Claimed By The Mafia Rogue King (Snow and Cupid) novel Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Snowflakes

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“I should have known it would be hard to get a divorce. What do you think we should do now?”

Silence fell. I didn’t respond. I wasn’t even paying attention until she gave me a gentle shove, dragging me back to reality. I blinked and looked around quickly to realize we had already. arrived.

I sighed tiredly and turned to Dove, who sat behind the wheel. She had come to get me the moment I told her I was alone near the dark alley.

She’d been worried when she arrived, but I had been absentminded, stunned and rattled by the kiss from the stranger, that man with beautiful green eyes and gorgeous black hair.

The moment he pulled off his hood and grabbed my waist to kiss me plays in a loop in my head, making me completely forget Dove was speaking.

Why is he so handsome?

Who exactly is he?

And what has he done that has warranted him bleeding like that? What?

“Snow, are you okay? You’re scaring me,” Dove asked, voice soft with worry.

“It’s nothing,” I murmured, but she didn’t believe me for even a second. Her mine, and then her gaze dropped to my reddened cheeks.

eyes

searched

“Are you sure it’s nothing? And why would Ares leave you all alone under the night? Doesn’t he have a conscience?”

I didn’t answer that. I leaned back in my seat, staring ahead for a moment before asking,

“You came faster than I expected to the alley. Were you around?”

“Oh, yes.” Dove perked up instantly. “Brace yourself, Snow. A huge news report is dropping tomorrow, something that’s going to shake both the human world and the werewolf territory.”

I frowned, raising a brow.

“How do you mean? What news?”

“Sweet Gossip Feed, S.G.F., is covering a case that happened not far from that alley. We reporters were already there to get the news, but something even bigger happened. It’s

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exclusive for now, so I can’t say anything until the facts are confirmed. By tomorrow, you’ll hear it.”

I frowned slightly, still curious, but exhaustion weighed on me, and the stranger’s kiss still left strange ripples through my senses.

“Thanks for giving me a ride, Dove,” I murmured.

She smiled softly.

“How about your human brothers? Any news?”

“Not yet,” I whispered. “I’m hoping Seraphine will call tomorrow. Goodnight, Dove. Drive safely. Text me when you’re home, okay?”

She smiled again and nodded.

I got out of the car and stood watching as she drove away from Ares’s mansion. Only when her car disappeared did I step inside the house to take a warm bath and retreat to bed.

After I freshened up and slipped into my nightgown, settling into the sheets, I still couldn’t shake the feeling.

He kissed me like he was making a claim.

The audacity…

Why do I seem to admire the daring of a stranger?

***

It was the light touch on my skin that jerked me awake, and before I could recognize his face, I was already fighting to escape, almost screaming my head off in panic.

“Snow, Snow! It’s me. Calm down.”

Ares’s voice steadied me, and I froze mid–scream, blinking rapidly as my thudding heart slowed.

A few seconds passed before my senses returned. My eyes slid to the table clock. It’s two a.m.

When I looked back, Ares was holding an ointment. He must have come to apply it on the spot where the hot soup had spilled on me earlier at the dinner in Mooncrest.

Neither of us spoke. My eyes roamed over him instead. He looked like he had just arrived, still dressed, though his coat was off. His white shirt was rumpled, as if someone had been tugging at it. One cufflink was missing. And even without my wolf, I could perceive the faint trace of a

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Chapter 12

woman’s perfume clinging to him.

Finished

He had left me alone at a dark alley to rush to his mistress. Without caring one bit about my

trauma.

“You should calm down, Snow,” he murmured. “I wanted to apply the ointment. Let me.”

“You shouldn’t bother. Even though I have no wolf yet, I’ve healed already. It’s been long enough.”

I said it quietly, dismissively, and turned to lie back down, but something in my tone clearly rubbed him wrong.

He grabbed my wrist, compelling me to stay seated. His eyes searched mine, confusion flickering.

“Snow… don’t tell me you’re still upset about Lencia. Didn’t I tell you not to worry about her?”

I didn’t speak. I tried pulling my wrist from his hold, and in the movement, his eyes dropped to my fingers, immediately noticing the absence of my wedding ring.

He froze.

His gaze pinned on my bare ring finger, then slowly lifted to my face.

He knew how much I adored that ring, how I wore it every day and night for years.

Now, seeing me without it, his eyes formed the question.

“Where is your wedding ring?”

Silence stretched long between us, thick and heavy. I knew the air.

If I told him I gave it away, Ares wouldn’t let the night rest. And I didn’t want a quarrel, not tonight. All I wanted was sleep.

“I lost it,” I lied. The words slid out too smoothly.

“You lost your wedding ring and didn’t tell me?” His voice tightened. “Snow…”

“You were never home to listen!” I snapped suddenly, yanking my wrist free. “Didn’t you run off the moment someone called tonight, leaving me stranded in a place filled with my

darkest memories?”

He stiffened instantly, shocked. This was the first time I ever raised my voice, even slightly.

Silence followed. I looked away, fighting the depression clawing at my chest.

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“You shouldn’t worry,” he finally murmured. “I’ll find the ring for you. Go on and rest. I’ll sleep in the living room tonight.”

I said nothing. I didn’t even flinch when he leaned in to press a light kiss to my lips before leaving and closing the door behind him.

His kiss lingered faintly, but strangely, stupidly, my heart compared it to the stranger’s kiss.

And seconds later, I realized the stranger’s kiss resonated more deeply than my husband’s.

I sank back into the pillow and dragged the coverlet over my face, praying silently to the moon goddess for mercy and

peace.

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