AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My lips parted as I straightened my body, the tattered remains of my clothing falling around my slender but aching figure. Everything felt off, like I didn’t belong in my own skin. He continued to stare at me expectantly, but when I didn’t respond, he spoke.
“Obviously, I’m Zen, the Alpha King of Silverhold,” he went on like he was talking to a kid. “Who are you?”
“Like I said, I don’t know.” And that was the truth. I truly had no recollection of my life.
I shifted the weight on my buttocks uncomfortably on the boulder, unable to find a semblance of warmth, even as I rubbed my hands over my goosebumps. Every move I made only felt worse. My mouth parted again as I searched for something to say, anything that would get me out of this.
But he started back through the pool, leaving the cave and holding up a hand. “Don’t move,” he warned. “Not an inch.”
I had no intention of going anywhere. The only escape I could see was out the mouth of the cave where he was headed anyway and into the arms of his guards. And what lay beyond the mouth of the cave? The city? Catalonia? What was out there for me?
The thought of running out and escaping into nothingness, more unknown, was just as terrifying as staying put.
It was probably better to sit tight and see how this played out. Or so I hoped, anyway.
King Zen waded through the pool, his svelte, naked ass appearing as he made it to the shore, and he exited, leaving me in the dim cavern. The second he left, sheer terror overcame me, the sense of being unattended shocking me into the reality of my situation.
How had I come to be there? What was this place?
I put my feet in the water, suddenly overcome with the urge to see myself out of the lagoon, as panic seized my heart. The water was freezing, another shock to my system, but I powered through, eager to find my feet on surer ground than I’d previously been on.
As I waded out of the cave to the rocky entrance, the Alpha King reappeared, now fully dressed and holding a blanket. I scurried fully out of the cave and onto the shore, certain he was going to order me back to where he’d found me. I froze where I stood, waiting for him to unleash a load of fury upon me, but he only shook his head.
“I told you not to move,” he scolded me, tossing me the heavy woolen covering, but he didn’t tell me to return into the water, much to my relief.
I caught the blanket with my left hand and wrapped it around my body, unsure if I should be grateful or wary. I made it the rest of the way out of the pool, but this Zen seemed to have enough suspicion for both of us, as he again advanced on me. I noticed him sniffing at me, trying to get a sense of who I was. This time, he didn’t put his hands on me as he towered over me, peering down to study my trembling body.
“Well? Any insights to share?”
The blanket provided some warmth, but under his stare, it was hard to think straight.
He’s going to kill me,I thought reasonably. This wasn’t a notion born of fear. It was a legitimate assumption, based on what he had already said. I’d been trespassing. He was the king, and he didn’t want me or anyone else there. I couldn’t give him a single sensible answer. I would probably kill me if I were him.
“I’m sorry,” I tried again. “I really don’t know how I came to be here.”
“I heard that part,” he grumbled. “I didn’t hear the part where you told me your name or where you’re from.”
Drawing in a shaky breath, I shook my head and spat out the words that had been sticking in my throat. It was better to get them out of the way and face the music than drag this out any longer. “I don’t know.”
He snorted like I was joking. “You don’t know your name or where you’re from?”
How many times was he going to ask me this?
I sighed. “I can’t think of either right now,” I admitted, knowing how it must sound to him, but it was the truth.
It felt like the harder I wracked my brain, the more elusive the details leading up to my past seemed to slip away.
His beautiful face shadowed again, that stern, intense expression returning and setting my stomach aflutter—but not in a good way. My peripheral vision took in the waterfall pool as I planned an escape. Could I be fast enough to escape him?
You can shift into a mouse,a small voice whispered.Scurry off and hide until the coast is clear, and then you can find your way out of here undetected.
Could I really do that, or was I losing my mind in the craziness of this situation?
But before I could entertain the thought of doing that properly, the Alpha King spoke again. “You’re not kidding, are you?”
A small smile touched the edges of my lips, the gesture paining my face. “This isn’t exactly the time or place for a comedy routine, Alpha,” I replied dryly.
His eyes narrowed, and my grin faded as quickly as it had surfaced.
