Ava
What the fuck?! My eyes widen in shock as my gaze meets with Braiden’s.
His eyes dare me. Dare me to sit in the chair next to him. Dare me to try and get up. Dare me to do anything. The
intensity of his stare and the feel of his body under me make me blush, and I look away. My eyes meet with some
of the pack members sitting nearby. Some smile, while others quickly look away.
Finally, my eyes lock with Nick. He is sitting beside a good-looking man who smiles back at me.
Nick winks, his eyebrows lifting jokingly as his head jerks towards Braiden behind me. I roll my eyes, tempted to
flip him off.
“Sit still,” Braiden says quietly, making me realize how much I fidget.
“You brought this on yourself,” I say, popping a grape into my mouth while I stare at him cockily.
“I could have been sitting at a table like a normal person. Instead, I am on display for everyone to see. One day, you
are with Selene, the next with me, and with a Queen's chair next to you. I take it they don’t know what we are to
each other, so do you not worry about what they are thinking?” I grind out, my frustration at the situation we are in
conveyed in the tone of my voice.
“No. I am the King.” His short, arrogant answer is infuriating.
“Yes. And what is little old me doing sitting on the King's lap? Did you ever think what they might be thinking of
me?”
He looks back at me with a blank expression, my question not the least bit disturbing to him as it is to me. One
minute, he is about to announce his engagement to Selene, and the next, some rando rogue white wolf is sitting on
his lap. How does he not see a problem with this?
“They will know soon enough. Anyone who says anything bad about you will have me to deal with, so don’t
worry.” I shift on his lap, r epositioning my massive pile of food.
“You are going to protect me then? Well, I don’t need protecting, My King. I have been doing just fine until now,”
I say as I poke my finger into his rock-solid pec.
He grabs my hand, my finger still sticking out, and with eyes locked on mine, he puts my finger in his warm mouth.
His tongue swirls around the tip, making my breath hitch and sending my lower stomach into a swirl of nervous
energy, the feeling traveling to a spot between my legs that immediately starts throbbing. I clench my thighs at the
feel of his tongue.
The spark caused by the contact and his overwhelming spicy scent mingle to form some sort of aphrodisiac. I can
almost feel my pupils dilating.
With an embarrassingly loud pop, he releases my finger and leans forward so that we are nearly nose to nose.
“If you ke ep clenching your thighs like that, I will take that as a sign that you need a hand and send everyone out
again for some more privacy, little minx. Which I am happy to do. Let's see what stories they make up then.”
He smirks as my eyes widen with embarrassment before leaning back in his chair and laughing. It is the first time I
have heard or seen him laugh. His face looks ten years younger, and the sound is so rich and hearty that it sends a
shiver down my spine. And completely throws me off guard. The irritation I felt disappears as a small smile plays
on my lips. One I try and contain but which still lifts the sides of my mouth, the traitorous bastards.
I look away, meeting several shocked expressions as eyes dart between Braiden and me. I focus on eating, trying to
ignore the man igniting a fire within me as he strokes my thigh. The small circles he draws there ke ep me in a
constant state of awareness and wound tight with desire. Was this how it was with a mate? This electricity zinging
between us that feels like it might ignite at any moment.
The man next to Nick rises and approaches us, Nick following a short distance behind. Relief washes through me
but is short-lived.
“My Queen, I am Samuel—beta of My King's royal pack,” he says quietly so that no one else can hear.
“No. Don’t do that,” I hiss, my hand flapping uselessly in the air as if that could erase the title he used to address
me. “I am not your Queen.”
“Yet,” Braiden interrupts, his tone bored and completely ignoring the roll of my eyes at his remark. “You will ask
Samuel if you need anything. He will arrange it for you. It is convenient that he is also Nick's mate. At least in our
pack, you will know each other.”
“Our pack?” I spit out, my eyes darting between Samuel, Nick, and Braiden.
“Firstly, congratulations, Samuel, and really nice to meet you,” I say, smiling at Samuel, who returns my smile with
one of his own.
“Secondly, um, I’m not going to your pack. No. That’s not happening.” I expect anger from Braiden, but instead,
he brushes me off, clearly not believing my words.
“We will see,” is all he says as his large hands circle my waist and swiftly lift me off him so I am now standing.
He rises and takes my half-empty plate, placing it on his chair before grabbing my hand.
“They are ready for you, My King. They are in Alpha Darius’ office as requested,” Samuel says, turning around
and heading toward one of the exits with Nick. We follow, Braiden holding my hand firmly while I tug on it, trying
to release my hand.
“Where are we going?” I ask as we continue out the hall and through the pack house, upstairs toward a long
corridor.
“We will talk to your parents. We need to find out what happened to you.” Braiden's words do the trick, and I pull
my hand free with all the force I can muster.
I stop in my tracks, Braiden similarly stopping and then turning around slowly. His face is devoid of any emotion.
“I don’t want to see them. We haven’t spoken in over nine years. I doubt they even cared for me in the 27 years I
was alive. This is pointless.” I look away, trying to control the rising emotions at the thought. I might as well have
been an orphan.
Braiden approaches me, his knuckles under my chin, forcing my face up and forward so that I look at him.
“You won’t see them again after today. I promise. Only if you want to.
But you can’t run anymore. It is time we figure some things out. Someone did this to you, Ava. Don’t you want to
know why?” His voice is surprisingly gentle, and his face has softened. His hand cups my cheek, the move so
tender I lean into it.
“If they hurt you, they deal with me. If the truth hurts you, we deal with it together. But hiding is no longer possible
because I see you.”
His head dips, and his lips ghost across mine, so light it is hard to tell if there was even contact.
The hand cupping my cheek drops and once again grasps mine.
This time, when he walks, there is no resistance. We walk hand in hand towards answers. And as I look up at the
man beside me, I don’t feel so frightened.