Page 32 of The Alpha King’s Hidden Mute Mate

I stood there in the dark, hearing laughter from the distant banquet hall.

They were still celebrating.

Celebrating their wedding.

Celebrating their love.

Celebrating their stolen happiness.

And me—I looked down at my rough dress hem, at my empty hands—I had nothing.

Chapter Eight

Mia

I was under house arrest.

To be precise, I'd always been under house arrest. The difference now was that they'd dropped the pretense of me being "an honored guest" and just turned my room into a goddamn cell. Half the windows were sealed. Two guards posted outside my door. Even when Aila brought my meals, she had to pass through three checkpoints.

And Zane Caster—my darling fated mate—came once a week.

Punctual as a clock.

Perfunctory as a chore.

The first time was three days after the wedding. He showed up past midnight, reeking of whiskey and perfume—Leah's perfume. Didn't say a word. Just shoved me onto the bed, did what he came to do, then rolled off and left. The whole thing couldn't have been more than five words. I lay there in the dark, staring at the ceiling, feeling like a rented copy machine.

The second time he came, I decided to try one more time.

That afternoon, I had a note ready. I'd written it all out clearly. "I wrote that song in the square. Leah's lying. I still have the manuscript. She was the one who drugged you."

I handed it to him.

He took it. Glanced down at it.

Then he looked up at me with an expression that made my spine go cold.

"Who the hell told you I cared about that song in the square?"

I froze, signing frantically. "Please believe me!"

But he couldn't read my signs. All he saw was my frantic gestures. Then his gaze shifted to Aila in the corner. The girl who knew sign language. The girl who helped me communicate. The only person who could understand what I was saying.

"Did you tell her that?" His voice was cold as a winter blade.

Aila's face went white. "Your—Your Majesty, I—"

"Tell me the truth."

Her lips trembled. She looked at me, then at him, and then—

"Yes... yes, Your Majesty. Lady Mia asked me to tell her things you cared about."

I felt my heart skip a beat.

What?

"I told her how moved you were by Miss Taylor's song." Aila's voice kept shrinking, tears starting to fall. "I... I told her that someone who could write songs like that would win your favor..."