Page 42 of Wolf Bitten

King Jovian’s salt-and-pepper hair was messy, and he had dark circles under his steel-blue eyes. But it was the red hue of his face and the sneer on his lips—so noticeable even through his brown beard—that made me falter.

He rasped, “Do you know what you’ve done? Because of your choice, we’ve lost everything.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Raffe chuckled while inching in front of me as we came into the room. Despite the carefree sound, his body was rigid, and he took deep, ragged breaths to stay calm.

The hot presence of his anger returned inside me—a damn near constant emotion for Raffe lately, and I hated it because it was all due to me. My blood jolted.

“Don’t be dramatic. I didn’t ruineverything.” Raffe scoffed. “You always say you leave the theatrics to Mom, so let’s keep it that way. Only a handful of people know about Skylar and me, so you can control the message.”

Control the message. I didn’t like the sound of that.

King Jovian swung his gaze at me and glowered. The strange presence in my chest crept forward, pushing harder than before. The longer he stared at me, the more intense the sensation became, and when his eyes glowed, that presence churned until I thought it might leap from my chest.

I averted my eyes, taking in the nicest room I’d ever seen, especially for a study. That weird presence in my chest grew hot, a feeling similar to Raffe’s anger. Now, it felt as if part ofmewas upset with myself for breaking eye contact.

But breaking eye contact was the best way to handle bullies. When an imminent threat presented itself, like the king, you didn’t escalate things with a challenging stare.

Silence descended. My skin crawled, and I focused on the wall to my right, where two gigantic wooden bookshelves flanked a small cutout.

“Anything you have to say, you can say it out loud to mymate.” Raffe’s voice deepened, determination bleeding through each word.

That must be why King Jovian’s eyes were glowing. He was pack-linking with Raffe. A shiver ran down my spine, contrasting with the heat from Raffe’s emotions and the presence.

“This iswolfbusiness,” King Jovian growled. “Which doesn’t involve her, seeing as she’shuman.She may smell like a wolf, but that’s only because of your stupidity in claiming her. Or is that something you’ve conveniently forgotten?”

A deep rattle rumbled from Raffe’s throat. I kept my attention on the bookshelf and noticed a picture of King Jovian, Queen Tashya, and Raffe. The king stood in the center, wearing a black suit, with the queen on his left, her dirty-blonde hair pulled back and makeup emphasizing her fair skin and gray eyes. She wore a regal black dress that matched the king’s suit.

My focus settled on the image of Raffe.

I’d never seen him look like that. He wore his typical blank expression, the one that was intimidating and screamed not to mess with him, but he was wearing a black suit that, even in the picture, showed off the outlines of his muscles. A little scruff made him look slightly older, but his piercing blue eyes held the type of man he truly was if you knew what to look for. Theyankin my chest took hold and urged me toward the real Raffe.

My mate stepped in front of me, blocking me from Jovian’s view.

My blood jolted again, and I clenched my jaw. Whether intentionally or not, by stepping between his dad and me, Raffe had removed me from the conversation, but I couldn’t voice my concerns without King Jovian overhearing me, and I didn’t want to contradict Raffe when we were supposed to be presenting a united front. I kept my mouth shut.

“I claimed her, Dad.” He lifted his chin, a muscle twitching between his shoulder blades. “You’ll have to accept this. She is mymate—my equal—so you might as well include her in the discussion because I’ll share everything with her when we get out of here.”

My chest relaxed. With everything he’d done for me and for us, I had to believe we would weather the storm and come out stronger.

“Yourequal?” King Jovian spat. “If that’s the case, why are you blocking her from my view? That contradicts everything you’re saying and reinforces what I already know. You screwed up.”

My breath caught, and I flinched. King Jovian was Raffe’s father. Did King Jovian see regret in Raffe’s eyes when I couldn’t? Did being captured make Raffe question that I wasn’t strong enough to be by his side? Or had me questioning him about the warehouse photo made Raffe question whether we should truly be together? If either were the case, he couldn’t do a damn thing about it since he’d bitten me.

Acid burned my throat as the core question slammed into me.

Did Raffe feeltrappedwith me now?

Raffe fisted his hands. “I didn’t screw up, and I don’t regret my decision. The only reason I’m blocking her is because I don’t want you taking out your anger onher.Smell the air,Dad, and you’ll see that I’m not lying.”

Some of the weight on my shoulders vanished. He didn’t regret claiming me, though that didn’t mean he wasn’t hurt by it. Knowing I needed to be the type of woman who didn’t hide, wanting to be worthy of Raffe, I placed a hand on Raffe’s back to let him know I was there. Then I moved up next to him because his dad was right. If Raffe was proclaiming I was his equal, he needed to show it beyond words.

I squeezed my shoulder blades together so that I stood tall.

“If she’s your equal, she can handle it,” King Jovian sneered, and the hatred I saw in his eyes had my lungs seizing.

I’d seen numerous people who didn’t like me or feared me, thanks to my strange blood, butthiswas something else.

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