Lorelei POV
As I made my way back to the servants’ quarters, I noticed the strange looks almost imdiately.
It wasn’t just the maids anymore.
Even the guards stationed throughout the corridors were staring.
Every glance made more self-conscious than the last. Did they know? Had word sohow gotten out about what I had done on the Alpha King’s desk?
The thought alone sent a wave of heat rushing into my face.
A furious blush burned across my cheeks as I lowered my head and quickened my pace, refusing to et anyone’s eyes until I finally reached the familiar safety of my room.
When I pushed the door open, I thought I would finally be able to breathe.
Instead, I was t with Skye’s glare.
The second I stepped inside, my feet nearly stopped moving.
"Hey..." My voice ca out so faint that it was barely audible. I cleared my throat before trying again. "You’re done with your shift already?"
"Why didn’t you tell you entered the Alpha’s chambers?" Skye demanded, completely ignoring my greeting.
Her eyes were hard as they bored straight through . "Was that where you spent the night that ti while I was worried sick about you?"
She didn’t even give a chance to settle down before launching into her questions.
It felt less like talking to a friend and more like being interrogated by an angry mother.
The ridiculous part was that we were the exact sa age, yet sohow I still felt small under her stare.
"It was a mistake," I said quickly, rushing to defend myself.
I stepped fully into the room and imdiately locked the door behind , making sure nobody passing through the hallway could overhear us.
"I was tricked, and Chelsea was behind the whole thing."
That only seed to make her more frustrated.
"Why didn’t you tell ?" she asked, crossing her arms tightly over her chest.
"Because I didn’t want to drag you into it!" I exclaid. My voice cracked beneath the weight of all the stress I had been carrying since morning.
Taking a step closer, I gestured helplessly between us.
"What if I had been punished? What if I had been executed? I would rather face that alone than drag you down with , Skye. If they decided to kill over it, I wanted to make sure your hands stayed completely clean."
Hearing those words, Skye’s expression softened imdiately, but only for a fraction of a second before her jaw tightened again.
"You idiot," she said quietly.
"I know," I breathed.
"A reckless, stubborn idiot."
"I know."
With a heavy sigh, Skye crossed the remaining distance between us and pulled into a hug.
"I thought you were going to die this ti," she whispered into my hair, her arms wrapping around my shoulders so tightly it was almost hard to breathe. "When the Alpha took you, I thought..."
"I’m okay," I said, burying my face in her shoulder and hugging her back. "I’m fine. Really."
We stayed like that for a long mont.
When we finally pulled apart, Skye’s eyes were red and shining with unshed tears.
"So," she said, quickly wiping at her cheek with the back of her hand as she tried to force her usual practical attitude back into place. "What happened? And don’t leave anything out, because Chelsea is already spreading rumors all over the lower levels that you seduced the Alpha."
Of course she was, but that still made my face heat up all over again.
The warmth rushed back into my cheeks with a vengeance.
"Well..." I drawled, trailing off as my gaze dropped to the floorboards.
Skye’s eyes widened imdiately as she took in my guilty expression.
"No," she said, shaking her head in disbelief.
"I didn’t seduce him!" I protested quickly, looking back up at her. "How could I possibly pull that off? But we..."
I stopped, my face sohow growing even hotter.
The embarrassnt was so overwhelming that I pressed both palms against my burning cheeks and walked right past Skye before dropping heavily onto the edge of my unmade bed.
"You what?" Skye asked, staring at .
"We slept together, Skye," I whispered.
The words ca out so quietly that soone standing a few feet away probably wouldn’t have heard them.
Skye imdiately gasped.
Whether she was genuinely shocked or completely horrified, I couldn’t even tell.
"How?" she breathed.
"What do you an, how?" I asked, still clutching my flushed cheeks as my heart hamred against my ribs at the mory of everything that had happened and the fact that his Beta had walked in on us. "How else do people have sex?"
"No, no, not that," Skye said, waving her hands frantically as if trying to physically push the thought away. "I an... the Alpha has barely been around anyone since his mate left him. Do you know how many high-ranking won have tried and completely failed to get into his bed?"
"Maybe it was because he was drugged," I muttered, grasping for so kind of logical explanation for the insanity of the situation.
That only made Skye’s eyes widen even further.
"You are telling it happened the night he was drugged?" she asked, her voice jumping several octaves from pure disbelief.
"Shh! Lower your voice!" I hissed, imdiately glancing toward the locked door.
Skye quickly caught herself and took a deep breath.
"Okay. Okay. I’m quiet."
She walked over and dropped onto the mattress beside .
"That was just the first ti," I explained softly, staring down at my hands. "I snuck out before he woke up because I was terrified he would figure out who I was. But..." I paused, letting out a small sigh. "He ended up finding out anyway. So it happened again. In his office."
"So much information," Skye groaned, dragging both hands down her face. "And to think you wouldn’t have told any of this if I hadn’t witnessed part of the disaster myself."
"I said I was sorry."
"You’ve been here for less than a month, and sohow you’ve already managed to collect enough trouble for an entire lifeti," Skye said, dropping her hands into her lap. "What else could you possibly be hiding from ?"
I fell silent.
My fingers twitched at my sides as an uncomfortable weight settled over the room.
Should I tell her?
The only reason I hadn’t revealed the truth until now was because I didn’t know if I could trust her.
After everything I had been through, trust wasn’t sothing that ca easily anymore.
But Skye had never given a reason to fear her.
Then again, I had once believed other people were trustworthy too.
Maybe I was still blind when it ca to seeing people’s true colors.
I looked at the genuine concern written across her face, and sothing inside finally gave way.
"Lorelei," I said softly.
For the first ti in almost a month, I spoke my real na aloud.
The sound of it felt strange on my tongue. Foreign, almost like it belonged to soone else.
Skye blinked as her brow furrowed in confusion. "What?"
"My real na," I repeated, eting her gaze directly this ti. My heart was racing, but my voice remained steady. "It’s Lorelei."
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