Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King novel Chapter 168

Chapter 168: 0168

Lorelei POV

Hearing Skye’s reassuring words finally loosened the tight knot in my chest, and I found myself taking a much deeper breath. Goodness, what would I ever do without her?

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A few minutes later, I was walking down the long, quiet corridor with Isaac escorting me toward the Alpha’s private office. The closer we got to the heavy double doors at the end of the hallway, however, the faster my heart began pounding against my ribs, until I was almost certain Isaac could hear it too.

Standing outside Kaelen’s office, I hesitated for a long moment, taking a deep breath to steady myself before finally pushing the door open. My steps faltered the second I crossed the threshold because Raven was already inside, sitting casually in one of the leather armchairs directly in front of Kaelen’s massive mahogany desk.

The moment the door opened, both of their gazes snapped toward me. My eyes instinctively went straight to Kaelen, but as soon as our eyes met, he immediately looked away and turned his attention toward the floor-to-ceiling window behind him. The small gesture shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did, but my heart still clenched at the sharp rejection.

"Why are you just standing there by the door? Come on over," Raven said, breaking the heavy silence as she casually waved me inside.

Only then did I realize I’d been standing there, frozen like an idiot, staring at them instead of actually walking into the room. "Oh... right," I stammered before stepping inside and quietly shutting the door behind me.

My mind was already racing with questions. What was Raven doing here? Wasn’t this supposed to be just between Kaelen and me? I didn’t voice any of those thoughts, though, especially with Kaelen sitting there looking like he’d rather be anywhere else.

"Good morning..." I began softly, but the words caught in my throat as I suddenly realized I had no idea what to call him. Calling him Kaelen felt far too intimate after the icy wall he’d built between us, so I swallowed and decided to play it safe. "Good morning... Alpha."

The moment the formal title left my lips, Kaelen’s head snapped up and his amber eyes locked onto mine. His brows pulled together, and something unreadable flickered through his gaze, an emotion so intense and turbulent that a shiver ran straight down my spine.

Maybe I shouldn’t have called him that.

I immediately regretted it, nervously biting down on my lower lip as I looked away from his intense stare. I crossed the room and quietly lowered myself into the empty leather armchair beside Raven, suddenly far too aware of the tension hanging between us.

"Did you sleep well?" Raven asked softly, leaning slightly toward me.

"A little," I whispered, my voice barely audible. I waited a second before leaning closer to her and quietly asking, "What is this meeting even about? Why are you here?"

But really, Raven, of all times, why now?

Raven’s casual demeanor vanished almost instantly, replaced by a sudden, razor-sharp seriousness. "There are a lot of pressing things we need to address, Lorelei. For starters, we just discovered that there are far more maids working on this estate who were also secretly sold here by Hawke."

My eyes widened in genuine shock. "What? Really?"

Raven nodded grimly. "A massive investigation is already underway, and the scale of it is way worse than you originally thought. Isn’t that right, Alpha?"

She turned to Kaelen, and my entire body stiffened as I slowly turned to look at him too. To my surprise, I caught his gaze already fixed on me. He seemed to realize it at almost the exact same moment, quickly clearing his throat before straightening in his seat and slipping back into that familiar cold, composed expression.

"Uhm... yes," Kaelen began, his voice deep and controlled. "We have confirmed that roughly fifteen of the women working across this estate were forced into labor through Hawke’s ring. We have also initiated tracking operations for the women who were sold off to neighboring packs, and we are working to trace the entire network directly back to the rogue factions behind it."

Wow... that was unbelievably fast.

I was still stunned by how quickly everything had been put into motion as I nervously fidgeted with my fingers in my lap.

But it really was a good thing. Those women must have suffered so much in here, and worse, some of them might have actually been killed. So, I guess the faster, the better.

After a moment, I looked back up at him and asked, "What do you plan on doing with the innocent women who were forced to work here?"

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