Chapter 86

Chapter 86

We stayed up talking about the vampires in my dream until the early hours of the morning 1 could tell that Andrew was still tense, but the more that we talked, the more that I let him into my world and my mind, the more he seemed to relax. By the time we returned to bed for a few hours‘ rest, he willingly accepted me back into his arms and allowed me to snuggle him as we fell back to sleep.

When I woke up some hours later, the bed beside me was empty. I panicked at first.

Had I said something in my sleep again? Had Andrew gotten angry with me and charged off? Would he ever want to see me again?

Then I looked at the digital clock on his bedside table: 10:00 am. He was probably handling some Alpha King business; that was all.

I forced myself to calm down and get out of bed. I would see Andrew soon enough. For now, I just needed to get myself some coffee and wake up before I made any assumptions.

I went to the dining room still dressed in only my nightgown. As I approached, I heard two familiar voices. I froze in my tracks, just behind the doorway.

Lisa and Bob.

“I thought that Maribelle was going to die of embarrassment.” I heard Lisa say. “Can you imagine seeing your ex–fiancé publicly strutting about with your ex–best friend?”

“It’s certainly not an enviable position, Bob replied, I could have gagged: he almost sounded as though he was invested in this trivial gossip.

“I suppose it could have been worse. Her date was much hotter…”

I took a couple steps back, contemplating running back to Andrew’s bedroom. Surely, I didn’t need coffee that badly. Maybe I could ask Parker or one of the housekeepers to fetch it for

I caught the eye of one of the guards. His look seemed to pity me, as though he understood. perfectly why I would rather not step foot into the same room as those two. It cut me right to my core.

I wouldn’t have anyone pitying me. Since when did I fear anyone so much that I would not be in the same room as them? They might have made my life a living hell–might have tried to kill me–but I would not give them this sort of control over me.

I took a deep breath and forced my legs to move. I paused directly in front of the doors and glanced at the guards. They nodded at me and opened the doors for me, signaling my grand

entrance.

Lisa and Bob immediately stopped talking as I walked into the room. Standing as tall asl

Chapter 86

could, I gave them each a cordial nod and a smile as I grabbed an empty mug and made my way to the coffee.

“Good morning.” I said, my tone laced with fake cheerfulness.

As I tried to pour my coffee, my mind flashed to the night that my food was drugged. The weakness, the dizziness, the black out. The inability to control my own b*dy or to remember much of what happened by the next day.

I suppressed a shudder and made myself continue to pour the coffee into my mug. They didn’t know that I was coming, so there was no way that the coffee was drugged. Most likely.

I added copious amounts of cream and sugar to my coffee as I waited to see if Lisa or Bob would acknowledge my existence. So far, they only stared at me, as though they could not believe that I had the audacity to be in their presence.

“Morning, slut,” Lisa sneered.

My b*dy tensed, but I did not let myself be rattled by her slur. I merely stirred my coffee and tried to be as polite as possible.

“How was the party?” I asked.

“Apparently not as good as the private one that you convinced my father to have.”

I blushed but did not react. When I looked up from my coffee, Lisa was glaring at me, and Bob leered openly at me from behind her back. I shifted uncomfortably, but I stood. ground.

“What was the party for?” I tried desperately to keep the conversation on track.

“It was Lady Clement’s annual masquerade.”

my

I wasn’t fully versed in the goings on of werewolf’s higher society, but even I knew that Lady Clement was considered to be royalty–like a duchess–among us. Her annual masquerade was where the who’s who of the werewolf world gathered, which led me to one significant

question…

“Why didn’t Andrew go?”

Lisa’s eyes burned could have burned a hole in me at that point. That look was almost enough to send me retreating–almost. But I wasn’t about to back down, not this time.

“Why do you think, you filthy little trollop-”

“Lasa, that’s enough.”

Andrew’s voice startled me. I hadn’t even heard him enter the room. Those doors could be quiet when the guards wanted them to be.

Chapter so

“I didn’t go to that ball because I had better things to do,” he continued.

“Like what?” Lisa exclaimed. “Plow the wedding planner?”

“Now, Lisa, I know that I did not teach you to use such language-”

“Well, it’s true. That’s exactly what you did last night, wasn’t it?”

Andrew heaved a heavy sigh.

“No, that’s not what happened. We spent the night together, that’s all. But you don’t need to know the exact details-

“Why not?” Lisa stood up, slamming her hands on the dining table. “What you do affects me too, you know. If the media finds out that you’re sleeping with this ex–con-

Then I will handle it. You have nothing to worry about

“Except for when people stop inviting you to events. Bob whispered to Lisa. With my werewolf hearing. I couldn’t help but to pick it up. “And they start talking about you behind. your back.”

“Haven’t you thought at all about how this will affect us? How it will affect me?” Lisa cried. “No one will want to associate with us if they think that you’re soft on ex–convicts.”

I tensed at the term “ex–convict but tried to not let it bother me.

Andrew pinched the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb but otherwise did not physically react.

“What is the worst that could happen?”

“You could lose reelection for Alpha King-

“And would that be the worst thing in the world?”

“L_but_L

They might toss you out of the pack,” Bob whispered again.

“What if they toss us out of the pack?” Lisa parroted.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Lisa,” Andrew countered. “She has done nothing to get herself thrown out of the pack, so associating with her will not get us thrown out-”

“She killed someone!”

It was an accident, Andrew said, his voice even but forceful. “I know the details of her case, and it was manslaughter, not murder. It was an accident.”

12:43 Fri, 5 Jan FFO

Chapter 86

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I bit my l*p. I longed to tell Andrew the truth about what had happened, that I had only been covering up for Bob at the time, but one sharp glare from Bob kept me quiet.

“She’s reckless,” I heard him whisper to Lisa. “What if she hurts one of you two next?”

I couldn’t let him egg on this fight any longer. If Andrew wasn’t noticing it himself, then me pointing it out would only make things worse, but I could remove him from the situation entirely.

I walked over to him and entwined his fingers in mine.

“Let’s just leave.” I said, running my free hand up his arm. “Let everyone cool down a bit.”

Andrew looked from me to Lisa and back again. I knew that he was considering not leaving, that the Alpha King in him did not want to back down from a fight. I leaned my head against him and gave his hand a squeeze.

His jaw clenched, but he nodded.

“This is not over,” he said to Lisa, pointing at her. He stared her straight in the eyes until she bowed her head submissively.

Andrew turned to me and smiled, but it was closed–l*pped and tense.

“Let’s go.”

As we left the room, I could feel two pairs of eyes on me. I glanced over my shoulder to find Lisa glaring at me and Bob eyeing me up and down from just behind her, his arm wrapped around her waist.