Chapter 63- Earn Her Trust

Lucien Volkov:

I reached my mother’s chambers and shoved the doors open with such force that they crashed against the walls.

Mother and Aliya looked up in surprise, and the room fell silent.

"Lucien?" Mother smiled and got up, "It’s so good to see you. You know, Amy just..."

I didn’t let her finish and asked her, "Why?"

Her smile seemed to falter a bit, "What?" There was confusion on her face.

"Why did you hit Arabella?" I asked her.

A brief flicker of alarm crossed her face before she forced a laugh, "Oh, that?" She waved a dismissive hand, "You’ve misunderstood. I was just trying to... discipline her."

When Arabella’s guard informed me about the slap, Zorro was ready to leave me and go after Mother. That guard was meant to keep her safe, but he was not allowed to stand before a royal family member.

So, he informed me.

"A misunderstanding?" I wanted to pat my back when my voice came out frighteningly calm, "Discipline? What is she? A four-year-old kid?"

I took one slow step towards her. She threw her hands up, shaking her head, "Come on, Lucien. This is me. Your mother. It wasn’t even a slap... I just held her face..." I looked behind her, where Aliya was nodding.

"Lucien..." She came closer, "I’m the Queen. I don’t need to explain how I discipline a slave."

Zorro slammed against the walls of my head. He wanted to get out and deal with her himself, "Kneel her!"

Dark power exploded from my body, "Kneel," I snarled. My mother looked into my eyes in disbelief.

"Zorro! What is wrong..."

"Kneel!" Zorro’s voice thundered in his Alpha command, and my mother’s knees hit the floor. The Omegas standing there dropped to their knees as well.

Aliya stared at us in horror, "Brother!"

"Lucien! Zorro!" Mother cried, "How dare you use your Alpha command on me?"

I was staring down at her without blinking, "You..." I gritted my teeth, "You dared to raise your hand on her."

Tears filled her eyes, "Lucien! What is wrong with you? First it was Jasmine. Now me. Who will be next? Aliya? Amy? Bradley? You are choosing her over your mother?"

I was rooted to the spot, my hands folded behind my back, "I’m choosing what is right!"

"B...brother, this has gone too far..." Aliya tried to get up.

I didn’t even look at her, "Shut up!" None of them had ever heard that tone from me. My eyes stayed on my mother’s red face, "How many, mother?" I tried to keep my voice casual.

She frowned through the tears, "... what?" She stared at me in confusion.

"I asked a question. How many slaps?"

She swallowed hard and then spoke, "O...once..."

I gave a slow nod, "Good," I walked to her and then stopped. Leaning ahead, I brought my mouth to her ear, "As a queen, no one would dare to touch you, mother. I assure you. So, you need to do that by yourself. Now slap yourself once."

Mother stared at me as though she heard me wrong, "Lucien?" More tears rolled down her cheeks.

I straightened and smirked, "Did I stutter?"

She closed her eyes as her lips trembled, "I ... I’m your mother. You... you’ve gone mad."

Slowly, I lifted my alpha command and crouched down, "Mother. I’m the king. You. Your kids. The head warrior. Every fucking living thing in Lunaris Kingdom will follow my command, or they have to face consequences. Am I clear?"

She didn’t answer because she was too busy crying.

"Am. I. Clear?" I asked her again, loudly this time.

"Y...yes... I’m sorry."

I nodded and got up, "I don’t want to repeat myself ever again, mother," With that, I turned on my heel and stormed out.

I was here to teach them a little lesson. Aliya. The Omegas. They watched how I didn’t spare the Queen. They were not fools. They should’ve gotten the message.

***

As expected, Arabella was waiting for me in the office. I had asked Bradley to bring her there. The red mark on her cheek made me flinch.

"Hey!" The moment I saw her, all the anger I’d been carrying seemed to disappear. She looked up the instant I entered and smiled. That tiny smile. It was enough to silence Zorro.

Instead of walking towards my seat like I usually did, my feet carried me straight to her. She looked up in confusion as I held out my hand,

The moment she placed her hand in mine, I gently pulled her to her feet and wrapped my arms around her. My mate stiffened for only a heartbeat before slowly relaxing against my chest.

That’s all that mattered. Goddess. I wanted to kiss her, but I wasn’t a fool. My girl wasn’t ready for that kind of intimacy. So, I rested my chin lightly on top of her head and simply held her. As long as she was with me, my soul and my beast were calm and contented.

"You smell like butter croissants," I blurted before I could stop myself, earning a quiet laugh from her.

"What?"

Shit. No! Not now.

"And you smell of soap," I said, inhaling deeply.

She tilted back her head to look at me, "Maybe because I took a bath."

I leaned down and breathed in the scent of her hair before nodding, "I noticed."

"Oh. And here I thought you were complimenting me," A faint smile tugged at her lips, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

This time I laughed, "I was," I reluctantly loosened my arms and looked down at her, "If anyone hurts you again... I want you to tell me."

She blinked at the sudden change of topic and tried to say something when I quickly placed my index finger on her lips to stop her from speaking, "I don’t care who it is. Even if it’s my mother."

Her eyes widened in shock. She wasn’t expecting it.

I might be a shitty mate in the past, but now I wanted to work on myself, on our relation and on us.

No matter how long it took, I would earn her trust.