CHAPTER NINE
AUbrEY
"No one," I manage, my heart threatening to burst from my chest.
"Didn't seem like that." Knox moves toward me with predatory grace, each step forcing me back until cold stone meets my spine. His scent - pine needles and winter storms - overwhelms my senses until I can barely think straight.
"I talk to myself sometimes." The lie tastes weak even to me.
"Is that so, little wolf?" He plants his hand on the wall beside my head, effectively caging me between solid stone and his overwhelming presence. The heat radiating off his body makes my skin tingle.
I nod, not trusting my voice, as I try desperately to ignore how perfectly I'd fit against his chest.
"If that's all, Your Grace, I'd like to leave." I duck under his arm and practically flee before he can respond. Holy fuck. Another minute that close to him and I would've melted into a puddle at his feet.
"Wait." His command freezes me mid-step. My mind screams at me to run, but before I can decide, he materializes in front of me again.
"I want to speak with you about something."
"Oh?" The word comes out embarrassingly breathless.
"Yes." He clears his throat, and something shifts in those green eyes - an emotion I never expected to see. "I apologize for what happened that night. I was drunk and shouldn't have embarrassed you like that, especially since you're my mate."
I stare at him, completely stunned. Did the Crown Prince just fucking apologize to me?
"He did! Our mate just apologized for being an asshole! We have to forgive him, Audrey!" Aria practically squeals in my head, but I'm too busy trying to process what's happening.
"Do you forgive me?"
The raw sincerity in his voice catches me off guard. Someone like him - royalty, future king - they don't apologize. Ever. The fact that he is tells me he genuinely means it.
"I do," I say softly, surprising myself with how much I mean it. Yeah, he was a complete jackass, but owning up to it? That takes something else entirely.
A ghost of a smile touches his lips, and fuck me if it isn't the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. He turns to leave, and I can't help but watch him go, admiring how his formal attire does nothing to hide those warrior's shoulders. He's so—
The thought shatters as someone shoves me hard from behind.
Suddenly I'm airborne, then freezing water closes over my head.
I surface spluttering, my expensive gown soaked through, to find the she-wolf who'd been hanging all over Knox earlier - and other she-wolves all smirking down at me from the lake's edge.
What the actual fuck? Why would they—
"Bitches like you don't deserve to look at our Crown Prince. Consider this a free eye-washing service." The she-wolf's voice drips with venom as she looks down at me.
"Huh?" I tread water, my soaked gown weighing me down as I struggle to understand what's happening. One minute I was watching Knox walk away, the next I'm in the fucking lake?
I move to climb out, but they step forward as one, forming a wall of expensive dresses and entitled sneers.
"Just because our Queen took pity on a low-born rat doesn't mean we ladies have to accept you in our court." Sasha's lip curls. "Take this as your final warning, Rogue. Stay away from my prince."
My prince?
Something snaps inside me. A possessive rage I've never felt before floods my veins, burning hotter than anything I experienced watching Jax with Avery. My wolf surges forward, clawing at my skin, desperate to tear this bitch's face off and make her understand exactly who Knox belongs to.
"Crown Prince Knox is mine," I snarl, not even trying to hide the feral edge in my voice. "And I think you're the one who needs her fucking eyes washed. I am his mate - not you, not ever you."
She gasps like I've slapped her, her perfectly painted face going slack with shock.
The raw possession in my tone leaves no room for doubt - every wolf within earshot would recognize a mate's claim.
I bare my teeth in a feral smirk, suddenly not giving two shits about my ruined dress or the freezing water.