Page 69 of Chased By My Grumpy Alpha
I was clearly not meant to be loved.
I can hear Andrew’s voice, feel someone gripping my hair.
What a waste of life. I shouldn’t have listened to my mother. There is no goodness in people. They’re all monsters. They all turned their backs on me.
A single tear slips down the side of my face as the last remaining piece of my heart finally crumbles to dust.
Love? What a joke.
The agony drags me toward the darkness.
And then I hear it—a sound like thunder, as if the world itself is splitting open.
The door explodes inward with such force that splinters of wood rain down like confetti. I force my eyes open, and through the haze of pain clouding my vision, I see the shape of a wolf silhouetted in the doorway.
Even beaten, even dying, I know who it is.
Lucian.
Chapter Twelve
Lucian
“You’re so desperate to be wanted that you’ll settle for the first person who shows you basic kindness.”
Why did I say that?
The shock in Astra’s eyes, the devastation…In that moment, all the laughter and warmth in those pretty, green eyes vanished, like a flame going out. Instead, I was looking into a chasm carved from years of grief.
Suddenly, the woman I had spent weeks with disappeared, replaced by a broken person who looked at me with tired acceptance. Like I was no different from her other abusers.
I should have told her I didn’t mean it.
I should have stopped her.
But she walked away, and I could smell the salt of her tears on the wind.
Three days I’ve been sitting on this goddamn hill, staring down at Turnville like some pathetic fool. The bag of coins Astra thrust at me burns in my pocket—seventeen silver pieces that somehow feel heavier than a king’s ransom.
My wolf paces restlessly inside my mind, agitated and miserable. It’s been snarling at me for days, furious that I let her leave. But what was I supposed to do? Ask her to come with me? And then what?
The question slipped out before I could stop it: “If I told you I loved you right now, would you marry me instead?” I meant it as a test, a way to prove she was settling for the first man who ever showed her any kindness. But the words came out raw, desperate, and for a terrifying moment, they felt more real than anything I’d ever said.
When she hesitated—when I saw the confusion and uncertainty flash across her face—something in my chest exploded with an unknown emotion.
I don’t even know why I’m so eager to tie this woman to me. She’s a latent wolf. Despite the laws protecting her kind, it’s obvious that she will be mistreated wherever she goes. Except, in the capital, no one would dare lay a finger on her, not if it were known that she was under my protection. I could give her a house, a large one, gift her an herb garden that the most powerful healers would be jealous of, and then we could—
We?
I don’t have a place in her life. Nor does she have one in mine.
I run my fingers through my hair, frustrated and angry.
She has a chance at happiness among the humans, so why do I care so much? Why does she matter to me? Why do her tears bother me?
She’s just another shifter among the millions that exist under me. I’m the crown prince. I have an engagement to finalize with Lady Zari. I have a kingdom to inherit and duties to fulfill. Why am I getting involved in the affairs of this one latent wolf?
Granted, she is a talented herbalist. She’s able to neutralize wolfsbane. That is an achievement every healer is still clambering for. She’s also good at creating antidotes. She’s anasset to the kingdom even if she doesn’t know it. If I were to keep her by my side because of that—
