Page 210 of Kingdoms of Night

I nearly tripped a third time—or was it a fourth?—but my foot met the ground this time, holding me steady.

Jonas arched an inquisitive brow.

“I’m exhausted, okay?” I admitted. “And obviously lacking in coordination.”

“I offered to carry you.”

“In a tone that clearly indicated how much you didn’t want to do that,” I replied. “So no. I’ll walk.”

“Why do you always have to be so difficult?” he demanded. “I’m trying to help you, Dr. Campbell.”

I winced at his formal address.

Dr. Campbell.

Not Riley.

“Fuck.All I’ve ever done is help you,” he continued. “Yet you fight me at every turn. Why? Is it because you didn’t want a guard? Did you want to handle all this on your own? Or am I a special case? Because I certainly don’t see you acting like this aroundPrince Kieran.”

My eyes widened a little at the venom in his tone when he said Kieran’s name.

But it was really his whole speech that surprised me.

Because it was the second one he’d given me today.

Who knew the sexy Alpha bodyguard could be so talkative?

He continued to stare at me—well, no, he wasglaringat me—while waiting for a reply.

When I didn’t voice one, he just shook his head and started walking again.

“I declined because my first instinct was to accept,” I called after him. “I was trying not to be ‘difficult.’?” I deepened my voice on that final word in an attempt to sound like Jonas.

He paused. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well, I wanted to accept because I knew you didn’t want to do it, which would be me being vindictive. So I saidnoin an attempt to be nice.”

He turned around to face me, his long blond hair flowing in unruly waves around his handsome face. “Why not just tell me what you actually want without using it as an opportunity to beniceorvindictive?” he suggested.

I twisted my lips to the side, unable to really answer that. It was never truly about that between us. I just… I just wanted him toleave. He was a complication I didn’t want to deal with, not while handling everything else.

But that wasn’t exactly fair to him, which I knew. However, I doubted he would ever genuinely understand my immediate distrust of the situation.

I was an Omega.

He was an Alpha.

In his mind, I was a cherished wolf meant to carry his pups, or the pups of another Alpha. Nothing more. Nothing less.

He wouldn’t understand my drive to be anything else. None of them did.

Jonas blew out a breath and drew his fingers through his hair. “Why can’t you respect me like you do the others?” he asked, making me frown. “What have I done to earn your obvious dislike?”

“I don’t dislike you,” I started.

“Well, you obviously don’t like me either,” he countered. “So what’s your problem? What do you need from me for us to get along?”

“I…” I wasn’t sure how to answer that.

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