Page 47 of Claimed By Prince Daddy

I ignored Bristell, feeling the back of my neck flame at the heat of Ember’s gaze on me. I led her upstairs to the bedrooms. Ember began to slow as we neared my old room, yet I kept walking, striding past it. Ember picked up her strides.

“Where are we going?” She asked.

Not bothering to give her a response, I stopped at my current room. Opening the door, I stood aside, allowing her entrance. She blinked at me, but I didn’t meet her gaze, choosing to look through her. Ember’s head fell a little, and she strode inside, my advisor glaring at her as he entered hot on her tail. I stepped in behind the pair and closed the door.

Ember looked around my room to the massive king-sized bed in the center with the luxurious eggplant-purple sheets—the large oak dresser to the far right, the bathroom adjacent, and the two glass doors that led to the spacious balcony beyond.

“This used to be your parents' quarters,” Ember whispered. As she slowly turned in a circle taking it all in. Her age then rested on me. “Now it's yours…you’re the king.”

I gave a stiff nod. “Why—” my voice cut off as my throat closed in. I cleared my throat and said. “Why are you here?”

Apparently, my words held a venomous edge to them, for Ember flinched. Her lips thinned, and she sighed. “I wouldn’t be here, bothering you, if it were up to me. But it's not. I…I need your help.”

Anger flared within me like volcanic heat. I bared my incisors at her and strode forward until we were a hair’s breadth apart. Glaring down at her, I said in a low, darkvoice, “You dare come here calling on a favor?” I sneered at her. “Do you think because of what once was, you have any sway over me?”

She bravely met my livid glare, her own brow hardening. “I thought—” she broke off, her mouth twisting. “I thought you would help me. Once you know the truth.”

I scoffed. “What truth?”

“There’s a little girl that has been abducted. She’s shadow fae,” Ember said. “I need your help to save her.”

I whirled, stalking to the end of the room. Peering out at the moon that hung in the inky expanse above, I hissed, “And why should I save this girl? Because you ask it of me?” My tone was mocking.

“No,” Ember said behind me. “Because she’s your daughter.”

The world around me slammed to a stop. My hand shot out, gripping the doorframe to steady myself as my knees almost buckled.

“Your Majesty!” Bristell cried, running over to my side. He gripped my forearm in an attempt to steady me.

“I-I,” I swallowed, my mouth dry of all moisture. “I’m fine.” I croaked.

A big-ass lie. My whole existence was upended. And by none other than my fated mate. I slowly straightened to my full height.

“How?”

Ember’s fingers twisted over each other. She let out a long sigh. “The night of…the club. She…Melodina was conceived there.”

I started at the name. “Melodina…?”

It was a beautiful name. Angelic sounding. Then the awe was rinsed away to be replaced by righteous anger. I let out a roar and raked my claws down the length of the wall to my right. Ember jumped back, her claws immediately unsheathing, her hair bristling.

“You’ve hid her from me for all these years,” I snarled, whirling on her. “Five years…I’ve missed five years of my daughter’s life. You had no right!”

“I had every right, as her mother,” Ember spat. She sliced a hand through the air. “I knew if you knew of her existence, you’d keep her with you, and I could never be by your side again—but I would never leave my daughter. So I had to keep her away from this world, from you.” Her eyes narrowed to thin slits. “I knew after leaving here that I could never be with you again. Not after what you did.”

I flinched. “You—you regret our lovemaking?” The thought that she despised being intimate with me slashed ribbons in my heart.

Ember paused, her eyes snapping wide. “N-not that,” she said, her cheeks flushing. “I am referring to when you rejected me in the gardens. You chose Rosalana over me!”

I could hear the sharp bite in her words, the deep-seated pain that laced her voice. Even after all these years, Ember was still wounded by my actions. I clenched my hands and bowed my head.

“Ember,” I sighed. “If…if I could go back to that night and change it…I would give my life to do so.” I lifted my head to peer into her eyes. “But I can’t change the past.” I lifted my chin and rolled my shoulders back. “But I can change the future.”

A glimmer of hope sparked within her blue eyes. “Does…does that mean…?”

“I will help you find our daughter.” I frowned. “But there is one stipulation you must abide by.”

Wariness crept into her gaze. “What would that be?”

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