Rejected by My Mate, Claimed by the Alpha King novel · Chapter 18 of 24

Chapter 18: Ask Me Again

By evening the clinic was empty.

Agnes had gone to the pack house with the elders, and she had taken Corbin with her to write down every word he said.

That left the back room, the narrow cot, and a lamp.

Alaric sat on the cot with his arm in the sling and Agnes's sleep tea going cold in his hand.

I locked the door behind me.

He heard the bolt and looked up.

"Ask me again," I said.

"Ask you what?"

"Why you lied. Not the Court's reason. Not the reason you gave me in the frost."

He put the cup down on the floor.

"I told you the truth in the frost."

"You told me the safe part."

He rubbed his face with his good hand.

He was quiet for so long that I thought he'd refuse. Then he spoke to the floor.

"I was in this room when you came in the front door. I heard you tell Agnes you'd been thrown out."

"I stood at that curtain and I looked at you. You were soaked and shaking, and you still had your chin up."

"And my wolf spoke."

My heart gave a thump.

"What did he say?"

"Mine."

I didn't move.

"There was no bond," he said. "I know what a bond is, I've seen a hundred of them. This wasn't that. There was no smell, no thread. It was just my wolf and my own eyes."

"Your father's men came through the door. I had only a moment, and I didn't use it to think about the law."

"The law was my excuse. I said it to myself in the truck. Then I said it again at the Hall."

"The truth is I wanted you with me, and I took the only road I could see that let me keep you. And I let you think the Goddess had done it, because that was easier than saying a man had."

I let it settle.

It was uglier than the reason he had given the Court. It was also the first thing he had said that I fully believed.

"You should have asked me," I said.

← Chapter 17 · All chapters · Chapter 19 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend