The Lost Alpha Queen: Heaven and Hell Bound

Chapter 23

Katrina’s POV

I wasn’t supposed to care about it. Afterwards, I wanted to matchmake them after Cassandra had asked for my help to get Adolphus.

But there was no denying that I did care. I'm bothered that he was there. It wasn’t just curiosity. It was something more. Something that gnawed at my insides and made my chest tighten.

No male was allowed into the Princess’s room unless granted special permission. And Adolphus? He was just her bodyguard and my trainee. He had no reason to be there.

I took a step closer to the door, straining to hear. I didn’t know why I wanted to eavesdrop, but I had to.

Cassandra’s voice, sweet but dangerous, cut through the silence.

“Do you like her, Adolphus?”

My heart stopped for a second. Was she interrogating him about me?

I felt the air around me crackle with tension. I shouldn’t have stopped listening at that point, but I couldn’t stop myself. My body betrayed me. I leaned in closer to the door, my breath shallow, waiting for his response.

There was a long pause. A silence that stretched like a taut wire, like he was never going to admit or deny.

Then his voice came, cold and firm, ringing through the air like an executioner's sentence.

“No.”

My heart sank.

I had known, hadn’t I? Deep down, I had known. After what had happened between us, I had told myself it meant something. That maybe, just maybe, he felt something for me. That he wanted me.

But now.

I was wrong.

I felt a strange mix of relief and disappointment wash over me. Relief, because I didn’t want to be the fool who believed in something that wasn’t real, when he was supposed to be with her instead. Disappointment, because a part of me had wanted him to feel the same.

I didn’t know how to feel.

Then, Cassandra spoke again, her voice dripping with the power she had over him.

“It’s because of me you’re still alive,” she said, her words cutting through me like a blade. “Because of me you’re still in this Pack. Do you understand that? You’re my bodyguard because I wanted you close. Not Katrina. Me.”

I could hear the power in her voice. The control. I felt a sickening knot form in my stomach.

She had done this. She had made him hers, pulling him in like a puppet on strings. She had manipulated everything to get him where she wanted him.

I clenched my fists so tight my nails dug into my palms. And then, just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, she said it.

“So do as I say henceforth,” she commanded.

My blood ran cold.

Then she issued the order that broke me.

“Kiss me.”

I gasped, my hand covering my mouth to stifle the sound.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. I stood there, frozen, as I heard the unmistakable sound of lips meeting. The moan that followed made me want to vomit.

I didn’t need to see it. I could already picture it in my mind. Adolphus. Cassandra. Together.

I pressed my hand harder against the door, but I didn’t move. I couldn’t. There was this raw suffocating ache in my chest.

I just stood there, paralyzed by the sight I couldn’t tear my eyes away from.

They were kissing. Suddenly, I felt a touch from behind and I jerked backward, almost letting a scream tore from my lips.

"Katrina, the Alpha wants to see you."

The words barely registered at first as I stood frozen watching the Alpha’s messenger delivered the message.

My stomach twisted into a thousand knots and my racing heart increased its pace.