Page 133 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part One

“I heard you were awake and came to see if I could help you to bring your spirits up,” Amber smiled.

Before Layla, he would have encouraged her. He would have had two or three of her friends in the bed at the same time, but those days were over.

“I told you to stay out of my house,” he growled. Just because Dylan trusted her, it didn’t mean he did. Despite her sob story, she had been sitting beside the man who’d made a deal with the witch who wanted Layla dead.

“I know, but I want you to see how helpful I am, Alpha,” she said as she inched closer to him.

“I’m not now, nor will I ever be your Alpha,” he snarled.

The woman wasn’t as scared as she should have been. Everyone knew what he was capable of, but the woman was so confident in her abilities that she treated him like a little kitten. If she really was a warrior in Kendrick’s pack, then maybe she had sensed how weak he was.

But he was more inclined to believe she knew what that bite had done to him, which meant she had known what Alpha Kendrick was doing all along.

Amber stopped moving and lowered her gaze.

“I apologise, Your Majesty. Alpha Kendrick often made us... Ah... I assumed I would have to do the same to earn a place,” she said.

She seemed sincere, but he didn’t know how that was possible. His head was clearer so he could focus—he didn’t hear or sense any deception in her voice or see it in her body language. And yet his alarm bells were still ringing. There was something wrong with this woman.

Whether that statement was true or not was none of his business. It didn’t give her the right to lie beside him while he was asleep. Where the hell were his warriors? How had she gone past them?

“I have no interest in being in the same room as you, Amber, and even less in fucking you. Leave.”

He had much bigger things to worry about now, like finding where his mate was and why he could feel those desperate emotions from her. He could sense that she was still close, but why the hell had she left the room when he’d told her she couldn’t trust anyone?

Unless someone had taken her?

“Your Majesty, please... I can’t go back to my pack,” Amber whispered.

And she inched even closer like she hadn’t heard what he’d said.

“Then go somewhere else. You’re not welcome here.”

He focused and tried to sense Layla’s location. Her heart was pounding, but she normally did that when she was out of the bedroom. He couldn’t feel any danger around her.

And she seemed to be coming back upstairs.

He let out a breath of relief and lay back down, only to have the woman put her hand on his chest. His bare chest. Her touch made his skin crawl and repelled every cell in his body. Amber confidently trailed her fingers on his chest, and that smile was still on her face. He was naked under the sheets, something he was sure Amber was well aware of.

“I will not survive without a pack. I can’t go rogue, Your Majesty. As my king, it’s your duty—”

“Don’t presume to know my duties,” he growled as he grabbed the hand on his chest.

Amber didn’t budge, and he was too weak to push her off. What a mighty king he was, to just lie there and let someone violate him.

The door opened, and when he turned to it, he saw Layla stopping in her tracks as she took in the sight before her. He didn’t just feel her heart breaking; it was almost as if he also heard it. A loud, soul-destroying sound that ripped through him and caused him physical pain.

And the next thing he felt was her anger. It felt as strong as her pain as her eyes focused on the hand touching him. He’d only felt such violent thoughts when Cain pushed them on him when he was ready to rip people apart for hurting his fragile feelings. Feeling the same thing from Layla took his focus from anything else.

His poor mate would have no idea why she was feeling like this, why she wanted to kill Amber just for touching him.

Her fists clenched, and the corner of her lip rose as if she was about to snarl.

“Why are you in my bedroom?” Layla asked.

Her voice was calm, but he felt the storm brewing. If Layla decided to fight Amber, she wouldn’t stand a chance. She had wolf blood, but her human side was still in control, and Amber was a warrior.

Amber chuckled but didn’t move her hand away.

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