Reject My Alpha President (Iris and Arthur) novel Chapter 169

Iris

The jacket slips from my shoulders, falling to the carpet with a soft thud. I feel my face heat as Arthur drags his gaze over the tattered remains of my dress, lingering briefly on my exposed breasts, hips, and belly, but I don’t try to cover myself again.

“The scratches don’t look that bad,” he murmurs with surprise, his fingers lightly tracing a mark on my collarbone. His brow furrows as he examines a particularly long scratch down my arm. “They’re healing already, actually. Faster than they should be.”

I glance down at my arm, noticing he’s right. The angry red line from earlier has already dulled to a faint pink. “Huh. That’s

weird.”

“Not for a werewolf,” Arthur says, his eyes meeting mine. “Humans don’t heal this quickly, Iris.”

My heart skips a beat as I realize what he’s implying. “I’m not a werewolf, Arthur. I think I would know.”

“Would you?” He picks up the black dress from where Ezra left it, carefully unzipping it. “Caleb told me about your DNA test.”

I freeze. “He did?”

“He seems to think you might be the missing Willford heir.”

Heat rushes through me as he gives me a loaded, almost disappointed gaze. I hadn’t planned to tell Arthur about the test–not until I got the results back, at least. And even then, I was sure they’d be negative.

“It’s ridiculous,” I say, shaking my head. “I’ve never shown any werewolf traits. I can’t shift, can’t use Mindlink-”

you call my name.”

“You used Mindlink tonight,” Arthur interrupts. “When those women attacked you. I heard you call my name.”

I stare at him, stunned. “That’s impossible.”

“I heard you,” Arthur says simply, “Clear as day. That’s how I knew you were in trouble.”

My mind struggles to process this information. Could I really have used Mindlink? The very thought is absurd. I’m human–I’ve always been human.

Haven’t I?

Arthur helps me slip out of the tattered remains of my dress. “Why did you take the test?” he asks, his voice a little softer now.

I sigh, stepping carefully out of the ruined silk pooled at my feet. “At first it was just to donate to the orphanage. But then I started noticing things… strange things. The way I healed after the accident. The way I sensed Caleb somehow, like I knew him even though we’d never met.”

Arthur’s fingers brush against my bare shoulder as he helps me into the new dress, and a shiver runs through me that has nothing to do with the chilly room. “Do you really think you could be a werewolf?”

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“I don’t know,” I admit, turning around and moving my hair aside so he can zip the dress up the back. His fingers ghost across

“Like how you birthed a full Alpha wolf son despite supposedly being human?”

I nod, my throat suddenly dry. Arthur is standing very close, his scent surrounding me, familiar and intoxicating. “Like that,” I

whisper, and the words come out as hardly more than a croak.

were planning on doing the test.”

“I just decided yesterday,” I reply, shooting him a look over my shoulder. “And we weren’t exactly on the best terms.”

“No,” he agrees with a soft sigh. “I guess not.”