Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King novel Chapter 176

Chapter 176: 0176

Lorelei POV

The steady hum of the car filled the silence as we passed through the estate gates, and I couldn’t help but turn around for one last look.

The moment the gates disappeared behind us, I watched the estate through the side mirror as its towering walls slowly grew smaller and smaller until they eventually became nothing more than a blur in the distance.

That was when I finally let go.

Not completely, because my heart for some reason wasn’t listening, but enough to stop looking back.

Kaelen wasn’t coming.

He hadn’t come to stop me, hadn’t come to say goodbye, and now there was nothing left for me to wait for.

So I turned my attention back to the others.

Skye was sitting beside me in the back seat, her hand resting gently against my arm as though she could somehow sense exactly what was going through my head. I gave her a small smile before looking toward the front.

Cole kept his eyes on the road, his hands steady on the steering wheel while Raven sat beside him, scrolling through something on her phone.

"This is going to take more than a day," Raven finally said, breaking the silence as she checked the weather forecast on her screen.

Cole glanced toward the sky through the windshield. "There’s some rain ahead. If it doesn’t get too bad, we should still make it there in two days."

"Then we’ll find a hotel somewhere near the edge of the territory once it starts getting dark and continue first thing tomorrow morning," Raven replied, and her eyes met mine briefly through the rearview mirror before she added, "Unless anyone has a better idea?"

"That works for me," Skye said, leaning forward slightly before looking between them. "But where exactly are we going?"

"I have a private property in Solaria," Raven explained. "It’s a coastal haven far outside the Lunar Empire’s borders, so we can stay there for a few days without anyone bothering us."

She shifted comfortably in her seat before continuing. "The main estate the Alpha King prepared is in a completely different pack territory, and it’s still being renovated. Once everything is finished, we’ll need to sort out your passports and book a flight there, which is going to be a whole tedious process by itself."

A tired sigh escaped her as she rested her head against the headrest, and then she turned slightly, looking back at me.

"Do you still want to go through with changing your identity?"

I blinked, the question dragging me out of the thoughts of Kaelen that had been circling my mind ever since we left.

"What?" I muttered, staring at her through the rearview mirror.

"I asked if you still want to change your identity," Raven repeated, watching me carefully. "Since there’s barely any chance of you running into Jaxen or the others, wouldn’t it make more sense to stick to the original plan? We could even go with the name Ella."

There was something almost too eager about the way she said it.

Her logic wasn’t completely wrong. If I stayed under the radar, I wouldn’t have to worry about anyone from my past finding me, and maybe that was exactly what I needed.

But there was one problem she seemed to be forgetting.

"My mother has already seen me," I whispered, the memory settling heavily in my chest. "I’m sure she’s already told the others that I’m alive by now."

Raven hummed thoughtfully, tapping a finger against her chin. "That’s actually what I find so strange."

My brows pulled together. "What do you mean?"

"If they know you’re alive, why haven’t they made a move yet?" she asked, her expression becoming more thoughtful as she stared down at her phone. "Knowing Jaxen, I’d expect him to be blowing up my phone by now, demanding every resource and connection I have just to find you."

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