Chapter 31 - Making Plans

Kai had arrived back at the palace and paced quickly towards his room. He was still in a fowl mood from his run-in with Gabriel. Whilst Gabriel didn’t confirm or deny anything, his reaction had only convinced Kai that he felt a certain way towards Adalyn. There was no other explanation for it. Knowing this and that he was sleeping under the same roof as his unmarked mate had him incensed. If Gabriel wasn't like family to her, he would have let his fists do most of the talking. Kai could only hope that he’d taken his words seriously.

Kai’s phone lit up and started ringing just as he reached his room. It was Arrow.

“What?!” Kai answered bluntly.

“Err..hey” Arrow could instantly sense that Kai was not in the mood for small talk. “Are you back? Trace has been warming up the Sirran soldier you brought back from Eclipse Fang. He thinks he’s going to crack soon so I’m making my way down. I figured you might want to join?”

“Will be right there,” Kai replied quickly and hung up. This would be a great way for him and Pax to vent their energy.

Arrow caught up with Kai in one of the hallways on his way down to one of the interrogation rooms in the prison. Kai was silent as he joined him. He was still simmering with dominant energy.

“Everything ok?” Arrow asked cautiously.

Kai continued to look straight ahead and ignored his question as he walked. “Can you see if you can find out any more about the guy that's living with Adalyn?"

Arrow raised an eyebrow at him, "You mean the tall blonde guy? Gabriel, right? Oh shit, don't tell me you had a run-in with him?"

"Can you do it or not?!" Kai asked him abruptly.

"...yeah sure. Did something happen? I saw him acting a little odd when I was there. It was like he was waiting for someone to turn up. I guess he found out about you and Adalyn then?" Arrow continued.

"I don't know how much he knows, but I doubt he knows that we're fated mates. That aside, there's something off about him. That whole family to be honest. He's the same as Adalyn, he doesn't seem to react or respond to me as an Alpha either."

It was already unusual to Kai that Adalyn didn't seem to acknowledge him as an Alpha, but for the same to apply to Gabriel seemed like more than a coincidence, even though the original background check suggested otherwise. A pack in Galas would usually have to vouch for them to be granted entry from another territory, and they would usually have to become part of their pack to do so. In doing so, they would ultimately be pledging their allegiance to the royal pack, The Blue Moon Pack and would therefore be affected by the grand Alphas that made up the immediate royal family.

Adalyn had said her parents were from Eclipse Fang. If Grayson wasn't missing, he could just pull the records directly from him to try and verify it all.

“Interesting, okay I'll see what I can find out." Arrow concluded. "By the way, Trace told me about what happened with Nate. I don't know why he's so eager to try and prove himself. Anyway... I just wanted to say thanks for looking out for him."

Kai looked at Arrow briefly. He looked humbled, which was rare for Arrow. Kai couldn't help but soften slightly at Arrow's words and expression. "Don't worry about it." Nate was like a little brother to Kai too. Although he had been rough with him, he considered his actions as tough love on Arrow's behalf, and he'd need lots of it if he was going to survive as a front line solider.

As they reached the interrogation room Arrow pushed open the door to see Trace is standing over the Sirran shifter with his sleeves rolled up. The Sirran solider was black and blue bound to a hard wooden chair.

"Well... look who made it to the party." Trace smiled shrewdly. "Come on in boys, I think our little friend has something to say." Trace dragged the chair with the shifter on it in to the centre of the room as Arrow and Kai shut the door behind them.


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Adalyn was laying on her bed in her room reading a book. With the summer nearly over, she would be starting college soon and the college had sent her a prospectus outlining the various programs. She had gotten accepted in to a college in the capital after earning a full scholarship. As much as she loved both Mya and Gabriel, they both had the tendency to treat her like a child and being able to move out and live to her own schedule would give her the much-needed freedom that she craved. She also couldn't help but hope that it would give her more alone time with Kai too.

As she started flicking through the prospectus, her phone started ringing. Adalyn rolled over to grab it from her nightstand. She couldn't help but grin, assuming that it was Kai calling her.

Her smile slipped when she checked her phone and didn't recognise the number. Besides Leona, Kai and Arrow, nobody else had her new number.

"Hello?" Adalyn answered cautiously.

"Adalyn?" The female caller asked on the side. The bubbly voice sounded somewhat familiar but she couldn’t quite place it.

"Err...yes?" Adalyn responded, still having no clue who it was.

"Great! I'm so glad I got through to you. It's Mel"

"Mel? Kai's sister" Adalyn asked surprised. She had briefly seen her at the manor house until Kai dragged her away.

"Yes! That's right. Kai wouldn't give me your number so I had to do a bit of digging on my own. I hope you don't mind me calling you. We didn't really get a chance to properly speak before."

"Oh right?" Adalyn wasn't sure what to say to her or how to address her. Whilst she sounded like any other girl her age over the phone, she couldn't help but feel slightly awkward speaking with a princess. She never felt that way with Kai.

"So, I won't keep you, but I just wanted to let you know that my mother is throwing a Ball to celebrate Kai's victory over the Sirran invaders in Eclipse Fang. To be honest she'll use any excuse for a party, but I wanted to officially invite you to come. It's gonna be three days from now. Can you make it?" Melody asked. You could hear the hopefulness in her voice.

Adalyn had never been to anything fancy like a ball before, and if was going to be over at the palace, she knew that it would be super fancy. "I've never been to a ball before, I don't think I'd have anything to wear to something fancy like that."

"Oh don't worry about that. I'm sure I can lend you something. I'm sure Kai would love to have you there."

Kai hadn't mentioned anything to her about a party. If he had really wanted her there, then surely he would have invited her. "Are you sure? I thought with everything that's going in, that might not be the best idea."

"Don't worry, it will be fine. It's not like we have to announce that you are mates, you can come as my plus one which will save me having to bringing a chaperone along, so you'd actually be doing me a favour. We can keep it quiet for now and surprise him when you turn up. He'll love it. What do you say?"

Adalyn couldn't help but feel like no wasn't going to be an option with Melody. She would officially be ungrounded by then and it could also give her an opportunity to find out a bit more about palace life. If Melody was okay with it, then surely it would be fine. "Okay" Adalyn agreed.

"Great! Will call you later to work everything out. Bye!"

No sooner had Melody hung up, had Adalyn's phone started ringing again.

*'Wow I'm popular today.'* Adalyn laughed before answering the phone. This time Adalyn recognised the number.

"Hey Leona!"

"Hey trouble!" Leona\'s voice alone always made her happy. "So... your amazing friend has some news for you."

"Ha ha, go for it. Is this about Dylan?" Adalyn asked.

"Yup! So, I know a couple of the guys in his pack and the clubs he visits with some of his of his betas is called Starla. It's in the Star Howlers pack territory. He's next planning to go next weekend, so if you can get in, you're likely to catch him there." Leona explained.

"Starla? I don't think I've heard of that club before" Adalyn queried.

"You probably wouldn't have. 'Club' is a bit of a nice way of phrasing. It's more like a 'ladies of the night' club, if you get what I mean, which means that unless you're a guy, you're not even going to be able to get in the front door."

"Oh great! That means I'm going to have to try and sneak in to a whore house to see him?" Adalyn wasn't keen on the idea, but if it meant getting the information that they needed, she'd do it.

"Don't worry, this is where your great friend comes to the rescue! I know one of the girls that waitress there. She owes me a favour so I'm sure I can get her to sneak you in. You'll probably have to dress up as one of the waitresses to be able to get in to a room with him though, so you're gonna have to look the part. From there on it will be up to you. I'm sure he'll remember you."

"Got it! I knew I could count on you." Adalyn replied thankfully. For the short time that she knew Dylan at school, she knew that he would be willing to help out. Even though he was the son of the Star Howlers Alpha at the time, and had noble blood, he was always really approachable, not like a lot of the other self-entitled noble kids that she knew back at school.

"Are you sure you're gonna be alright doing this alone?" Leona questioned. "Maybe it would be best if I came with you?" After hearing everything that Adalyn had told her about her kidnapping, she couldn't help but feel that she might be walking straight in to the lion’s den by diving head first in to this.

"I'll actually need your help in creating a bit of a diversion in order to be able to do this." Adalyn asked. "If Kai finds out I don't think he's going to be particularly thrilled with the idea but I know he will appreciate it if we get a good lead. Here what I have in mind..."