Cursed and Fated: Offered To The Wicked Alpha Prince
Chapter 14: Micah, take her away

Chapter 14: Micah, take her away

Adeline’s eyes snapped open, and she looked around in a momentary daze. Then, she realized that she was in the palace. Sitting up, she found she had just experienced the best sleep she’d had in years. No one had disturbed her, no one had screamed her name, until a maidservant rushed in without knocking.

"Miss, you’re awake! Your family... They are being punished!" the girl announced, her voice breathless.

"What?" Adeline scrambled out of bed, her heart hammering against her ribs. When had they arrived? Had they been here all night?

Ignoring her disheveled hair and wrinkled nightclothes, she followed the maidservant through the corridors and out toward the palace grounds.

Adeline skidded to a halt as she reached the edge of the courtyard. Her father, stepmother, and stepsister were forced onto their knees on the stone pavement. They looked broken, their clothes torn and faces bruised as if they had already endured a long night of questioning.

"How many lashes did you give to my bride?" Gideon’s voice was a low, terrifying growl.

He stood before them in rage. In his hand, he gripped a heavy whip. A short distance away, the Luna Queen and her daughters watched the spectacle, but the Alpha King was nowhere to be seen.

"Speak!" Gideon roared, the sound echoing off the palace grounds. "I want to know exactly how much blood you took from her so I can decide how much to take from you."

Catalina’s eyes frantically searched the perimeter until they landed on Adeline. The moment she saw her, she called out her name.

"Adeline! Please, forgive me!" she shrieked, struggling against her restraints. "Tell the Alpha Prince it was all a mistake! I never wanted to do this, I swear!"

In a sudden burst of panicked energy, Catalina managed to scramble toward Adeline. Adeline flinched, her heart leaping into her throat as she moved to step back, but Catalina was too fast. She lunged forward and gripped Adeline’s hands with a bruising force.

"Please, save us! They tortured us the entire night, dear," Catalina muttered with teary eyes as she searched Adeline’s face for a shred of pity. "At least think about your father and Janessa. They didn’t hurt you. It was only me! Don’t let them kill your own blood!"

"My own blood?" Adeline chuckled. "Janessa is a stepsister. You two reminded me of that every single day," she asserted with a cold gaze. "And as for my father, he only ever considered me a burden."

"Adeline, don’t say that!" Zason screamed from where he knelt, his voice cracking with fear.

A few yards away, Vivian shifted uncomfortably, glancing at her mother. "Mom, why don’t you intervene? I can’t stand seeing bloodshed in the palace courtyards every other day," she complained, her voice hushed.

"I want Adeline to witness exactly how Gideon kills," Presley stated.

Zason pressed his palms together, begging the Alpha Prince. "Your Highness, we are your in-laws! It is a parent’s right to discipline a child when they make a mistake. What will the kingdom think if word spreads that Prince Gideon tortured his own soon-to-be wife’s family?" He tried to find a sliver of mercy, hoping to sway Gideon’s heart with the threat of scandal.

In response, Gideon’s arm blurred. The whip struck Zason squarely across his back. The force sent him sprawling face-first onto the stone.

Catalina and Janessa shrieked in unison, their pleas dissolving into terror.

Adeline knew Gideon was not merciless to anyone, but finding how the Luna Queen could use all his acts for her own leverage, she felt she needed to stop him.

"Fifty lashes," Gideon growled, his voice vibrating with a lethal edge. "Adeline has fifty fresh lash marks on her back. What kind of father punishes his daughter like that? Do not presume to teach me right from wrong. The three of you should have known exactly what happens when you provoke my anger."

Gideon raised the whip high, the leather coiled and ready for another strike, when Adeline suddenly lunged forward and grabbed his arm, stopping him mid-swing.

"Don’t do that. Everyone is watching you," Adeline pleaded, her voice trembling as she held his arm. "And he is... he is older than you." She bit her bottom lip the moment the words left her mouth, realization dawning on her that she had made a grave mistake by intervening so publicly.

Gideon didn’t look at her; he simply rolled his eyes. "Micah, take her away," he ordered, his voice devoid of warmth as he pried her fingers off his skin.

Adeline hesitated, her feet rooted to the stone, until Gideon leaned closer. "Go," he hissed, "or I will punish the maid who brought you here."

That statement alone froze her.

"Gideon, what is this you are doing so early in the morning?" Huxley’s voice boomed across the palace grounds, cutting through the heavy tension like a blade.

Everyone turned toward the grand staircase and bowed their heads in unison. Huxley stood midway down the steps, staring at his son with an expression of weary disappointment. He had a natural talent for making everyone present feel small, finding a way to make even his own son look like a common criminal.

"I am teaching Zason, his wife, and his daughter a lesson," Gideon stated, his back still turned to his father, his grip on the whip tightening. "They brutalized Adeline before sending her to this palace."

"Then you must stop at once," Huxley commanded with an unwavering gaze. "They are your in-laws. Whatever occurred between Adeline and her family in their own home was a private matter. It is beneath a Prince of this kingdom to settle domestic grievances with a whip."

Adeline gazed at Gideon, noticing the white-knuckled grip he maintained on the whip.

"Take them to the guest chambers," Huxley commanded the guards, his voice leaving no room for negotiation. "And Gideon, follow me. I have an important matter to discuss with you."

Gideon didn’t argue. He threw the whip onto the stone floor with a sharp, echoing thud. He turned to leave, but his sharp eyes caught Adeline’s appearance, shivering in her nightclothes with her hair in disarray. Before he could follow his father, he shrugged off his heavy, expensive robe and draped it over her shoulders. The fabric was still warm from his body.

"Dress warmly," he whispered before he turned and walked away to follow the King.