The Alpha’s Exclusive Stripper by Selena Madrid
Chapter 86
TREVOR would never know this. But the room that I get to share with him will always be the right room. And as he watched how my cheeks turned red, I knew we were remembering the same thing: that one moment we shared in the strip club.
Where I made excuses to meet him.
Only to send my most loyal guard to escape him.
Trevor stood there, oozing with raw masculinity as he started to figure things out. He glanced at Spencer and shook his head, but the playful smile playing in the corner of his m*outh remained.
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“Priscilla?”
My attention went back to dad.
“The more you stare at him, the more I am tempted to send him back to his kingdom. All fathers’ enemies are their daughters’ potential boyfriends or husbands. They are threats. And I’ve just found you. You can’t marry until you are a hundred years old. That should be the right marrying age. I married your mother when I was around that age. I should make that a new law.”
The protectiveness in his voice made me laugh. “Dad!”
“What? I’m serious.”
Luckily, I put a spell around us which prevented other beings from hearing our conversation.
“If you do that, you are going to make the citizens frustrated. Besides, it’s not like Trevor and I can marry anyway. It’s complicated.”
“Princess, did you think your mother and I had a fairytale kind of story? No. She was a tribrid. I’m a pure-blooded vampire. She once called me a pain in her a*ss. I knew she was the one for me when I first saw her. Although it was the opposite for her. She didn’t like me at first, at second, or even at third sight. And when she finally did, her mission as the moon goddess’ daughter separated the two of us.” Dad frowned. “I still think our story was the reason the word ‘complicated’ was invented.”
My l*ips parted.
It was the first time that dad shared his and mom’s love story.
“Vampires never grow old. But have you seen our butler? Dion was so frustrated with me and your mother back then and look at him now. He is a three-hundred- year-old man. His age is showing in his face. He kept telling us that Cal I i and I were the reason he started having gray hairs.”
I laughed. I couldn’t remember the last time I smiled and laughed like this. I didn’t know Dion was that old. To be fair, he looked like he was only in his mid-fifties.
I looked at the long black carpet that we’d have to walk through. There would be enough time to hear more.
“Please tell me more, dad,” I requested eagerly.
“Well, there was a time when your mother looked straight into my eyes and told me that we were never going to work out”
“What did you do then?”
Dad raised his chin. Something nostalgic flashed in his eyes. “I proved her wrong.”
“How?”
“Whatever I did, it looks like Trevor has a clue. In fact, he reminds me so much of myself. If only he was not a threat, perhaps I would have liked him more. Even with his memories tattered, it was like somehow, he could feel that the one he is looking for is in this realm that’s why he did all that.”
“You could be wrong, dad. The only reason why Trevor is here is because of the Order.”
“The Order is not targeting the alpha king or his kingdom. There is no reason for him to go to such extremes only to be in a foreign land and yet, he is here. That young man came here loaded with gifts like he wanted to court the entire vampires and win their favor. Only a woman could make a man do such a thing. You made an alpha king bend like that. I couldn’t be prouder. You are truly my daughter.” Dad’s l*ips twitched in amusement. “The new alpha king is brilliant and consistent; I give him that. But he is still a possible thief.”
“A thief?”
“A daughter thief. Remember this, princess. You can only steal him but do not let him steal you.”
Dad winked at me, making some of the women sigh dreamily while my brows furrowed. I didn’t have the time to ask because we were already near the stage.
Tonight, the female guests’ attention was scattered. It seemed like they didn’t know where to look. Not that I blame them. This hall was filled not only with crystal ch*andeliers but with dazzling men although only four of them were catching their attention the most.
First was Dad. He was a sight to behold in his black tuxedo and I saw the wives of the council look at him with hearts in their eyes while the lords grimaced.
There were also Zane and Zephyr who were attracting so much attention from the single ladies. They were near the stage.
And then there was the alpha king who was garnering attention on his own without even trying. He was giving this s*ensual but dangerous vibe and even the female vampires who didn’t like the shifters couldn’t help but stare from time to time.
I tried not to look at him for the following hours as the program continued although I could feel his gaze on me.
The lords gave their welcome speeches. They also prepared top-notch performances for tonight. There were groups of people who danced, sang, and played musical instruments for us.
Everything was so beautiful that it was like a dream.
Lilac, my favorite color, was the motif of the event.
Each table was filled with food and drinks. In one corner of the hall, there were several gifts that the guests prepared for me.
After the third performance, dad and I had our first dance as the orc*hestra played while everyone watched. When the song ended, Zane approached us. Dad gave my h*and to him. It was only when the two of us were dancing that the other couples started to dance with us.
“It’s nice to see you and the king smiling and laughing again,” he commented as we put on a show for the lords.
My eyes lit up. “When you first told me about my father being a king, I was nervous. I imagined him as this strict man who rarely smiles. Thankfully, Dad is nothing like that. He’s cool and adorable although I don’t know if I could really use those words to describe a king. But it’s no wonder he won mom’s heart.”
Zane grinned. “Don’t let His Majesty hear that. He’s going to make you say it again so he could record it again. Frankly, this is the version of the king that we hadn’t seen before although my dad told me not to be surprised since His Majesty only acts differently when it comes to you and Her Majesty.”
“Really?”
He nodded, still smiling. “Remember the cupcakes you gave him the other day? He kept the wrappers. Dad said the King wants to have those framed and store them in his quarters.”
I gasped. “Had I known, I should have put them in better wrappers then.”
The last time Zane and I had this light conversation was when we were still students in Howard. I missed chatting with him like this.
“Oh, please. You shouldn’t worry about that. You could give the King a crumpled piece of paper and he’ll treat it as a national treasure. That’s how excited he is about finally being a father to you.”
i giggled.
Only dad could pull off being eccentric and lovable at the same time.
Zane stared at me, the soft smile never leaving his l*ips. “Your eyes… they don’t look dead anymore. I’m relieved.”
I sighed. “I put you through a lot, didn’t I? I’m sorry, Zane. I must have worried you so much.”
“It was my choice. I chose to keep worrying about you the same way that I chose to keep loving you even if I knew that your heart wouldn’t beat for me the way it does for a certain somebody.”
“Zane…”
“Before I met you, I laughed at everyone who sacrificed and suffered for love. I used to call them stupid. I guess you are my karma, princess.”
My smile had completely disappeared. “I’m-”
“No.” He shook his head. “Don’t say it. You have nothing to apologize for. The things Zeph and I did, we didn’t do it just for you. We did it mostly for ourselves and because we have a duty in our realms. He, as a prince in the shifter’s realm and me as a part of the council so don’t you ever feel guilty again. As for me, maybe I’ll get over this feeling one day but right now, just let me savor this.”
“How can I? That wouldn’t be fair for you.”
“It is fair because I asked for this. I want to keep falling in love with you while I can because princess, you may not know this, but you are worth the fall. I’d never
met a woman like you before. And no, don’t look at me like that. I’m a vampire. I know how to land. So, trust me when I say I could survive the fall.”
“I know you would,” I replied, nodding. “Thank you, Zane.”
“Lift up your head, princess, and keep the glow in your eyes.” He k*issed my forehead. “From now on, I don’t want you getting hurt whenever you think about me, okay? Because the only way I’ll get hurt is when you are hurt. If you are happy, I’ll feel it and I’ll be happy, too, regardless of who you are with.”
I leaned on Zane’s c*hest as we danced around to hide my emotions from the public’s prying eyes. If I could love all of my mates equally, I would. But the love I felt for Zane and Zephyr was the kind of love I had for my best friends, for my family members. My wolf was comfortable with them. My soul could connect well with them.
But my heart would not race for them the way it did for Trevor.
All of us could be together but that would not give them the happiness they deserved because my heart was biased for just one man. We may be stronger when we are together but if being together meant making them unhappy and breaking their hearts just to be strong, then I would rather not have all that power. Our bond would also suffer along the way.
When I was in the human realm, I’d witnessed how humans got ruined, how some of the dancers in Oblivion become empty shells after giving so much of themselves to others without receiving the same amount of affection.
Zane and Zephyr didn’t deserve a woman who couldn’t devote her heart to them. They deserved a woman’s hundred percent and I can’t be that person.
Contrary to others’ belief, I don’t think I fell in love with Trevor just because I met him first among my mates. Even if there were already other people around, I realized that my heart would still naturally gravitate towards him.
It was like he and I had always been one entity, like we were just pieces of ourselves and when we found each other, we became whole at last. That was what it felt with him.
Like we were one soul.
One heart.
One wolf.
One b*ody.
Even now, I could feel him walking towards us. I could feel that exact moment he stopped. It was the moment the song ended. I didn’t know how this was possible. It was like our bond was never broken at all.
Trevor cleared his throat. “May I have this dance, love?”