Chapter 134: 11

(DARIAN)

I’m not used to catering to women.

I’ve never needed to. Then again, I’ve never been so thoroughly insulted by one, either.

Jerk? How dare she call me that?

And after I was being so nice to her! It’s not like I intentionally pulled her into the lake. It was an honest-to-God mistake. And on top of that, I saved her! She should be thanking me!

“Is there a reason you’re muttering to yourself?” My second-in-command, Jimmy, looks up at me from his phone, irritation in his eyes. “I’m trying to write a message. You’re not letting me concentrate.”

I sneer at him. “I’m so sorry. Was I disturbing you?” He shrugs. “As long as you understand—”

“You do realize you work for me, don’t you?” I growl at him. “My problems are your problems.”

My childhood friend lets out a gust of air, giving me an exaggerated look of patience. “And what would be our problem today?”

“A girl insulted me.”

This has Jimmy’s eyes widening fractionally. “Really?”

“Yes. She called me a jerk.”

My friend leans forward, resting his forearms on his thighs and looking intrigued. “And did that hurt your feelings? Let’s talk about it. Should I get you a tissue?”

“Either you’re really enjoying this or you’re mocking me,” I say nastily. “Either way, knock it off. I’m not in a good mood.”

Jimmy snickers and leans back in his chair, returning his attention to his phone. “You’re the prince of the Wolf Kingdom, Darian. Women are throwing themselves at you. You’re going to be the highlight of the mating gathering next week. Why do you care what an insignificant woman said to you? Or is she someone important?”

I open my mouth to deny it, but the words get stuck in my throat.

Her vibrant red hair and those blue eyes come to mind. I’ve never seen a wolf shifter with those features. The most predominant hair colors among our kind are blond and dark. That red hair makes her look radiant. Her

features are also striking. When I first saw her in the woods, yesterday afternoon, my wolf stirred in interest. There was something about her.

But she ran away, despair in her eyes.

And when I saw her next, yesterday evening, she looked and acted like a whole different person. I’m guessing that in that most vulnerable moment of hers, I saw a part of her that she normally hides from the world. Distress, agony, helplessness.

But the woman last night was sharp-witted, funny, and she made my heart pound.

“You’re not saying anything.” Jimmy leans forward again, curious now. “She must’ve made quite the impression on you.”

“It’s not that.” The anger deflates out of me. “She was celebrating her birthday, and I ruined it for her.”

The guilt is beginning to settle in now. It still doesn’t justify her calling me a jerk, but I do feel bad for ruining her celebration. That sad, little cupcake in her hands had seemed so precious to her, and she had given me half without any prompting, as if she wanted to share some of her happiness with me.

“Darian,” Jimmy say, interrupting my thoughts, “if you’re interested in her, just tell me who she is, and I will bring her to the palace.”

I give my friend a dirty look. “Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t think she’s going to enjoy being kidnapped and brought here. She already thinks I’m a jerk. I don’t want to ruin my reputation even more.”

“So, you care about what she what she thinks of you.” Jimmy grins. “Does Prince Darian have a crush?”

I glare at him. “Keep mocking me. I hear Lilith is seeing one of the royal soldiers from the palace. Isn’t she supposed to be dating you?”

Jimmy has gone through a string of females, but Lilith is the first woman who has rejected him, and he’s not taking it well.

My friend curls his upper lip in disgust. “You sure do know how to hit below the belt.”

I smile at him, but my mind is already on other things.

Getting out of the palace isn’t easy for me because I’m usually handling my father’s duties, especially since he got sick. He wants me to take over his title, but only once I take a mate. I have been given a list of acceptable females for me to choose from if I don’t find my fated mate.

I can only take the throne if I have strong backing, as well. Although I am the king’s only child, life can be made very difficult for me if I don’t have someone powerful behind me. So, I have to choose a strong mate. Either in terms of strength or status.

Yesterday, I stepped out on my own to deal with some personal things. I don’t like the fact that all my wealth accumulation is linked to the palace, so I have been building my own businesses on the side, including among humans. Once every few months, I have to go meet with my investors and the people looking after my company. That is what I’d been doing when I first ran into that girl. It bothers me that I don’t even know her name.

But I do know that she will be at the mating gathering next week. I need to see her once more. Not for any particular reason, but simply because…

I look out my office window, my hands behind my back. The least I can do is make up for the birthday I ruined. I could always ask Jimmy to look into her. After all, her features are distinguishing enough to figure out who she is. However, I don’t want to do that. She seemed like a very private person. A little direct, but private.

Besides, I don’t have to involve Jimmy in everything I do.

*****

A couple of hours later, as the sun begins to set, I pick up a box of cupcakes, along with some other snacks, and make my way to the lake. There’s no guarantee that she’s going to be there, but if I can track her scent from the lake and find her that way, I might be able to apologize, and get an apology in return. Maybe she’ll also overlook how stalkerish my behavior is.

It’s not very likely that she’ll return to the lake today, but I’m willing to chance it. When I walk out of the trees, I see a figure slumped on the ground. For a moment, I don’t understand what I’m seeing. Then, recognizing the girl, I drop the bakery bag and rush over to her.

Her clothes are dry, but she’s not wearing her shirt, just a bra. She looks fine, but she’s unconscious. I check her pulse, and it’s thready.

“Hey!” I give her a shake before reaching for my phone. I need to get a healer out here.

I’ve barely managed to dial the number when she stirs. A soft groan leaves her lips, and when she opens her eyes, there’s a confused and dazed look in them.

“What happened?” Her voice is husky.

“You tell me.” I help her sit up, and I see the puzzlement slowly fading from her eyes. “What are you doing out here, shirtless?” I cannot smell any male on her, which relieves me. At least she wasn’t assaulted. “This is not a great place to sunbathe,” I scold her angrily. I don’t know why I feel so frustrated and protective. Anything could’ve happened to her. How can she be so reckless?!

“I was—” She looks toward the water. “Wait. How did I get here?”

“What are you talking about?” I demand. “You were lying on the bank when I saw you.”

She stares at me and murmurs, “So, it was just a dream. Thank God for that.” She suddenly seems to notice her state of undress. “Where’s my shirt?!”

“I just told you.” I give her an exasperated look, reaching out and grabbing the crumpled top from beside her. “You weren’t wearing it. Why were you half naked out here?”

I expect her to look embarrassed, but instead, her eyes fill with a terrible fear as she stares at the lake. “I was—I took it off to jump in.”

“Jump in?” It’s my turn to look horrified. “Were you trying to kill yourself?”

“What? No!” She shakes her head and grips my forearms. “I–I went to the pack library to read up on the witches in the lake. I just wanted to see if they were really there.”

“Have you lost your mind?” I gape at her. “That was very dangerous! The lake is far too deep—”

“I saw them,” she whispers, her expression so frightened that it chills me to the bone. “I saw them, and I don’t know why, but I wanted to touch one of them and—” She shudders. “It wasn’t dead. The witch looked at me. She grabbed my arm, and she wouldn’t let go. Then, everything turned black.” She looks at me. “And I woke up with you hovering over me.”

The legend of the witches in the lake has been around for a long time, but I know for a fact that the Wolf Kingdom was responsible for removing their bodies and burning them.

“You must have been dreaming,” I assure her. “There’s nobody in the lake. I was just messing with you yesterday. The bodies were taken out and burned.”

She shakes her head. “I wasn’t dreaming. I went into the water.”

“Maybe you were planning to go in, but you fell asleep.” That’s the only explanation that makes sense to me.

She blinks at me and then at the water.

“Do you want me to go in and look?” I offer. “I’m a good swimmer. I can go to the bottom and check for you if it’ll make you feel better.”

She grabs the front of my shirt, her voice terrified. “No. Don’t go. I don’t know what happened, but don’t take the risk.”

“Why did you take the risk?” I ask her slowly. “You were having a difficult time in the water yesterday. You’re clearly not a very good swimmer.”

She shrugs. “If anything happened to me, nobody would miss me. You probably have people who care about you.”

I give her a baffled look. “That is the stupidest reason I’ve ever heard.”

She scowls at me. “You want to jump into the lake? Be my guest. But I’m not jumping in after you to save you. I’ve already had one near death experience today. I’m not looking to add any more to my daily quota.”

I feel offended. “So, if I were drowning, you wouldn’t jump in to save me?”

“No.”

I consider her for a moment before deciding, “You’re lying. You’d help me.”

“I just said I wouldn’t.”

“I don’t believe you,” I scoff, getting to my feet and walking over to where I dropped my bag.

She pulls on her shirt, muttering something nasty under her breath, and I watch from the corner of my eye. Her skin is pale and flawless, her generous breasts straining against her bra cups. My cock stirs, and I feel ashamed. Quickly turning around, I try not to think about what it would feel like to rip that flimsy-looking bra in two, or how her breasts would fill my hands if I were to hold them.

I close my eyes and try to imagine Jimmy in front of me.

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