All Chapters of The Rejected Prisoner Who Became the Alpha King's Mate : Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

Kael's POVI stared at Ezra, wondering if the bastard had finally lost his mind.Of all the people I expected to see standing in my mansion tonight, Zaren's older brother was the last person I wanted anywhere near me. I had spent the entire evening being humiliated, my pack was under investigation, my sister was rotting in a Silver Crest dungeon, and now this man had walked into my house as though he owned the place.I pushed away from the couch and approached him, my wolf stirring irritably beneath my skin."What the hell are you doing here, Ezra?" I demanded. "Have you come to rub my humiliation in my face? Is it not enough that your brother dragged my name through the mud in front of the entire council? Now you want to parade around my mansion as if your family owns half of Ashbourne?"Ezra looked around the room before returning his attention to me. Instead of appearing offended, he laughed, loosened the collar of his shirt, and walked toward the liquor cabinet."I can see you're

 Lyra's POV By the time I returned to Ashbourne, the sun had already begun to rise, but I was too exhausted to care about the beautiful golden light spilling across the pack's rooftops. My ankle hurt, my head ached, and my heart felt as though someone had reached inside my chest and squeezed it until I could barely breathe. I wanted to sleep. More than that, I wanted to forget Zaren's face when I walked away from him. Unfortunately, my mind had other plans. I climbed into my old bed, pulled the blanket over myself, and buried my face in the pillow. The sheets smelled faintly of lavender, just as they always had, but instead of feeling comforted, I felt a strange resentment toward the room. Everything looked familiar, yet nothing felt like home anymore. I had spent three years in Ironmoor dreaming about returning to this place. I had imagined the

Zaren's POVI had barely slept a minute since Lyra walked away from me.Her words followed me everywhere, even into the shower, where I stood beneath water hot enough to redden my skin without feeling any of its warmth. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the hurt on her face when she accused me of being ashamed of her. I could still remember how she had looked at me before leaving, as though she had finally understood something terrible about the man she had trusted.The worst part was that I had given her every reason to believe it.I had watched her walk out of my room without stopping her, even though every instinct in my body had screamed at me to follow her, pull her into my arms, and tell her the truth. My wolf had been pacing inside me ever since, furious that I had allowed our mate to leave while believing she meant so little to me.I had spent years learning how to control that beast. I had survived political conspiracies, assassination attempts, and battles that left entire

 Zaren's Pov  Her eyes widened when she saw me, and she sat up so quickly that the blanket slipped from her lap. "Zaren?" My name left her lips in a breathless whisper, carrying so much surprise that I almost forgot every apology I had rehearsed on the way there. She stared at me as though she couldn't decide whether I was real. Then she pushed herself off the bed and took one uncertain step in my direction. I crossed the room before she could take another. "Lyra, I'm sorry," I said, catching myself before I reached for her without permission. "I have been thinking about what happened last night, and I should never have allowed you to believe that I was ashamed of you. I wasn't. I could never be ashamed of you." Her expression crumpled. "No, Zaren. I'm the one who should apologize." She lowered her g

Lyra's POVI had come to the cabin intending to apologize, not to lose myself in Zaren's arms all over again. My thighs clenched at the loss of his hands in me.My plan had been simple enough. I would find him, tell him I was sorry for the things I'd said the previous night, and explain that my anger had come from feeling unwanted rather than from any lack of trust in him. Then I would leave before my heart convinced me to do something foolish.Unfortunately, my heart had never been particularly good at following instructions.The moment Zaren appeared in the doorway, all my carefully rehearsed words disappeared. One look at his face, at the concern in his eyes and the way he crossed the room as though he had been afraid I might vanish before he reached me, and I forgot why I had ever thought I could stay away from him.Now I was standing in his arms, my fingers tangled in his shirt, wondering how a man could make me feel so safe and so vulnerable at the same time.His kiss had left m