Page 41 of His Loved Lycan Luna

Shaking my head, I turn my attention to Clarice, who also seems a little stiff.

“Want to help me outside?” Clarice asks. Smiling, I nod. Anything is better than wasting away in the room.

“The king wants her to remain in her room,” Trey says with a shrug.

“I will deal with the king. He has no reason to worry,” Clarice chimes in before I have a chance to say anything.

“Yeah, I told Damian that when I took over from Dustin. Not like she can drive on out of here to go after her friend,” Trey chuckles. Clarice’s eyebrows furrow at his words, and so do mine.

“I can’t drive,” I tell him.

“Exactly, and there is only one way out, which is to drive out the front gates. Unless you use the back exit, but no one goes down there, the road is too rough,” he laughs.

Clarice sets her sandwich down on her plate and places a hand on her hip. “What? Are you trying to give her ideas?” she asks, raising an eyebrow at him.

“What? No, of course not, and she said it herself, she can’t drive. Besides, there are guards at the front gate. She would never get past them. I am just saying he is worrying for no reason!” Trey says, sighing heavily.

The tension in the room becomes thick between them as they stare at each other. “Is everything okay?” Trey asks, glancing at us before he sighs.

“Is this about me taking over for Dustin? I swear I had nothing to do with that. I get you don’t like me, but I would never place you in harm’s way, My Queen. Dustin and I just have history,” Trey says, and I pinch my brows.

“Pardon?” I ask.

“Ah, I probably shouldn’t say, I know you’re close with Dustin, and I don’t like gossip.”

“Well, you can’t say that and not say it now, can you?” Clarice says.

Trey glances between us both and rolls his eyes.

“Dustin used to have a thing for me, and I turned him down.” He shrugs like it’s no big deal. “Not because I don’t like Dustin, but I’m straight,” he says, pointing to himself.

“Anyway, we had the competitor trials last spring for the guard position. Dustin blamed me for sabotaging him by setting the clock back, so he missed the trials and didn’t make the cut,” Trey says.

“Ah, yes, I remember that caused quite a stir.”

“Well, did you?” I ask him.

“What? No, of course not. He forgot to put his phone on daylight savings time. He slept through the trial, somehow I got blamed for it because his phone was near me.”

“What are the trials for?” I ask Clarice.

“Just a competitor thing between the guards, makes them compete each year for ranking within the Royal Guard,” Clarice clarifies.

“Yeah, I don’t understand why he blamed me. Nobody could beat his track time anyway from the year before or any of his scores, so his job was never in jeopardy,” Trey shrugs.

“He holds the record?” I ask.

“Yeah, there is a reason he is your personal guard. He even beat Damian’s record one year. Damian got it back, obviously, but it still shocked everyone. Especially with Damian’s Beta genes,” Trey states.

I chuckle, happy for Dustin. Although I never pictured Dustin to be so competitive; then again, he looks like he lives in a gym and is the most observant out of all the guards I have. Also, the most protective. Interesting.

“Want to help me garden?” Clarice asks. I nod excitedly, grabbing my plate and placing it in the sink.

“Is she alright with you for a few minutes? I want to go use the bathroom,” Trey asks Clarice.

“Of course,” Clarice says. She leads me outside. We spend the afternoon gardening, all while my thoughts remain troubled, fixed on Abbie. When it is getting dark, Trey leads me back to my room. Once again, Abbie never calls. All I keep thinking about is that back exit Trey mentioned. Rummaging around the room, I find some maps and try to read them, chewing my lip. I glance at the door, wondering if I can trick Trey into showing me on the map.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

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