The two of them laughed and talked among themselves as Nicholas silently followed them to the dining hall. The guards bowed and pushed open the door. When they entered, they noticed King Emmerich and Liam standing by the window. Emmerich smiled as he turned his head towards the door and approached his granddaughter.

"I see you two have met!" As Seraphina hugged him, he said.

"Yes, Tėtis! You didn't tell me Hilda was also here." She exclaimed,

"I didn't get a chance."

"You guys know each other?" As he stood behind Emmerich, Liam inquired.

"Yes, she is my Great-Aunt's Granddaughter. To put it another way, we are second cousins." Hilda responded with a smile, and they proceeded to their seats.

Seraphina took one of the seats at the head of the table, leaving the one beside her vacant. King Emmerich sat to her left, and Liam sat beside him. The Beta couple sat to her right.

"Where is the Alpha?" Nicholas inquired as he took his seat.

"He should be here soon." She said with a small smile, and Nicholas nodded.

As the beast staggered out of the forest, he switched back to human form. He walked naked towards the castle, where a maid stood with her head bowed down to the ground and clothes in her hand. She offered him the clothes, and he accepted them.

"Lady Ariel, His Majesty King Emmerich, Beta Nicholas, and Gamma Liam are waiting in the dining hall for His Highness's arrival." She informed him with a deep bow, and he went inside the castle while putting on his slacks. After a quick shower, he changed into a formal suit and made his way to the dining hall.

"I rested that night, and soft knocks on the door woke me up the next morning. I assumed someone had brought me some warm breakfast, and let me tell you, a warm breakfast sounded divine after a three-day journey. I opened the door with a cheerful smile, and guess who was standing there. Six armed guards stood by the door, devilish smiles on their faces. The old hag, it turns out, decided to betray me and turn me in, to His Majesty." He could hear Nicholas' voice and the other's soft laughter. The guards bowed and opened the door for him, and he walked in with his head held high. The other three remained seated while Nicholas and Liam stood up and bowed their heads. Seraphina didn't look up as he walked across the room and sat down beside her.

After Aiden sat, Nicholas and Liam followed suit.

"What were you guys talking about?" He asked coldly, placing a serviette on his lap and motioning the maids to serve their dinner.

"My trip to Drinealia and how I met Hilda," Nicholas replied

"Well carry on then." Aiden urged, and Nicholas resumed speaking while the maids served their dinner.

"So I was dragged to the castle and imprisoned in His Majesty's private dungeon. His war chief stormed in, and after a few blows of punches, he told me how much His Majesty would love to torture me. Every day, some guards would come down and beat me to a pulp before leaving me to heal so they could beat me up again. I was bracing myself for death in that dungeon. But one divine morning, when the cell iron bars opened, I was devoured by the most incredible scent I'd ever encountered and was graced by the most beautiful person I'd ever my eyes on. And, like the angel she is, she rescued me from the dungeon and led me to her chamber. While she was tending to my wounds, I wondered what an angel was doing in Demon Hell. We were preparing for our first kiss after a few days with her when His Majesty literally burst through the doors, and I knew what she was doing there. His Majesty learned the purpose of my visit and decided to accompany me back to the pack. And you already know the rest." He finished telling his story, and everyone was paying close attention the entire time.

"You couldn't expect me to leave this matter unattended, and I would never have let you take her without knowing where she was going and where she was going to live. On top of that, I found my Princess." He said the last part while looking at Seraphina, and they both smiled. He turned to face Aiden and said curtly,

"I wish to speak with everyone about what's going on and the gravity of the situation. Call your parents and we'll talk." Aiden didn't respond, instead just stared at Emmerich, knowing that The Demon wasn't asking him, but that was a direct order. The rest of the dinner was quiet, with only a few small talks. After dinner, they said their goodbyes and later returned to their respective chambers.

They both walked silently to their room; she went straight to the closet and changed into comfortable loungewear before exiting to find Aiden standing by the balcony door. His sleeves were folded up to his elbows, and his suit jacket was lying on the lounge chair. He was standing with his back to her, his hands deep in his pockets.

"There is a lot that we need to talk about." As he turned on his heels to face her, he said it numbly.

"Yes, we do." As she turned around and sat down on the bed, she said.

"You should go first I believe. I've already said everything you needed to know, I think." She implied for him to begin.

"I and Victoria have been friends since we were pups," he said as he leaned against the doorframe.

"We did everything together, and our families were also very close. It was always the three of us after Arnfinn was born. After a few years, she was sent to another country for further education, leaving me with Arnfinn. We were pretty close. Growing up, I was mostly deprived of parental care because they were both so hectic. And I didn't want him to feel the same way. Years passed, and I was saddled with responsibilities but I made sure he never felt alone. Everything was fine until that fateful night when he was murdered. My world came crashing down around me when he abandoned me; even though my mother tried her hardest to stay by my side, I was still alone. After a few days, father began to burden me with additional duties and responsibilities. He thought I'd had enough time to grieve. While I was breaking from the inside out, all he saw was me slacking. I was drifting off in the darkness with no way out when Victoria showed up one day. She helped me recover again, and during that time, I grew resentful of her." Seraphina frowned as he lowered his gaze. She braced herself for the truth he was about to deliver.

"She began tending to my needs, physical and mental. But I didn't touch her after that first time, and she was sent away again. Years passed and we grew up. I looked in every nook and cranny for you, but I couldn't find you for decades. Soon I was saddled with the responsibility as the Alpha of the pack. Victoria returned after a few years, and I accepted her into the pack, forgetting every mistake we made as juveniles. She told me she was too in search for her mate. But after a particularly bad day, when I was drinking myself to unconsciousness in my room, she came in and I poured my heart out to her. And I made the same mistake again that night.

I was almost addicted to her. I used her to relieve myself whenever I was enraged, troubled, or simply having a bad day, and she never complained. But, over time, I distanced myself from her and began to dismiss her entire existence. I felt incredibly guilty and begged her forgiveness. But she was doing her best to persuade me that what we did was nothing wrong. In the midst of all of this, an assassin began assassinating important Alpha couples and ministers. Before I could begin investigating the case, my parents started pressuring me to choose a mate and ascend to the throne. They insisted I choose Victoria, and after much deliberation, I did. After I gave my words to everyone, and just before introducing her to the Kingdom, I was informed that she had found her mate and had left. So I had to choose Julia instead, and then I came across you."

"She is someone who fits the role of an ideal mate and luna. It's no surprise you felt compelled to choose her." After a brief silence, she said, Aiden opened his mouth to say something, but she stopped him with a raised hand.

"Please allow me to finish. I have no grudges that you satisfied yourself with her, and I didn't expect someone to wait for me for centuries. And I won't hold grudges against you because you didn't tell me or lied about your chosen. I myself hid a lot of things from you. I kept my true identity concealed from you. We are both in the wrong here, and all I ask is that you be truthful to me from now on, just as I will do my best to be truthful to you." She finished speaking and he stared at her, speechless.

"Did you expect me to throw a temper or be outraged?" She inquired, chuckling.

"I suppose. Yes!"

"I'm not the type to hold someone accountable for similar things I did. If I had been truthful with you from the beginning, I might have been enraged, but I can't because you have equally valid reasons to be enraged against me. I'm not going to lie and say your truth didn't hurt me. It did, and it hurt a lot, and I might not be able to forgive everything from the bottom of my heart. But I'll try my hardest. All I ask now is that you be honest with me. I know you hid a lot of things throughout the year. All I ask for is you to be truthful so that I never have the slightest doubt about trusting you."

He sighed and moved closer to her, kneeling down, he gently grasped her hands in his and gazed into her eyes,

"I promise to always be truthful." He promised and she smiled at him. She bowed her head and asked solemnly,

"Now tell me who feed you with lies that I killed your brother." She lifted her head, her eyes darkened, and a dark aura surrounded her. He sighed and began speaking.

"I promised never to lie, so even if you wanted to kill me right now, I would still tell you the truth. While inquiring Johan and Zedan, Zedan remained numbed as if he were some stone sculpture even after so many different types of tortures. But Johan was very talkative, he told me about you being sent to the Castle of Manhattan Island. He said he was there as well and saw how you killed him. He told me in vivid detail."

"And you believed him?" She asked baffled and he shook his head.

"I didn't, he said I would receive the proves of his accusation. I got some pictures of you in your gear the next day. When I compared those pictures to the figure I saw that night, they were eerily similar. There was also a note that said I should just search your house because I might find the gears you used that night. It said that you keep every piece of gear you used till this day and I might just find the one you used that night. So I went through your house and found those gears."

"All right," she said solemnly, nodding her head. They sat in silence for a moment and she could tell he was being reluctant about something,

"It's not all that you had to tell me, is it?" She inquired, and he shook his head. He sighed as she raised her brows

"I had Malcolm captive. Here in the dungeons of the castle."

"What! When?" She yelled, her eyes widened.

"After you were attacked in your penthouse. I had everyone working to find him, and I eventually caught him. My father had visited me while I was putting him in the dungeon, and he forbade me from disclosing his confinement with anyone."

"How did he manage to flee if you had him imprisoned?"

"Do you recall the day I presented you the studio?" he inquired, and she nodded.

"The pack was attacked that evening, and he fled,"

After their conversation, they had retired to their bed. Even though sleep eventually took over him, she continued to toss and turn for hours. She eventually got out of bed and sat on the balcony floor. Her mind was racing with all of the information he had given her. It hurt her to think of them being together, him enjoying everything Victoria had to offer. The addiction he once had to her body made her heart-bleed. But then again that is all in the past. He did try to distance himself from Victoria and look for her. But then again, he did call her back into the pack, whether it was to track down Malcolm or for other reasons, but he did bring her back. He mentioned her finding her mate, but she didn't see any mark. And why would she come running back after all that has happened, after she had found her mate? Why would any female leave her mate behind and run back to her old lover with just one call? And what male would let their unmarked, unmated female leave on their own. What bothered her the most was Victoria being unmarked and her running back to the pack as if nothing had happened. Aside from that, she was wary if she could truly trust him with her heart. Trust felt so foreign, could she really ever trust anyone. Things would have been different if he had told her that Malcolm had been imprisoned beneath her feet for days. He did mention his father forbidding him from disclosing this information. Then again, why would he forbid him from sharing such details? She had a lot of questions that were racing through her mind, and she needed to find the answers. But first, she must make a decision.

__________________________

256 days, 16 hours, 26 minutes I worked on Prince's Assassin Mate. I started without any expectation, or any experience. But all the support and love you guys showered me with kept me going and today I have finished writing the last chapter! I can't thank you guys enough for you decided to stop by and give a story with merely a hundred reads a chance. I love you guys so much ♡♡

The last chapters are up on Goodnovel now, check it out and maybe leave a good review;)

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