Chapter 5.-4
Rhyson stared at me. “Shift,” he ordered.
Clam
Immediately, I let my wolf regress until I was naked on my hands and knees in front of him. Sitting
back on my haunches, I tried to smile at him. “S-Surprise.”
As he stared at me, time seemed to stop. This was not how I wanted to see him again, naked and
kneeling on the asphalt, but we were here. We were together.
And a cold mask was slipping over his face.
“Surprise,” he echoed with sarcasm. “This is taking clingy a little too far.”
Clingy? He wasn’t exactly welcoming me with open arms. My arms went around my body. “I’m sorry, Rhyson. I’m not trying to be clingy. I’m in some trouble, and I was hoping you could help me.”
“Rhyson,” the man next to him barked, and I jumped, almost forgetting that we had an audience. What had Rhyson called him? Duke. “Did you just call him Rhyson?”
Immediately, I lowered my gaze. In my excitement to speak to him, I’d actually forgotten that I needed to be subservient. “Sorry.” I swallowed hard. “Alpha Summerset. I didn’t mean to offend you.” My plan was quickly going off the rails.
The men around him went very quiet, and I risked peeking up at him. His face was hard and his eyes were inscrutable as he stared down at me. “It’s King Rhyson,” he said darkly.
My heart dove into my stomach. King Rhyson?
I’d heard something about a new king but hadn’t paid any attention to it. I had far bigger concerns.
I should have paid attention. Things were falling into place now: his distaste for the ball, the way every alpha had immediately listened to him, why he’d questioned me calling him alpha.
King Rhyson was vastly different from Alpha Rhyson, and from the distaste in his voice, I knew my heart was about to be shattered into a million pieces.
“You knew I didn’t know,” I whispered.
“Do I?” he asked coldly. “Or do I think that you’re an excellent actress. Poor destroyed little injured bird who couldn’t bag herself an alpha and set her sights higher on a king.”
“No. That is not what happened…”
“Your father says you’re a disappointment,” he growled. “And I can see why. Had I known what a fucking slut you were, I never would have touched you with a ten-foot pole. I don’t know what kind
12
Chapter 5-4
of trouble you’re in, nor do I care. Leave before you humiliate yourself even further.”
Claim
The cold rose up inside me. It was the kind of raw response that I used often. One that helped numb the pain, but even as I tried to coat myself in it, it didn’t stop his words from breaking me. The pain in my chest was an unusual feeling, and it quickly spread. A lump welled up in my throat
and tears sprang to my eyes.
No. No, I couldn’t show weakness. I couldn’t let him know.
Closing my eyes, I called out to my wolf. Feeling my pain, she resisted, but I needed a quick escape. I needed to hide before any of them saw me for what I truly was.
Weak and desperate.
The wolf took over, and I slipped away into the nearest line of trees, running as fast as I could to put as much distance between myself and my only hope as I could.
“Shit,” someone said from behind me. “She can’t go in there. The rogues will tear her apart.”
I had no idea what that meant, but I didn’t care. I just ran faster.
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