Page 78 of Sold to Three Alpha Kings

The guards hesitate, glancing between the three of us.

“That’s enough, all of you,” Corvin says. “We all need to calm down. We’re on the same side here.”

***

The three of us spend the rest of the day managing the fallout.

Edgar’s injury needs tending. His pride needs tending more, and that takes considerably longer. A tense meeting with the remaining council members, careful negotiation to keep the incident from spiraling into something the wider packs hear about and misinterpret.

Wayne sits through all of it in silence, unrepentant, arms crossed. He didn’t speak at all. Sinth and I did the talking and the negotiating. After the meeting, the elders all exit the room, leaving just the three of us.

“I can’t stand that Edgar of a person,” he says the moment we’re alone. “He’s an asshole.”

“He is indeed.” I pinch the bridge of my nose.

“You know, moons ago you would have agreed with him,” Wayne says it plainly, no malice in it. “Funny how that works.”

“You’re right.” I don’t argue the point further, because there isn’t one to make. “You defended her. Both of you, before I even found the words myself. I won’t forget that.”

Sinth claps a hand on Wayne’s shoulder. “For what it’s worth, I’d have hit him myself if you hadn’t gotten there first.”

Wayne grins at that, some of the tension finally easing from his shoulders.

By evening, the three of us are eager to get back to her—to tell her everything’s handled, to fuss over her the way we’ve fussed over her every day since the healer’s news.

Her room is empty.

The nest sits undisturbed, blankets still holding the shape of where she slept last night, but there’s no sign of her anywhere in the room. No note. No servant who’s seen her since midday.

Something cold drops through my chest.

“Charlize?” I call, though I already know there won’t be an answer.

Silence answers instead, heavy and absolute, and the three of us exchange a single look before moving, all at once, to search the palace grounds.

Chapter 22 - Charlize

I didn’t intend to eavesdrop, but my curiosity got the better of me, and I heard enough to make me feel like shit again.

I was passing the council chamber when an elder’s voice reached me through the door, sharp with disgust. Unfit to lead. Weak. Shiftless, perhaps.

The Kings were silent. They didn’t defend me. And that realization hit me harder than anything ever had.

Why?

Why did they stand still and not say anything after spending weeks promising to never hurt me?

I didn’t wait a second longer before taking off without looking back.

I’m in my room now, my back pressed against the door with tears in my eyes. My lips are quivering, my hands are shaking, and my legs are too weak to carry my weight.

Their silence stings like a nasty bee.

I thought we were past that now.

Why? Why did they betray me like that?

Is this what they truly think about me? Have they been pretending all this time?