Lycan King's Regret: Punished The Wrong Daughter

Arabella Toussaint:

By the time Bradley and I returned to the palace, I had barely spoken during the entire drive. My mind was still somewhere back in that drawing room with Rick and Vikki frozen in front of me, and those strange sparks I experienced

We had barely stepped inside the palace when he glanced at me. ”Don’t forget. You need to submit your report to His Majesty.”

I stopped walking. ”Why me?”

”Because it’s your investigation, Arabella.”

”You’re the royal Beta.” I gave him my sweetest smile. ”I’m sure you’re perfectly capable of telling him that Victor wasn’t there.”

Bradley shook his head, clearly not falling for it. ”First, I wasn’t there in that drawing room. Second, I was specifically told that your reports go directly to him. I can’t help you with that.”

Of course he couldn’t. After what had happened in my room last night, walking into Lucien’s office wasn’t exactly high on my list of things I wanted to do.

”Fine,” I muttered. ”I’ll tell His Majesty myself.” I made sure to emphasize the title.

As we continued walking, he pulled out his phone and started typing something. I watched his fingers moving over the screen before a smile crept onto my face. ”You people really love your phones now, don’t you?”

Bradley looked up. For some reason, my comment seemed to catch him off guard. He stared at me for a few seconds before locking the screen and slipping the phone away. ”Yeah. Thanks to you.”

My steps slowed. Thanks to me?” But he had already started walking again. I frowned at his back.

What did I have to do with Lycans suddenly becoming obsessed with phones?

I almost called after him, but decided against it. First Lucien with that Bluetooth thing stuck in his ear, and now Bradley acting weird over a simple question. It seemed like the entire palace had gone crazy while I was away.

***

After lunch, I finally headed toward the King’s office holding my report. A guard stood outside the double doors, and I stopped in front of him. ”Is His Majesty inside? Can I go in?”

The guard nodded immediately and opened the doors for me. I stepped inside and stopped. Bradley was already there, sitting comfortably in one of the chairs across from Lucien’s desk. One leg was stretched out in front of him, and judging by his relaxed posture, they definitely hadn’t been discussing anything official.

Bradley turned when he saw me, and a mischievous grin appeared on his face. ”You know, you don’t need permission to enter his office.” I gave him a murderous glare. What kind of joke was it?

”Why?” I placed the file on the desk. ”Because His Majesty has issued a royal announcement declaring that Arabella Toussaint may now barge into his office whenever she pleases?”

Bradley chuckled. ”Something like that.” My gaze shifted toward Lucien.

He hadn’t said a word since I’d entered. He simply reached for a file on his desk and opened it, suddenly looking extremely interested in whatever was written inside. I narrowed my eyes.

He wasn’t even turning the pages. Unless His Majesty had developed the ability to read the same paragraph for five minutes straight, I was pretty sure he wasn’t reading a damn thing.

Bradley pushed himself out of the chair and stretched both arms above his head. ”I think I’ll take my leave. You two carry on with your affair.” He paused on his way past me. ”I mean, your work.”

His face remained so perfectly serious that, for half a second, I wondered if I’d heard him wrong. Then I caught the glint in his eyes.

Asshole.

I knew exactly what he’d meant by affair, but I didn’t let it show on my face. ”Goodbye, Beta Bradley,” I said sweetly. He grinned and escaped before I could come up with something better.

I took the chair he had vacated and placed my report on Lucien’s desk. He still didn’t look at me, and I waited.

His eyes remained on that stupid file.

I waited for a few more seconds before leaning forward and knocking twice on the desk with my knuckles. ”Your Majesty? I’m here to submit my report to you.”

”Hmm. That’s great. Carry on.” He still didn’t look up.

I clenched my teeth together. Was he deliberately trying to piss me off, or had that file suddenly become the most fascinating thing in the kingdom?

”Looking at the person giving the report might help,” I pointed out.

That finally made his golden eyes lift to mine. There was no apology in them, not even the slightest acknowledgment that he’d been ignoring me. He simply waited for me to continue.

Fine.

I straightened in my chair. ”Victor wasn’t there. Beta Rick refused to tell me where he was, so I asked him to send someone here instead.”

Lucien gave a small nod. ”Okay.”

I waited for a question. Anything. When none came, I frowned. Apparently, that was all the reaction His Majesty planned to give me.

I was about to ask if he wanted to know anything else when the memory of Rick and Vikki’s faces returned. The thin scars near their ears. Vikki’s accusation.

My irritation faded into something more serious. ”Actually, there is something else.” I leaned forward, keeping my eyes on him. ”What did you do to my family, Your Highness?”

Lucien’s expression remained unchanged. ”You’ll have to be more specific. I’ve done several things to your family.”

Was he fucking serious? What was his problem?

”The scars, Your Majesty,” I emphasized his precious title. ”The ones on Rick and Vikki’s faces. Apparently, the Alpha and Luna have them too.”

Recognition finally crossed his face. ”Oh. Those.”

”Yes, those!” I snapped. ”Vikki said you did it because of me.”

Lucien’s eyes finally lifted from the file. ”I did it because they lied to me.”

”About what? Me?” I pointed my index finger to my chest

”About where you were.”

I stared at him. ”They didn’t know where I was.”

”I didn’t know that then.” He said in a clipped voice.

The complete lack of regret in his voice made anger crawl up my throat. ”So, you scarred four people because you thought they were lying about me?”

His expression hardened. ”I gave them several opportunities to tell me the truth.”

”There was no truth to tell!” I snapped. ”They didn’t know anything.”

”Neither did I.” His voice rose for the first time, and the file landed on the desk with a sharp slap. ”I didn’t know where you were. I didn’t know whether you were alive, hurt, hiding, or lying dead somewhere while your fucking family stood in front of me claiming they knew nothing.”

I went quiet for a second, but my anger didn’t disappear. ”So, you punished them because you couldn’t find me?”

”I punished them because I had to.” The short answers were now getting on my nerves. He expected me to submit a daily report regarding the murder investigation but couldn’t give me a sane reply.

”My King. I don’t understand. You can’t go around slashing people’s faces just because you want to.” I might have called him by his title, but my words and tone weren’t respectful.

”I don’t give a fuck!”

My fingers tightened around the arms of the chair. ”You injured those four people with silver, Lucien... I mean... Your Majesty.”

His eyes flashed. He rose slowly from his chair. ”Watch it, Ms. Toussaint.”

I remembered his warning from last night, but this time I was too angry to care. I stood too. ”You don’t get to hide behind the Your Majesty title every time you don’t like what I’m saying. Using silver is a crime. You did that to them and expect me to not utter a word about it?

Lucien planted both hands on the desk and leaned toward me. ”Then look at them and don’t forget what might happen when you decide to disappear again.” His jaw tightened as if he already regretted saying that much.

”And don’t fucking stand there three years later and tell me how I should have behaved when you have no fucking idea what those three years were like on this side. You think using silver is a crime? Care to share your opinion about poison, Ms. Toussaint?”