Page 124 of The Alpha's Cursed Queen

“I don’t think so.” She sounds a little on edge, a troubled look in her eyes. “I have an appointment here with Harry, and I was coming in the building when I saw her. She was in the lobby, demanding to see you, but the receptionist wouldn’t let her through. She was causing quite a scene downstairs, so I thought I’d come and warn you. She doesn’t seem quite right in the head.”

I frown, trying to recall somebody I might have pissed off recently. “Did you catch her name?”

She shakes her head. “I wouldn’t have bothered you with it, but she seems to know you quite well, and I don’t want her ambushing you on your way out. She’s dressed really classy, Alice. Like she’s the first lady or something. Real diamonds. But the woman has crazy eyes. I don’t mess around with crazy.”

I pause, an itch forming in the back of my brain. “What does she look like?”

“Blonde, quite attractive. She—”

Her sentence gets cuts off when we hear Holly’s voice call out in alarm. “Ma’am! Ma’am, you can’t go in there!”

The door to my office bursts open, and my eyes fall upon a beautiful woman with red-rimmed eyes that have a demented fury glistening in them. My heart nearly seizes when I recognize her.

“Willow,” I breathe in shock.

I have just risen out of my seat when she storms in, raising her hand, claws extended. Without missing a beat, she slashes them down my face, scoring the flesh of my left cheek. I stumble back in pain and shock as Katherine lets out a bellow of anger and Holly screams.

Willow isn’t done yet. Her claws dripping with my blood, she darts her hand forward with incredible force, aiming it right at my chest, where my heart is. I grab her wrist and twist it. As she cries out in pain and surprise, I shove her backward, unsheathing my own claws and ordering, “Holly! Close the door and lock it!”

I see Katherine’s eyes on my claws, but I have no choice. Willow is out for blood, and I’m not about to let her shed any more of mine.

Holly obeys me, and I hear the lock click before I snarl. “You made a big mistake coming here, Willow.”

“You home-wrecking bitch! I should’ve known he wasn’t going to let go of you that easily. I’m going to kill you. I going to rip out your heart and shove it down his throat!”

I don’t say anything, and when she comes at me again, I kick her in the chest, sending her sideways. Willow never was much of a fighter. She had always been physically stronger than me, but that was because my wolf spirit was latent at that point. However, when my wolf awoke, I began to teach myself how to fight, with the help of both self-defense classes and sessions with Mary.

I let Willow see the wolf in my eyes, and she stumbles to a halt in complete disbelief. “You have a wolf spirit now?”

“I’ve always had it,” I sneer at her. “Your little trap seven years ago backfired. The shock of the sealing spell woke up my wolf spirit.”

She stares at me, stunned, and then her shock turns into vicious anger. “So, that’s why he’s leaving me?! You fucking whore! Have you been spreading your legs for him?!”

Willow’s next attack comes quickly, but I sidestep her lunge at me and watch her stumble toward the ground. She regains her balance just in time and comes at me again. She manages to dig her claws in my shoulder and tears the muscle before I punch her in the nose and send her flying. She crashes into my desk, where my laptop and other belongings fall to the floor.

My eyes widen fractionally when I see the photo frame still standing. I dart toward it, but Willow has already grabbed it and is staring at it, her nose bleeding. I snatch it from her, but when she turns to look at me, her eyes are filled with an intense rage.

“His child? You bore his fucking bastard child?!”

I should have known she’d be able to put two and two together.

“I’ll kill it. I’ll kill that little whelp and skin it alive while you watch. You dare betray your queen?!”

“Queen?” I spit out, enraged by her threat toward my daughter. “Last I heard, you had been served divorce papers. And you don’t exactly wear Darian’s mating mark. Face it, Willow. You thought you won, but you never did. Darian was mine from the day I met him.”

“You are full of shit!” She smiles menacingly, her face bright red. “He could never want something like you!”

“But he does.” I smirk at her. “He wants me and our daughter. You were never his choice. Did you and your father think that if you blackmailed him, you could get your way? You’ve never gotten into his heart or his bed. It doesn’t matter how beautiful you are. All he sees is the ugliness inside you, and that will never change.”

“How dare you!” She rushes at me again, and this time I don’t avoid her attack, grabbing her by the back of her neck instead.

I finally shout at Katherine, “Call Darian!”

As my friend fumbles with her phone, pale-faced, Willow decides she wants me dead. She pushes me off and shifts into her wolf form. Holly’s frightened scream has me cursing silently.

I shouldn’t reveal my wolf form, but if I don’t shift, Willow is going to do some real damage to me.

She is on the warpath. I jump out of her way, but when she doesn’t stop and aims for my assistant, I have no choice.

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