Caught by the Mad Alpha King-Chapter 349: Jet ready tonight. (Win-Win)

They cleared the gates of the capital like they were sliding back into a role Chris hadn’t asked for but wore anyway: consort, diplomatic asset, and visible target.

The diplomatic house waited, prepared for them down to the angle of the curtains.

Chris stepped inside and felt... nothing.

Not nothing-nothing. Just the absence of the thing his body had been reaching for since the convoy left Saha.

Rowan watched him take it in, quick and quiet, then asked, practically. "You want to see the courtyard? Get settled? Food first?"

Chris opened his mouth, then shut it again, like the answer annoyed him.

Dax, beside him, glanced over. "What."

It wasn’t a question. It was Dax reading the shift in his breathing through the bond and deciding he didn’t like it.

Chris exhaled through his nose. "I want to go home."

Rowan blinked. "We are home. We’re in the capital."

Chris’s eyes narrowed like Rowan had personally offended him. "This isn’t my home."

The hallway went very still.

Because that sentence could have meant a dozen things, and none of them were safe.

Dax’s head turned slowly, attention sharpening. "Chris."

Chris met his gaze without flinching, and when he spoke again, there was no patience left.

"Home is you," he said. "It’s your palace in Saha. It’s... the stupid marble floors and the security checkpoints and Killian pretending he doesn’t run the entire kingdom from a clipboard. I want Tania."

Rowan’s expression shifted, surprise first, then something gentler, like he hadn’t realized how deep that went.

Dax didn’t move for a heartbeat.

Then his mouth curved, slowly, like someone who’d just been handed something priceless and was trying not to show teeth.

"You’re saying," Dax murmured, dangerously pleased, "that you miss my palace."

Chris rolled his eyes because he refused to let Dax enjoy this too much. "Don’t make it weird."

"I’m going to make it royal," Dax corrected, fully delighted now. "Rowan. Did you hear that? My consort is homesick for Saha."

Rowan let out a long breath like he was tired in advance. "I heard it. I’m also hearing the budget request for ’emotional relocation’ coming."

Dax didn’t even pretend to be sorry. He shifted closer, the movement subtle and possessive in a way only Dax could make look casual. His hand brushed Chris’s lower back, just enough contact to remind everyone in the room, including Chris, that the bond wasn’t a rumor and the king didn’t do "temporary."

"I have a meeting with Caelan today," Dax said, his tone switching from amused husband to working monarch without losing the warmth in his eyes. "I’ll finish it. You’ll see your siblings."

Chris’s mouth twitched. "Generous."

"Strategic," Dax corrected. "If I’m going to drag you through the capital, you might as well get something you want out of it."

Rowan’s gaze flicked between them. "Define ’finish.’"

Dax’s smile returned, sharp. "I said today, not this week."

Chris huffed, already suspicious, already building a worst-case scenario in his head like it was a hobby. "He wants to see us and is probably going to convince us to force Ethan to be a witness in the illegal gender experimentation labs."

Rowan went very still, meaning he had just added three new contingencies to the security plan and one new name to his private list of people he would happily ruin.

Dax, on the other hand, laughed.

It wasn’t loud. It was the kind of laugh that sounded like a threat disguised as amusement.

"Then the meeting would be even shorter," Dax said, eyes bright. "And there is no need for you to come."

Chris arched a brow. "Oh?"

Dax leaned in, close enough that the staff at the end of the hall immediately remembered urgent duties elsewhere. His voice dropped, intimate, the bond tightening with that possessive certainty that always made Chris feel both safe and furious about it.

"I will reserve that," Dax murmured, "for when you are the queen officially."

Chris stared at him for a beat, as if deciding whether to throw something or kiss him or both.

Rowan exhaled through his nose. "I hate it here."

Chris didn’t take his eyes off Dax. "You’re enjoying saying that word."

Dax’s smile turned impossibly pleased. "Which one?"

"Queen."

"Oh," Dax said, like it was the simplest truth in the world. "Yes."

Chris scoffed because he refused to give Dax the satisfaction of seeing how his stomach flipped at it. "Don’t start. I’m not..."

"You’re not ready," Dax finished smoothly, not contradicting him, not pushing. Just stating it like a timeline he’d already mapped. "Which is why you won’t be in that room today."

Chris’s eyes narrowed, suspicion sharpening again. "So you’re going to go alone, and I’m supposed to trust you not to turn the capital into a crater."

Dax’s gaze held his, warm and lethal at the same time. "I’m going to go alone," he said calmly, "and I’m going to make sure the only person who leaves that meeting uncomfortable is Caelan."

Rowan’s voice came flat from the side. "If he mentions ’witness’ and ’labs’ in the same sentence, I’m invoking international protocol."

Chris glanced at Rowan. "There’s international protocol for that?"

"There’s protocol for everything," Rowan replied. "Most of it is just a nicer way to say, ’we’re going to ruin your life.’"

Dax’s attention returned to Chris like the world always narrowed down to him. "You’ll see your siblings," he said. "Stay in public spaces. Keep your guard detail. Don’t disappear into any private rooms with anyone who suddenly has regrets and a confession."

Chris’s mouth twisted. "You mean my extended family."

"I mean the capital," Dax corrected. "Your family is just one of its hobbies."

Chris rolled his eyes, but he didn’t argue, because Dax wasn’t being controlling. Not this time, at least.

"And you," Chris said, pointing a finger at him like it would do anything to a king. "No threats."

Dax’s expression turned innocent in a way that should have been illegal. "I don’t threaten."

Rowan made a sound of disgust. "Your Majesty, you threaten by existing."

Dax ignored him. "I negotiate."

Chris stared at him, unimpressed. "You negotiate like a guillotine negotiates."

Dax’s smile widened. "Effective."

Rowan cut in, already moving, earpiece touched. "Jet will be ready tonight."