Chapter 72
Walking back to the ballroom I took the smallest steps and swayed as though I was walking on a beam. The looks on their faces when they left would be forever imprinted on my mind. Iliana and 1 locked eyes when she got in the car and Emanuel handed the umbrella to the driver, right before he got in he looked over his shoulder and watched me like he used to; with a tenderness and care that I would long for until the next time. Except there wouldn’t ever be
a next time.
They were leaving to go back to their pack where I was certain that he would make Iliana his Luna and they would rule side by side.
They may not be fated mates but they were unmistakably in love.
After taking my sweet time reaching the ballroom I was now standing on the threshold and my mind was screaming not to go inside but my body called out to the person whose mark would forever be branded on us.
“There’s nowhere we can go where he won’t find us,” Trixy said.
“Not while we’re still here at least,” I explained.
“What’s the plan?”
“To get the fuck out of here,” I said while I watched Darian turn his head and meet my gaze.
‘You made them think it was my fault’
IN
I said over the mind link.
Darian stuck his chin out, he knew exactly what he had done and the only reason he sent me off to say goodbye was so that I would find out about it too.
Mr. Ashbury’s body was carried off as I walked in and a girl was already standing on all fours scrubbing the tiles and ringing her rags off in a bucket of clear
water.
She looked worried as hell when she couldn’t get in between the cracks of the tiles where the blood had gathered and her eyes darted fearfully over Darian a few too many times. Elise caught the ensuing panic in the poor girl and threw herself on the floor to help her.
Every step I took felt forced, like I was being pulled on a leash which I guess wasn’t too far from the truth.
“The truth will set you free’- have you ever heard that expression? It’s stated in many books written by humans, the ones we’ve preserved must’ve mentioned it at least once in each edition. Now you know what your friends think you are capable of doing, and by showing you, they have set you free,”
I felt numb at this point, unsure of where he was going with this.
“How can you tell that they set me free?” I asked in a mere whisper. My body was too tired to pretend to be strong and my mind was a minefield with explosions going off every time I tried to think. A headache was working its way up and I honestly just wanted to head off to bed.
“Because you came back,” he said and stared into my eyes but it felt like his gaze reached into my soul and stripped me down to my bare bones.
The rest of the night carried on in a blur. I think it was my first out-of-body experience; I could see and hear but I didn’t feel present or quite like myself. It felt as though I was watching everyone from above and the sight was anything but beautiful.
The couples took to the dance floor in a waltz, a dance I was shocked to see them all do so well at. The pianist and violinists played a beautiful melody that sounded precisely how I imagined angels would sound. It was enchanting to see the dance, it looked like they were floating with each step and the dance itself was quite sensual with the closeness and the way that their eyes met in silent admiration and desire.
I could even see some love in a few of the pairs.
Someone cleared their throat behind me and I was pulled from the escape of watching them move like feathers in a beautiful unison.
Gabe held out his hand and wore a cocky grin that matched quite well with his ruffled hair and devious eyes.
1/2
Chapter 72
“My good woman, may I have this dance?”
I couldn’t help the goofy grin that spread across my face. There was something special about Gabe, he had this childlike innocence about him that made him safe. Safer than his brother at least.
“Thank you but I’m not in a dancing mood,” I said and smiled while I searched the room for someone.
When I saw her on the sidelines watching the couples dance 1 gestured with my head in Nora’s direction.
“I think Nora would love a dance though,” I mused.
Gabe’s smile fell an inch and he cleared his throat again while he grabbed my hand in his and leaned in.
“It wasn’t a question-” he stated lowly in a dark tone.
I swallowed a lump in my throat and looked over his shoulder to see where his devil of a brother was held up. Darian was walking into the back of the ballroom where Mrs. Smith was holding the door open for him and the council members. How had I not noticed that door before?
The council members entered and Darian stood on the rim for a moment- he turned his head and locked me down with a hard gaze.
‘Behave and do as he says’
It didn’t matter how hard I glared or how badly I wanted to tell him to piss off, he didn’t give two shits about what I wanted. If I went against his wishes he’d only make it so much worse for me.
“It’s an order from your king and Nora isn’t the girl that your brother asked you to dance with,” I said and finished Gabe’s sentence for him.
The Alpha’s Hunt
