Chapter 20

Chapter 20

I was trying very, very hard not to get caught up in Kora Monroe’s scent as the two of us trudged back toward the castle over the uneven ground of the woods, but it was a losing battle.

The only answer was to put some distance between us, but I didn’t want to do that either. Who knew if the little minx would take it as an opportunity to run off again? The last thing I wanted was to have to chase her down once more.

Despite being an Alpha with better instincts and training than anyone in the pack, hunting Kora had been quite a feat, even for me. It did not surprise me in the least that she was the best warrior in the pack

Especially since my balls still smarted from her kneeing me. Or at least, that was what I was going to tell myself about the

situation

Goddess, her legs were gorgeous and so soft, yet strong. I imagined them wrapped around my waist as I-

“Well?” Kora asked, looking expectantly at me.

I sighed. This was the last topic I wanted to be discussing with her right now. The last topic I wanted to discuss with her ever. Hell, the last topic I wanted to discuss with ANYONE.

“Give me a minute, will you?” I grumbled. I needed to get my thoughts together before just started spouting off what remembered about the situation with her father.

Kora leaned against a nearby tree and glowered at me, clearly refusing to take another step until I answered her question.

I wanted nothing more than to tear what little was left of that dress off her and lose myself in her b*dy until I could never think of that miserable day again.

But that wasn’t what she wanted, and that wasn’t what was needed right now.

Patience.

“On the day my father died, your father gave him false information about where the battle at Caswald, on the border, was taking place,” I said slowly, focusing on the steady beat of her pulse to calm mine. “Father went to the wrong place, and it was a trap.”

“I know that story. Everyone knows that story,” Kora replied, angry. “I refuse to believe there isn’t more to it. I can’t see my father doing that, not on purpose, anyway. I just can’t. There has to be more to it than that!“.

I went tight–l*pped. Yes, there was more, but I didn’t want to give her false hope. I could tell she was grasping at whatever she could to prove her father was innocent of the crime he’d been convinced of I didn’t blame her. If our roles were reversed, I’d be doing the same thing, trying to prove my father’s innocence, to myself at the very least..

“There is something more, isn’t there?” Kora deduced from my silence. “There is something more that you know, and you

won’t tell me!”

“Kora..” I started, but she was quick to cut me off

Kora shook her head and punched me in the shoulder. She was strong, and it stung a little. “You’re not being fair! I am offering you a fair trade. If you’re not going to tell me the whole truth, then I’m not telling you a thing! You can toe the party line all you want, but I KNOW there’s more to the story, and I won’t stop digging until I’ve

got

She took another swing at me, and I caught her fist, looking her dead in the eye. Our arms hovered there as she refused to stop pushing and I refused to budge. “Kora, I’m not sure it’ll make that much difference,” I told her, taking a pleading tone

with her.

“It’ll make a difference to mel” Kora snapped, her eyes begging for me to tell her everything I knew.

It took me a moment, but I finally registered that she was trying not to cry. I hadn’t seen her cry much in her life, and I knew how important it was for her to always show a tough exterior to everyone.

Even me.

“Kora…” I sighed, leaning in

Kora shoved at my chest. “I’m not telling you a thing, do you hear me?! Not a thing!”

Lignored her pushing and pulled her into a hug. “Kora,” I said into her hair. “Your father was deemed a traitor. There’s nothing I can do about that.” I knew that wouldn’t be enough to stop her, but I needed her to understand my position.

“You’re the Alpha of the Fullbright Pack. There’s EVERYTHING you can do about that!” she argued, gripping my shirt.

She wasn’t wrong. But what with taking her as my mate, I was already skating a thin line in the pack. My mother, as Luna Regent, had named Oswald Monroe a traitor to the pack. Going back on that now… without the proper evidence… would be disastrous and there really would be a schism in the pack. I didn’t think evidence existed to clear him of any wrong doing.

“Kora, I took you as my mate,” I tried to explain it to her. “That’s already making waves..

“Theilgeject me and exonerate my father,” Kora demanded. “If there’s evidence that proves he didn’t do what they say

he

did-

Anger pulsed in my blood. I pulled back a bit to look her in the eyes. “You’d let me reject you so easily?” How could she say such a thing?

Kora rubbed the corner of her eye with the back of her wrist, looking away from me. “L..”

The rage was almost unbearable. I was risking so much by accepting her as my mate, and to her, it meant so little?

“Fine,” I seethed, letting her go. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself, but it didn’t work. “I’ll tell you. But only if your story is worthy of it.”

“Pardon?” Kora said, her voice quivering a little. She’d wrapped her arms around herself

I wasn’t sure if it was in defensiveness, or if she was cold, and right then I was too enraged to care. “You tell me the whole truth about your second mate, and I’ll tell you the rest of your father’s betrayal.”

Kora looked up at me, her eyes wounded, brimming with unshed tears. “I wasn’t going to lie to you.”

Goddess, she was maddening, stirring a whole host of emotions in me. I did not consider myself a very emotional man. My mother had raised me to be cold, rational, and a strong Alpha for our pack

But one look from Kora Monroe set my head spinning

“Just tell me,” I grunted, folding my own arms over my chest.

Kora hesitated as she looked at the ground, wringing her hands in front of her. It was as if she was trying to decide whether she wanted to divulge her secret to me or not. If she didn’t, I had no idea know what I’d do…. I needed to know the truth. about her second mate, and I needed to hear it from her own l*ps.

Finally, after taking a shaky breath, Kora nodded. “Okay.“