The Alpha King's Wrath

37 Tedious

Chris

I should have stayed in bed.

Waking up with Jess wrapped around me after having the best night's sleep in I don't know how long was the perfect start to the day.

I should have known it was the high point and things were going to go to shit afterwards

Listening to her retell her encounter with the shadowman and Selena and Luca leaves a knot in my stomach. Hearing Derek admit that they haven't been able to find a trace of him doesn't help settle my nerves.

Strangely Jess seems remarkably calm about the whole situation. Thankfully, overall she's back to normal, like yesterday's mob incident never happened.

Fortunately we are able to slip back into the palace after breakfast without drawing any attention. Jess did wonders to calm Cyrus down but that would have all gone out the window if anyone set him off.

"How is she?" Barron asks, pushing off of the wall he was leaning against. I sigh when seeing the man waiting for me after leaving Jess with Claire.

"She's good, just spending time with Claire," I say, heading down the hall towards his office. "Sorry about taking off yesterday-"

Barron raises a hand to cut me off. "No need. Your mate needed you. I'd have done the same thing, though you have better control than I do. I'd have ripped that mob to pieces," he growls.

His genuine concern and understanding catches me off guard. Barron and I have butted heads over nearly everything, so I fully expected this to be no different.

"If we came back last night, I would have been no different," I admit.

"They're waiting in the auditorium, but Percival is waiting in my office... I figured you'd want to deal with him first." Barron's consideration keeps catching me off guard.

He leads the way into his office, a spacious one with floor-to-ceiling bookcases on the rear wall and a large wooden desk prominently in the middle. Percival sits at the desk with his back to the door, his aged posture stone straight.

"Percival," Barron calls and the old man instantly stands. His grey eyes find mine and he sucks in a breath, lifting his chin and holding my gaze defiantly.

Before I can fully process what's going on, Cyrus surges to the forefront and casts me into the recess of my mind. His anger at the male for upsetting Jess is magnified tenfold when he sees him lacking an ounce of remorse.

"Smarten up," Cyrus growls, ticking his jaw.

Percival clenches his jaw and grits out, "She may be your mate but what she did is inexcusable-"

Wrong answer...

Cyrus has the old man by his throat and lifts him clear off the ground before slamming him against the wall with a warning snarl. "Choose your next words very carefully."

'This isn't what Jess wants,' I warn, fighting my own anger only magnified by his.

'You can't tell me you're okay with his disrespect!?' Cyrus sneers. 'Look at him, he doesn't regret it one bit, he'll do it again!'

'That's the part to focus on and fix,' I bite back.

Percival claws futilely at my arm as his face turns scarlet.

Just a little more pressure and his neck will break.

Jess...

The memory of her plea is enough to get through to Cyrus and he reluctantly loosens his grip before tossing the gasping and coughing male back into the seat.