Chapter 84 TWO TO TANGO
MERRIELYNN.
His hand was pressed firmly against my back as Cormac led me towards the back door, his body lined with such tension I could almost feel it trickle into me.
I could see it in his jaw, the way it was clenched tight, and in his eyes, which were dark and focused.
He opened the fire exit and pushed me forward swiftly, then spun around and let it slam shut after us.
I felt a chill run down my spine. Something was off, and I could sense it in the air.
“Why was a convoy sent to your apartment?” I asked, my voice breaking the silence that hung between us.
Cormac’s expression turned serious. “I don’t know,” he replied, his tone clipped.
My mind raced back to a memory of my own.
I remembered the day Emorie and I had gone to the foster home. We had seen a convoy deployed from the palace then. It had been the beta leading it.
But as I stared at Cormac and how… weird he was being, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it might be the king himself coming to see his son.
The thought made my heart race.
What would have happened if the king had walked in on us?
I didn’t think i necessarily cared what Cormac’s father thought of me, but, I didn’t want to be seen as just another one of the many women in Cormac’s life.
Not by anyone.
Cormac took my hand and hurried down the staircase, his steps quickening as if he were trying to escape something that lurked behind us. “Wait,” I said, pulling at his hand. “Why are you leaving your apartment? What if it’s your dad in one of those cars?”
He didn’t respond, just kept moving.
Frustration bubbled inside me as I tried to keep up with his long strides.
I pulled at his hand again, but he suddenly turned to face me, his expression dead serious.
“I’m not in the mood for your antics,” he said sharply. “If you push me, I’ll throw you over my shoulder to get us the hell out of here in ripe time. You choose.”
I was speechless, caught off guard by his intensity, and the fact that he looked so serious.
He cocked an eyebrow at me, waiting for a response, but only for a moment before he turned back around and continued walking.
After what felt like an eternity of hurried steps down the staircase, we finally made it outside. I shielded my eyes from the blinding sunlight that hit me like a wave. The harsh wind hit my skin, and my hair whipped all over the place. Cormac glanced left and right before pushing me toward the apartment building’s garage.
He walked up to a row of lockers and punched in a code on one of them. The lock clicked open, and he pulled out his car keys.
I realized those were security lockers, and he’d most likely kept his spare keys in them in case of the need.
A need like today i guessed.
My mind raced with questions about what was happening, but all I could do was follow him silently.
He led me to his car. He opened the trunk and retrieved a shirt before getting in himself.
He started the ignition and drove off immediately, tension radiating from him like heat from a flame. I sat in silence beside him, unsure of what to say or how to break through the thick wall of anxiety that surrounded us.
After what felt like forever on the road, we finally stopped at a restaurant.
The atmosphere inside was bustling with chatter and laughter, but it felt foreign to me as we stepped in.
Cormac kept checking his phone every few minutes and would stand up to answer calls in a corner away from me.
As he moved around the restaurant, I couldn’t help but notice how people stared at him—some with awe and others with curiosity.
It was strange seeing him like this; usually, I only witnessed his status as the lycan prince within the confines of school walls.
Here, outside that bubble, he seemed even more… commanding. I paid attention to the number of stares he got.
And all he was doing was taking private phone calls.
A few patrons shot me curious glances too, whispering under their breath as they pointed in our direction. I shrank into myself, hating the attention that came with being associated with him.
When Cormac finally returned to our table after yet another phone call, I decided it was time to speak up. “When are we leaving?” I asked, trying to keep my tone casual despite how anxious I felt.
“We’ve been here for almost three hours already,” I added for emphasis.
He looked at me with an unreadable expression before shaking his head slightly. “I’m not leaving until I’m sure the coast is clear,” he replied firmly. “And neither are you.”
I blinked at him in disbelief. “I could walk out right now,” I spluttered defensively. “Nothing would happen.”
His gaze hardened as he leaned closer across the table. “Give it a try then,” he said quietly.
A scowl formed on my face as I realized how serious he was being—and how much those words sounded like a threat rather than a go ahead.
Two more hours passed while we sat there in silence again, Cormac glued to his phone while I picked at my food absentmindedly.
The restaurant buzzed around us; laughter echoed off the walls while plates clattered together in an endless cycle that i’d grown endlessly tired of hearing for the last five hours.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of waiting and watching him work through whatever crisis had him so tense.
Cormac finished another phone call and walked back toward me with another unreadable expression on his face.
“Let’s go,” he said abruptly.