#Chapter 72

Third POV

Ellie knows that Austin is wrong about Jaden and her. He is always wrong about her personal life, but she doesn't even understand why he still tries so hard to get involved.

Why come to the table if all you have to offer are condemning insinuations that make no sense nor convey any atom of truth?

The look on Ellie's face is lost on the Alpha King. He watches as a tear crawls down her face like a gecko stalking an insect prey.

"Isn't that what you want?" he demands.

When Ellie tries to vent her disapproval and disappointment, words choke in her throat like a knot has been tied around her voice box. She feels the hurt clench her throat, dissipates down and across her upper half that she begins to shake like a child whose brain has been taken over by jaundice.

She sobs.

And the quakes break her down. Piece by piece. When she cannot take it any longer, Ellie pushes forward and runs out of her room. She doesn't bother to shut the door this time.

"You can run all you like, but you