The Alpha King Marked Me. I Still Haven't Told Him I'm A Girl novel Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Five

Cleaning duty. That is what we get for fighting.

It doesn’t bother me much. With the pain I feel, I probably won’t make it through the night. There are no infirmaries or doctors here. Just blood, gore and death. Even the walls have dried blood from heaven knows where.

"He could’ve killed you," the Prince finally speaks for the first time after he dumped me on the ground. I take back everything I said about him before. There is nothing tender about the male. Or kind. He is the cruelest man in this world and I can only pity whoever has the misfortune of getting mated to him.

I don’t reply, staring off into space and counting numbers in my head until he lets me go. He let Leander go a few minutes ago. I’m not sure what he wants with me. Could be that he found out the truth, but I know that it is highly unlikely. I’ve been careful. I didn’t even bother with a bath today—I changed my mind at the sight of countless men with and without their underclothes storming into the bathchamber. I couldn’t unsee it.

"You were aiming to get yourself killed."

Slowly, my gaze lifts from the crack in the wall to him, seated behind a mahogany desk, eyes tracing every movement I make, every breath I take. "Shocker," I mutter coolly, wincing as every movement of my lips causes a painful throb in my head. "Will you punish me for that too?"

Prince Rafe doesn’t respond to that, seemingly more interested in the countless papers on his desk. He holds up one and tosses it at my feet. "A letter from your father."

Breathing becomes rather hard as my gaze drops to the white envelope, bearing the family crest. In a rough scrawl, I read, "For Val."

Tears spring to my eyes and my lips begin to quiver. Heat rushes up my neck and sweat breaks on my forehead as I fight the urge to tear it open—not that I can. I can’t feel my fingers. But what I do feel is the weight of the Prince’s stare, watching and gauging my reaction.

With my good hand, I push the letter back. "I have no interest in this."

"You should," he says, leaning forward in his seat. "It is the last you will hear from him."

My blood freezes. A breath burns in my throat, a flicker of fear. I stare at him. "What. . .what do you mean?"

"It is protocol to run background checks on each soldier, to ensure that they aren’t spies. However, upon reaching House Ironfang, they were met with a grieving party. Your father didn’t make it through the night."

Horror fills my ears with roaring silence. My heart stops. My body gives. I shake my head, unable to think up anything but the word *no*.

"No," I whisper, but when my gaze meets his, I know he isn’t lying.

"No," I whisper again, more to myself.

Prince Rafe’s dark gaze devours me and he leans back in his chair, expression stone cold. "I suppose that is sufficient proof if your ties with him. Get out. You wish to cry, do it outside."

Somehow, I reached my room. Somehow, I slid the bolt into place. Somehow, I got into the bedroll, ignoring Thane who stood off to the side, giving me the space I need to wail.

And I did, well into the night. There was only pain and darkness in my heart. A despair that consumed every inch of me, leaving nothing but ashes in its wake.

*********

Sweat beads down my neck as I try over and over again to hit the mark on the scarecrow at the middle of the training yard.

I had fallen asleep for all of half an hour, but I had woken up... different, with a renewed sense of... something.

Thane had healed my wounds over the night--his own way of expressing his sympathy for me. At least, he is good for something other than speaking absurd things.

Even now, he stands by me, instructing and apprehending my every move. I listen carefully, adjusting my movements to fit his instructions, all the while thinking that father’s death will not go in vain. He had gotten ill fighting this stupid war that has spanned out for so long, for reasons unknown to us. We have fought for so long, we no longer remember why Ebonheart despises us so. Why their demonic Alpha King who never dies wages war on us every year.

A never ending war.

I can’t die in this. If I do, mother will truly have no one.

I let her become my strength, my reason to fight back. I must return home.

"I suppose you are done cleaning."

I resist the urge to yelp as I turn to find Prince Rafe approaching. Whatever I had to say dies in my throat as...well...he is shirtless.

My mouth goes dry as I drag my gaze up his muscled torso, over the smooth panes of his chest and the rippling cords of muscles that seem to bounce with every movement.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify