Chapter 241 - 0241

Lorelei POV

"Is it good?" I asked, watching Darius take another bite of the chicken.

A small, genuine smile tugged at the corner of Darius’s lips as he chewed. "It’s really good. I didn’t know you could cook like this."

"She can do a lot of things you don’t know about," Kaelen said quietly beside me.

His tone carried that familiar possessive edge, and the warmth that rushed to my cheeks was immediate.

Without taking his eyes off Darius, Kaelen reached across the table, grabbed my hand, and laced his fingers firmly through mine before glaring at his Beta.

Darius only rolled his eyes, completely unbothered. "Jeez. Even a simple compliment is a crime now?"

"Yes," Kaelen replied without missing a beat. "Why are you complimenting her when I’m sitting right here?"

"Well, I wouldn’t have had to if you’d complimented her yourself," Darius shot back, leaning comfortably into his chair with a smirk. "So what’s your excuse?"

Kaelen opened his mouth, but for once, he seemed to have no answer ready. "I... I was going to. I was just savoring the taste first."

Darius let out a loud scoff. "Yeah, sure."

The look on Kaelen’s face immediately changed. He turned toward me, suddenly looking far more concerned about what I thought than he did about winning the argument.

"I really was just savoring it, baby," he insisted, his eyes wide and earnest as he tried to defend himself. "Your cooking is amazing. Honestly, it’s the best thing I’ve ever had."

Watching the two of them bicker like a pair of brothers, with Kaelen now looking like a kicked puppy desperately trying to prove his innocence, finally broke whatever tension had been lingering in the room.

A soft, breathless laugh slipped from me before I could stop it. I quickly bit back the rest of it and lifted my fork, finally taking my first proper bite of the meal.

After that, the heavy atmosphere disappeared completely, replaced by something warm and lively. Darius started pulling out stories from Kaelen’s early days as Alpha King, most of them embarrassing enough to make Kaelen regret ever giving him permission to speak.

One story was about the time Kaelen had nearly challenged a visiting dignitary to a duel because of a ridiculous misunderstanding over the seating arrangements.

Kaelen immediately tried to defend himself, but Darius wasn’t having any of it. The more he explained, the worse the story somehow became, and before long, I was laughing so hard my stomach actually hurt.

It was exactly what I had hoped for when I set the table tonight.

As the laughter finally settled into a comfortable quiet, I saw my chance to bring up something that had been weighing on my mind all afternoon.

"Is it okay if I give her my phone number?" I asked, glancing over at Kaelen.

He raised a brow as he cut another piece of meat from his plate. "Her?"

"Emily," I clarified softly. "The girl from the orphanage. She wrote me that letter, remember? I was thinking about calling her. Or maybe just texting her."

Kaelen went quiet for a moment, his dark eyes studying my face before he finally gave a slow nod. "I’ve already had her background thoroughly checked," he said, taking a sip of his water. "She isn’t a threat. Aside from her annoying, loud mouth, she’s completely harmless."

I snickered at his description, already imagining the long and probably ridiculous conversations Emily and I would end up having.

"Thank you," I said, feeling a genuine warmth spread through my chest.

Then another thought popped into my head, and my excitement immediately returned. "Also, I was thinking... maybe Luna Selene and Emily could come over to the estate this weekend? We could do something fun. Maybe a picnic by the lake, or..."

The ideas started spilling out before I could even finish one.

"We could have a spa day in the east wing, or go shopping outside the estate. Maybe even have a small dinner party and let them invite a few of their friends."

The more I talked, the more excited I became. It had been so long since I’d had real companionship, so long since I’d felt like a normal girl who could actually make plans, go out, laugh with friends, and have a social life of her own.

I was so caught up in imagining everything we could do that I completely missed the sudden shift in the atmosphere around the table.

It wasn’t until my words slowly died down that I noticed the heavy silence.

Kaelen and Darius had exchanged a look across the table.

Something about it made the excitement inside me falter.

"Is... is something wrong?" I asked softly, my heart sinking a little.

Kaelen cleared his throat, looking unusually uncomfortable. Seeing him like that only made my anxiety spike.

"As much as it warms my heart to see you this excited about making friends, Lorelei," he began carefully, his voice gentle but serious, "right now... isn’t the best time."

My heart clenched sharply.

"Oh."

The word came out so small, carrying more disappointment than I wanted him to hear.

I tried to hide it immediately, forcing a tight smile onto my face, but the way Kaelen’s jaw tightened told me he saw right through my pathetic attempt to play it off.

I understood. I wasn’t stupid. I knew Jaxen was still lurking somewhere in the shadows, and Kaelen was only trying to protect me from the political mess waiting outside these walls.

But understanding it didn’t make the hollow loneliness in my chest disappear.

Every day, I was surrounded by guards. Paul and Isaac followed a few steps behind me wherever I went, watching my every move. They were kind and protective, and I was genuinely grateful for them, but they were still guards. They didn’t know what I liked. They didn’t understand my jokes. They didn’t know how to sit on a rug with me and talk about absolutely nothing for hours.

I had Kaelen, of course, but he was the Alpha King. He was drowning in responsibilities, always busy and constantly carrying the weight of the realm on his shoulders. Darius wasn’t much different, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he had been even more distant and closed-off lately, except for tonight.

And Skye was gone.

She was free now, living her new life with Raven. I was happy for her, truly. I wanted her to be happy after everything she’d been through.

But God, I missed her.

I missed having another woman to talk to about stupid things. Someone I could laugh with, complain to, or just sit around with without having to think about everything happening around me. Someone who could make me feel like a normal girl again.

The silence around the dining table stretched, growing heavier with every passing second.

Seeing my expression fall, Kaelen and Darius exchanged another look. This one was sharper, carrying a silent understanding that I couldn’t quite decipher.

Darius gave him a single, firm nod.

Kaelen let out a long breath before shifting his gaze away from me and toward the maids standing near the grand archway.

"Excuse us," he ordered coldly. "All of you. Out."