Page 7 of The Alpha King's Mate

Her back straightened, but she daren’t utter a word. A weight lifted off my chest and a lovely lightness settled there. Or it might have been my head.

“What’s wrong with that one?” someone asked.

Silence.

“Yeah. Why is she smiling?” Another voice.

The Alpha King didn’t respond.

“Now, Gerald. Your life is forfeit. Mine to claim.”

I tried to focus on their words, but I was so hungry my belly ached. My head hurt. I hadn’t eaten yesterday. Not since I’d accidentally shrunk Cora’s favourite sweater. I could have sworn it wasn’t in the cotton pile.

“Take my daughter’s life. She is useless. No wolf or dynamic.”

Was that my father’s voice?

That filthy swine.

I mumbled something.

“She’s kinda funny.”

“A life for a life,” the Alpha King murmured.

“No,” I whispered.

But it was too late. My eyes rolled back and I felt myself collapse. I lay on the floor, staring at my father’s dismembered foot. There was no shoe, and the top of the sock was frayed. A bubble of laughter built in my chest.

It would take forever to get the bloodstains out of that sock.

My vision blurred.

I tried to open my eyes, but nothing would respond.

? ? ?

I blinked and sucked at the saliva in my mouth, only to realise I was lying in a puddle of my own drool. I stared at the dark brown leather for a moment. My head tilted back, and the world spun. I closed my eyes and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

“You’re awake.”

I recognised that voice.

I opened my eyes and this time they focused.

Wood, marble, glass. Everything soft in colour, the wall lights setting it all aglow until the room felt almost serene.

Almost.

I grabbed the back of the couch and hauled myself up.

I was in the Alpha King’s domain.

“Why am I here?” I asked, turning to face his desk.

Of course he had floor-to-ceiling windows beside him. Before he could answer, I felt something hard around my neck. I touched the plastic device.

A collar.