Alpha King’s Lost Luna by Aubrey Pepper

Chapter 290 Bait | KANE hs | Kiara’s plan was far too risky, even by my standards.

I'hadn’t exactly been known for my self-preservation skills, but then again, I still knew when things were too dangerous to do.

When Kiara finished speaking, I shook my head and frowned deeply.

“I can’t let you do this,” I said sternly.

“I'must,” she insisted, answering my frown with one of her own. “You know I must, Kane.” She was incorrect. I didn’t know such to be true. Kiara intended to offer

herself as bait. She planned to seduce the truth out of Darwin’s mouth. She would speak with the villain in private and try to irk him into making him confess his disloyalty to her father.

Meanwhile, I would summon the key members of the Pack and lead them to the room, making sure they heard what Darwin said.

Normally, it would have been a half- decent plan, but the idea of Kiara putting herself in that position didn’t sit right with me.

“I’know how to protect myself,” she insisted when I fell silent. “Besides, I don’t think Darwin would dare to kill me. And you'll arrive soon after the talk begins, so if anything happens, you could step in right away.” “Just because you can doesn’t mean

you should,” I sighed and I pinched the bridge of my nose between my fingers.

“If we need to confront Darwinand force him to tell the truth, I should be the one to do the job. You shouldn’t be the one shouldering all the risk. I know you said Darwin wouldn't kill you but-” Before I could finish my statement, Kiara stepped forward and placed her lips against mine. I was taken aback but didn’t pull away. Her lips were warm and soft, and her perfume was intoxicating.

We remained there, tightly pressed against one another until she finally pulled back and gazed up at me with warmth in her eyes.

“Tunderstand the risk,” she said softly. “But I'm the best pick for the

job, Kane. Darwin likes me he’s always | considered me naive. He would be defenseless.” — | I studied her for a moment, my heart still racing from our kiss. There were so many things I wanted to say and yet I'was a bit puzzled.

It took me a second to gather myself and then I spoke.

“You don’t have to do this,” I said again. “Alpha Arthur might wake up soon-" “We both know that’s unlikely,” she cut me off. “And I know you can’t wait, nor can the Alpha King. Besides, I can’t bear it anymore. I can’t see Darwin in power while my father is suffering from the poison he gave him. I've made up my mind already and you can’t stop me. If you aren’t willing to

| help carry out the plan, I'll just do it myself.” * kk Cw Kiara asked Darwin to come to her room before dinner because he was busy all day and that was the only time he could agree to, but it gave me quite a bit of difficulty in persuading the Pack members.

They were suspicious because they didn’t believe Kiara would ask them to have a meeting in her room at such a time. I couldn’t blame them. If I were in their position, I would not have followed me so easily either. An outsider asking them for favors would be strange enough but a meeting in the Alpha’s daughter’s room? It probably sounded so odd.

Despite that, most of them had agreed

to the request because they thought the lady might have something important to say. They had no reason to distrust Kiara.

Most of them anyway.

There was one elder who didn’t want to comply. He was an ancient man with a long, thick white beard and beady eyes.

He seemed to see through our plan immediately.

“He’s trying to do something terrible to us!” the elder insisted to the others, among other things. With every utterance, my agitation grew. The longer he dragged, the more time he wasted, and I knew any delay might result in something terrible.

I'was worried about Kiara.

In the end, I had to threaten the elder,

which caused more suspicion and doubt from the others. Normally, I would have conducted myself more politely, but I couldn’t just stand by when Kiara was in danger.

So, I bared my teeth at them.

“I might not be an excellent fighter compared to the Myriad soldiers, but I could still deal with all of you in no time,” I warned. “If anything happens to Kiara because of your delay, I'l kill you all, I promise.” The members seemed confused but intimidated by my threat. All nodded and then followed me down the hall.

When we arrived at Kiara’s room, I noticed that the door had been propped open just a hair. It wasn’t enough to be detectable, but allowed us to hear what

was being said immediately. When we arrived, we could hear Kiara and Darwin having an intense erin conversation.

“What’s going on?” the elder who'd given me trouble asked, and I held my finger to my lips to shush him. All seemed confused but obeyed my order to be quiet.

“You don’t understand,” Kiara’s voice filtered out into the hall. “I can’t decide my future because my father is so controlling. He wanted me to marry the royal lord from Anemond-" “You shouldn’t marry that infamous womanizer,” Darwin interrupted her, and I felt all of the Pack members’ eyes on me. “Ilove you, Kiara, and I know you share the same feelings.” “You shouldn’t say that,” Kiara

insisted, and she began to sniffle. “My father wouldn’t agree.” “The Alpha has no right to interfere with his daughter’s marriage,” Darwin replied, his tone irritated.

“But he’s the Alpha,” Kiara replied naively. “He has the legal right to decide everything according to his will.

As long as he’s alive and wears the crown, his decisions can never be changed.” “It’s true as long as he’s alive,” Darwin remarked. “But what if he died?” The Pack members frowned and I fought back a smirk. Perhaps this would work after all.

“What do you mean?” Kiara wondered.

“The healer said my father might die in aweek, but it isn’t a solid fact.”

The members all widened their eyes and exchanged glances.

Shit. i I forgot this wasn’t common knowledge. Luckily, before they had too long to speculate, Darwin spoke.

“I know you love your father, but I'm sure that the Alpha will die in a week,” he said. “Maybe less than a week.” “What do you mean?” Kiara asked innocently. “How are you so sure?” Darwin laughed shortly. “Because I made the healer do something, something that could change everything for us.” The members were all stunned. They began to whisper amongst themselves,

asking what Darwin was talking about but I shushed them before they could say too much. — “What do you mean, Darwin?” Kiara repeated.

“I planned it long ago so nothing would go wrong,” Darwin said. “You don’t need to know the details, Kiara.

You just need to prepare to be my wife.

Now, come here, darling, and kiss me.

If you want, this could be our wedding night.” “We're about to have dinner,” she said worriedly. “Please tell me what you meant Darwin. What was your plan?” He didn’t reply and instead chuckled promiscuously. I heard the floors creak like he had taken a step forward.

“Darwin, please,” Kiara insisted. “Tell me.” The room fell silent, but she hadn’t broken the cup she’d placed on the table. We’d agreed that would be our signal, the one that would make me lead in the Pack members. I waited for awhile, but when I heard a muffled whimper, I felt my blood freeze. I couldn’t wait anymore.

I broke into the room immediately and when I did, I saw Darwin pinning Kiara against the wall with his hand. His fingers were wrapped around her throat and he was trying to get her to expose her neck to accept his kiss.

Kiara’s hazel eyes were enormous as she tried to move away.

The other members flooded into the room behind me, and once Darwin

noticed us, he realized what happened.

He began to move like he was going to hold Kiara hostage, but I was swifter than him.

The moment I saw his hand on Kiara’s body, I felt a flame burning in my veins. How dare he touch her? I rushed at Darwin, claws extended, and slashed his stomach. I began to see red and soon lost composure. I'd never been so brutal nor had I ever felt this way. The feeling of possessiveness made me want to kill Darwin and replace the dirty smell he’d left on Kiara’s skin with mine.

She wasn’t his.

She was mine.