Chapter 15 Gray Was Mad

Regina’s POV
I gulped nervously.
I had never seen Gray like this before—so cold and stern—like I wasn’t his beloved little sister, but a total stranger.
“Answer me.”
Gray strode forward. His towering figure casted a huge shadow on my body.
“Did you sneak into the dungeon behind my back? Yes, or No!”
“…Yes!” I blurted out.
Seeing the burning rage obscuring his face, I protested, “You can’t stop me from seeing Nigel! He is my husband!”
“What husband!” he bellowed, grabbing my wrist forcefully, “That man is a total scumbag! He grabbed your hair and humiliated right in front of me! He should feel lucky that I didn’t rip his chest apart right on the site! It’s over between you and him. I forbid you to see him again!”
FORBID?
I was a grown person. I was fully capable of making my own decision!
“You don’t have the right!” I struggled fiercely against his grip and cried, “And I have made up my mind already! I will return to his home with him!”
“…What did you say?” Gray’s jaw tightened.
“That’s right. He apologized and I forgave him already. We are leaving tomorrow, out of your sight!” I challenged back stubbornly.
Actually, that was a lie.
I didn’t really want to go back to Nigel’s home. Nor was I ready to forgive Nigel.
I was simply really pissed about Gray. I would say anything to make him mad at the moment. I knew I was acting like a rebellious teenage girl right now, but I just couldn’t help it.
When could Gray learn to respect my decision!
Gray’s grip on my wrist tightened. His anger flared. Then I heard him say with a dark tone, “You forced me into this, Regina.”
What was he talking about?
What did I force him into?
Gray turned to his guards and ordered icily, “Get into the cell. And execute Nigel right now.”
WHAT?
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“Are you fucking crazy?!” I cried out in panic, “You can’t! You won’t! Nigel is Shadow Valley’s ambassador! You can’t just kill him like that!”
He snorted, “You are underestimating what I can do, Regina. Destroying the entire Shadow Valley won’t even be a problem for me, let along kill a scumbag like Nigel.”
Gray was right.
Killing Nigel was fully within his power.
There was no way I could stop him. Even I was his sister.
This was the point I seriously started to get panic. Seeing that the guard was about to head into the dungeon as Gray asked, I cried out loudly, “STOP! No, Gray, I am begging you. Please don’t do this…don’t make me hate you!”
“You are willing to beg me for Nigel? A jerk who tortured you? How did he get into your mind!”
I stared at him through blurred vision with tears streaming down my face.
I probably wasn’t ready to forgive Nigel. But I also didn’t want him to die. And definitely not in Gray’s hand!
I was afraid that I would hate Gray for this. We could never come back to where we were if he was the one who killed my first love!
“What is going on here?” a stern voice came from behind our back, causing me and Gray to jerk around simultaneously.
It was my grandpa Victor, with Connie by his side.
Grandpa looked at me and Gray and raised his volume, “Connie said she heard quarrel by the dungeon. What the hell is going on here?”
Gray’s jaw tightened. I quickly shook him off and ran to grandpa, “Grandpa, please talk some sense into Gray! He threatens to kill Nigel!”
“I’m doing this for your own good!” Gray said coldly, “Victor, you should stay out of this.”
“Enough!” Victor snapped, hitting his cane against the ground. “This is absurd! What will people think if they see Alpha and the princess arguing like this? Let’s move this into the council chamber. Now!”
Grandpa turned to leave without sparing another look at Gray. I quickly followed behind his back.
As long as Grandpa was here, I had a shoot of stopping Gray from killing Nigel.
Moments later, we arrived at the council chamber. Grandpa and Gray walked in first. Connie dragged me to the side before I stepped into the room.
“What happened!” Connie demanded urgently, keeping her voice down. “How did the Alpha find out? I asked you to keep this discrete! Now he will find out it’s me who gave you the key card!”
“I don’t know. He just showed up.”
I bit my lips, feeling terrible about dragging her into this.
“But don’t worry, Connie. I won’t give you out. I’ll say that I stole the key card from you if they ask.”
Connie gave me a stern look, “You better be. I risked a lot helping you.”
She strode towards the door, with me right behind her back.
As soon as the council chamber’s door closed, I immediately said to Grandpa, “Please stop Gray from making any rush decision, grandpa. A war will break out if he executes the ambassador for no reason!”
“There is a reason.” Gray said icily, “He bullied our princess.”
“But I don’t want to be that reason!”
Grandpa sighed and rubbed his temples. After a few moments of pondering, he turned to Gray and said with a deep voice, “Gray, you should let Regina make her own decision.”
Gray’s jaw tensed. He seemed very unhappy.
“So as her brother, I am supposed to stand aside and watch her get manipulated by a scumbag?”
“I am not happy about this either. But killing Nigel is definitely not a solution! Regina was right. You are not being responsible for the whole pack!” Grandpa said imperatively.
Gray narrowed his eyes, “Should I remind you that I am the Alpha now?”
His tone was starting to get dangerous.
I held my breath, looking back and forth between grandpa and Gray, with my heart lodged in my throat.
God no…Please don’t let grandpa and Gray fight because of me!
Fortunately, grandpa was offended by Gray’s tone.
“Yes, you are the Alpha.” Grandpa said composedly, “But I am also your grandpa. I am simply asking you to take a step back and think what you are doing.”
There was a long silence after this.
Moments later, Gray spoke up again, “Very well then.”
He looked at me briefly. There was a sign of disappointment in his eyes.
“I won’t kill Nigel. But I won’t let him go easily—not without any punishment.” Gray growled, “And Regina is not to return to Shadow Valley with him…not over my dead body.”
With that said, he turned on his heels and marched out of the council chamber hastily.
Connie seemed relieved that none of them asked about the key card. After giving a quick curtsy to grandpa, she excused herself too.
After they were gone, I finally had a chance to talk to grandpa, “Thank you so much for being here, grandpa. I don’t know what to do without you…”
Grandpa sighed.
And he took a hand to stroke my hair, just like what he used to do when I was a kid.
“You need to grow up, Regina. You can’t count on me forever.” He said deeply, “Gray has his duty as the Alpha. But do you know your own duty?”
I hesitated, “…You mean my duty as the princess?”
“Precisely. So let me ask you this: if a war does break out between Shadow Valley and Ever Moon, will you stand with your husband? Or with us?”
This question rendered me speechless.
Shadow Valley and Ever Moon?
Husband or family?
Nigel…or Gray?
God, I didn’t want to think about it. It broke my heart just picturing myself making this hard decision!
“Think about it child. You can’t run away from it forever.”
With that said, grandpa left the room, leaving me stand on the stop thinking about his question.
***
That night, I tossed and turned for a long time, thinking about what grandpa said…and also worrying about what Gray meant when he said “punishment.”
So naturally, I woke up with dark circles under my eyes the next morning.
Maya made a fuss about my dark circles, saying that it was time for me to take my face and body more seriously. She booked a SPA session for me this afternoon. But I hardly paid any attention to what she said.
My mind was on Nigel and Gray still.
I knew I couldn’t keep Nigel here forever, which meant that I had to make my decision. Fast.
When I arrived at the dining room, the whole family had all arrived, waiting for me to have breakfast together.
I apologized for my lateness and said down by Gray’s side.
Gray kept his eyes on his silvers, giving me a cold shoulder.
I wanted to apologize for last night, and maybe asked him what sort of punishment he intended to give to Nigel.
Yet before I could say anything, the door opened up and a group of servants filed in.
I froze in my seat instantly.
Because I had noticed Nigel among the servants.
He was carrying a basket of bread with his head held down low.
His whole body was shivering in fear.