Everything after that blurred together: Rainer forcing her to leave, her family telling her it would be okay, and Clover knowing that it wouldn’t be.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.It was all Amos could do to keep breathing through the storm of Clover’s emotions. She hated him—he could feel it as if she had screamed it in his face.
In that moment, he’d never felt worse. Not when his father beat him, not when his mother died, and not even when he had to send Clover away before he had a chance to know her. Thelook on her beautiful face and the devastation poisoning their bond carved out a hole in his chest.
Running after her wasn’t an option. Hell, he couldn’t even look at her or his father would suspect something. What if she went back to the Human Kingdom before he could explain? He had to make her understand that he didn’t want this, nor would he have asked her to come if he’d known what would happen. Cruelty didn’t begin to cover what had just transpired. If he’d been in her shoes, he would have killed whatever boy stood at her side.
Walking from the house to the dais had been the first he’d seen of Jennifer since she arrived, and they couldn’t speak about anything of importance in front of his father. The fact that she’d kissed him—in front of Clover no less—made him want to ship her off to another kingdom.
“We’re going to leave just before lunch,” his father told the two of them. “Ensure everything you need for the next two weeks has been packed. Jennifer, the rest of your things will be delivered before you return.”
“The rest of her things?” Amos echoed.
Jennifer smiled sweetly. “Now that we’ve been formally announced, I’m moving here to live with you.”
His hands fisted at his sides. “What?”
The king pulled him aside and lowered his voice. “You can still chase skirts, but you two need to get to know each other.” His father grinned like he’d given Amos the answers to life. “Just keep them away from her, and be discreet."
If Amos thought he could shove a dagger in his father’s neck and not have to fight off the guards around him, he would.
Clapping him on the back, his father walked off, and Amos spun to glare at Jennifer. None of this was her fault, and he knew that, but right now he hated her. “If you ever put your lips on me again, I’ll make sure you regret it.”
She gasped, and Amos turned on his heel and left. He had to find Clover before he lost her forever.
Amos didn’t bother knocking and burst through the Ambroses’ front door. “Where is she?”
Marcus appeared from the kitchen, disappointment etched in his face. “I should beat you to a pulp for what you did to my little girl.”
“I didn’t know my father was coming,” Amos insisted. “He showed up yesterday. I thought I’d have time to warn you this morning.”
A blur came at him and hit him square in the jaw, snapping his head back. Ruth grabbed him around the neck with a snarl. “You humiliated her and broke her heart!”
“Ruth let him go,” Rainer boomed from behind Marcus. “None of this is his fault.”
Ruth stepped back and spun around. “Not his fault? Clover thought he was going to announce her to the world, and instead, he announced another girl in front of her.”
Amos’ blood ran cold. Clover thought he’d asked her here to announce her?
He doubled over and emptied the contents of his stomach on the floor. Earlier, he didn’t think he could feel lower, but the gods had proven him wrong. “I swear I didn’t know there’d be an announcement. Not until last night.” He straightened and met everyone’s gaze head on. “I would never do that to her. Rainer is the one who told me to give a fake name for my mate.” He pointed at the man in question. “I tried to make up a name I thought no one would have, but because the gods fucking hate me, I share a birthday with a girl named Jennifer.”
Marcus cursed. “You didn’t tell her—or any of us—about Jennifer. At least we would have known to expect this at some point. What the hell is wrong with you?”
Amos wanted to rage. Didn’t they know no one could hate him more than he hated himself? He should have told Clover about Jennifer, but he’d stupidly thought he had more time.
“I wanted to tell her in person,” he snapped, tired of everyone in his life except Alice reminding him of what a fuck up he was. “I thought it’d be better to answer any questions she had immediately instead of her having to write back and wait.”
“You should have toldus,” Ruth interjected. “We wouldn’t have let her go to that assembly today.”
Amos didn’t have time for this. “There are a lot of things I should have done, and I don’t have time to go over them one by one. I need to talk to her and explain.”
“She’s on her way to the den,” Rainer told him, earning a glare from Ruth. “If you hurry, you can catch her.”
As a royal, Amos was faster than everyone in the world except other royals, a perk that came in handy as he closed in on Clover picking her way along the trail to the cave.
Hearing him approach, she glanced over her shoulder and took off running. Instead of catching her right away, he waited until they reached the cave opening to cage her in before wrapping his arms around her middle.
She growled at him like a rabid dog and tossed her head back, smashing him in the nose.
