Rejected then Claimed by the Alpha King (Liam and Hope) novel Chapter 105

Chapter 20

Selene’s POV

The celebration at the Pack Syndicate Research Center didn’t end with the feast.

Somehow, inevitably, it spilled into the streets of Yoria.

Someone suggested finding a KTV lounge-until we remembered this wasn’t the heartlands, and Yorian cities rarely catered to Pack traditions that loud.

Instead, we picked a nearby tavern with private rooms for rent and slipped into one of the larger booths upstairs.

The heavy bass from downstairs barely leaked through the thick walls.

At first, I thought I could relax.

I was wrong.

The moment we entered the private room, chaos broke loose.

It was like the entire Pack unshackled itself all at once.

Laughter, shouting, off-key singing the room exploded with sound and movement, the wolves no longer contained by their usual strict schedules and protocols.

I stuck close to Ethan as we made our way through the crowd, following him into the booth.

The familiar comfort of his presence kept me anchored as we found a corner seat.

Just as I was starting to settle, a mischievous glint caught my attention.

Ryan Stone, one of Ethan’s old Packmates from his apprentice days-lanky, energetic, with a wolfish grin permanently plastered on his face-was eyeing Ethan like a predator circling prey.

He leaned in, wagging a finger inches from Ethan’s face.

“Looks like you haven’t taken even a single step forward, huh, Caldwell?” Ryan teased, his voice carrying easily over the noise.

Ethan’s ears turned bright red.

“Stop talking nonsense,” Ethan growled, and with a long arm, he hooked Ryan’s neck in a loose chokehold and slapped a hand over his mouth.

wan he

“Ignore him, Selene,” Ethan said, shooting me a flustered glance. “Ryan talks faster than he

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thinks.”

I nodded, feeling a small smile pull at the corners of my mouth.

I wasn’t used to seeing this side of them-their Pack-bond camaraderie outside the clinical, precise atmosphere of the lab.

But it wasn’t unpleasant.

They weren’t mocking.

They weren’t judging.

They were just… being.

Real.

And for the first time in a long while, I realized how much I had missed this kind of easy, noisy

belonging.

Ryan struggled against Ethan’s grip, mumbling unintelligibly.

When Ethan refused to let go, Ryan’s eyes gleamed with mischief.

He spat into Ethan’s hand.

Ethan recoiled immediately, yanking his hand back with a look of utter betrayal.

The entire booth roared with laughter.

Even I couldn’t hide my grin.

“You fight dirty, Ryan!” someone howled from across the room.

Ryan shrugged, looking insufferably proud.

“It’s called psychological warfare,” he said, puffing up his chest.

“Attack the mind, not the muscles.”

The teasing finally drifted back into the general chaps of the tavern.

By the time drinks were flowing freely again, I had relaxed enough to sip from my own glass

without feeling like I needed to bolt.

The conversation shifted to the future, to upcoming experiments, to possibilities.

Chapter 20

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Their secret romance is soon discovered, sparking a community-wide meeting.

And then-of course-the attention circled back.

Elder Daniel Clark, who had managed to avoid being dragged into most of the drunken antics, stood with a wineglass raised high.

“Tonight,” he declared, “we honor two of our brightest stars-

Ethan Caldwell and Selene Hartwell!”

Cheers erupted.

All eyes turned to us.

Ethan and I both half-rose from our seats, lifting our glasses in awkward acknowledgment.

But before either of us could sit down again, a sharp-eyed Packmate shouted,

“Wait-what’s this?”

Heads swiveled.

I looked down-

and saw Ethan carefully picking green onions out of my dish, setting them neatly on the side plate

without even glancing up.

Heat flooded my cheeks.

The teasing was merciless.

“I knew it! I said something was off!”

“I saw Ethan giving Selene his jacket during the night shift last month!”

“Bet he’d carry her across a battlefield if she sneezed!”

Ethan froze, then scowled fiercely and shoved the plate toward me.

“Mind your own damn plates!” he barked, his ears flaming red.

The laughter only got louder.

Somehow, despite the heat in my face, I laughed too

It wasn’t cruel.

It wasn’t invasive.

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