allowed to go in. Your guards are going to wait outside. You are expected to sit anywhere the golden carriage stops you and when you sit, make sure your knees are close and slightly slanted.

There are mandatory codes of behavior when meeting the alpha king and the council of elders. A small bow or curtsey is okay - no handshakes. When you see them coming in, just stand and curtsey, no greetings. Please, keep standing until you are asked to sit. Keep your face lowered until a question is thrown at you. Do not forget his title.

You are going to be the first and last to leave the Throne Hall. You are expected to be there ten minutes before the time.

Remember, no personal questions, and don’t talk when the king or any council member is talking. Look them straight in the eyes when answering their questions. That will be all for today, alpha’s mate."

"Thank you, Mrs. Thompson."

"I’ll come to your chamber in the moonfall. I need to pick out the right dress and accessories to wear for the meeting. Your wolf must be properly covered and your accessories mustn’t be made of metal."

"Alright," she said, stood up, and left the lounge.

She was in the study chamber writing her story when she realized that it had been 1:09 PM already and none of them had eaten anything. She tried to talk to her mate through the intercom, but he ignored her signals. She sent him text messages but he didn’t reply to any of her messages.

She summoned courage and walked in the direction of his chamber. She saw Ken coming down the stairs and quickly turned her back on him. He walked swiftly towards her and grabbed her wrist again. He wasn’t even afraid of some guards that stood at the entrance of the mansion.

"I heard my father and the king invited you. Do not be afraid of them. If they rule against you, I’ll come and take you away," he whispered slowly.

"Please, take your hands off me."

He grinned and got his hands off. He fixed his eyes on her as she climbed the stairs. She frowned because his weird behavior wasn’t funny anymore.

She took a deep breath before placing her palm on the scanner. The door opened and she saw her mate sitting in front of his drawing board, easing his anger on a picture of her with his left hand. His face was quite expressionless. She walked slowly towards him, sat beside him, and rested her head and hand on his shoulder. Brandon ignored her and pretended she wasn’t in the chamber.

"She has shown her nothing but love and support. She raised her like she raised Princess Elara. She was her guiding light throughout her journey to fame. How could she do this to the high Luna?" He said after about twenty minutes of ignoring her.

"I can’t believe such evil is happening behind my mother."

"The high Luna knows."

"She doesn’t know. She thinks I’m the one, which is why she is pushing through with the mating bond seriously. If she ever finds out, she will be highly devastated. She might not survive the shock. She trusted her mate. I trusted him too and that’s why I never think in that direction."

"She told me you sleep with her each time you visit the royal den. You need to let the high Luna know you are not the one."

"She wouldn’t believe me without any evidence."

"You have a piece of evidence with you."

"Yeah, the DVR, but I don’t want her to see it. There is no real benefit in telling her the truth. This information is potentially hurtful. Things would have been better if she could seek for bond severance against my father, but she signed no bond severance the moment she agreed to mate the Moon Prince Eldric Frostbane."

"She needs to know you are not the one having sex with Lunara with or without evidence."

Brandon shook and lowered his head. His magic hand continued performing wonders on the sketchpaper. He closed his eyes to blink back a tear that was in his eyes. It fell off and landed on his sketch paper. Emma tried to wipe his face, he removed her hand as if he was mad at her too.

"Your moonally is..."

"Going back to England at moon-fall, I’m aware."

"He acts weird whenever he sees me and it makes me uncomfortable."

"We had a long conversation in the gym this morning. He just likes you and nothing more," he whispered with his gaze still on his sketchpaper. He continued drawing with a sad face.

"This is beyond an ordinary likeness. He is up to something!"

"Starlit, please go. I want to be alone."

"What?"

"Go!"

"Alright," she stood up and was quite unhappy he was taking his anger on her. She walked towards the door, hoping he would call her back, but he didn’t.

A text message from Brooklyn came on her device as soon as she stepped out of Brandon’s chamber. She guess she heard about the shooting too. Her chest was heavy and she needed to unwind, so she hurried towards her chamber.

Her eyes went straight to the brown envelope Brooklyn was holding immediately she walked into her bedchamber.

"Emma, we heard about the shooting. How is the guard that was shot?"

"He has been taken to the healing den."

"I heard the shooter was caught too."

"Yes, but he was unconscious at the time I left the scene. My mate is following them up and he must find out who is behind the whole thing," she replied, looking at the brown envelope she was holding. Brooklyn smiled and handed the envelope to her. Her face brightened up a bit. She already knew who the sender was.

"The old she-wolf found this under her bed last moon-fall and she gave it to me this moonrise," she grinned.

"Did you read it?" She asked as as her heart beat erratically.

"No"

"When did she receive it?"

"She didn’t know but she said she hadn’t vacuumed under her bed for the past two winters."

"Oh my moon goddess! She saw it under her bed?"

"I think so"

She stared at the letter and looked at Brooklyn.

"Open it," Brooklyn encouraged.

"Why is the envelope new?"

"She said rats ate part of the original envelope and that made it unattractive. So she changed the envelope.

She slowly opened the envelope and quickly took the shredded paper that was inside out. Brooklyn looked at her with disappointment on her face. Even though it wasn’t what she was expecting, she was still a bit happy that she touched a letter from her blood mother.

The part where she wrote her address was shredded beyond recognition. She tried to put the words together, but she couldn’t. She looked down and read the part that was intact.

"Daniel, please, harken to the cry of a depressed mother. I promise you that I won’t tell her what happened. I just want to hear her voice.... Emily Hale."

Her hand twisted nervously and the paper she was holding slowly fell from her hand. Tears from her eyes began to drop on the letter. Brooklyn picked the letter up, read it, and returned it to the envelope.

"Emma, please, stop."

"I want to see her."

"At least you know her name now. We can search for her all over the internet." Brooklyn said and began to search the internet immediately.

"She might not be active on social media just like her pup."

"Has your mate told you what happened between your blood mother and your parents?"

"No"

"Why?"

"We were busy last moon-fall and we didn’t talk about anything."

"Oh...okay," she rolled her eyes and nodded. "Don’t worry, Emma; we are progressing."

The door opened slowly and Paige came in with her lunch. She waved at her to go back with the food.

"The alpha wants you to eat."

"Tell him I’m not hungry."

"Alpha’s mate..."

"Paige please, I’m not in a good mood."

"Alright," she bowed and left. A message came on her device a few minutes after she left.

"Why are you in a bad mood?" She read the text message Brandon sent to her and kept the device aside.

"I’m coming to your chamber," another message came in again.

Paige came back with the food again and began to set it on the table.

"She said she is not hungry!" Brooklyn shouted at her.

"The alpha asked me to drop the food here."

"Alright"

"He is coming."

"Oh, good! It’s been a long time since I saw him last."

"Can we take a walk in the garden?" Emma asked.

"Your mate is coming."

"He sent me out of his chamber."

"What? What did you do?"

"Nothing"

"Emma, are you guys fighting?"

"No, he is just angry."

They quickly turned their faces when the door swung slowly. She was surprised because she didn’t remember adding his palm prints.

Brandon walked majestically into her chamber. His face wasn’t bright but it was better than what she saw in the moonrise. Emma stood up and tried to leave, but he halted her escape and pulled her back to his chest.

"I’m sorry," he said and she lowered her head.

"You didn’t eat your breakfast and I won’t allow you to miss your lunch."

"None of us ate breakfast."

"Let’s eat together then," he whispered with a faint of laughter in his eyes. She smiled and nodded.

"Join us, Brooklyn," Brandon gestured. Brooklyn grinned and joined them, still holding the brown envelope.

"Is that a mating invitation?" Brandon asked, pointing at the envelope. Brooklyn shook her head and gave it to him. Brandon lifted his face and stared at Emma after reading the readable part.

"She came to the country to look for your father, but she wasn’t allowed to see him because he was very wealthy and she was just a poor teenager who was thrown out for getting pregnant out of wedlock. Emily believed everything would be alright as soon as she set her eyes on the father of her unborn pup. She told Theresa how rich the father of her pup was. She and her mate Daniel quickly offered her assistance, hoping to get double everything they spent on her. However, things didn’t go as planned and she couldn’t pay up the silver they spent on her. Your parents had to involve the immigration and she was deported."

"Why didn’t she go with me?"

"I don’t know. I guess they seized you to motivate her to pay up her debt."

"How is that possible?" Brooklyn asked.

"It’s possible, Brooklyn. Theresa’s name is on my birth certificate. Probably, Emily used her credit card to clear the hospital bills."

"Alright, let’s eat," Brandon said and began to uncover the food.

"Daniel said my father is also a criminal."

"I don’t think Emily disclosed his identity to anyone."

"Who told you this?"

"Daniel told one of the private investigators he met in a bar," he narrowed his eyes and she quickly grabbed the information he passed.

"He told me you cleared the debt. How much did he demand from you?" She asked.

"Em...I can’t remember," he shrugged and began to feed her. "Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you see your blood mother soon," Brandon assured.