Page 72 of The Alpha King’s Hidden Mute Mate

He'd lost his voice.

"You..." I heard my own voice, softer than I expected. "You can't howl anymore?"

He didn't answer.

Mist swirled around him, blurring his outline. He didn't look like a king, didn't look like an alpha, didn't look like the man who once made my heart race, made me suffer, made me despair.

He looked like something broken.

He shifted back to human form and wrapped my jacket around his waist again.

"Five years." He finally spoke, voice low like he was talking to himself. "Since you left. Since that night. My wolf hasn't made a sound since."

Wind swept through the forest, mist rolling like a white ocean.

I stood across from him, watching him, a complex emotion rising in my chest. Not sympathy. Not heartache. Just a—strange, indescribable feeling. Like watching a once-majestic mountain collapse before you, standing there watching the boulders tumble, dust rising, thinking: so even it can fall.

"So," I said, voice returning to its previous calm. "That's why you came looking for me."

He looked up at me.

"You want me to help restore your voice."

His expression changed in that instant.

"No," he said, voice raspy but firm. "I'm not looking for you because you can restore my voice."

"Then why?"

He looked at me.

Mist flowed between us, moonlight filtering through the leaf gaps, casting shifting shadows on his face. His lips moved like he wanted to say something, but it finally became just a sigh.

"I owe you an explanation." He said. "I owe you so much."

I stared at him for several seconds.

Then I turned around, back to him, and started walking in a direction.

"Where are you going?" He called behind me.

"Finding a way out." I didn't look back. "If you want to stand there being a statue, be my guest. But I'm not spending the night in this damn forest. And I don't want to hear meaningless bullshit."

Footsteps sounded behind me. He followed.

I didn't speed up or slow down. I just kept walking, stepping over wet leaves and moss, pushing through tangled branches and vines. Mist rolled before my eyes, couldn't see the path ahead, but I didn't stop.

Because stopping meant facing him.

And I wasn't ready to face him yet.

At least—not now.

Chapter Fifteen

Zane

Mia was alive.