Chapter 71

The door opens and Ethan and I jerk apart. My heart is racing. I turn to see it’s Ansel and my stomach lurches.

He stares for a moment, like he can’t believe his own eyes, and then I see the strangled pain come over his face. In the next second, his face is twisted with rage.

“Ansel - I - ” I fumble for words.

Ethan is standing frozen next to me, like a deer caught in headlights.

Ansel growls and his body shifts almost instantaneously to become his yellow wolf. He stares straight at Ethan and bares his fangs, snarling. His ears pointed up and his hackles are raised.

“Wait,” I say. “Let me explain - “

But Jeff tears towards Ethan, who braces for impact, shielding his head and face instinctively.

Jeff lunges at Ethan, knocking him to the ground.

“Stop,” I scream, but Jeff’s focus is on Ethan.

The rest happens in a blur. I see Jeff make a move to attack and I rush to stop him. Ethan cries out as Jeff sinks his teeth into Ethan’s shoulder.

I don’t know what to do. I find that I’m not able to transform into Ada. Instead, like he’s a dog, I try to grab hold of Jeff to pull him off.

He whips around rapidly and bites my arm. I cry out in pain. Jeff immediately goes still.

I stare at my arm, dazed. Blood is quickly getting everywhere. Jeff unpins Ethan and his golden body shifts back into Ansel’s.

“Karin,” Ansel says, looking pale. “I didn’t mean to - I didn’t even register it was you. It was just a reaction.” He leaves Ethan on the ground to approach me, but I flinch reflexively.

Ethan pulls himself over against the wall. He grips his shoulder, which is bleeding profusely. His teeth are gritted in pain.

Ansel’s blue eyes are both startled and conflicted. “Let me help,” he says to me, before turning back around to warn Ethan in a low growl. “Don’t move.”

“I don’t want your help,” I say. I reach my arm over to clamp my hand down over the wound on my arm. “I just want you to let him go.”

Ansel’s face goes dark. “That’s not happening,” he says.

“I won’t let you kill him,” I say.

“You care an awful lot about him.” His voice is ice-cold.

Blood is dripping in between my fingers as I clutch my arm. “Yes,” I say. “But I wouldn’t let you hurt anyone.”

Ansel’s eyes are alight with fiery rage. “You think I’m a monster, don’t you?”

“I don’t know.” Tears start to form in my eyes.

Behind Ansel, movement catches my eyes. Ethan is quietly trying to climb out the window.

Ansel notices my eyes are focused behind him. He begins to glance over his shoulder.

“Wait!”

He swivels his head back to me, brow furrowed. Then I watch it click in his brain. I reach out and grab hold of him, to stop him, marking his arm with blood, as he starts to spin around. He knocks me away easily, as though I’m a small child.

“Son of bitch,” he yells. Ethan has disappeared out the window, leaving blood smeared on the floor, wall, and window sill. I breathe a small sigh of relief, even though I know he’s not in the clear yet.

Ansel is almost vibrating with angry energy. He faces me. “Nice try, Little Wolf,” he seethes. “I mindlinked with the gammas. They’ll have him in two seconds.” His voice is bitter.

Then he yanks off his button down, revealing his white undershirt. I shudder, frightened, but he ignores me as he wraps the button down around my arm, pulling it tight to apply pressure. “You’ve already ruined this shirt already,” he says. “Might as well keep you from staining anything else.”

“What will you do when he’s found,” I say, my voice quivering.

“He’s being arrested for trespassing, Karin,” Ansel says, staring at me. “Not being murdered.”

“You were going to kill him,” I say. My whole body feels shaky.

“It crossed my mind.”

The casualness of this leaves me boiling. “ You know what? I don’t buy it anymore.”

“Don’t buy what,” he snaps.

“That you’re just some angsty hero, who only kills the bad guys.”

He crosses his arms. “I never said I was a hero.”

“You want people to believe it. You - you’re manipulative. And we all did believe, until…”

“What? I lost my temper with the press? Not my finest moment, I’ll grant, but I don’t know when you decided I’m an evil villain.” He pauses to catch his breath. “And maybe you shouldn’t believe the press. Tell me what they said about you was true?”

“You’re violent,” I say.

“Life of an alpha.” He shrugs.

“I guess that makes it okay? To storm around here and keep everybody walking on eggshells? To hold me captive!”

“Walk out that fucking door, anytime you want, Karin! No one’s being held. We’re not Beauty and the Beast. You signed a contract, remember? A highly-paid one.” Ansel pauses. “Maybe I’m not the one who’s manipulative. Maybe it’s someone else.” He eyes me furiously. “A certain doctor, possibly.”

“That’s not true,” I say.

“I think it is true,” Ansel says. “Where else is this coming from? And you were too weak-minded to see it! Or maybe too wrapped up in kissing him!”

“I did kiss him,” I shout. “I did. He didn’t just kiss me. I kissed him back. Twice!” Tears are pouring down my face. I clench at my injured arm.

Ansel looks livid. His hands are trembling with fury. “How,” he asks. “I could never. I -” He stops. “I almost envy you, Karin. You’re so cold that you can just turn it off and on. If you ever really cared.”

His words stings. “Me? What about you,” I yell. “You haven’t really been the definition of caring!” I’m ready to explode.

“I -” Ansel begins.

“If you care about me, why keep me as your surrogate, Ansel? Why keep putting me through all this fertility shit? All you want is an heir so you can be King. You don’t care about me!”

“That’s not -”

I cut him off again. “No,” I shout, charging at him. “Just shut up!”

I’m standing close, bristling with anger. I point a finger to his chest, then I drop it. “I’m such an idiot,” I say, starting to sob. “I thought we had feelings for each other. I never stopped to think why you were just keeping me on this hook of being your paid surrogate. I never thought about why, if you cared, you would just keep me stuck in this contract.”

Ansel’s chest is heaving rapidly. We’re standing close enough that I can feel the heat on his body. His expression is pained.

“And the dumbest thing,” I say. “Is that I never once questioned why you didn’t just pay off my father’s debts.”

“Karin -”

“Stop talking!” I grit my teeth. “There’s no justification. Somehow, I wanted to believe in this fairytale so much that it didn’t even occur to me. I asked you to talk to the Full Moon king about my father. I was so blinded that I couldn’t even see this basic thing.”

I throw my hands up in the air. “It’s embarrassing to think about what a fool I’ve been. If you cared about me, you would have helped my father. It would have been easy for you to.”

I step away from him.

“Let me -”

“No. I’m not going to let you just explain it all away!” I’m so mad, I’m shaking.

“Karin!” He grabs me, but I yank away.

Someone knocks at the door.

Henry. His face is grim.

“There’s been an accident.”