Stripping For The Alpha King

Chapter 62

When my eyes parted I knew that I was not at the palace. But, though it was my first thought it was not my first concern. My hands were clutching at my stomach. It had been a normal part of my youth to have gut pains. it wasn't normal now. In fact, it had stopped completely since Ajax had taken me away from America. Now that it was back, it could only mean one thing.

I had been drugged again. And this time it had been paired with a sedative.

"Come on, Keiko, we must hurry," my mother coaxed, pulling open the passenger door. My head lolled towards her as the bitter cold from the outside penetrated my bubble of warmth. Moving was one of the last things I wanted to do right now. Through my blurry eyes I could see that she had the same coolness to her expression that she always did, however her hands were shaking when she reached across to undo my seatbelt. "We need to go before they catch us."

My gaze drifted away from her and I winced at a peculiar, shrill sound that filled the air. It was one I had heard before, but I wasn't able to identify it immediately. My vision began to clear bit by bit as I swiveled my head, trying to take my surroundings into account. The world was dark, night had fallen, but that didn't seem to matter here. Everything was lit up, not that there was much to see. It was just a bleak expanse of dark tarmac and small, roving vehicles. Somewhere in the distance a plane took off.

I was at an airport.

"Keiko, now is not the time for day dreaming," my mother grunted, grabbing my arm and attempting to pull me out of the car when it was clear I would not move on my own accord.

"Where are we?" I slurred, but I already knew. That didn't me I understood though.

"We are going back home. We are going back to Denver," she murmured, her voice sounding kind and sympathetic. "I just need you to get out of the car and board the plane. It's a private jet, isn't that nice?" she coaxed.

And it was her kindness that made me realize something was very wrong. My mother was strong and solid, facing on single parenthood with a vengeance. She was unbreakable and driven. I suppose she was loving in her own way too. But she wasn't sweet.

"I don't want to get on the plane," I groaned, worried that I would be sick all over my expensive dress.

My dress. The one I had picked out for the ball. My eyes widened. My mother had taken me away from my guests, for the king and queen. From Ajax. My mother had put me in this rental car and told me we would go out for food. She had been fiddling with my drink and now I had intense stomach pains and was feeling less than functional.

But she couldn't have done this to me. I was her daughter. She loved me. She would never override me like that.

"We need to go on the plane, and we need to go now," she ordered. Her face turned away from me for a moment and I saw several pairs of headlights coming towards us from the other side of the tarmac. The cars and SUVs were racing towards us, screaming down the landing strip.

"I won't go," I moaned, shoving her away as best as I could when she tried to pull me out of the car and onto my feet again.

"Come on Keiko, you don't know what you are taking about. We are going to go back home together. You can go back to school and get your degree. That's what you want, to be an educated young woman with a career and a life of her own."

"I don't feel well. I don't want to go. Where is Ajax?" I moaned.

The sound of tires screeching and brakes squealing cut her off before she could answer. The headlights illuminated the little rental car so intensely that it made me wince. Her jaw tightened when she glanced towards the now stopped vehicles. And that was a look I knew. Whatever flight response she had was gone now. We were no longer able to outrun whoever was tailing us. Her last option was to fight. There was no one in this world that could fight like my mother.