Bought by the Beast King (Katerina and hunter) novel Chapter 49

**Leaves Falling Like Promises**
**By Amara Grant**
**Chapter 49**

I could feel the tension radiating from Hunter’s body, a palpable energy that seemed to reverberate against mine. It lingered for a moment longer than I anticipated before he finally released me, his gaze dropping to my face. Was Rivers right all along? And what about that dreadful thought that had been gnawing at my mind since my conversation with Bree?

“What do you mean?” he asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.

Yet, something in his posture told me he was harboring secrets—deep, dark secrets that perhaps mirrored my own. Who was I to pry into his life when I had my own shadows to contend with?

Even so, a tight knot formed in my chest, and I instinctively turned my gaze away from his penetrating stare. The fear that had been simmering within me since Bree’s words echoed in my mind returned with a vengeance. I wanted desperately to convince myself that my imagination was running wild. That Hunter was not connected to the man who had been trailing me, and he certainly wasn’t the person Bree had inquired about.

“Who the hell is Mr. Sterling?” I had blurted out to Bree, my heart racing.

Her reaction was immediate, as if I had sprouted horns.

“The director,” she had replied, her tone laced with disbelief.

I didn’t know the director personally, but I had done my homework before applying. Maybe she had seen me being escorted to the interrogation room. Was it Agent Wallis or Agent Black who had been present?

There was no way I would ever willingly approach the Director of the Bureau. That man was not merely a wolf; he was a Lycan—much more formidable than Rivers, and certainly stronger than my father.

A tremor coursed through me. No, I couldn’t possibly be involved with a Lycan. It was unthinkable.

“You’re scaring me, Kitty,” he murmured, his voice soft as he gently cupped my face in his hands once more.

This was the Hunter I knew—the man who made me feel secure just by being near. The one who did my laundry and prepared my meals. There was no conceivable way he could be the director. Yet, as I considered the other unsettling aspects, fear seeped deeper into my bones.

The flash of crimson eyes. The low, growling sound that sometimes escaped his lips. The way he relished biting me. Oh, Goddess, his bite…

“What’s your last name, Hunter?” I whispered, my voice barely above a breath.

His hands fell away from my cheeks, and he took a step back, guilt etched across his features like an open book. I gasped, stumbling back in shock.

“I’ll tell you everything you want to know,” he said earnestly. “I’ve tried to talk to you lately, but you keep shutting me down. If we—”

“What’s your last name?” I pressed again, my heart racing.

If it were true, I had no right to accuse him of deceit. I was the one who had approached him at the club. I was the one who had let my desires overtake my better judgment.

A small voice in my mind replayed the moment he had stayed with me. He had cornered me in the janitor’s closet, compelling me to take him home. He had agreed to my conditions so quickly that alarm bells should have been ringing in my head.

I was a fool. I had led the very man who had been hunting me straight to my bed. My body shook more violently now, bile rising in my throat as I staggered backward until I collided with the back of the couch, nearly collapsing to the floor when my legs threatened to give out. Hunter remained still in the center of the room, his eyes following my every move, as if he understood that any sudden motion could shatter me. That stillness, I now realized, was not calm; it was the mark of a predator.

“Will knowing my last name change how you feel about me?” Hunter asked softly, his voice tinged with concern.

“It changes everything,” I replied, my chest aching with the weight of my emotions. Damn it. I should have never allowed myself to become attached.

“But the other night… you agreed to be my girlfriend,” he said, his voice cracking with vulnerability. “You said you were mine.”

Oh Goddess!

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