Alpha King’s Lost Luna by Aubrey Pepper

Chapter 52 Rude Northerner

ASHER

“You’re very late, Alpha Asher. Is it customary of your Pack to keep your guests

waiting?”

The moment I stepped into the first-floor meeting room, a heavily accented voice reached my ears, and I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Though I knew the voice belonged to the King of Yurene, I was shocked by how callously I was being

spoken to.

The king stood from the couch very slowly and then extended his hand toward mine. “I jest, of course, though you do appear to be quite busy.””

I stared at his hand for a moment before I accepted it in mine. “I suppose I am quite busy. I’m sorry to keep you waiting-”

“Are you ill?” Kaleb blurted out. “You look tired-”

Lancel took a step forward in warning, but I raised a hand to stop him.

“It’s fine,” I murmured.

Kaleb studied us with a curious expression and then chuckled. “It seems the people of the South are more tense than us Northerners.”

The king of Yurene was one of the tallest men I’d ever seen. I wasn’t short by any means, but compared to his impressive stature, I felt like a child again. His hair was somewhere between gold and brown, and his deep blue eyes were dark and haunting. His appearance was sophisticated but his attire was another thing completely. He was dressed in deep leathers and furs that suggested a colder climate than it was. It made sense- Yurene’s climate was likely much colder than that of Wegalla’s.

Despite his height, he appeared to be a few years younger than me and still

had a softness to his smile.

so,” I

land through war and disputes, Kaleb was known to use softer policies to annex other packs into their empire. That being said, I could see a

to the king, and then I took a seat in the leather chair

meet you

then filled each of the cups with my favorite blend of tea. My mouth watered as the smell hit my nose. I hadn’t had much of an appetite lately, but

as I accepted my cup.

the tea to his lips, he inhaled deeply and

the tea in the South is very worthy of praise. The only praise I’ve been

seems to me that you have had a rather bad impression of Wegalla,” I remarked, and I pushed down the feeling

bluntly, and then he offered a strange expression of amusement. “I didn’t expect to see an attempted kidnapping upon my arrival to

eyes flew to Lancel,

market earlier. I wanted to get a feel for Anemond before I arrived in the palace. I’ve only heard tales. of Wegalla from my father, you see, so I wanted to get to know the city myself. I was in the middle of the market when I heard a woman cry out for help. My men and I ended up finding

woman.’

before

intervened before she could be hurt,” Kaleb continued. matter-of-factly, but his bright expression faded quickly. “But I

something like this… it all sounded so strange. Crime hadn’t been this

years.

“I can assure you, Alpha

slight tilt of his head. “Do you mean to say

emphasized. Alpha Kaleb’s tone was tiresome. and I couldn’t believe I was being challenged like that in my own palace. I wasn’t sure how

stared at me for

bad luck,” he remarked, and he turned his attention

to sip at my own and try to steady my breath. I needed to stay calm and collected. Politics between our empires

to do so.

our correspondence, I hadn’t expected you