I stood before the vanity mirror in the Alpha King's private chambers and barely recognized myself. The flowing dress hugged my curves perfectly, the deep emerald fabric bringing out the gold flecks in my eyes that came with my wolf bloodline. When had I last looked like this? When had I last felt like this?
Six months of my salary at the Royal Holdings would not have bought this dress. Yet here it was, hanging in a closet full of clothes exactly my size. Jack knew my measurements. The thought sent heat creeping up my neck.
I curled my hair and watched it shimmer under the light. Today was my first lunch with him since agreeing to be his. Since becoming his woman. The words still felt foreign on my tongue, but my wolf purred with satisfaction deep inside me.
A knock interrupted my thoughts.
"My lady, there is a woman at the palace gates demanding to see you," one of the servants said through the door.
My stomach tightened. Emily again? She was the only one who would come looking for me. But she did not know where I lived now.
"I do not have time," I called back, grabbing my purse. The car Jack sent would be waiting.
I walked through the palace corridors, my heels clicking against the marble floors. The guards bowed as I passed. Everything here reminded me that I was living in a dream I might wake from at any moment.
"Stop right there, Aurora Bluey."
I froze. That voice belonged to Tayo Dante, the woman who had threatened me in the hospital. The one who claimed to be Jack's fiancée.
I turned slowly and found her storming toward me. Her face was twisted with rage, veins visible on her neck. Her chest heaved with each breath. She looked ready to tear me apart with her bare hands.
But I was not the sick woman she had confronted before. Not anymore.
I let her come to me, watching her approach with a calmness I did not know I possessed. When she stopped inches from my face, I looked her up and down and laughed. The sound surprised even me.
"I made it clear to you some time ago not to take your luck too far," Tayo snarled.
I smiled. My wolf stirred, wanting to show this pretender exactly who held the Alpha King's heart. "Who let you through that gate? Is Jack aware you are here? Why do I feel you are a desperate woman trying to gain his attention? If you are so important to him, how come I live here with him and not you? Why have I never seen you here? Why have I never heard him mention your name?"
Her face turned red. "You cannot see because you are blind. I heard you are the mother of his son. You acted to gain his attention and make him indebted to you. Stay away from the Alpha King."
I stepped closer until our bodies almost touched. "Whoever is feeding you such information did me a favor. The blind one here is you. You have eyes and cannot see. You have a brain and cannot use it. Even if I acted to gain his attention, he loves me. Jack cares about me. We have a past, a present, and a future that looks bright with our son and future children. He was mine, he is mine, and guess what? He will always be mine."
"He will eventually throw you and that illegitimate son of yours out of his palace," Tayo hissed. "I will own him legally, have his body to myself, and you will be dumped like garbage."
The words should have hurt. They would have hurt the old me. But I was not her anymore.
"Jack has great taste in women. You look too ugly to own him." I leaned in and lowered my voice. "And do you know what? He has fucked me and he liked it. We have spent nights together. I occupied his bed. His body is mine. You talk about a body you have never tasted. I have tasted it, sucked on it, fucked it, and possess his lips. Whatever you will get will be my leftovers. But I am not kind enough to leave even crumbs for you. I will keep the entire body to myself and you will get nothing."
I looked at her thin frame and small chest. "Your chin is bony and skinny. Jack would not like a skeletal woman to fuck. Besides, why are your breasts so tiny? He needs something to hold. He likes it when it fills his palm."
I shook my body slightly, letting her see what Jack preferred. Her eyes went to my chest and I saw the moment her confidence cracked.
"I have to go now, honey. My Alpha is waiting for me."
I walked past her toward the waiting car. The guards held the door open.
"You are a bitch, Aurora Bluey," she called after me.
"Yes," I said over my shoulder. "A bitch and a whore on the Alpha King's bed."
The car door shut behind me and I pressed my hand against my chest. My heart pounded. Had those words really come from my mouth? When had I become this person? Months ago, I could not even defend myself against Daisy at the restaurant. Now I had claimed Jack Hudson as mine without a shred of shame.
As the car rolled forward, I caught sight of a guard standing by the wall, gesturing to Tayo. Something about the interaction felt wrong, but I pushed the thought away.
I hoped Jack never heard about the things I had said. How could I explain that I barely remembered our first time together? That I had no idea if the sex was good or bad because I had been drowning in heartbreak and alcohol?
My phone buzzed. A text from Jack.
Running a few minutes late. Cannot wait to see you.
I smiled despite my racing thoughts. Whatever happened next, I would face it. I was the Alpha King's woman now, whether I fully understood what that meant or not.