The Alpha: Claiming His Enemy's Daughter
Chapter 323: DEPARTURE

Chapter 323: DEPARTURE

The kiss on her hand made Iris blush, as she nodded absentmindedly. It was either because of the way he kissed her hand, or how happy she was to have breakfast with him tomorrow. She was already looking forward to it.

After their brief conversation inside the carriage, Cane had to return to attend another meeting before he met with Koda.

It was already late at night and they met at the East gate. This was the exit that Cane usually used to get out of the palace through a secret door, since the guards there were his father’s people in the past.

Koda was wearing a thick black cloak and hoodie, which covered his entire face and hid his identity, but of course, Cane knew it was him. Disguising his appearance didn’t help hide his scent.

"When will it happen?" Koda cut straight to the main topic once he saw Cane approaching him. He didn’t waste his time and his voice was filled with tension.

"This is a delicate plan, you can’t be careless." Cane didn’t even bother to hide himself, though he was on the King’s turf. He knew his men and he knew what he needed to do.

"I need to make sure that the bastard crown prince will pay for what he has done and my great grandson will be crowned as the next king," Koda hissed. He looked around, just in case someone was listening.

It was unclear what Cane said to him when he handed Princess Osana’s ring to him, but Koda was under the impression the Crown Prince was part of the reason why Prince Vemion had been taken away by the lycan. He was sure his grandson had died by now and he wanted his great grandson to be the next crown prince, though nobody knew what gender the baby that Laluna carrying would assume.

Vemion wouldn’t have a chance, but his great grandchild would have the whole Red Claw pack as his support and with the facts that would unfold later, they could use it as a leverage to press down the King.

"You will get what you want." Cane didn’t talk much as usual.

Koda narrowed his eyes. "What do you get from this?" He took a step closer to look at the young alpha intensely. "You gain nothing from this."

Cane looked at the old man with the same intensity. "Revenge."

The word was simple, but it carried a lot of weight, and was strong enough to make Koda believe him. After all, you would be so gullible if you thought the King didn’t have a role in the fall of the Howling Wolf pack a decade ago.

And for someone like them, the concept of revenge was way more believable than anything else.

They talked about a few more details of what would happen and Cane gave him a cursory description of what he needed to do and what to feed the Alpha of the Red Claw pack. Albeit, Koda no longer being the Beta of the pack, he was still a trusted and respected man in the eyes of the current alpha.

"I will meet you again in a few days. Be prepared to get out of the city."

Cane left with that statement and went straight to his bedroom. It was only three hours before morning came, which meant he only had those precious three hours to be with his mate.

Once he was inside the bedroom, he saw how Iris slept on the couch, seemingly trying to stay awake, so she could meet him before bed, but unfortunately, she slept like a baby when she was tired. She literally could sleep anywhere without problems.

Recently, her nightmares had reduced to a great extent and she could sleep better.

Gently, Cane carried her to the bed and tucked her in before he cleaned himself and got ready for the bed. He pulled her closer and fell asleep almost immediately. Her body was so soft and she felt right in his arms. Her curls felt so soft, as Cane tangled them between his fingers. Feeling the softness of her hair.

The next day, during their breakfast, Cane told Iris that he would go away for more than a week.

"Where?" Iris asked. She stopped eating when she read that.

"Ash city and Drein city." It would take at least two days to reach those cities each. "The scouts said they got clues on the lycan’s whereabouts."

Iris pursed her lips, while Cane simply pretended he didn’t see that.

She didn’t believe it. If she didn’t know any better, she would believe what he said. What clues? That must be Leros spreading rumors and misleading those poor scouts, since those scouts were under Leon Dmitri’s, Nala’s father, control who would appear more believable in the eyes of the King.

"You will not take me with you, will you?"

"I will not take you with me, yes."

Iris shouldn’t feel dejected when she read Cane’s answer, because she realized she wouldn’t be much of a help if she tagged along, more so, it would make Cane look funny if he brought his mate with him on this mission.

"More than a week..." Iris mumbled, as she munched on her meal slowly. She lost her appetite.

She had gotten used to Cane being around her and even when they only had less than an hour to meet or just saw each other in the morning most of the days, she knew he was nearby and she didn’t realize how reassuring and comfortable it was until Cane told her he would be away for a few days.

It would be their first time parting ways for such a long time since they arrived in the capital city.

"What about the new moon?" Iris just remembered this. Somehow, she felt thrilled to realize Cane needed her to be with him during the new moon.

"I will return before that."

"Okay."

New moon. The only time Iris knew he would be with her.

And with that, the next day, the entourage had gathered. Cane would go to the nearby cities with a few royal warriors, Koda and a few warriors from the Red Claw pack, continuing his pretense to look for Prince Vemion and give assurance to the people that the lycan would be caught, without them knowing he was the lycan itself.

This morning, Iris went to the main gates to accompany Cane and wish him a safe journey, since he would be away for a long time. As for Hanna, once she knew Will would come to the palace to take part in preparations, she tagged along with Iris, but it seemed, there was nothing she could do, aside from staring at him from afar.

"Be safe..." Iris said to Cane, she looked around and realized he was only taking Will and Aderan with him, while he sent the rest of the warriors to the palace or in the orphanage.

On the other hand, Hanna had been stealing peeks at Will, but the man didn’t look at her way at all. Their last meeting didn’t end well and she couldn’t catch up with Will in his beast form. There was no way she could outrun a warrior like him.

Even from afar, Hanna could tell how gloomy he was, the aura around him was so dark, as if he would snap at any given second now.