Chapter 112
Claire’s POV
How. Dare. He.
D
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Gideon was going to accuse me of abandoning Leo? After all the hardships he had put on me? After I had been cast out of the pack, and left for dead among the rogues? I didn’t care how much of that he had been responsible for, and how much was Daphne plotting or whispering in his car.
The fact was, it had all happened.
I had nearly died, and now Gideon wanted to suggest that I had een staying away from Leo on purpose?
I was absolutely seething. Fury oozing out of every pore, as fire pulsed through my veins.
I would never purposefully leave my son. All I had wanted from the very start was to be a part of his life, but I’d never had any choice.
How dare Gideon imply otherwise? How dare he?
That he would even think that made my heart crack down the middle. I hated so much that I still let him affect me, yet here I was, heartbroken all over again. What kind of woman did he think I was, if he would accuse me of leaving my newborn son? With my daughter still inside of me?
I wanted to shout at him, to curse him out, or maybe slap him. I didn’t care if he was an Alpha and this was the banquet to celebrate Alphas. He had no right to accuse me of this.
Yet, Ivan’s warning stuck on in my brain, reminding me to keep my silence. If I didn’t say a word, he wouldn’t be able to properly confirm anything, or connect me with my secret identity as Raven.
So even though I was shaking with annoyance, I held my tongue. Inside though, I burned with anger.
I still didn’t understand how he could hate me this much, even after all this time.
I knew then that I was right to have held onto my secret before and not tell him the truth of my identity. He would have surely only used it against me, when I had hoped we would work together.
He only knew how to accuse me, not to join forces with me.
With how much he seemed to hate me, likely he would cast me away again and deny me from seeing my son.
No, I couldn’t let that happen. No matter what else occurred here, even if he correctly guessed that I was Claire. I couldn’t let him know that I was also Raven.
As we continued to dance, his eyes stayed on me. I felt the weight of his gaze fall from my face to my dress and back again. I tried not to blush, knowing he was taking in the full sight of me. Interest sparked in his eyes.
The last time I had seen a look like that was…
No. I couldn’t allow myself to reminisce on simpler, happier times, when I had thought he was mine forever, before he cast me aside. Back then, we had been hungry for each other, meeting in the dark to touch and hold each other.
Although, even back then he had tried to deny his attraction to me.
Maybe he had always hated me. Maybe lately those feelings of hatred had only grown.
Yet, how could he look at me with interest while still despising me?
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10:50 Fri, Jan 23
Chapter 112
OD
“Claire, please.” he whispered, in a quiet moment of the song. rase talk to me.”
The softness to his voice threatened to break me, and for one horrible moment, I thought of giving in.
Yet, just before I could, a servant of the King’s appeared beside
“Miss. The Alpha King requests a private audience.”
I blinked with surprise. Could it be? Perhaps my request for a private meeting was successful after all?
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Gideon’s hand tightened on my waist, like he didn’t want to let the go. I didn’t understand him at all. One minute he could be so ugly, accusing me of abandoning Leo, and in the next, he was so sweet, so gentle, like he actually cared about me.
I couldn’t be fooled. This was the same man who wanted to take everything from me.
I stepped back from him, away from his touch. He let me go, but held his hands out a moment like he expected me to return to them. I almost wanted to.
But no. The King was waiting for me. As angry as I was at Gideon I could still try to save him. If things worked out, he would never know it was me.
Turning to the servant, I nodded to show him that I was ready to go. The servant led me away from Gideon and this moment. It took everything in me not to look back as I was lead toward the end of the ballroom where the King was standing amongst his guard.
When he spotted me,
he waved me closer. I thanked the servant and then approached the king.
“Alpha King, I’m so pleased that you are taking the time to speak with me. Thank you. There is much to say.” I bowed.
“There is,” he said. “Though perhaps not what you were anticipating?”
Looking up again, I allowed my confusion to creep onto my face “Well, I was hoping we could talk about –”
“You must guard your heart against your Alpha,” the Alpha King said. “He has charmed you, and he’s not a bad man by any means. But he will only break your heart if you allow him too close.”
I glanced back at Gideon, who seemed somewhat lost now out on the dance floor without a partner. A few women approached him for a dance, but he shook his head at them as he moved off of the floor.
“I thank you for the warning,” I said. “But you have nothing to worry about for my sake. I feel nothing for Gideon.”
“Gideon?” the Alpha King asked, his brow knitting together. “What about Ivan?”
“Ivan?” I asked, no less perplexed. “What does he have to do with anything?”
We looked at each other, both of us clearly confused. Had we been having two different conversations, talking about two different people?
“Ivan was who I was talking about,” the Alpha King said.
“Oh…”
“Right…” The Alpha King looked out at the dance floor. “Do you know Gideon?”
“Not well,” I said. “But why would you say that about Ivan?”
The Alpha King hummed as he returned his attention to me. “I take it Ivan hasn’t told you much of his past.”
“Only the basics,” I said.
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10:50 Fri, Jan 23
Chapter 112
He nodded. “Then you have no idea why his feelings for you are nisplaced, but I assure you they are, even if he does not fully believe so. No one could replace what he has lost, not even someone as lovely as you. Perhaps especially not someone like you.”
I knew Ivan had lost someone, and I understood that ate him up inside. I supposed it was nice to have the King want to look out for me, even if I wasn’t entirely sure why he thought it was necessary.
Ivan and I were just friends. Weren’t we?
“I’m sorry, Claire, but you will never be able to replace the dead woman he continues to love.”
