TRADING MY CHEATING HUSBAND FOR THE LYCAN KING novel Chapter 31

CHAPTER 21: ALLERGIC TO FOREVER

KNOX’S POV

The doctor clears Ember within the hour.

I carry her back to the penthouse myself–not because she can’t walk, but because I need to feel her weight in my arms, need the confirmation that she’s solid and breathing and safe.

She doesn’t protest. She just rests her head against my chest and lets me take her home.

By the time we reach the penthouse, it’s nearly two in the morning. Ember kicks off her heels the second we’re through the door and collapses onto the couch, still wearing that beautiful dress that has been spinning my mind.

She looks exhausted. Wrung out. Like she’s been through a war.

“Come on,” I say, offering my hand. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

She takes it without argument.

In the bathroom, I help her out of the dress–carefully, reverently–and wrap her in one of the oversized robes hanging on the door. She washes her face while I start the shower, getting the temperature just right.

“I’ve got it from here,” she says quietly.

I nod and leave her to it, even though every instinct is screaming at me to stay close.

Twenty minutes later, she emerges in a cloud of steam, wearing one of my t–shirts that falls to mid–thigh. Her hair is damp, face scrubbed clean of makeup. She looks younger. Vulnerable. Beautiful in a way that has nothing to do with styling or performance.

“Better?” I ask.

“Yeah.” She pads over to the bed, bare feet silent on the hardwood. “Thank you.”

I pull back the covers and she climbs in, curling into the pillows like she belongs there.

I strip down to my boxer briefs, have a quick shower, and slide in beside her. The moment I’m close enough, she shifts toward me, fitting herself against my side.

“I could get used to this,” she murmurs, half–asleep already.

The words hit me harder than they should.

“Could you?” I ask, keeping my tone light.

< CHAPTER 21: ALLERGIC TO FOREVER

She tilts her head to look at me. “Could you?”

I should say no. Should remind her this is temporary.

Instead, I find myself saying, “Maybe. If I wasn’t allergic to long–term relationships.”

+25 Points

Her expression shifts–something fragile and hurt flickering across her face before she hides

1. it.

“Why?” she asks quietly.

My mind goes immediately to Celeste. To betrayal and blood and everything I’ve spent too long trying to forget. But I’m not ready to go there. Not tonight.

So I crack a smile instead. “Women get too addicted. It creates a global crisis for other alphas when I take myself off the market.”

She laughs, though its soft and sad. “Right. Of course.”

The deflection lands wrong. I can feel it in the way she pulls back slightly, putting distance between us even though she’s still in my arms.

Fuck.

“Tell me about your mother,” I say, desperate to change the subject.

Ember is quiet for a long moment. Then she sighs.

“My marriage to Gale wasn’t my choice. Not really. It was a treaty–pushed by Gale’s father and mine. They needed a good Omega wife for pack optics. Gale’s pack is small, not particularly powerful. But presenting a strong and diverse family front made them look good on paper. My mother wasn’t pleased. She wanted me to marry someone more impressive, someone who could elevate our family’s status. The Crawfords were too low–class for her standards. But my father?” She laughs bitterly. “He didn’t care as long as he got his gifts from the treaty. He was drunk half the time anyway. How many Omegas get lucky enough to end up with Alphas? He was a nobody wolf, and I was the ticket to changing his miserable

life.”

I feel my jaw tighten. “And your mother?”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify