Defying the Lycan King (Kira and Derek) novel Chapter 111

Chapter 111: He Promised

He said he would be here.

Kira stepped down from the stage into the dimmer wings, the moment the applause began to thin, moving quickly before anyone could stop her for conversation. Her fingers twisted the fabric of her dress.

He promised.

Connor stood just offstage in his usual dark suit, arms loosely at his sides, scanning the hall even now. When he saw her coming, his stern expression softened a little.

"Connor," she said quietly, stopping beside him. Her voice came out smaller than she wanted.

He turned fully toward her. "Your Highness."

"He’s not here."

Connor’s gaze flicked toward the entrance doors at the back of the auditorium, then back to her face. "He’ll come."

Kira shook her head and looked past him at the royal booth sitting empty and glaring under the lights. "Look at the seats, Connor. Where is Nana? Where is everyone?"

Connor followed her eyes. Then he looked back at Kira, and she could see in the way his expression adjusted, the barely perceptible tightening around his eyes, that he had registered the same thing she had.

Connor saw the way her teeth pressed into her lower lip to stop it trembling, he saw the raw panic in her usually bright eyes, the look of a woman who felt the floor falling away from beneath her feet.

"He said he would be here before the auction started," she said. "That was the whole point. The crowd is here because of him. If he doesn’t show up—"

"He will show," Connor interrupted, his voice firmer. He stepped half an inch closer. "He will show, Your Highness. Derek does not break his promises. Not when it matters. And he knows this matters to you."

Kira let out a shaky breath. "But what if something has happened to him? And Nana? And Kai?" Her voice cracked on the last name. "It’s not just Derek. The whole family is missing. It looks like a public rejection."

She glanced toward the sea of faces in the auditorium, where the sound of restlessness was growing louder. "The guests are already whispering. If this auction ends and nobody from the palace is here to place a bid... this whole night would be a failure."

Connor saw the spiralling thoughts taking hold of her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, the way you steady someone who is about to lose their footing.

"Your Highness. Listen to me. You need to take a breath right now, because you have worked too hard for this night to let panic take the wheel."

He held her gaze and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, then looked around, ensuring they were still unobserved. "Take a minute to catch your breath. Give me five minutes to make some calls."

Kira nodded slowly, feeling a tiny bit of the tension leave her shoulders, though the heaviness in her heart remained. "I... I need to use the restroom."

Connor signalled to Petra, who was waiting nearby. The female gamma stepped forward at once. "Escort the Queen to the restroom. Stay at the door."

"I’ve got her," Petra said curtly.

Petra fell into step beside Kira as she moved away from the wings and down the corridor toward the ladies’ bathroom.

When they reached the ladies’ bathroom, Kira pushed the door open and retreated inside. She locked herself in the end stall, leaning her forehead against the cool metal of the door.

She let out a long, shaky breath that she had been holding for far too long. Her eyes burned, but she refused to let the tears fall. Not tonight. She couldn’t afford to ruin her makeup.

He’ll come, she told herself, eyes squeezed shut. He promised.

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