Page 60 of Saved By The King's Gamma

“Have you girls had breakfast?” Clarice asks.

“Yep. I had some home truths for breakfast,” Azalea says bitterly, and Clarice gives her a look.

“And how did they taste?” she asks.

“Bitter, like the King,” Azalea mutters, sipping her juice. I snicker, she was indeed in a mood, making me wonder if it might be the pregnancy hormones. You could just make out the slightest bump if you looked hard enough. Her belly no longer looked sucked in from malnourishment, instead her belly was flat with the slightest hint of a bump. It is trippy to see how fast Lycan baby’s grow.

“I heard you and the King had an argument,” Clarice says.

“You did?” she asks skeptically.

“Pretty sure everyone heard you both fighting on the stairs before you went to get Abbie,” Clarice chuckles. Azalea cheeks turn slightly pink.

“Well, if everyone stopped keeping things that involve me from me, we wouldn’t be arguing,” she says while looking around at everyone who averts their gaze as she says it.

Azalea looks around before biting the corner of her lip. “You all know what he is hiding,” she states.

Clarice busies herself with cleaning the sink. Dustin, meanwhile, finds a spot on the roof to stare at, and Gannon starts shoveling food in Oliver’s mouth so fast the kid soon looks like a cartoon chipmunk, cheeks full, chewing as fast as he can before swallowing and opening his mouth again.

Azalea growls. “Of course everyone knows but us!” she says, motioning toward me, and Gannon looks at me, giving a soft shake of his head. That movement does not go unnoticed by her either when her eyes go to mine.

I could never lie to her, and the knowing look on her face that I knew had me blurt it out like word vomit.

“Mr. Crux is your illegitimate cousin on your father’s side. The council are suspected to be in with the hunters and your blood is special because you can change humans into Lycans” I blurt out loud before I can stop myself.

Gannon drops the fork he was holding and Dustin and Clarice gape at me while Azalea blinks at me clearly shocked. He then growls before pressing his lips in a line. I had never intentionally lied to her, and I wasn’t about to start now.

“How hard was that? Geez!” Azalea says, sipping her juice. The room seems to let out a collective exhale.

“Wait! Crux is my cousin?” she asks like that is the most shocking information.

“Is that why he freaked out when he learned who I was?” she asks. But this time, I can’t answer her, so I look at Gannon, who growls again.

“No. Because of your parents’ gifts, they were probably worried you inherited them,” Gannon answers and Clarice hangs her head.

“What sort of gifts?” Azalea asks.

“I am sorry, I can’t tell you that. And Abbie wasn’t even supposed to tell you what she did,” he says, shooting me a look. Azalea looks at Dustin for an answer but not even he is willing to speak up about it. She puts her cup down and shakes her head, tears burning her eyes. I wish I knew so I could tell her.

“I am over this crap! They’re supposed to be my family and no one tells me anything about them. Yet all of you had no issues telling me what a shit mother Marissa was to me!” she says storming off out the back door. Gannon and Dustin go after her but she spins around with a furious look on her face.

“Don’t follow me! And don’t come near me!” she snarls, and I nearly stagger back at the command. Gannon, too, rocks on his heels. She is gone before she even realizes what she has done. None of us thought we could move an inch to go after her.

“Bloody hell!” Dustin says.

“You fucking mindlink him! Because until she undoes it, neither of us can go near her,” Gannon growls, then rubs a hand down his face.

“Wait! Even me?” I ask, trying to go toward the door she walked out of. However, my feet won’t let me go in that direction. At that same moment, Trey walks in completely oblivious to all us frozen. He is cupping his nose that seems to be bleeding and walks over to the sink.

“I thought you were with the King?” Dustin asks.

“I was. Until Liam called me a ferret face fucker, so I hit him,” Trey mumbles.

“Idiot. You don’t hit crazy,” Gannon says, and Trey glares at him before looking around the room after cleaning his bloody face.

“Anyway, I was left behind,”he says, shaking his head. “Where is the Queen?” he asks, his voice steady but bearing an edge of concern as his gaze darts from one corner of the room to the other, searching for Azalea. Gannon and Dustin exchange a silent communication that speaks volumes, their expressions a mix of resignation and unease.

“Did you get hold of the King?” Gannon’s voice cuts through the quiet, tension wrapping around each word like barbed wire. Dustin’s head gives a slow, deliberate shake, his hands clasped together as though in silent prayer or perhaps to stave off the urge to reach out and throttle something—or someone.

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