“Yes,” I answer confidently.
“I thought so.” He inspects the men further. “These breaks look too clean to be accidental or erratic defense. These bruises are getting their color already.” He stands with his arms crossed and looks over at Caleb. “She’s got aim and precision. I have to say, I’m impressed.”
Caleb’s jaw drops further. “She injured my men.”
“Did you tell your men they could open the cell?”
“No.”
“Then that’s the price to be paid for ignoring an order. They had no business entering the cage of a wild animal.”
I don’t appreciate being called a wild animal, but I shove my feelings down. At least the king isn’t finding fault with me.
“So you just think it’s acceptable that she harmed my men?”
“I’m saying they got what they deserved. If they had followed protocol, she wouldn’t have had to defend herself. By the looks of it, they got off easy.”
The king isn’t wrong. I could’ve done worse. A lot worse. For once someone acknowledged my restraint, and I can’t explain how good that feels. My heartbeats slow as the fear that I’m in trouble subsides. It’s nice but... unfamiliar. Having someone stand up for me isn’t something I’m used to. Neither is my best ever being enough.
“She should’ve—”
“She should’ve what?” The king raises an eyebrow in a challenge. “Seems to me she did what she had to do. She defended herself against your men who had no business approaching her without direct orders to begin with. There are consequences to not following the orders of your alpha. The sooner your men learn that, the better off you’ll be.”
Caleb scans the aftermath of his men’s decisions. His fist opens and closes as he lets go of the perspective he has. With his fist open, finally, he says, “You’re right.”
Unable to believe what I’m hearing, I blink.
I’m not in trouble. They aren’t mad at me.
Caleb looks at me. “Are you alright? Did they harm you?”
“I’m fine, thank you,” I say.
His concern is unexpected and difficult to receive. It’s so much easier to assume someone has ill intentions. I don’t often trust when shown even a sliver of kindness. I want to—it just never ended well for me.
“I take full responsibility for my men’s behavior. I’ll make sure Tyler deals with them later. You have my word,” he says.
The king scans me up and down, tapping his chin. “Hmm... I might have a use for you. But we’d have to get your weight up first.”
There it was—the evil that lurks beneath the kind façade. This is exactly why I don’t trust niceties. Everyone always wants something. When it comes to me, it’s only to exploit my fighting skills, turning me into a killing machine for their dirty work.
My stomach twists into knots, and I begin to sweat.Nausea settles in my gut as they continue their conversation.
When did they get so loud? And why is it so hot in here?
My chest tightens, and I think Caleb says my name, but his voice is drowned out by the sound of my heart thumping.
Is this it? Am I having a heart attack? And when did the room get so small? Has it always been this small?
I grasp my throat. I can’t breathe.
Am I dying? Or is this just another attack?“I won’t fight for you,” I rasp out as I struggle to get air to enter my lungs, hyperventilating.
Caleb rushes over to me just as my vision fades, and my knees go weak. He catches me.
I hardly feel myself gently lowered to the ground as he encourages me to take deep breaths. At his touch alone, my breathing steadies.
“There you go. You’re okay. It’s okay, I’ve got you.”
