The Alpha King's Hunt

Chapter 24

Valarie

"Did you hear!?" Sophia asked, bursting into the room.

I jumped, heart to my chest, shirt clutched there too. I'd been searching for one of her hair pins and hadn't put a shirt on yet.

"Good lord Soph, you scared me half to death. Did I hear what?"

She grinned at me and ran around the settee, flopping down on it. Not exactly princess-like.

"What have you even been getting up to Val if not collecting gossip? Your friend in the kitchens didn't tell you about Daniele?"
I frowned, sitting on the edge of the settee and ignoring the way she prodded at me with a toe.

"No...the Hickory pack? They're the least salacious pack out of all of us."

Sophia sat up, blowing an unruly lock of hair out of her face.

"I thought so too," she said. "But apparently she was caught in the stables last night with one of the huntresses."

I sat perfectly still, staring off into the room. Sophia was grinning up at me, thrilled that she finally knew something I didn't.

"What...?"

"Oh yes. Apparently that princess is playing for the other team."

"So is she out?" I asked, sliding down onto the couch with her. "Are they sending her back to Hickory, or...?"
"No. I think that would be too scandalous even with what King Gabriel got up to the last few years. Instead there have been a few higher betas walking around very loudly explaining that she is interested in both women AND men."

My face screwed up.

"Really? That's the best they can do?"

Sophia laughed, tumbling back again. "Apparently. But if you ask me, she does seem to enjoy sparring a little too much."

I shook my head and stood, uncrumpling my shirt to put it on. It was impressive that rumors of her preferences had never made it out of the Hickory pack, especially since she didn't seem to be too concerned with being caught. What did Gabriel think of that...?
Knowing him, he probably got a kick out of it.

I rolled my eyes and Sophia leaned forward. "What was that for?" she asked in a teasing voice.

I tried to keep my face from flushing, not wanting to tell her I was thinking of the Alpha – her potential mate.

"Nothing. Just surprised Ana didn't make her way up from the kitchens to find me. She likes to talk."

"I have to say," Sophia mused, standing and making her way to her bedroom, "I am a little bit disappointed. I thought you'd have more of an ear out for things like that."

I glanced at her, trying to gauge how serious she was. Over the last week or so I'd seen more and more of the ruler in Sophia come out and while it was impressive, it was also unnerving.

"Sorry." My eyes dropped to the ground as I scrambled for an excuse. "I just...it's been a lot lately." I wrinkled my nose and sighed, not wanting to go there but knowing I needed to. "When I went to pick up your dress a few days ago, the person to deliver it was John."

Sophia gasped, stopping in her tracks and turning to face me. I had her.

"What?"
The entire time John and I had been together I'd been working for Sophia. It was right after that transition from playmates to employee and employer became official. We would run off a lot and tell each other things in confidence, so of course she knew everything – it was the beginning of our tentative conversations about sex, how badly we wanted it, how much it scared us.