The Alpha King's Hunt

Chapter 20

Gabriel

"This is ridiculous!" Charles raged, his face twisted with disdain. "You are shaming your mother. Your father. Even me, Gabriel, this is too far even for me!"

I shuffled back toward the palace, the French doors in the main hallway I'd come through the night before, holding my clothing in front of my nakedness.

Behind me, in a crushed bed of dahlias, two women were passed out and the worse for wear. Almost as naked as I was.

"Anyone could have found you out here," Charles continued, his fists tight as he walked stiffly toward the doors.

"Who found me?" I mumbled, knowing that it hadn't been Charles. He'd been too unsurprised on finding me out here.

"Geoffrey," he spat out.

The gardener. Well, that was lucky, I suppose. Geoffrey had been close with my father and would never say a poor word against me.

"What were you thinking? In the middle of the Hunt!"

What had I been thinking – that was a good question. I couldn't quite remember, my head pounding as I slipped inside, ducking my head. Like that would stop anyone from noticing a naked man weaving down the hallway.

Valarie.

Two nights ago she'd told me this had to stop. And I'd agreed with her, too offended to do otherwise. To press her to reconsider.

If she wanted it to end, that was fine. She wasn't the only female who enjoyed my company.

Where had I found the two women in the garden? I glanced at Charles, whose face was only now beginning to lose the red tinge.

"Are you going to send someone back to get them...?" I asked tentatively as he opened the door to my suite. He was almost a full foot shorter than me, but the man's glare cut to the bone.

"Is this about that Autumn pack girl?" he asked as I dropped the dirty clothes in my hands and headed toward the bathroom. I glanced back at him.

"What girl?"

"Ana told me, Gabriel. She said it'd be best to keep an eye on you but I misjudged just how serious this was."

"It wasn't serious," I said bitterly, running a bath. Which was something Charles should be doing for me.

"If it wasn't serious, why did you put yourself in a position to be found with two women? Who, might I add, are from the Blue pack. So we'll have to do damage control there. Morgan is in the top tier now, and if you think she'll put up with a potential mate running around the way you do –"

I scoffed, swinging a leg over into the bath. "I don't care how Morgan places, I'll let the wolf have me before I take her as a mate."

Charles sat on the toilet, crossed his legs, and glared.

"Were you drunk last night?" he asked.

Judging from the way my head was still pounding, I probably had been.

"This close to the moon. You were drunk, this close to the moon. No wonder you ended up rolling around out in the flower beds."

Despite being a grown man, Charles was the one person who was still able to guilt me. I lowered my chin into the water, sulking.

"You know you have less control when the change is so near!"

"I'm sorry," I muttered, choking a bit on the water. I just wanted to disappear into the warmth. Until all of this was over.

"Do you think Ana will tell her?" I mused, tilting my head back and shaking my bangs out of my eyes. They were stiff with sweat.

"Of course she will," Charles muttered, adjusting his jacket.

He caught the tail end of my grin as I sank deeper into the water, and sighed, rolling his eyes.

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