AMARIS
I stood up straighter, forcing my shoulders back. "I heard they already had issues, so it wasn’t really my fault."
He looked at and I looked back, trying to read whatever was happening behind those dark eyes that gave nothing away. It felt different about the way he was staring at .
He took a few steps closer but still kept distance between us, like there was an invisible line drawn on the floor he refused to cross.
"What happened last night cannot repeat itself again," he announced, his voice didn’t carry the kind of authority it normally did.
I stared at him confused, my brain scrambling to figure out what he was talking about. Last night? Was he referring to Victor? To the engagent party? To Ryker kissing in the garden? Did he know about Ryker and I?
Oh shit, I forgot to ask Nia about Victor, my mind spiralled without control.
"What do you an Alpha Corvin?" I asked carefully.
He swallowed and I watched his throat work, watched him asure his words. "You hugged . That cannot happen again."
The absurdity of it hit so hard I could not contain the laughter that bubbled up, could not stop the sound from escaping my mouth even though I knew laughing at an Alpha was probably grounds for punishnt.
He stared at while I laughed, his expression darkening.
I rembered who I was talking to and cleared my throat, trying to compose myself. "Oh, sorry for the laughter."
"I am serious," Corvin pressed, his jaw tightening. "It cannot happen."
I gazed at his dark eyes and how clearly I was making him uncomfortable which was a change for once.
So reckless part that was tired of being treated like I was radioactive, tired of being told I was simultaneously essential for breeding purposes but too disgusting to touch.
I stepped closer to him, closing so of the distance he had so carefully maintained.
"Was it so bad that I hugged you?"
His eyes widened slightly, surprise flashing across his face before he could hide it. "I don’t need you hugging , bad or good."
I took another step forward, watching his body go rigid.
If he was not the kind of man who would rather die than back down from anything he would have stepped away from , would have put furniture between us, would have retreated to that safe distance.
But he stayed planted exactly where he was.
I reached out slowly and placed both hands on his chest, feeling the muscles tense under my palms. His heartbeat hamred against my fingers, erratic in a way that contradicted every controlled breath he took.
"Tell Alpha Corvin," I looked up at him, "why does a hug disturb you so much?"
His hands ca up like he was going to push away but stopped halfway, hovering in the air between us like he could not decide what to do with them.
"Or is it because you are afraid you don’t have the kind of control you think you do?" I pressed.
His jaw clenched and I felt his chest rise and fall with a sharp inhale. "You don’t know what you are talking about."
"Don’t I?" I challenged, my fingers spreading wider across his shirt.
"You can order around, tell what to wear and how to act and who to smile at, you can make my brother lick my feet and humiliate him in front of everyone just to prove a point." I paused.
"But one hug and you co to my room to tell it can never happen again because it bothers you that much."
"It does not bother ," he ground out. But I knew that it did. More that he would ever admit it.
"Liar," I whispered.
His hands finally moved, wrapping around my wrists and pulling them away from his chest. But he did not let go, just held my wrists between us while his eyes bore into mine. This was the closest we had been since I got here and sohow, I didn’t feel tense at his presence at all.
"You think you understand ?" His voice had dropped and his gaze darkened to penetrate mine. "You think a few days in this pack gives you insight into who I am?"
"I think it has shown that you are not the Alpha you let on," I shot back, my heart pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears.
"I think you are holding back that if you let anyone close enough to actually touch you, you might rember what it feels like to be human instead of just an Alpha."
His grip on my wrists tightened. "Careful Amaris."
"Or what?" The reckless part of was fully in control now. "You will punish ? Put on burning stones again? Make watch while you destroy soone else I care about?"
I laughed but it ca out bitter. "You already made it clear I am just a womb to you, so what else can you really take away?"
He released my wrists and stepped back, putting that careful distance between us again.
He looked at for a long mont and I could see him considering his options, deciding how much truth he could afford to give without losing whatever control he was desperately trying to maintain.
"You are much more delusional than I thought if you believe that," he finally said, and the lie was so obvious it made my chest ache.
"Right," I whispered. Deciding not to press on.
He turned toward the door but paused with his hand on the handle. "The full moon is in three days."
My stomach dropped rembering what Nia had said about mating night. "I know."
"We will need to discuss arrangents," he continued without looking at . "Make sure you are prepared."
"Prepared for what exactly?" I asked, even though I was pretty sure I did not want to know the answer.
"For the insemination," he responded flatly. "The full moon makes conception more likely so it would be the ideal ti."
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