Chapter 43

I woke groggily, with sunlight streaming in the window. I hadn’t closed the hotel room’s heavy blackout curtains.

I blinked my eyes open as a wave of nausea hit me, then slammed them shut again.

I couldn’t face the day yet. I felt sick, but also sated after last night. But annoyed with myself for wanting sex with Hunter in the circumstances.

And weird about how I’d left things with Hunter.

Shit. What time was it?

Had I remembered to set an alarm?

I clumsily scrabbled for my phone. 7:37. And I had to be at the ceremony by 8, at least a 10 minute drive away.

I jumped out of bed as quickly as I could without making myself vomit, and searched for clothes.

We were breaking ground on the pack school today, and there was a ceremony to mark the occasion.

After the fiasco with Maya’s treachery and the planning commission, I couldn’t afford to do anything that would make Sean decide he was right about my trustworthiness after all.

I groped in my small suitcase for the clothes I’d planned to wear. The blouse was a wrap style that fell loosely around my waist—perfect for concealing the bump.

But, I realized when I looked in the mirror, i’s deep v perfectly showed off the hickey Hunter gave me last night.

My breath quickened in panic as I went back to my suitcase. I could try concealer, but that might make it even more obvious if it got cakey in the heat or rubbed off on the fabric.

I sighed in relief as my had found a cardigan. If I buttoned it all the way and remembered not to take it off, it would cover the mark.

I blinked in the sunshine outside the pack school site.

The area had been marked off with tape and stakes, showing the outline of the building. It was a large clearing in a wooded area, with tall pines rising above the scene and grounds where we’d build lawns and sports fields and a playground.

It would be a perfect setting, when it was done.

I felt pride warm me, starting at my diaphragm and radiating to my extremities.

Whenever I left, this would be a good legacy to leave.

I walked into the small stage that had been set up and tapped the microphone.

“Excuse me, attention please, everyone.”

I used my clear, assertive voice, and the small crowd gathered grew slowly silent.

Everyone stopped talking and congregated around.

Everyone except the group Maya was talking with: Daphne, a young woman I didn’t recognize, and to my surprise, Laila.

I cleared my throat, and the four of them finally ambled over, looking petulant at having been interrupted.

“I’ll keep this brief. I’d like to thank you for coming, thank the planning commission for expediting the plans for the expanded building—” I paused, trying not to look embarrassed. Maya was staring at me with narrowed eyes. I cleared my throat and stood up straighter. She’d tried to discredit me, but it hadn’t worked. And not that many people knew about it. I continued: “This school is a landmark in inter-pack collaboration, and is going to allow both our packs to leave a legacy of high-level education for our young ones.”

I felt a flutter. I wondered if I was imagining it because of what I was talking about, or if the pup was really moving.

My pup wouldn’t go to this school, though. We’d be long gone by then.

“And I couldn’t have done any of it,” I went on, without my collaborator. Sean, would you like to say a few words?”

There was a small smattering of applause as Sean took my place at the podium, and gave a short, similar speech. I went back toward the microphone after, planning to tell the crowd where they could find the appetizers.

Adrian brushed past me toward the microphone. I didn’t even know he was coming.

He glanced over his shoulder at me and gave me a half smile.

And was that a wink?

This time, my cheeks flushed crimson. I’d enjoyed myself, but the more time that went by, the more I regretted having sex with Hunter last night. I should be past that.

Not that I should have slept with Adrian either, but I didn’t feel like I deserved a wink when he had no idea what I’d done after he left my hotel room.

“I’m very glad I decided to introduce Kara and Sean to each other,” Adrian said in his deep, steady voice. “That stroke of genius was where my involvement in this project ended. Both of them have gone above and beyond in their work on this school, and have earned the honors I’m about to bestow on them.”

He paused and pulled a small box from his pocket and opened it. Two gold medallions shone from it. Could it be—?

“The Commitment to Excellence Award is the highest non-war-related honor that can be bestowed on behalf of the King. It’s my honor to present both Kara and Sean with this award on his behalf.”

No one clapped. Instead of applause chorus of gossip that burst out.

Everyone knew what that meant.

If Adrian was presenting awards on the King’s behalf, it was a clear sign that he was about to ascent.

While I’d already known that, I still felt a bit in awe.

How was it that this man I’d come to know, who was smiling at me as he put the medallion around my neck, who was in my room last night, was about to become King?

As I smiled back at him, I caught a familiar glower out of the corner of my eye.

If it was anything to go off of, Adrian’s prospects as King came as a surprise to Hunter.

Hunter’s POV

I told my face to look neutral and my fists to unclench.

But I could feel my whole body radiating with fury.

King? Him?

I’d known he had power, but I’d never expected this.

I’d also had no idea that the king was that sick. It added insult to injury, that I hadn’t known that either.

I seethed, and made a beeline for Kara as soon as she walked down from the stage.

I should have been happy for her. But all I could think about was the way she and Adrian ad been looking at her on the stage. After him having been in her room last night.

It didn’t matter that I’d been the one who stayed. I was still furious with him.

And I knew her. She hadn’t been surprised when he made his announcement.

“Did you know?” I asked, as soon as I walked up to her.

“About the award? No, I had no idea, but it’s—” she trailed off when she looked at my face. Her excited expression slipped away and her usual no-nonsense face came back. But in between I’d seen a flicker of something else. Sadness?

I shook my head.

“No, about Adrian. I mean the future king,” I spat.

She hesitated before answering. That was enough. I seethed, furious that even my wife had known about this before me.

The sun beat down on us.

Kara looked ill, suddenly. She started fanning herself with her hand and I saw a bead of sweat drip down her temple.

Maya walked up just as Kara unbuttoned and took off her cardigan.

And right in the center of her chest, was the hickey I’d left there.