………
The next morning James wasn’t by my side. I missed his presence a lot more that I was willing to admit. Last night was more that I could ever wish for, I was happy that I’d let him stay with me.
After getting dressed, I stepped outside where everyone was already awake and having breakfast. My eyes immediately scanned the table for James, I found him at the furthest seat away from me and his eyes were already looking my way. I felt a blush creep up my cheek and had to look away.
“Good morning, sleepyhead.” Lucy teased.
I smiled, “good morning sister.”
I noticed James’s parents seated next to Lucas and Isabella as I took a seat next to Lucy. They must have returned from their trip today.
“We’re happy to have you as our guest Eden.” The queen said with a friendly smile.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet another one of Lucy’s sisters.” A woman with pretty eyes whispered across the table before I could respond to the queen.
She must be Maya, I silently thought. She was just as beautiful as her brothers were handsome.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you also.” I responded with a smile. Maya seemed extremely kind and I was happy that Lucy had someone like her around when we couldn’t be there for her.
“Someone looks like they had a good sleep last night,” Lucas commented suddenly. “There’s a glow on your face I hadn’t seen yesterday.” He teased.
Maya g*****d. “not this again…” She mumbled. “Eden, please ignore my brother. He does this a lot.”
“Huh?” he asked. “What did I say?” He demanded, feigning innocence.
“Lucas.” James and Austin growled the same time.
My body tensed as I heard commotion outside the palace. Judging by the look on everyone’s faces, I wasn’t the only one who’d heard it.
The entire atmosphere was suddenly filled with a raging tension. Everyone’s gazes went stone cold. Austin, James and Lucas were already by the door before anyone could react. I tried to see around them, the scent that suddenly hit my nose seemed a lot more familiar than I would like it to be… Surely it wasn’t…
“What are you doing here Hunter?” James growled.
It was.
Oh no.
What was he doing here?
Did he possibly know something already?
There was this smirk on his face as he looked at James. As they stood in front of each other, it was easy to see just how powerful both men were. I hated the sight of both of them near each other; I feared that my mate would do something that could result in war between the council and our families.
Hunter took a few steps forward; he was now close enough to reach James if he really wanted to. “My future wife is here, what other possible reason do I need to be here as well?” he asked. “Unless, you have some unknown reasons that you would like to bring forward.”
I saw my mate’s body tense at his words. In fact, everyone saw it. If we all did, Hunter no doubt hadn’t missed it, he always paid attention to small details, he was surely testing James. We had to stop this before he snapped and gave Hunter a reason to believe that we were mates.
I made an effort to get up but stopped when I saw James take a step closer.
“You’re not welcome in my home.” He growled.
“James,” the Queen said as she walked up to him. “It’s okay, Hunter can stay if he wants.”
He didn’t look happy with his mother’s interruption. In fact, his mouth was now set in a straight line and his fingers were pressed tightly against the palm of his hand.
I understood why the queen did that however, she was only protecting her son. By James not welcoming him into the palace, it would look suspicious to Hunter. That is, if he hadn’t already seen something. James and I were together multiple times yesterday alone, there were many occasions for Hunter to find something out. It could definitely be the reason why he decided to show up here unannounced today.
But if that was the case, there was a high chance he wouldn’t be here just to ‘talk’. Hunter hated to be double crossed, he also took whatever it is he wanted whenever he wanted it, he wouldn’t sit back and watch James and I destroy his reputation.That was the only thing that had me a little calm during this confrontation.
Hunter nodded at the queen and stepped around James, even though he’d just admitted that he came to see me, the first person his eyes fell on was Isabella. Her back was turned to him but still he continued to gaze at her before he walked around the table to where I was sitting.
“How has your trip been going so far?” he asked as he took a seat next to me.
My hands shook as I tried to pick up the glass and drink some water. My actions didn’t go unnoticed by Hunter. nor did it go unnoticed by James. I glanced at him and immediately regretted it; the look on his face was painful to look at. I could see the pain and anger in his eyes as he glared at my shaking hands. I knew he wanted to be next to me, I knew he wanted to comfort me. However, there was nothing either one of us could do.
I sucked in a breath and tried to remember the question Hunter had just asked me.
“It’s been good so far, I only arrived yesterday.” I forced myself to answer. It was hard not to stumble on my own words with the way my hand was still shaking.
Hunter didn’t respond and out of fear, I gazed up at him to see why he’d stopped talking.
To my horror, his eyes were on James, the worst of my fears. There was this look of interest in his eyes that bothered me. I needed to find a distraction quickly, anything to stop him from suspecting my mate.
“Why did you decide to come all the way over here?”
He leaned back, his eyes now on Isabella and Lucas. They were both deep in some conversation and by her awkward smile; I could tell that Lucas was talking some nonsense again. Lucy was right, once you were around Lucas enough, you would get used to his playful ways.
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