rie
h l
night. What are the chances that I'd run into the alpha king out here in the ga
rol, I clear my throat and nod w
then laughs again. "I can't tell
re from my tone, even he
o him on a silver platter? Probably, but I'm banking on the fact that he's
et out of the pack a
t crinkle at the corners of his eyes that has
ot what I exp
rrogant, imperial-he seems to act like the complete opposite, almost friendly in a way. Lik
y off guard. The entire trip up here, I'd been preparing myself over and ove
front of me in the flesh, I can't seem to get m
er into the gardens. I need a minute to breathe before I can start trying to se
he ball where hundreds of other girl
ds of his shoes crunching on the gravel following
y would he ca
e world is
that he follows me while I
eresting enough to ditch his own damn party in order to play cat-and-mous
" Elijah ca
ng on my heel to face him, he practically barrels into me. As I fall back,
chivalrous, it knoc
of his suit to keep me from
ault," he tells me, b
e sucking in a short burst of air that doesn't seem able to quite fill my lungs. I'm struck by
voice cuts off,
, I feel
heart, over and over again until I'm
its way across what feels like the vast expanse of the universe un
whip, and the
ating
, his mouth falling ope
, the King of the North: Eli
ry to move it. I can't believe-
n beats steadily in my chest,
of air leaves him as he continues to stare at me-in horror? Disgust? Bewilderment?
nd compelling me to follow him. My wolf is practically clawing at me fro
his head wildly. His own wolf must
hatters at
ore he's shifting and turning to sprint t
t...jus
e, the lingering burning feeling still
ge to stumble my way back into the ball. The lights are bright,
ght now, but I can't just leave w
ost the entire thing in one go. One of the catering staff gives me a strange look be
skirts of the party. My chest aches from being separated so suddenly
one together for a while to properly let it settle. That's how it should be
as yet to s
lence and the space to be alone again. I can hardly breathe, and being surrounded
ip into my nightgown, I feel the familiar p
and pretend to seduce Elijah to make Alpha Storm happy, not be re
n packlands while feeling like I'm dying? Is t
ing up in bed. Expecting Raya, I head ov
instantly, freezing me in place as
bbing the door and prying it out of
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