บททั้งหมดของ Traded to the Ruthless Alpha: บทที่ 51 - บทที่ 60

Reya: “What?” I asked, still not processing the way he was speaking to me… People miss me? Really? “We miss you playing with us,” he said, taking my hand. “Mara wants the shadow birds again, and Theo said you promised him a wolf, but I told him he has to wait because I asked first. And you told me that you would make it for me so that I can see the biggest of them all.” My eyes burned and I blinked quickly. “The horse?” I asked when he mentioned the horse. “Yes, the big one,” he said. I remembered shaping my shadows into a horse weeks earlier while the children chased it through the courtyard; Liam had spent nearly an hour trying to climb onto its back despite my warnings that it was not real. “You complained for an hour,” I said, smiling despite myself. “And you didn’t even believe me when I told you that it wasn’t a real horse when you tried climbing it.” “You can make it faster?” he asked, making me smile. But the confidence in his voice hurt in the strangest way, not because

ReyaBy the time I reach my room, I stop trying to make sense of how one day could leave me feeling so many different things at once.Embarrassment sits heavy in my chest because fear had convinced me that Blackwood had turned against me, and a part of me remembers the whispers too clearly to pretend like they never happened.At the same time, Liam’s small hand in mine and the sound of the children laughing beneath my shadows has shifted something inside me. They didn’t look at me like a monster. They don’t step away because of the rumors. They seemed to simply miss me. Killian was right about that and the thought should annoy me more than it does. Instead, I find myself smiling faintly as I stop at my door.

Reya: I woke slowly, aware of warmth before I was aware of anything else. For several quiet seconds I did not open my eyes; I simply lay beneath the blankets, listening to the steady sound of Killian’s breathing behind me and feeling the weight of his arm wrapped securely around my waist. Then memory returned in a rush. Heat flooded my face so quickly that I buried it deeper into the pillow. Moon Goddess, I had actually done that, not only kissed him, but curled against him and fallen asleep in his arms after crying. The whole night came back in fragments that made my cheeks burn hotter, and I squeezed my eyes shut as if that could somehow stop my mind from remembering. Behind me, Killian shifted. His arm tightened instinctively around my waist, pulling me closer until my back rested against his chest. Immediately I became aware of another problem: my entire body protested. A quiet hiss escaped me before I could stop it, and Killian went still. “Reya?” His voice was thick with

KillianNothing in my life has ever been able to stay peaceful for long.Cormac notices my mood within seconds of seeing me. He is walking through the lower corridor despite the healer’s instructions that he should be resting, and the instant his eyes land on me he stops and stares.“You look disgustingly happy,” Cormac says raising an amused eyebrow.“I am having a good morning,” I admit.“That is not a good morning expression,” he says, gesturing towards my face, “That is the expression of a man who has either conquered a kingdom or…”“Finish that sentence and I’ll put you back in the infirmary,” I cu

BerniceI cannot stop thinking about Reya, and that angers me more than anything.She has managed to invade everything without even being present. She’s off hidden behind Blackwood’s walls with Alpha Killian protecting her, but she still fills any room I enter. She’s there with every conversation that I have with Skylar, and with every plan that should have belonged to me. Even when Skylar contacted Killian, it was all about Reya.And when he spoke of bargaining, it was Reya that he offered to discuss. When Killian lost his temper, Reya had been the cause of it. Even after the projection ended, Skylar defended himself by insisting that Reya is useful because she is Killian’s weakness.I hate it. I hate her. More than anything, I hate the thought that Skylar might actually want her again. I pace near the window and watch him across the room as he bent over maps spread across the table. He has barely acknowledged me since our argument earlier, as though nothing has transpired between us