Page 13 of The Alpha King's Mate

No one had protected me then, and no one would now.

I moved around the room, handing out the drinks one by one, never making eye contact. Task complete, I backed away until I felt the shelf behind me, in case he required anything more.

“She’s a better sight than her father,” someone said. Another grunted his agreement.

“Why don’t you kneel in the corner? I might need something else.”

I didn’t look at the wolf named Sorin the Terrible. I slid to my knees, feeling the familiar cold of the marble. Like the stone from the basement.

I didn’t look at whoever laughed.

I did wonder what was for dinner.

Chapter 6

Sorin

Ember waited patiently while I locked my desk drawer. She ran my house seamlessly, and over the years had become a satisfactory bedding partner.

“And she didn’t refuse or baulk at her duties?”

“No, Alpha,” she said, soft enough that my eyes flicked up.

I pulled the keys from the lock and slipped them into my pocket.

“You pity her.”

Ember was an orphan from the Crescent Blood Moon pack. Contrary to the rumours, I hadn’t slaughtered everyone. Their leader had been an abomination to our kind.

“You know what her father stole from me.”

“He did,” she said, meeting my eyes.“She didn’t.”

There was no point discussing the matter with her. Not when I couldn’t understand myself why the wolfless waif was such an irritant.

“It’s time for my bath,” I said, standing.

She rolled her eyes. One of the few who could.

? ? ?

When I entered my bathroom, the large tub was steaming and the waif was on her knees, head ducked low.

“Am I expected to undress myself?”

Her head came up slowly, and there it was—the loathing in those eyes. Exactly what I wanted. She rose from the floor and crossed to me. By the time she stopped, her gaze had lowered again. Her hands came up and began unfastening my shirt buttons.

She was careful not to touch my flesh, but she paused when she pulled my shirt open. My ink had been carefully designed to leave bare skin over my heart and along my side—for when I found my mate. She leaned in as she dragged the shirt down my arms.

I frowned. A faint scent. There, then gone.

We stared at her.

I shook my head to clear it. It had to be the bath. But it was wrong. Nothing in that water smelled like this.

Malakh growled, low and deep.

“What did you put in my bath?” I growled, gripping her arm until she gasped.