Page 141 of Chased By My Grumpy Alpha
“Try me.”
The steel in his voice tells me he absolutely will. I sigh in disappointment. “Fine. No testing poisons on myself.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise.”
Relief floods his features, and I kiss him again, feeling both excited and grateful. This garden is not simply a gift. It’s proof that he sees me, understands what matters to me. It is freedom and purpose and home, all wrapped into one perfect space.
“Your Highness?”
We release each other and see a man approaching on one of the garden paths. He’s tall and lean with blond hair and sharp, brown eyes, moving with the controlled grace of a warrior.
“Leon,” Lucian says, his arm tightening around my waist. “Astra, this is Leon Ashford, one of my two right-hand men.”
Leon stops a respectful distance away and bows. “Your Highness. It’s an honor to finally meet you properly.”
“Just Astra, please,” I say, suddenly feeling awkward about titles and protocol.
“No,” Lucian says at once, his tone resolute. “Call her ‘Your Highness.’”
Leon rolls his eyes. “Of course.”
Lucian’s posture shifts slightly, becoming more formal. “What news?”
“Perhaps we should speak privately?” Leon’s eyes flick to me briefly.
Lucian nods, and they move away from me, speaking in low voices over by the greenhouse.
All of a sudden, a strange thing happens. Their voices become clearer, more distinct, as if someone has adjusted the volume on a conversation I was already straining to hear. Every word reaches me with perfect clarity, even though they’re talking quietly to each other.
“Lord Aldric has been looking into the history of Eclipse Born,” Leon says, his voice low and urgent.
Eclipse Born?
My blood runs cold, and somewhere deep in my mind, a memory stirs—fragmented and elusive, like I’m trying to grasp smoke. I’ve heard this term before. But where?
“What is Eclipse Born?” Lucian asks, his voice carefully controlled.
“I don’t know,” Leon admits. “But the Umbra Council does. Aldric has been requesting access to their archives, and High Inquisitor Draven returned to the capital yesterday with unusual urgency.”
“What does Draven want?”
“He has been putting significant pressure on the King to transfer your mate into the Council’s custody.”
The garden around me suddenly feels too bright, too exposed. My perfect moment of happiness crumbles as the reality of my situation comes crashing back down on me.
They want me. The Umbra Council wants me, and I don’t even know why.
Eclipse Born. The term echoes in my mind, bringing with it a sense of dread I can’t explain.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Astra
Two weeks pass like water through my fingers, and I finally understand the weight of being caged in gold.
I can’t leave the palace. Can’t venture beyond the carefully mapped territories Lucian deems “safe.” My world has shrunk to a handful of rooms, corridors that lead nowhere, and the suffocating realization that I have nothing to do.
