Chapter 9

Esther’s POV

I had been about to stutter a response, but Kevin had gotten there first, giving Nicholas a disapproving frown.

“Why are you scolding her? Don’t you have respect for a member of your pack?”

Nicholas had clearly not liked this, and I had been scared that he was going to lose his temper. He had glowered at Kevin.

“It’s got nothing to do with you, Hill. Esther, come to me.”

Automatically, I started to move towards him. My head bowed, but Kevin had stopped me. To my surprise, he had stood in front of me so that I had bumped into his shoulder.

“What do you want with her?” he had demanded.

Nicholas looked confused. I had wondered if any of the other Alpha Kings had ever stood up to him.

His eyes narrowed.

“She belongs to me, so I can do whatever I want with her. So I can demand to know what you’re doing with my sl… my maid?”

I had noticed that he had stopped himself before calling me his slave, but I had known that Kevin sensed the slip because he had stiffened. I could feel the heat coming off his body.

“I’m in short supply of people with a good knowledge of medicine,” he had said, his tone stiff. “And I believe Esther is good with medicine.”

That confused me. I had barely shown any knowledge of medicine to him, and yet he had spoken as if I had told him about the healing properties of the herbs in the garden.

From the look on his face, Nicholas was stunned.

“What?”

“I think her talent is wasted being here,” Kevin had continued.

“What? Her talent?” Nicholas scoffed.

“Maybe you should allow her to fulfill her potential. I can see that it’s there inside her, and yet you don’t allow her to pursue it.”

“That’s because she works for me. She doesn’t need to do anything except be a lowly maid in my pack.”

Kevin had snorted at that. I had begun to wonder what was going on, and how I had gotten into this situation. It felt like things were going to turn into a fight between the two of them. I hadn’t wanted to be there.

“It’s fine, My Lord,” I had told Kevin nervously, attempting to step around him. “You don’t need to say anything for me.”

“You’d better listen to her, Hill,” Nicholas had sniggered.

“At least she knows her place. Come along, Esther.”

But Kevin grabbed my arm and pulled me back, causing me to stumble into him.

Confused, I had stared up at him as he had glowered at Nicholas. His eyes had been shifting from blue to golden, and I could feel his grip tightening on my arm.

What was going on here? Why had he gotten so upset about the way Nicholas was treating me?

Then again, if he had known what had been going on recently, then he would likely have been even angrier than he already was.

“I think you should let her come with me, Crawford,” Kevin had growled. “She should be able to have a chance to show what she’s really made of.”

Nicholas’s eyes had blazed, and I had thought he was going to launch himself at Kevin. The tension had crackled in the air, and I could sense my mate’s wolf snarling in anticipation for a fight.

I couldn’t let that happen. No blood should be shed that day.

I had turned to Kevin.

“It’s fine, My Lord,” I had told him meekly. “You don’t need to think about that for me.”

“Esther…”

“While I appreciate the gesture, I think that things are going to be fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”

I had managed to pull away from his grasp and back away. I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off him.

When he had been standing there staring at me, his eyes practically glowing in his chiseled face, I had struggled to look away. There had been something hypnotic about him.

And it had been making my heart race.

I had squeaked as Nicholas had grabbed me from behind and pulled me close, sniggering at Kevin as he had leaned in and his breath had tickled my ear.

“See that, Hill? She belongs to me, so she knows where her loyalties lie.”

“Maybe she does, or maybe it’s something else,” Kevin had shot back.

I felt Nicholas stiffen behind me.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I can see the look in her eyes. She’s been hurt, and badly, by your pack.”

Kevin had looked at me, and I had struggled to look away.

“What did she do to offend you that you treat her as if she’s a toy for your pleasure?”

Nicholas had snarled, and I had known that things were going to get worse. Turning, I had begun to push Nicholas in the chest.

“Let’s go, My Lord. You’ve got your ceremony to go back to.”

He had looked like he was going to protest, but he had allowed me to take him away from Kevin. The Alpha King from the Blue Lake Pack hadn’t been doing anything wrong, and we didn’t need any fights to happen that day.

We couldn’t allow it.

As soon as we had entered the hallway outside the Great Hall, with the sounds of the festivities coming through a gap in the door, Nicholas had spun me around to face him. He had grabbed my shoulders hard.

“What were you doing with him?”

“What?”

“Why were you with Kevin Hill? You should’ve been working in the hall with the other maids.”

I bristled at his tone.

“Are you accusing me of being lazy with my work?”

“I’m asking you why you were alone with another Alpha King, Esther. Tell me why you would do that.”

He had been practically pushing his face into mine, and I hadn’t been able to pull back with his strong grip.

“He was injured,” I had mumbled. “I was just helping him.”

“Injured how?”

I couldn’t answer. I had known it wouldn’t matter if I told him about Eliza and Maya planning to disfigure me; he would never reprimand them.

Anything to torment me further.

He had rolled his eyes and scoffed as he had released me.

“You shouldn’t be around someone like him. And if you believe anything he says, you’ll be even more stupid than I thought you were.”

“What are you talking about? What’s he supposed to have done?”

“That’s not something you need to know, and you shouldn’t question me over it.”

I had known he’d wanted me to bow my head and apologize for speaking out of turn, but I couldn’t do that. There had been something about Kevin that I had found myself drawn to, and that had never happened to me before.

Maybe it was because it had been the first time in a year that I had had anyone show me any kindness. It had been a scary notion that barely anyone had shown me a sense of decency since Emily…

I hadn’t wanted to think about that, so I had pushed it away. Instead, I had put my hands on my hips and glared at him.

“Why are you being rude about another Alpha King?” I had demanded.

Nicholas had looked bewildered at my response.

“What?”

“You keep saying he’s not someone I should be around, but you don’t give me any examples. How am I supposed to keep away when you won’t tell me why?”

“I’m your Alpha King, Esther,” he had snarled at me. “And I’m also your mate. You will do as I tell you.”

Calling me his mate had made me feel sick. It had felt like I’d been slapped in the face with that remark.

It hadn’t been as comforting as it should have been, especially when the link between us hurt more than it made me feel better.

“If I was your mate, then you wouldn’t be treating me like this,” I had snapped back, trying to keep my voice down.

“What?”

“And if you want an example for what a good Alpha King is like, you can look to Kevin. At least he knows how to treat someone with respect.”

That was when I had seen the look in his eyes. They had narrowed, and they had been glowing.

He had been very angry with me then.