Chapter 205

Theodore’s POV

The rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch. I was immensely relieved that I had been able to give Dahlia and Kincaid at least one little half hour of the wedding in total peace. I certainly did not intend to continue that for the rest of the day.

The chairs had all been cleared away once the High Priest and High Priestess declared Dahlia and Kincaid husband and wife, turning the town square into a dance floor surrounding the platform that remained. Kincaid had already untwisted Dahlia’s braid, and she had already undone his tie at the table that had been set up for them on the platform. We were all to dance until dinner was served in several hours.

Are we taking bets on whether or not we make it to dinner before all hell breaks loose? I joked with my mate.

There was a slight pause before she replied: No bets.

I realized she was nervous. Instinctively, I turned to look for Violet somewhere in the crowd, but before I could find her, Eva offered me her hand. “I suppose we should dance,” she said with a complete lack of enthusiasm.

“Eva!” My date turned away from me at the sound of her name as Olivia Bronson approached. Olivia eyed me over my date’s shoulder, her telltale venomous smile on full display, before she and Eva exchanged kisses on both their cheeks.

“You can dance with him anytime,” Olivia nodded toward me as she spoke to Eva. “Dance with me first!”

With a genuine smile, Eva told me she would dance with me later and rushed off with Olivia. I wasn’t sure if Olivia was doing me a favor by keeping me from having to dance with Eva or if she was stealing my dance partner in order to plot against me.

I hardly had time to think on it before someone else approached me. “Alpha Nightshade, a word?”

I turned, surprised to find Riley in front of me. He hardly spoke to me ever. I blinked, trying to wrap my mind around this strange moment, then nodded.

He beckoned me to follow him, then began weaving his way through the crowd. I couldn’t imagine what the ringleader of Eva’s group of friends who were actually Owen’s spies would want to discuss with me. A million thoughts raced through my mind, looking for the trap I wasn’t seeing.

As we reached the outskirts of the crowd, Riley began looking around as if to verify that no one was following us. I became increasingly suspicious as he ducked down an empty street of Mel Rimanea, then turned down another until the raucous sounds of the wedding reception faded into a hum of background noise.

Was he creating a diversion so I wouldn’t be at the party when something happened? Was he leading me away to attack me? Adrenaline flooded my system as I prepared to shift or fight or run.

After turning down a third street, Riley turned to face me, checking over my shoulder to make sure we were alone. He looked me over, noting my taut muscles and my uneasy expression.

“You don’t trust me,” he observed. “Good.”

I said nothing. Of all the days for a surprise, this was not a good one. I reached out to Violet just in case.

Riley has lured me away from the party. I don’t know why yet, but in case it’s so I won’t be there when I’m needed, keep an eye out, and let me know if I need to come back.

My mate’s response was quick. Should I warn Kincaid and Dahlia?

I considered her question quickly as Riley stared me down. I didn’t want to disturb the newlyweds this early in their wedding if we didn’t need to, but it wasn’t as if Violet could warn their seconds instead since Colby and Sinclair didn’t know we were magically connected – or in cahoots.

Not yet.

I focused back on Riley who still hadn’t said anything else. When he finally opened his mouth, the words that came out were, “Have you warned her that I pulled you away from the party?”

My stomach dropped as dread joined the adrenaline flooding my system, but I kept my expression neutral. “Warned who?” I asked, trying to figure out who he was talking about because there was no way he knew Violet and I were connected.

“Alpha Donovan.”

Fuck. He did know. How could he know?

My expression didn’t change even as my pulse pounded in my ears. In response to my stillness and silence, Riley smirked. “Don’t worry,” he said, “we’ll circle back to that.”

He couldn’t possibly know about the magical bond, but maybe he knew we were working together if not still mated. I needed to know what he knew, how he knew, and why the hell I was alone in an empty street with him.

“What do you want?” I asked nonchalantly as if I were confused instead of concerned, as if I weren’t practically panicking.

“Answers,” he told me. “Honest and thorough ones.”

I scoffed. “You dare demand answers from your Alpha?”

Riley smirked again. “Technically, I’m actually still a rogue; I have no Alpha.”

Eva had always responded so well to playing the hierarchy. I was dismayed to find her “friend” did not. I kept trying to find leverage and kept coming up short.

Riley didn’t wait for a response from me before asking his first question.

“Why did you take in all those rogues at the camp at the bottom of the hill?”

My brows furrowed despite my attempt to school my expression. This conversation was surprising me at every turn. I considered his demand for honest, thorough answers, and I decided that whether he was a spy for Owen or not, I had nothing to lose in giving him exactly what he wanted.

“What would you do if you found a scared, pregnant woman and her four-year-old daughter on your land?”

“That’s a question, not an answer,” Riley pointed out.

I sighed, searching for the right words and realizing no one had ever asked me why I’d started that camp before. “It felt impossible to continue breathing if I didn’t help them.”

I kept his eye contact as he searched me for lies.

“I suppose you consider a muddy field and falling down huts with holes in the roofs as ‘helping them’?” he asked next.

That question hit a nerve, and I ground my teeth. “I don’t have the funds to run Midnight, build Mel Rimanea, and continue to maintain the camp. I rerouted all my funds from the camp to Mel Rimanea; it hasn’t always been as downtrodden as it is now.”

Riley smirked again, and I wanted to slap the stupid smile off his face. “And if you only had the funds for a camp originally, and the king refused to fund the Shelter Project, where did you get the funds to build Mel Rimanea?”

Shit. I clamped my mouth shut, Riley’s damn smirk telling me he already knew the answer to this question he definitely shouldn’t know anything about.

He cocked his head and said, “A thorough and honest answer, Alpha Nightshade. Or I run straight over to King Owen to let him know you have a magical bond with Alpha Donovan that’s allowing you to communicate mind-to-mind, likely to plot against him.”