"Mother!" Morty exclaimed as he ran down a corridor in the castle. It was a part of the castle reserved as the servant's quarters and Rick had arranged for Morty's family to be settled there in the biggest room. Beth, who had been carrying a wooden crate full of her belongings into the room, spun around at the sound of her son's voice and she instantly dropped the box with a clatter and ran towards him. Morty crashed into his mother and wrapped his arms around her tightly, burying his face in her neck to breath in her familure scent.
Rick, who had been following slowly behind, smiled at the exchange and leaned up against the wall with his arms crossed. "I was so worried about you!" she exclaimed and Morty pulled back just enough to look her in the face. Her eyes were watering and he reached up to swipe a tear away from her cheek. "I know. I'm so sorry but everything happened so fast. You don't have to worry though. I've been taken care off." He explained and Beth's expression faltered slightly as she looked over his shoulder at the king.
Morty sensed her apprehension and he pulled away and walked over to the man. He reached forward and took Rick's hand in his own. The man allowed him to pull him forward so that he was standing in front of Beth. "Mother…This is my mate." He said hesitantly. Rick stared straight ahead at the woman who didn't even flinch away from his strong gaze.
"How do you do?" he asked, nodding towards the woman. He was amazed at her open display of disrespect as she stared straight back at him but it didn't bother him. On the contrary, he found it quite impressive. "I'm fine, thank you. I take it that you've been taking good care of my son my lord." She replied and Rick couldn't help the grumbling chuckle that escaped him.
"I see where you get your bravery from Morty." He commented and Beth seemed to relax slightly at the fond look he gave her son. Morty smiled and intertwined their fingers. "I suppose so." He replied and Beth smiled. Suddenly, there was a squeal from somewhere behind them and Morty turned to see a familure young woman running towards him. "Summer!" he exclaimed and pulled away from Rick to wrap his sister in a warm hug.
"Morty! I'm so jealous you little twerp!" she exclaimed and affectionately shook him back and forth. "You're the kings mate!" she said and suddenly quieted down to turn towards the mentioned man. She cast her glance down at the ground and curtsied before the king. "Excuse my enthusiasm my lord." She apologized and Rick simply shook his head at her.
"It is not necessary to apologize." He replied and Summer smiled at him before pulling Morty aside to whisper in his ear. "He's so handsome…" She whispered and Morty blushed bright red. Rick grinned, revealing his pearly white fangs. "Well…I think I'll leave you to your family my love. I have some business to attend to." Rick said after clearing his throat. Morty's face fell slightly but he nodded in understanding before reaching up on his toes to press a chaste kiss to the man's lips. Rick smiled at him before waving goodbye to the rest of his family and turning on his heels to walk down the hallway. Morty watched him go for a moment, before following his family into their room and closing the door behind him.
Rick's mind was working in overtime as he made his way down the hallways. He was happy that Morty's family was now settled safely into the castle but he knew that things were still far from being fixed. He still needed to meet with the council to replace Julias's position with a new ambassador. That wasn't the only thing on his mind though. Something wasn't right. He could feel it in the air and he needed to get to the bottom of it.
After turning down a couple more corridors he arrived at the doors to the council chamber and he wasted no time in pushing them open and stepping in. Joseph, Bradford and the third ambassador, Lenard, turned to face him as he walked in, but they weren't alone. As he entered the room, a fourth person stood and bowed to him respectfully. She was a relatively small woman with bright red hair and blue eyes. Rick scented the air and determined that she was an alpha as well.
"My lord." Joseph said and bowed to him. "We'd like to apologize for Julias's actions. His betrayal should not have been so easy. We've taken the liberty to increase the guard's around the castle as well as your mate's own guard's." He said before taking his seat once again. Rick let out a low growl as he replied, "you're right. It should not have happened. Morty will be staying at my side from now on. Does anyone have a problem with that?" he asked, daring even a single one of them to object. He nodded his head in satisfaction when no one replied and took a seat in his throne. "and who might this be?" he asked, referring to the woman who was still standing near the rest of the ambassadors.
"This is the new ambassador to replace Julias." Bradford replied, his thick black mustache moving over his lips. "That was awfully fast…" he replied, glancing back at the woman. "I'm very pleased to be of service to you my lord. My name is Lilly." She spoke, and her voice was strangely soothing. Rick starred at her for a long moment before slowly looking away. "Very well then. You may proceed as Julias's replacement." He decided.
"Thank you, my lord." She replied with a curtsy and moved to take her seat behind the table alongside the other council members. "Now…" Rick began, crossing his legs and clasping his fingers under his chin. "Let's discuss security."
For a while they discussed the different security measurements that would be increased as well as different tactics to finding out who had helped Julias with his threats. Rick was aware of Lilly's eyes on his the entire time he spoke. Something about her gave him a strange feeling but he couldn't quite figure it out. Maybe it was the fact that she was an alpha but behaved like an omega but he couldn't be sure. The sun had just set behind the mountains as they finished up their meeting. Rick bid them farewell as he left the room and made his way towards his quarters.
All he could think about was seeing Morty again. It felt like he hadn't seen the boy in months even though it had only been a few hours. He reached his room and turned the handle, swinging the door open with the idea of seeing his mate only to be met with a much different sight. He froze as he looked over at his bed to see a beautiful woman, dressed in white silk that did nothing to hide her curves, laying seductively across his bed. His eyes widened as he looked around the room and then settled back down on her.
"And who the hell are you?" he growled. The woman simply smiled and rose slowly before sauntering over to him. "I heard you may want a little company tonight…" she whispered and her voice was low and breathy. Anyone else may have found the sight quite tempting and a month ago, Rick may have felt the same. He'd often had flings with different men and woman, trying to fill the void left by his missing mate, but now the idea nearly made him sick. Her scent was all wrong, it was too sweet, too feminine. She smelled like rose water and soap. Rick growled under his breath and took a step back. The woman simply advanced on him.
"Who sent you?" He growled and the woman cocked her head to the side, her dark brown curls falling over her shoulder to cascade down her back. "I'm not given that information. I simply receive the orders and I follow them." She replied and stepped forward until she was pressed firmly against his front, lifting a hand to rest on his neck. Another growl escaped him but she persisted. "You have me for the night my lord…and I'm up for anything." She cooed, her dark brown eye's half lidded with lust. Before Rick could tell her to get lost, she was reaching up on her tippy toes to press a kiss to his lips.
That's when Rick heard a loud clatter and a gasp from behind him. He snapped his head in the direction of the sound to be met with the sight of Morty standing stone still in the doorway. The basket of fresh baked bread he had been carrying now laid on the ground, its contents spread out across the floor. Before he could even reply, the boy was turning on his heel's and taking off. "Morty!" He called out and moved to take after him but the woman grabbed him by the wrist, stopping him in his tracks. "Wait my lord-." She began but Rick ripped his hand out of her grasp with a snarl. Her eye's widened and she took a step back. "I suggest you get the hell out of here before I really lose my temper…" he growled low in his throat and the woman didn't meet his gaze. Without another glance at the woman, he took off after his mate.