Chapter 36: Adolph’s Jealousy

Laurel gaped up at him, sniffling, “Y-Your Majesty, what are you doing here?”
He narrowed his eyes, his gaze searching her face as she tried to wipe her face.
“Why are you crying?”
“I-It’s nothing.”
Adolph cupped her face, wiping her tears, “I came back to the castle and you were not there, so I came out to look for you. Chasel told me that it was Delia and the head maid who threw you out. They’ll pay for this, Laurel. You needn’t cry—”
She shook her head, pulling away from him, “No! That’s not—It’s not their fault, Your Majesty.”
Adolph tugged her back to face him but she pulled away again, hiding her face.
“Then why are you crying?”
“It’s nothing, I said. It’s just… a sad little memory.” She sniffled and turned away from him.
His hand closed around her arm, gentle and firm.
“Where are you going?”
“Back to where I live.”
His hand tightened just a bit and his voice grew tense, “Where you live is my castle.”
She tugged at her arm, “I've been thrown out, Your Majesty, and I don't want to go back!”
She pulled again a bit harder, but Adolph didn’t release her.
“Laurel!”
Eden called from afar. He turned and his eyes widened. Laurel couldn’t guess what he was thinking as his expression grew tense and he hurried over.
“Eden—”
He arrived at her side.
“Eden, wait—”
“Who the hell are you?” Eden hissed, glaring at Adolph’s hold on Laurel, “Let go of Laurel!”
Adolph growled and Laurel’s heart lurched. She saw Adolph reach out, snatch Eden up by his shirt and throw him before the cry had left her. Eden flew into the far wall and hit it with a sharp crack as Laurel screamed in horror. Was he dead?
“Eden!” She rushed across the alley and kneeled, checking his pulse. He groaned softly, his eyes were closed, and he didn’t move.
His pulse was strong, but she couldn’t tell if anything had broken or worse.
“Are you okay? Can you hear, me Eden?”
Eden moaned, “Laurel…?”
“Oh goddess, you need a doctor... Can you stand?”
Adolph grew tense, baring his teeth as jealousy raged through him. Who was this man to Laurel? Where had he come from?
Kill him. Adolph wanted to give into it as he felt his wolf’s anger rising. He’s trying to take our mate.
Laurel looked back and gasped at his glowing red eyes and snarling face. Fear struck through her, but she tried to remain calm. Adolph was furious, territorial, but he wouldn’t hurt her, she was sure of that.
“Who is he?” He growled. “What does he want with you?”
“He’s my friend!” Laurel cried, shielding Eden from Adolph. “When my luggage was thrown out of the room, it was Eden who spoke up for me. When I was kicked out of the castle with no place to go, it was Eden who helped me find a place to stay!”
Adolph narrowed his eyes looked at the man. The situation felt strange. His instincts told him that Eden had a plan beyond simply helping a young woman in the castle. How had he been in a position to do so? Why had he been in the castle? There were too many questions floating around in his mind.
He felt that the man was trouble, but he couldn’t exactly say why. Perhaps these were suspicions born of his jealousy, but he had always trusted his instincts. Killing him would be the easiest thing to do to avoid future issues.
It would also just keep him away from Laurel.
“What have you done?” Laurel whimpered. “How could you do this to him?”
“He's not a werewolf. What is he?”
“He's just a poor human!”
*Human.* He was even more suspicious then. Even if the man was a human merchant, there was no reason that he should have been anywhere near the guest suites that Laurel stayed in. As far as he could tell, all human merchants had some sort of tie with the ministers and the nobility which made none of them trustworthy.
Was he related to the incident that had gotten Jack killed? Was that why he was at the castle?
Adolph scoffed, “A human? Then, he's even less worthy of you. If he was a smart human, he wouldn’t just go near a random angry werewolf—“
Eden groaned, “I just thought Laurel was being harassed…”
“She's my mate! Who do you think you are to—”
“Enough!” Laurel yelled, glaring at Adolph. Her voice was forceful and Adolf looked at her, angry at how angry she seemed with him.
Couldn’t she see that he was suspicious? It wasn’t his fault he was weak and stupid enough to approach an angry werewolf, let alone his *mate*.
Laurel’s hands trembled as she looked back at Eden. How could Adolph treat Eden like this, and think it was Eden's fault after hurting him? She knew that Adolph could be ruthless, but this was too much. It was unreasonable. What would a human know about how to interact with angry werewolves? He was just a human merchant. His clients probably all loved him.
Laurel turned away from Adolph and slipped her arm around Eden’s waist.
“Easy,” she said as she helped Eden stand. Eden gave her a weak and grateful smile, leaning on her. Adolph growled, low and threatening at them.
It sent a spike of fear through her, but she looked at Adolph with a cold glare. She would not be controlled by the king. She had enough in her last lifetime of giving in to men of the Raymond family.
“Move out of the way, Your Majesty. We're leaving.”
Adolph looked at her, his shoulders drawn tight. A friend is what she called the man, but his heart knew that there was more to it than that. Who was he? Where did he come from? Why was a human in his city and how had they met?
*It would be easier just to kill him.*
He considered it, letting the idea play out in his mind. He could snatch Eden from her side and murder him before she had even noticed that Eden wasn’t leaning on her. His blood would paint the alley and he’d have her in hand to drag her back to the castle before she could even start weeping for him.
It would be easy. He wouldn’t even break a sweat killing Eden, let alone dragging Laurel back to the castle. She might fight him a bit, but it wouldn’t be serious and she would come around once he explained it. She’d see his reasoning once he figured out what Eden’s real agenda was about.
He readied himself to grab Eden when her voice rang through his mind as clear as it had been when they left Sapphire Lake.
*I want your word as King Adolph Raymond that you will not force me to do anything I do not wish to do.*
He’d given his word and it was clear that she didn’t want to be parted from *Eden* or return to the castle for now. He clenched his fists and forced his breathing to calm. His wolf fought him, but he focused on the oath he’d made.
*You have my word as a king, as a man, and as your mate…*
*Every choice shall be yours to make.*
He almost regretted such an oath, but it had been necessary to get her to agree to come with him. He would make it a thousand times more if it would get her to come to the Imperial City.
Breaking his oath would only push her away. He would convince her to come back to the castle in time, but he had to be patient.
He could be patient. He’d waited this long to meet her, what was a few more weeks? A few months?
His wolf huffed and settled. Adolph met Laurel’s stubborn gaze and did his best to control his voice. There had been fear on her face earlier. He was glad that it was gone, but the stubbornness was only slightly less irritating.
*We’ll kill him at the first sign of him getting out of hand.*
Adolph agreed and spoke calmly, “I will allow you to live outside for a while.”
Laurel’s eyes narrowed and he continued before she could speak.
“But you still work for me.”
She frowned, seemingly unsure.
“You aren’t planning to just leave the job of rebuilding the hospital, orphanage, and school to Basil and his ministers, are you?”
She straightened up, “No, I… I thought the new luna would take over eventually.”
He tensed and took a deep breath.
“As I said,” Adolph said. “The job is still yours. You will still need to report to the castle every day for work. I will send someone to pick you up every day. I need to see you at the castle tomorrow.”
“I—”
He turned stiffly and left without hearing anything she had to say. His rage was still boiling, barely restrained. If he would have stayed any longer, he would have broken his promise.