เข้าสู่ระบบ~Amber’s POV~“This is the part where I slap you, you know that, right?”His lips tilted up at that and my traitorous eyes dropped straight to them, the memory of how they had felt against mine slamming into my even more treacherous brain.“Then why haven’t you?”The air between us had gone tight, every word he spoke pulling it tighter, and instead of pulling back I leaned forward until we were only inches apart. I let my eyes fall to his mouth this time, fully, deliberately, and I dropped my voice to a whisper.“Because if that kiss was any indication, then us fucking…”I let the words trail off and watched something flash hot across his eyes before I smiled.“And putting an end to whatever this is would do us both a favor. So you are right.” I leaned in until our breaths mixed, until there was nothing left between us but heat and the few inches I refused to close. “But it will be over my dead body before I ever let you touch me.”Then I shoved him back from the bed.“Now if you have
~Axel’s POV~“You do know that it is impolite to leave your own mating ceremony.”She looked up at me from the phone she had been staring at, and continued to stare at me even though I had stepped in three seconds ago.I went on. “Then again, nothing about how you acted out there was polite either.”Her lips curved up a little and she pushed herself off the bed into a sitting position, legs folding cross-legged beneath her. “What do you want, Axel? I am really tired, and just like I said out there, and as you can clearly see, I was about to go to bed.”I did see.And for emphasis, my eyes unconsciously traveled down the silk nightwear she had changed into, taking in the way it sat against her skin before I caught myself and dragged my focus back up to her face.Which gave away absolutely nothing about whether she had noticed what I had done.“If you came here to ogle me,” she said flatly, “can we reschedule it for tomorrow?”I took a step forward toward the bed. “If you were actually
~Amber’s POV~The feeling of déjà vu hit me, and for a second it felt like I was back at the Alpha’s gathering, when Ian had just walked in and I had seen the recognition flicker in his eyes at knowing exactly who I was.Except it faded just as fast as it came, because there was nothing knowing in her eyes.Just hostility. And hate.Two feelings that I should have been the one wearing, because everything she had done to me came flashing back all at once. Every word. Every moment I had been foolish enough to call her a friend.But I schooled my expression into something smooth and unbothered. “This is the part where you get on with the rest of it. I have other things to get to.”She shook her head slowly. “You really do not have any shame, do you? Sleeping with my mate and then standing here like you are above me just because you have some kind of title.”Okay. Now this was getting interesting.Because I knew for a fact this had nothing to do with me pretending to be Ambre for the last
~Amber’s POV~ That. Absolute. Bastard.My lips curled up with irritation as I watched Axel move around the room, greeting people with that easy composure like he had not just kissed me senseless in front of the entire Realm. Surprisingly, the red haired bitch had disappeared, which should have been my main concern, but thankfully I had the excuse of saying I was suddenly not feeling well after everything that had happened.So I sat in the corner glaring at him instead.I had not been blushing.And of course I knew the kiss was just for show. That was why I kissed him back. Obviously.“If you think any further about it your head might just go poof.”I did not need to turn to know who had spoken. Sixteen years of friendship implants a person’s voice in your head, and I felt Timothy settle beside me, but not before he draped something around my shoulders.I gave him a smile, pulling the jacket further around me but it didn’t go as far as I wanted and I shot him a mocking annoyed express
~Amber’s POV~ Okay. It was so worth it.Because Axel’s face did something I would carry with me for the rest of my life. For one full second, he just stared at me, his mouth slightly parted, every trace of composure wiped clean off his face. His brows had pulled together like his brain had genuinely stopped working, like I had reached in and pulled the wires loose, and the bewilderment sitting in those eyes was so complete that I almost felt bad.Almost.I shook my head and the laughter was about to come out when my father cut in and he sounded extremely exasperated. “Amber.”It died down immediately and I let out a sigh because he was right even though that wasn’t what he outrightly said. That was enough joking around.And I didn’t know why, but the entirety of the mating ceremony just felt ridiculous. Maybe it was the fact that it was still happening at all after everything I had gone through to get here. Maybe it was that red haired bitch standing up to say what she said, and
~Axel’s POV~ The words landed and for one breath the hall was silent.Then it broke.The gasps came all at once, rippling out from every direction, hundreds of sharp intakes of breath layering over each other until the sound filled the entire space. Whispers chased the gasps, spreading fast through the rows of seated guests, heads turning, bodies leaning toward one another, the shock moving through the crowd like something alive.My eyes cut to the direction the voice had come from. They landed first on her red hair.Then on her face.And the anger came fast, hot and immediate, because she had the audacity to do this here, in front of the entire Realm, when I knew for a fact she was not pregnant. I had been meticulous about that with every woman. Every single time so there was no version of this where she was carrying my child, which meant she was either lying or had lost her mind, and the anger from her sheer nerve overrode everything else.I moved to react but Amber, whose face







