CHAPTER 5

Sera

The flight landed at dawn. I had never wanted to see a place so badly in my life.

The moment the wheels touched tarmac, I unbuckled my seatbelt. Get out. Get away. Start over.

I stood up before the seatbelt sign turned off. The man beside me...Alaric, I corrected myself...didn't move. He just sat there and watched me. 

“In a hurry?” 

“Thanks for your help,” I said. “But I will be leaving on my own from here.”

I didn't wait for his response. I grabbed my bag from the overhead bin and pushed down the aisle, my heart pounding against my ribs.

My legs ached. My wolf was quiet, exhausted from the emotional whiplash. 

I didn't care. I just needed to find a bus, a taxi, anything that would take me far enough that I could breathe.

I made it three steps outside the arrival doors before a hand closed around my wrist.

“Let go of me.” I said, not turning around. I knew who it was.

“You're heading in the wrong direction,” Alaric muttered. “My car is this way.”

I yanked my wrist. He didn't release it.

“People are staring,” I hissed.

“Let them.”

“You might want to rethink your decision,” Alaric said quietly, “What makes you so sure that you'd be safe here? Your husband has put a bounty on your head.”

I turned to him so fast. “What?”

“Twenty thousand. Dead or alive. He's telling anyone who will listen that you stole pack funds and ran off with a rogue.” 

My blood turned to ice. "What?"

Alaric shrugged. 

“He wouldn't,” I shook my head. “He has no proof. I didn't steal anything.”

“Proof doesn't matter when it involves money." Alaric leaned closer, draping his arms around my waist. “You're free to leave, Sera? But think about it, where would you go?”

He was right. I wasn't safe but I couldn't think so much when all I wanted to do was lean into his warmth.

No. Focus.

Before I could respond, a woman in black dress that stopped right at her knee walked toward us. She was tall. Willowy. Platinum blonde hair that fell to her waist. Her eyes were pale blue, beautiful and absolutely empty of warmth. 

“Your Majesty,” she said. “The car is ready. I've prepared your suite at the Valdris Grand.”

Alaric didn't move. “Thank you, Vivienne. I'll handle it from here.”

Vivienne's gaze slid to me. It traveled over my wrinkled clothes, my tangled hair, my red-rimmed eyes. 

Her lip curled.

“And who is this?” she asked, as if I were something she had stepped in.

“No one,” I said at the same time Alaric said, “A guest.”

Vivienne's smile didn't reach her eyes. “I see. Well, guest, the King has a busy schedule. I'm sure he can arrange a driver to take you wherever strays go.”

I clenched my fists at my side. My wolf, that timid creature who had never growled at anyone in her life, rumbled.

I looked Vivienne dead in the eye. “I'm not a stray and I wasn't talking to you.”

Her smile froze. Alaric made a sound that might have been a laugh.

“Vivienne,” he said, waving her off. “give us a moment.”

She didn't argue. But as she walked away, she glanced back at me with a look that said, this isn't over.

I rolled my eyes at her. 

Alaric turned to me. “Vivienne Ashford. Her family has been trying to arrange a mating between us for three years. She's why I need…”

He didn't finish. Because a shadow fell over us.

I looked up.

Rylan was walking toward me.

I shifted toward Alaric instinctively. I didn't know why. 

He was out of breath, as if he had run from the terminal. His sandy blond hair was disheveled. His blue eyes were wild. He looked nothing like the smug, laughing man I had left in the bedroom.

He looked desperate.

“Sera,” he called out. Loud enough for everyone in the pickup area to hear. “Sera, please!”

I couldn't move. Couldn't speak.

He fell to his knees on the cold pavement. Right there, in front of strangers and security cameras and the Lycan King.

“I'm sorry!” he shouted. His voice cracked. Tears streamed down his handsome face. “I'm so sorry. I love you. I never stopped loving you. Dorian means nothing. Please. Come home. Give me another chance.”

People stopped to stare. 

My chest heaved. My wolf whimpered.

He's lying, she said. He's always lying.

But the bond, the poisoned, rotting mate bond, pulled at my ribs. 

I took one step toward him. Then Alaric moved.

He stepped between us, blocking Rylan from my view. His hand found my wrist again. 

“Sera,” Alaric said, his voice carrying across the entire arrival plaza, “is under my protection. Touch her. Follow her. Speak to her without her permission. And I will personally remove your spine.”

Rylan's face drained of color. 

Alaric tugged me gently but firmly toward a black SUV idling at the curb. The windows were tinted. A driver in a dark suit held the back door open.

I dug my heels into the pavement. “I'm not getting in that car.”

Alaric sighed. It was a tired sound, like I was a stubborn child who was refusing to listen to him. 

“You have two choices,” he said. “You can get in the car willingly, sit beside me, and let me explain the situation. Or I can throw you over my shoulder, put you in the car, and explain the situation while you're hitting my back.”

“You wouldn't.”

His eyes flickered red. Just for a second. “Try me.”

I got in the car. The space was absurdly large, more a lounge than a backseat. 

Alaric slid in beside me, close enough that his thigh brushed mine. 

I pressed myself against the opposite door.

The SUV door slammed. Alaric sat across from me, his silver eyes unreadable.

The car pulled away.

I pressed my back against the seat, my heart a war drum. “What was that? What did you just do?”

“I saved your life.” He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “And now we need to talk about my proposition.”

I raised my eyebrows.

"Be my fake girlfriend."