Defying the Lycan King (Kira and Derek) novel Chapter 124

Chapter 124: Hello Leo

Kira didn’t reply. She kept walking.

Derek fell into step beside her. "Fine. We’ll walk together then." He reached for her hand.

She yanked it back. "I don’t want to walk with you. Go away."

"I can’t do that." His voice was even. "You’re my wife. I’m not leaving you out here at this hour."

She glanced at him sideways. "It’s all fake, and no one’s watching. You don’t need to play nice. I know you’re not."

Something sharp moved through Derek’s chest at that. The guilt wasn’t only about those words, though those were bad enough. It was larger and older than that, sitting somewhere beneath his ribs and refusing to be reasoned away.

"The coronation has been brought forward," he said. "We can’t keep fighting until then."

"Well," Kira said pleasantly, "you should have thought about that before opening your mouth."

He went quiet for a moment. "Those words were cruel. I didn’t mean them." He cleared his throat. "You win. Sweet Kira: 100. Me: 90. Happy now?"

Kira gave him a withering look, then had to bite her lower lip very hard to stop the corner of her mouth from betraying her. "Who gave you that generous ninety?"

He shrugged. "I have my methods."

"I’m not accepting that tally. It’s rigged."

"Says the woman who was keeping a secret tally without my knowledge or consent." He raised an eyebrow. "I’d argue my score has been well over a hundred since the first week of this marriage."

She turned her face away quickly so he wouldn’t see how her lips curved. "I’m still not getting in that car."

He reached out and caught her hand again, his palm warm against her cold fingers. "It’s freezing out here. What are you, the Snow Queen?"

She tried to pull free, but his grip tightened on her wrist. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Let go."

He looked at her with something between exasperation and fondness. "You’re too stubborn to admit you’re cold."

"I learnt from the best," she said, and kept walking.

Derek stopped abruptly, forcing her to halt too. For a second he simply looked at her, then released her wrist. With a quiet sigh, he shrugged off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

The warmth settled around her immediately, carrying his faint, clean scent of citrus. For one unguarded moment, she almost let herself stay in it.

Then she shrugged it off. "I don’t need your jacket."

She jogged a few steps ahead.

"Are you really that proud?" he asked, catching up easily. "Come on, let’s just get in the car and go home. It’s cold."

"If you’re cold, get in the car. I’m not getting in because I have already told that car to go to hell, and I intend to walk home. I won’t go back on my word."

He stared at her in disbelief. "Really?"

"Yes, really. Next time you’ll think twice before saying such things to me." She quickened her pace, leaving him behind once more.

"Well, that’s because you drive me crazy!" he called after her, jogging to catch up again.

"And yet, here you are," she said, without turning around.

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