The Alpha King Marked Me. I Still Haven't Told Him I'm A Girl novel Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Fifteen

"Again!"

I leap off the raft, grabbing onto the steel rail and with a tired exhale, I swing back and hurl myself onto the next rail. And the next. And the next.

My mind slips away from the men gathered below the gauntlet, watching me like I am animal on exhibition, and for a moment, I slip back into my nightmare.

Violet eyes with gold hints narrow at me.

My grip falters and I fall.

The mat smacks my back, knocks the air from my lungs. For a long moment, I just lie there, staring up at the rails like they might fall and crush me too.

I’ve been seeing him everywhere.

A hint of silken silver hair here and there. Black robes in the dark. A deep seductive laugh that creeps under my skin and leaves me restless. The kiss of his teeth in my skin and the pain that tears me from the reoccurring night mare.

Nine consecutive days, I’ve dreamt of him. Of dying. When I sacrificed my nights, sneaking into the training hall to beat the bags so hard, I could barely stand, he began slipping into my daydreams, as well.

I’m losing my mind, my patience, my strength. Even now, if I listened carefully, I can almost hear the slow thudthudthud of his heart and the strumming of fingers against gold...

A hand enters my vision. I blink, eyes focusing on Rafe. Against my better judgement, I let him pull me up. His grip is warm, too warm, and I ignore the treacherous heat sparking through me.

"You went farther today," he says evenly, tossing me a towel. "But you’re distracted. Sloppy."

"Sorry," I mumble half-heartedly. My eyes are heavy, my vision doubling. My limbs feel like lead and my head has an unbearable weight sitting right on it.

When last did I sleep? Five days ago?

"So, who is it?"

I blink away the tiredness, wondering if I missed a large part of the conversation. "Sorry?"

Prince Rafe falls into step beside me as we walk past the battlements. I get a few waves from the new recruits and I catch Bryn’s friendly salute as we make for the tower. "There are only a handful of things that gets a man in a mood. A new bairn, someone pissed in his wine, and a lass. You look too young to have hit a score on the first one and you do not have the smell of alcohol on you. So, I wager the last."

"I turn nineteen in a fortnight..." I trail off because that’s when I notice. The strange, unsettling nearness. He’s walking beside me. Not trying to jostle me. Or insult me. He’s just...here, talking to me like we’re thick as thieves. Close. Too close.

By the time his shoulder brushes mine, I’ve already shoved him back, harder than intended and my skull throbs with the effort. "What is your problem? Why are you following me?"

And by the gods, what is that smell? It’s wafting off him and it’s making me so hungry.

He doesn’t answer until we’ve passed the tower’s ruined archway. Then he stops. Turns. His eyes flick away, his jaw clenched. "I thought..." He clears his throat. "I thought I should apologize. For the past week."

"Oh, which part?" I laugh bitterly. "Forgetting about the endless morning drill you placed me on before sneaking off with your girlfriend? You left me in the rain for six hours!" I yell, earning a few stares from shocked soldiers nearby. "And as if that wasn’t enough, you broke my arm during combat, for no reason!"

His gaze drops briefly to the arm in question. "It looks just fine to me."

Cold floods my veins. "...what?"

Huh?

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify