Alpha’s Black Furred Slave Mate
Chapter 53

A war was fast approaching.

Marlon hadn't expected his son, Bob to return home from school with Deonna by his side. She was discovered by some students; despite what Bob told them about not saying anything to anybody, he knew that it was unavoidable. They will talk and word will get around the kingdom; eventually, word will reach the duke and get back to the king and queen.

Even Marlon had to admit that Bob was smart in his thinking back at the academy; telling them that he'll deal with it and then taking her into the woods. That would buy them a little bit of time so they could figure out what their next plan of action was. He was even surprised that Bob wanted to help.

They had to figure out where to hide Deonna and Mateo; however, there was only one place he could think of to hide them without raising suspicion around the kingdom.

Marlon paced back and forth around his study; Bob and Deonna stared at him with wide worried eyes. Once he had an actual idea, he stopped pacing so he could face them. A grin spread across his lips.

"Plain sight," Marlon said; Deonna frowned, a worried crease appearing between her eyebrows.

"Plain sight?" She repeated, locking her eyes on him.

"If we hide you in plain sight, it's almost like we aren't hiding you. They won't question my relationship with you if we don't hide you."

That didn't seem to convince Deonna though; she still looked worried.

"I'm not sure I understand," she said, staring between Marlon and Bob. "Your plan to protect me is to let them find me?"

"Not exactly," Marlon continued; there was much more to his plan than that. He wasn't an idiot. "We are going to hide you in an area where they won't even question why you are there if you are to be discovered." Deonna was still confused, but telling from Bob's expression, he caught on fairly quickly.

"You don't mean...?" Bob began to say.

"I do," Marlon answered. "The dungeon."

"What?" Deonna asked; her mouth hanging open.

"He wants to hide you in the dungeon," Bob explained, turning to Deonna. "If they think you are just our prisoner, they won't bat an eye. The dungeon would also be the last place they'd look for you if they think you have relations with father." "You're going to lock me up?" Deonna's eyes were wide with terror as she stared at Marlon with dismay.

"It's the only thing I can think to do for right now. It's temporary. Until we can figure things out. "I'm anticipating for the duke to arrive again with an army. If that's the case, there will be a war."

"Because of me?" Deonna asked.

"Because they want to overthrow me," Marlon explained, trying to reassure her. "They are using you to do that."

"What about Mateo?" Deonna asked, staring down at the sleeping baby.

"We need to hide him where they can't find him. They need to think he's dead," Marlon answered. "We need to get him out of the kingdom."

"Out of the kingdom?" Deonna's mouth dropped open.

"He'll be easy to sneak out," Marlon explained. "It's the best thing we can do to ensure that he won't be found."

"Who's going to take him?" Deonna asked, staring between the two of them.

Marlon's eyes went to Bob almost instantly; now Bob was staring at him with his mouth hanging open.

"What?!" Bob and Deonna said at the same time.

"You've got to be kidding me," Bob said in shock. "You expect me to sneak a dirtball baby out of the kingdom?"

"I expect you to sneak my son out of the kingdom," Marlon shot back.

Bob quickly shut up after that.

Deonna still looked unsure about the idea; Marlon couldn't blame her for not trusting him and Bob to protect her and Mateo. But Marlon refused to let anything happen to either of them. He knew she wasn't going to argue because she didn't have much of a choice. It was either this, or they risk getting found out and sentenced to death.

"Okay," Deonna finally said after a long pause.

"Sir!" Winston comes storming in, his eyes wild with fear.

He stopped once he noticed Bob and Deonna standing there, staring back at him. He looked at all the faces that were towards him, hesitant to continue speaking.

"It's okay, Winston," Marlon assured him; he still wasn't so sure. "Winston, what is it?" Marlon urged.

"The duke will be here tomorrow with an army. Sundown," Winston told him.

Tomorrow was the red moon eclipse; that's when wolves proved to be the strongest.

"We'll be ready," Marlon told him; he was relieved that he sounded more confident than he felt.

Truth be told, Marlon wasn't sure how he would pull this off. He didn't have much of an army that would fight for him if they knew he was protecting a slave.

He knew Deonna would hate the dungeon; it was a vacant room in the basement where Marlon would store those who had done him wrong if he was planning on killing them. He hasn't had anyone in the dungeon since the landscaper who raped and beat Deonna. At the time of hearing about that, Marlon was still conflicted about his feelings for her. She had just arrived on the manor grounds, and he knew he was supposed to hate her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

When he got word about the rape and beating, he instantly pulled the landscaper from his duties and brought him into the dungeon. Shackling him from his neck, arms, and feet. He had the landscaper there for a few days before going down to kill him. He wasn't even sure if he cleaned the blood splatters the killing left.

But leaving it a mess might make it more realistic if they think Deonna is just another prisoner. They also had to think Mateo was dead and the only way to do that was if he wasn't in the kingdom at all. Marlon trusted Bob to get that job done, but he didn't trust Alex whatsoever, so they had to try and keep this between them without alerting anyone else.

Then, there was the matter of the army approaching on the duke's side. Of course, the kingdom had its own army, but if they found out that they were fighting because of a slave that Marlon was harvesting, it would only mean death for the entire Roessler family. He would be ruined and so would his family. He needed to go about this so that nobody would find out the true reason for why the war is taking place.

Deonna looked worried; she held Mateo in her arms and whispered something to him that Marlon couldn't hear. He hated the fact that she was frightened; he made a secret vow to her that he was never going to let anything happen to her. For as long as he breathed, he was going to protect both her and Mateo.

"Winston, I need you to gather the army. Tell them that the duke is planning on overthrowing me and I need as much protection as possible," Marlon ordered.

Winston nodded but then glanced over at Deonna with a wary expression.

"Breathe nothing about Deonna to anyone Winston," Marlon ordered, surprising him. "I'm trusting you, comrade."

Winston sighed, but he nodded.

"I'll help gather who I can as well," Bob suggested.

Marlon shook his head.

"No, you have a more important job," Marlon told him, gesturing for Mateo. Bob's face fell. "I need you to get him to safety."

"You were serious about that?" Bob asked, a whine in his tone.

"I've never been more serious," Marlon said firmly.

"Bob..." Deonna said, stepping closer to him with Mateo in her arms. Her eyes were misty, and her breathing was shaky. "You saved me from the school; I owe you a debt beyond what I could possibly give. I didn't trust you at the time, I thought you were going to kill me, and yet you chose not to." She paused to gather her thoughts. "But I trust you now. I trust you with my life and I trust you with Mateo's life. I need you to do us this one last favor and keep my son safe."

Marlon was surprised at her forwardness, but he was pleased that she found her voice.

Bob hesitated for a moment but looked at how troubled Deonna was after a pause. He finally sighed in defeat and took Mateo from her arms. She struggled to let him go; she let out a weep of distress as Mateo moved uncomfortably from one set of arms to another. Tears fell down Deonna's features; she had to bite her lip to keep from sobbing any harder. Marlon understood how hard this was for her; it was hard for him too, but he needed to stay focused if they were going to pull something like this off.

"Come on," Marlon motioned for Deonna. "We should get you to the dungeon. Plus, the quicker Bob leaves with Mateo, the farther he can get from the kingdom." Deonna nodded in agreement.

"Okay," she said softly as Bob walked out of the study with Mateo. "I love you, baby boy..." Deonna whispered to Mateo as they disappeared.

"You'll see him again," Marlon assured her. "I promise."