Page 29 of The Forbidden Wolf King
I was so stuck in my head that I realized I was now lost. I’d gone the wrong way and turned to retrace my steps when I slammed into someone’s chest.
Axil.
My whole body froze.
He looked down at me and after yesterday’s emotional exchange I wasn’t prepared to see the mask of anger that was displayed there.
I sucked in a breath at the sight and he gritted his jaw and moved to walk past me. I stepped to the side, matching his movements but getting in his way. His nostrils flared and pure unbridled rage roiled through him. I couldfeelit.
How dare he.
“You havenoright to be mad at me,” I seethed, holding his dominant gaze.
“You didn’t even let me speak,” he managed through clenched teeth.
I scoffed. “And what could you possibly say that would explain how you just walked away from me? After all the promises you made.”
He looked farther down the hallway where footsteps could be heard and then reached out, yanking me by the shoulders and pulling me into an open doorway.
I growled but allowed him to shuffle me into a room and shut the door. I peered around to see that we were in some kind of library. Books lined dark wooden floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.
He rushed forward then, zooming into my face with as much anger as I’d had during our last exchange. Dark circles marred his skin and I wondered if he’d slept last night. “You’re not serious about me walking away, right? You had to have known that it was against my will.”
I scoffed, looking at him like he’d grown two heads. “Against your will? The second your brother showed up and started to call me trash, you shut down and walked away without a fight …”
As soon as I said it out loud, it hit me. Why in Hades had I never thought of it before? His brother was king at the time and therefore had the gift that every wolven king had …
“He controlled you.” I said it with complete shock, feeling badly for how I’d treated him, thinking for all those years that he’d walked away willingly.
“Yes,” he said through gritted teeth, “and never permitted me to return to the summer camp. I can’tbelieveyou would think that I left you like that.”
My heart hammered in my chest at his words, and some part of me, deep down inside, healed. He didn’t leave me. He wastakenaway from me. There was a difference.
Axil leaned his forehead against mine, like he used to when we were kids. “How could you ever think I’d willingly spend even one day away from you?”
I whimpered then, feeling my own breakdown just beneath the surface.
“My lord!” someone shouted in the hallway, the sound muffled by the closed door.
Axil growled and stepped away from me. I spun, giving him my back just as the door opened. I had to bite my lip to keep from falling into a fit of sobs right there.
“I have an urgent matter that needs your attention, sir,” a male voice said from outside.
Axil hesitated, probably looking at me and waiting for my reaction.
“I’ll be out in a minute,” Axil said.
“My lord, it’s extremely urgent,” the guard pressed. “We have news of war.”
My wolf bristled at that.
War?
Axil reached for me, grasping my shoulders. “Let’s talk later. I’m not done with you.”
I’m not done with you.There was more. Of course there was. There was five years of absence to explain.
Footsteps fell away from me and then the door shut. I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Collapsing to the ground I burst into cries reminiscent of the night Axil left me. Fat hot tears fell down my cheeks as I relived what I’d said to him last night. How I’d squarely placed all the blame on him.
