Chapter 70
Meredith.
I slammed the door to the office behind me, harder than I meant to.
My footsteps echoed down the hall like gunfire, loud and fast, until I burst out into the cool Dusk air.
Damn him.
Damn him!
I wrapped my arms around myself as I marched across the front garden, feeling the sharp wind whip my skirts and bite my skin. But I didn’t care.
I wanted to get as far away from that house as possible. From his knowing eyes. From his suffocating silence.
How dare he?
How dare he dig into my wound like it was his business?
How dare he make arrangements with his doctor behind my back?
He could have asked. Once. Just once, even though I wouldn’t reveal it like how I didn’t tell him how I got my scar when he asked about it.
But no. He needed to prove something. Needed to have his answers, his little puzzle pieces, fit neatly into place.
And now he knew…
That I had been picking at my own scar in the quiet hours of night, that every time it faded, I brought it back—like some cursed routine. Even deep enough to bleed. Just enough to keep it there. Keep it visible. Keep it real.
The doctor had said nothing directly to me. I had sighed in relieve and felt peace not knowing the man knew everything.
He found out about my secret and pretended not to know a thing only to go report it to Draven.
This was all a conspiracy between Draven and his doctor and I wanted them both to burn.
I found myself at the lawn, breathing hard. My fingers were trembling. I didn’t realize how far I walked and how I got here.
Why did my injury, my scar matter to him?
So, what if I wasn’t ready to let it go even if everyone wanted it healed and forgotten?
That scar was mine, and mine alone to make decisions on. It was the only thing no one could take from me. Not even him.
I let out a shaky breath and sat on the grass, staring at the distance.
I hated that Draven made me feel like this. Like I had been cornered and stripped bare without consent.
He might be our next King, but that doesn’t give him the right to interfere with my life.
Next time, he should ask before prying into my life.
“Meredith?”
A deep voice pulled me out from my deep grudges.
I lifted my gaze to see Dennis standing before me, playing with a key around his finger with a smile on his lips.
“I’m going into town. Would you want to come along?”
—
~**Draven**~
She slammed the door.
For a moment, the silence that followed was louder than the thunder in my chest.
How dare she?
I stared at the empty space where Meredith had stood just seconds ago, the words she flung at me still echoing like blades across stone.
No one. I mean no one—had ever spoken to me like that. Not since I took the Alpha position from my father. Not even the council of Elders. Not a clan leader.
Not even my enemies dared raise their voices to me. And yet, this woman—this cursed woman with nothing to her name and a delicate frame—looked me straight in the eye and challenged me.
Openly. Fearlessly. Disrespectfully.
My fists clenched as I turned, pacing like a caged animal behind my desk. I couldn’t believe it. A wolfless woman spat words like she was ready to face me in combat.
Had she forgotten who I was? What I could do to her in a heartbeat?
No. She knew.
And that was what stoked the fire hotter. Because she would have still done it anyway.
I ran a hand through my hair, forcing myself to breathe—but that only reminded me of how her scent lingered in the room. Soft. Wild. Unapologetic. Just like her damn mouth.
I started pacing about. And then the memory from when I commanded her came back.
My Alpha command. The very thing that could drop any pack wolf to their knees with a single word, didn’t work on her.
She didn’t even flinch.
My jaw locked.
No wolf could resist a direct command from their Alpha. But she wasn’t a wolf. She had no wolf, no rank. And yet my words rolled off her like dust. She resisted it. Fully.
And now that I thought of it, she’d been resisting since the very first day.
The scene of her dancing barefoot under the moon when others were asleep, replayed in my head.
My temple twitched.
There was only one explanation: Meredith was not just stubborn. She was actually possessed.
“You are not thinking clearly,” came Rhovan’s growl in my head. “You brought this on yourself.”
I stopped mid-step.
“What?”
“You pried. You didn’t ask. You barged into our mate’s privacy like a savage. What did you think she had do? Kiss your boots?”
A vein pulsed near my temple. “Rhovan—”
“She reacted like anyone would if their boundary was shattered. You gave her no choice.”
“She disrespected me,” I snapped aloud. “She forgot who I am.”
“She remembered just fine. She just didn’t care. And why should she? You crossed the line first.”
My fingers dug into the edge of my desk.
“Say one more thing, and I will—”
“What? Tear me apart?” Rhovan mocked, his voice a low laugh. “You can’t take a few truths? Huh?”
That was it.
A sharp pain exploded behind my eyes and shot through my spine. My body moved before I realized what I was doing.
With a roar, I flipped the desk—heavy wood and all—sending it crashing against the far wall. Papers and glass scattered. My chair was next, kicked into the bookshelf behind me with enough force to shatter the frame.
My anger knew no bounds.
“I will kill that rude mate of yours!” I growled.
My heart thundered in my ears. My bones cracked.
No Rhovan.
Not now.
I clutched my side as pain wracked through my ribcage. My wrist bent unnaturally, and I saw the familiar shift begin—bones stretching, skin changing. My fingers turned to claws.
Rhovan was taking over.
But then—a knock sounded on the door.
It was urgent and repeated.
“Alpha, are you there?” Jeffery’s voice travelled from the other side.
I couldn’t answer.
A second later, the door burst open.
Jeffery scanned the wreckage once, then moved straight to me. “Alpha—” he gasped. “You are shifting?”
I could barely look up, but he knelt beside me without waiting.
“You can’t shift here, Alpha. Not now.”
“Why?” My voice was guttural.
“You are not in control. It’s dangerous. Please.”
His words didn’t register. But Rhovan stilled.
The shift paused. My wrist reverted, though it hurt like fire. My breath came in sharp gasps.
Somehow… somehow, I calmed as Rhovan chose to retreat.
I never remember the aftermath of the few times Rhovan had taken over me in my anger. Only him and Jeffery knew.
That seemed suspicious. It meant they knew something I didn’t.
Once I regained myself, I shoved Jeffery’s arm off and stood up shakily.
I needed air, but my anger was yet to pass. Meredith was the cause of this.
I stormed out of the office looking for Meredith, intending to punish her, only to learn a shocking news.
No one had seen her.
“Find her,” I ordered the guards. “Now.”
None of Meredith’s servants knew her whereabouts.
Kira, who had escorted her to the dining hall earlier, claimed she last saw her leave to my office with Jeffery.
The world around me sharpened with unease. My pulse jumped.
She was angry. She left in that state. And no one had seen her since.
Dammit!
I waved my hand. “Search the grounds. Now. Do not rest until she’s found.”
They scattered.
Thirty minutes passed. I returned to my office, which Jeffery had quickly cleaned up. My desk was back in place. My chair replaced.
He stepped in quietly. “Alpha.”
I looked up. “Well?”
“One of the warriors at the gates said he saw Lady Meredith leaving the estate in your brother’s car.”
My hand slowly curled into a fist.