My Alpha's Wolfless Daughter
My Alpha’s Wolfless Daughter – Chapter 45

Ayla

Nate moved off of me and I gasped when I saw the damage I had caused. The chandelier was now lying in pieces on the dining room table. Everyone was standing around, staring at me.

“I am so sorry, Queen Laura,” I breathed out as Nate helped me to stand.

“It’s fine, I needed to remodel this room anyway, and I hated that chandelier.” The queen giggled.

“My mother gave us that chandelier,” the king retorted.

“And now I have the perfect reason why it needs to be replaced.” The queen smirked.

“Kaden, you need to stop questioning her. Ayla has made her choice and you are just going to have to live with it.” Prince Chase told him.

“Ayla, I apologize,” Kaden said to me.

“Don’t apologize. I want you all to question what is happening. I’m just going to have to learn how to control, whatever that is.” I told them, and Nate wrapped his arms around me.

“Well, how about we retire to the library then? I would love to hear what happened during your challenge.” Queen Laura asked and I nodded.

“Ayla, are you sure?” Nate asked, concerned.

“We should probably talk outside so I won’t destroy the library,” I told the queen.

“Nonsense, I’m sure you’ll be fine. Also, that was your wolf. She doesn’t like being disrespected.” The queen smiled.

“Oh,” I said, surprised.

“Now, if you boys would stop being so dramatic, maybe Ayla could actually relax.” The queen scolded them.

“What? I didn’t do anything?” Her son whined. And she glared at him.

“You know exactly what you did, don’t play innocent,” she exclaimed, before taking my hand.

“Let’s go have tea, I want to know all about what happened.” She smiled at me.

Queen Laura led me out of the dining room and through the palace to the library. Entering the library, I was in awe of how impressive this library was. It was three stories high with shelves overflowing with books.

“This place is wonderful,” I breathed out, as I looked around. She led me over to a sitting area with a grand fireplace with a fire blazing.

The others followed behind us. I was going to sit down on a couch but Nate grabbed me as he sat down in a chair, forcing me to sit in his lap. I yelped, not expecting it, and he chuckled, wrapping his arms around my waist.

The others sat down on the furniture around us and I moved to sit sideways on Nate’s lap. He snuggled into me as I wrapped my arms on top of his. The king and queen snuggled together and Prince Silas gagged as he watched them being cute. I smiled, happy they could finally be rid of the elephant in their relationship.

“Princess Ayla, what happened when the ground swallowed you?” Prince Chase asked me. He was sitting on a couch with Kaden.

“Well, we know there were spiders.” Xander chuckled and I shivered.

“Don’t remind me.” I gagged. I know the fear is illogical, but they still freaked me out.

“The first thing I encountered was what looked like a dragon. It was bioluminescent, with markings I’d never seen before. It had a long neck and red eyes. I don’t even know what color it was because all I could see was the glow of the markings.” I began.

“And what happened? Did it try to hurt you?” Nate asked.

“Not physically. It was more with words and a feeling of dread or death,” I answered.

“And what did it say?” Kaden asked and I looked at him.

“That’s not important,” I told him. I was embarrassed to tell them what the monster had said to me. His words cut me deep and will forever haunt me.

“Anyway, then spiders came and I could only see them because of the light from the dragon. And Xander can tell you how much I like spiders. The spiders covered me but it wasn’t until I noticed a massive spider attacking the dragon did I stop worrying about myself.” I explained.

“Is that when you shot the gun?” Prince Chase asked and I nodded.

“I killed the spider that was attacking the dragon and all the other spiders disappeared. The dragon turned its attention to me and I thought it was going to attack. I opened my eyes to find myself in the throne room.” I finished.

“So you saved the thing that was originally attacking you, why?” Kaden asked me, and Nate squeezed my waist.

“When I saw him, it looked as terrified as I felt and I only had little spiders. I don’t know, I just needed to protect it.” I confessed.

“And that was it?” The queen asked and I nodded.

“The experience was more terrifying than anything. I thought it would be more physically demanding. It wasn’t what I expected,” I said.

“Ayla, you passed the challenge because you protected the guardian. It was testing your mind before the attack. It wanted to see that even with all the hurt it caused you, you would still do the right thing. And you did. You could never walk away from something in need and you proved that. Even if the people in your life have hurt you the most, you will never walk away from them in need. The need to protect others proved you would make the perfect black pearl.” The queen praised me.

“I don’t feel like much of a hero. And I am surprised that thing didn’t kill me. That’s more my luck. Save it because I feel bad, just so it can kill me.” I shrugged.

“Things will get easier, Ayla. And you can have access to the library. I do have a few books for you to read. I wish I could give you more answers but I only know so much.” Queen Laura told me and I nodded.

“I would like to look around the library for a bit. My mind is racing with so many questions, but I don’t think any of these books would hold those answers either. I’m just going to have to wait until my wolf shows up to answer them. And hopefully, she will have some answers.”

A young lady came into the library with a tray of tea and placed it on the coffee table between us. My story was so short, we didn’t even get to enjoy tea.

“Ayla, I’ll go get you those books while you look around the library. And please have some tea, it will calm you. I understand this is overwhelming and you may be feeling out of place again, but don’t back down. Powerful men will always try to push back if they mean to or not. Never back down. Stand your ground and always do the right thing.” She told me before she and the king left the library, leaving me with the others.

“Ayla, I didn’t mean to overstep.” Xander apologized.

“Xander, you didn’t overstep. A little heads-up would have been nice but I’m new to all of this. I’m going on gut feelings while you have experience with this. If you feel like your plan is the best option, I will respect that.” I told him.

“And my plan?” Kaden asked me.

“Xander, what do you think about Kaden’s plan?” I asked him.

“I think we should observe first. If they are hunting for mermaids, we shouldn’t have any in the water. They will be expecting that. We should stick to land for now.” Xander answered and I agreed with him.

“Fine, but nothing better happen to Ayla, or I’m bringing the army,” Kaden exclaimed and Nate growled.

“Are you implying I can’t protect my mate?” Nate retorted, squeezing me into him.

“Will both of you stop? I can take care of myself. And this is becoming ridiculous. This isn’t a pissing contest. We are doing this to save lives.” I scolded both of them.

“Let’s leave Ayla and Nate to do some research.” Prince Chase announced, trying to help me defuse the situation. I swear these boys are going to be the death of me.

“I’ll get things organized so we can leave in the morning. I already had your house cleaned out and your vehicle was taken to the house, along with your things. Alpha Jim would like to bring Bluey himself.” Xander informed me, before they all left, leaving me and Nate alone.

“Do you always have to fight with him?” I sighed.

“Why are you defending him?” He retorted.

“I’m not defending him. I know this is hard on him. It would be hard on anyone in his situation. You could show him a little more compassion.” I defended myself and Nate sighed.

“I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything. It takes everything to hold Duke back from ripping him apart.”

“Thank you, that’s all I’m asking,” I said, before pressing my lips to his.

“Now, should we have some tea?”