The Curse Of An Alpha *MATURE*

Chapter 40; You Bow Before No one

THIS IS THE LAST PART AND I CAN NOT BELIEVE THIS SHIT OMFG. Ok, so maybe there is an epilogue after this *wink wink* but THIS IS COMING TO BE THE END. What will I do with myself? Omg. Btw, there is mature content. I almost forgot to tell you. Enjoy *sobs with snotty tears.*

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Days blurred past as the renewal of the palace continued. Alice spent a lot of time sorting out paperwork both for the Kingdom and for their pack back in the US. Colden was still deeply asleep, healing as Dr Eaton reassured her. She lay beside him every night, curled up in the crook of his arm and simply watching as his chest rose and fell. She had nightmares of his death. It was the only thing that pushed the anxiety away.

Shortly after her victory had been announced, Alice had to make an appearance in front of the cameras. Lucien's Kingdom- her Kingdom- had been in the public eye for a century. Unlike with the wolves, it wasn't as easy to simply tell them of his tyranny and his death. So Alice had to lie. She wielded a plot of an illness that he had kept hidden until recently, disclosing it only upon their marriage which had been done in secret. The reporters thought that they had been madly in love, and Alice let them think it. 

Over a week later she had finally had a moment's break. She had spent so much time taking care of others, ensuring everything was going to plan, that she hadn't had a chance to breathe for herself, to let the knowledge that she was Queen fully sink in. It still felt like a dream, more often than not. 

She positioned the red rose on the small table she had set up in the gardens, hidden in the maze and in the shadow of a large willow tree, when a figure peered behind her shoulders. Alice startled, the paint-stained water spilling onto her pants, ruining the material. The tension eased as Malik's familiar scent was blown in her direction.

Since Lucien's downfall, they had established a silent truce. At the end of the battle, he had helped them and so his loyalty had been established. He had offered up his assistance in exchange for his pardon of any crimes.

"I didn't realise that you're an artist," Malik drawled out.

She dabbed at the stain on her pants with a tissue, frowning at his burning gaze, "there are many things you wouldn't know about me. We're practically strangers."

"Maybe not for long," Malik mused.

Alice tensed at his declaration. "What is that supposed to mean?" She barely restrained her beast from snapping its jaws at the smirk on his face.

She stood with haste as he took a step closer, a dark expression falling over his features. "I had warned you to not make such a deal with my brother."

Her heart thudded in her chest. Alice hadn't anticipated that he would broach the topic that had floated amidst everyones minds the past week, ever since Hades had brought Colden back. She licked her dry lips, a nervous habit she still wasn't able to get rid of. "Some risks are worth taking."

The corners of his mouth twitched as if to mock her, "even if it means the very thing that you bargained for will be out of your reach?"

"Are you threatening me?" A snarl escaped her.

Malik laughed drily with a shake of his head, "do you know why I was exiled from my brother's kingdom?" His lips curled back at the look of defiance on her face. He sighed though he proceeded, eyes cast off into the trees, "I had been in love once before I had become mortal."