Alpha’s Black Furred Slave Mate
Chapter 43

Marlon had no idea what was going on with Deonna, but he couldn't ponder too much about it. She was fine the night before during their night of passion; he even went as far as to tell her of his feelings towards her. Granted he probably shouldn't have done that because she was right, she was a slave. But she was also more to that to him; it took him up until recently to admit that to himself. But his wolf had always known that and has been trying to tell him that since Deonna arrived.

Now, she was acting cold and distant towards him. Perhaps his confession rubbed her the wrong way, and it took until this morning for her to realize it. He worried he came off too strong and that he was losing her forever. He had to brush that thought out of his mind though because, from the sounds of the pounding at the manor, the duke had arrived.

Once Marlon reached the foyer, he was faced with the duke and a couple of the duke's men. A couple of Marlon's guards stood nearby along with Winston who was eyeing the duke carefully.

"Duke Frederick," Marlon greeted, trying to maintain a proper composure.

Marlon and Frederick have been enemies for years since Marlon outranked him and became the noblemen of the kingdom. When they were in the same room, they always appeared civil with one another, but behind closed doors, they fought like they were siblings. Marlon knew Frederick wanted to take Marlon's estate, but he wasn't going to give it up that easy.

"It's been a long time," Frederick said as he shook Marlon's hand. "Is there somewhere we can talk in private?"

Marlon eyed him carefully before answering.

"Follow me," he answered as he walked toward the kitchen. Once they entered the kitchen, Marlon stopped walking and turned around to face him. "What do I have the honor for this visit?"

"I think you know why," Frederick said, keeping his voice even. "There's been talk around the kingdoms about a baby born from a slave. Yet no newborn arrivals at the farm." Marlon frowned.

How could they possibly know about Mateo already? He said nothing as Frederick continued.

"Got everyone wondering what happened to the child. I told them I'd go and find out for myself," Frederick explained.

"The child isn't here. Who's speaking of him?" Marlon asked, straightening his back defensively.

Frederick shot his eyebrows upward and stared at Marlon with intensity.

"So, the child was a boy?" Frederick asked; Marlon realized he said too much, and he wished he could take his words back.

"The child is gone," Marlon repeated.

"You know what would happen if they found that the child is yours?" Frederick asked. "Kill it on the spot. Kill the slave. Then... kill you."

Marlon pressed his lips together until they were in a fine line.

"Thank you for your concern. But I assure you, the child is not mine," Marlon told him. "And the child is not here."

"Then you wouldn't mind if my men continued to raid through the town? Just to check," Frederick asked, grinning almost wickedly.

He gave Marlon a sick feeling.

"There's no need for that..." Marlon answered.

"Tell me, Marlon," Frederick began. "If you are hiding this child because he's yours..., how do you plan on raising him while maintaining your ranking?"

"Frederick, I'm not sure what you heard. But I assure you, it was wrong. There is no child present here. If that's why you are here, then I'm sorry you wasted your trip. But you can return home." Frederick stared at him for a long while before breaking into a grin.

"I have the king's orders to execute a search," Frederick announced, loud enough for his men in the foyer to hear and resume searching the manor.

Marlon could feel his heart sinking into his stomach. This couldn't be happening right now. Would the king give Frederick permission to search through the manor and kingdom? Marlon was supposed to be the highest-ranked nobleman; he ranked almost as high as the king himself. He worked nearly side-by-side with the king. The king wouldn't trust Frederick over him.

Would he?

"When I brought up my concerns to him, he agreed that a search would probably be a good idea. We can't have the highest rank nobleman going against the king's treaty," Frederick said; humor was dancing in his eyes which aggravated Marlon even more. "Of course..." Marlon said through a pasted smile.

"Sir?" Winston came running through the kitchen and nearly fell over his own feet; he had a panicked expression as he looked between Marlon and Frederick. "His men are going through the manor."

"It's fine, Winston," Marlon told him. "Let them. They won't find anything."

"But, sir," Winston began to say.

"Winston," Marlon warned. "I said it's fine."

Winston nodded and without saying anything more, he left the kitchen.

"I think I'll take a look around myself," Frederick said as he started wandering away.

Marlon was thankful he was walking in the opposite direction of the grocery room; he wasn't sure what he would do if they found Deonna and Mateo hiding there. As weird as Deonna was acting all morning, the thought of losing her was troubling to him. Despite what she might think, he had strong feelings for her. His wolf had told him that repeatedly; he spent so long ignoring his wolf, but it was time he stopped ignoring it and started doing something about it. He thought about asking the king to revise his treaty, but the king has a rule that no one is to disagree with his order. If he wants something done, then it shall be done. It's the king's way or no way.

Like Marlon used to, the king thinks of dark-furred wolves as dirty, uneducated, and uninteresting creatures. But he doesn't know Deonna.

Deonna was one of the most interesting, beautiful, and smart women he's ever had the pleasure of knowing. He hated admitting that because he was supposed to despise her. But he couldn't bring himself to hate her.

Deonna on the other hand was making it quite obvious how she was feeling towards Marlon. She could hardly even look at him earlier. He couldn't help but wonder what it was that caused her attitude to change.

"Duke Frederick?" One of Fredericks's men came strolling into the kitchen.

Frederick appeared on the other end of the kitchen. Marlon noticed the man was holding a stuffed wolf, Mateo's wolf. Marlon swallowed hard as his nerves began rising in his chest, but he wouldn't allow his fear to be visible to those around him. Frederick also saw the stuffed wolf and his eyes narrowed at Marlon; suspicion was clear on his face.

"It was found in his bedroom. Still moist with saliva."

Marlon pressed his lips together in a thin line; how dare he go into Marlon's bedroom. They had no right to do such a thing.

"Tell me, Marlon," Frederick began, walking closer to them. "Why is it that you have a toy, which happens to be covered in fresh saliva?"

"I don't see why that's your concern," Marlon answered, keeping his eyes locked on Frederick.

He refused to break.

"Well... maybe not mine," Frederick said, his tone vile. "But perhaps the king would find it interesting."

"It doesn't matter. It's still not proof of anything," Marlon said between gritted teeth.

"I guess we will see about that."

Another of Frederick's men came strolling into the kitchen; thankfully, he was empty-handed.

"We have a few more rooms, but the search is almost completed. So far, no child or slave in sight," he told Frederick.

Frederick looked aggravated; his top lip curled up in what looked to be disgust as he turned to Marlon.

"I don't know how you are hiding them. But lord knows, I will find them," he threatened.

Marlon was feeling much more confident knowing that even Frederick's men were starting to give up on the search.

"Do your worst," Marlon dared, keeping his tone low and just as vile as Frederick's.

Marlon watched as Frederick continued searching through the kitchen. He wasn't sure what Frederick expected to find in the kitchen; did he honestly think he was hiding Deonna and Mateo in a kitchen cabinet?

Frederick pulled open the doors that lead into the foyer area where there were a couple of other rooms; one of which happened to be the grocery room Deonna and Mateo were stored in. Panic began setting in Marlon once again as Frederick made his way around the room, pulling each door open and conducting a search in the rooms.

His eyes scanned each door until they landed on the grocery room door; Marlon had it locked, so he wouldn't be able to open it off the bat. However, he knew the duke would either try to pick the lock or force Marlon to get the key to unlock it. The fact that the door is locked in the first place will drive suspicion toward Frederick. That was something Marlon certainly didn't want.

As he reached the grocery room door, Marlon tried to come up with every excuse he could think of. His mind was coming up blank though. He needed to try and get him away from that door. His hand reached out and went towards the door handle. Marlon could feel himself sweating and his heart pounding against his chest.

Frederick's fingertips brushed against the door handle; Marlon knew at this moment, that he was doomed.

Behind Marlon, the door to the kitchen swung open and a couple of Frederick's men stood there, breathless with panicked expressions. Frederick dropped his hand from the door and stared at the men with confusion on his face. "Guards are outnumbering us. The butler called in for more. We can't hold them off for much longer," one of them panted.

At that point, Frederick was red in the face. He turned to Marlon and curled his top lip up in a snarl.

"We'll be back with more men..." Frederick hissed as he stormed passed Marlon and towards the kitchen with the rest of his men.

Marlon let out a breath as though he'd been holding it in for hours; he watched as Frederick and his men stalked passed Winston and slammed the front door shut.