Chapter Forty-Nine

Claire

Stop it, her wolf begged. We'll figure out any other way out of here.

Claire wanted to believe that, but she also knew that her strength without her wolf was nonexistent. Tristan's light eyes shifted toward Claire, and a sly smile curled at his mouth.

"Are we finally coming around, Claire?" he asked, plucking a strawberry from the tray and offering it to her.

Bite his finger, her wolf insisted.

Claire nibbled at the end and took a dainty bite, even though she was truly hungry and wanted to devour the chicken on the plate underneath that tin pan. She knew exactly what was on it, without looking. Her senses were growing stronger because of Amari.

"Yum," she said half-heartedly.

Tristan grabbed another one and dipped it into a white dip to the side. Claire held in her gag and snagged it from him and took a bite. "I'd really like some chicken. Can you get it for me? My wolf is hungry. These chains are making her relentless."

Tristan pulled the plate of food out from underneath the tin top and placed the chicken on his lap. She watched him cut bite by bite until it was chopped into bite-size pieces. "Can you untie me so I can feed myself?" she asked, her eyelashes fluttering in a way she realized probably looked stupid.

Tristan chuckled and stabbed a piece of chicken with his fork. "Do you think I was born yesterday, Little Bean? As soon as I take that silver off you, your wolf is going to attack me, probably kill me, and you'll escape. And I can't let any of that happen."

Claire held her smile, though she felt like screaming. "I wouldn't let my wolf do that. We've been getting acquainted."

The corners of his eyes narrowed, and he shoved a piece of chicken at her mouth until she ate it.

Once she finished half of the plate, she noticed a set of keys poking out from the top of his jeans pocket.

There, her wolf said. We need to get those keys.

Claire cleared her throat and caught him staring at her neck. She brought both handcuffed hands to her neck, and she traced her mark.

Tristan lost eye contact. "We're going to get that removed in the next day or two."

No! her wolf screamed.

"And how do you plan to do that exactly? You said magic. What magic do you have?"

He chuckled and leaned back on the bed, his elbows holding him up. "My magic is that I'm king, and everyone does as I ask. I can order any witch within distance to work on removing that mark. I've never seen it done personally, but I know it can happen. It'll hurt really bad because you're removing your bond, but … it's worth it, don't you think?" He reached forward and touched the opposite side of her neck. "Just think. You'll be wearing the Lycan King's mark. You'll be forever protected within my kingdom."

Claire didn't want to be protected anywhere by his mark. She wanted him to let her go back to her alpha and live the life she was meant to live. But she couldn't say that without ruining her chances of actually earning his trust.

She reached forward and placed her palm on his thigh. "How bad is it going to hurt?" she asked in a slow damsel-in-distress voice.

Tristan's gaze dropped to her movement. "Pretty bad I hear, but I plan to stay there with you. You won't be alone."

Lucky us, her wolf mumbled.

Claire swallowed, working her nerve up to do what she needed to do, and sat upright. Slinging her leg over his hips, she straddled him. Tristan became still, and she thought she'd crossed the line when he leaned up and wrapped his palm around the back of her neck.

When he pulled her down, and their mouths touched, her stomach churned with vomit. Something inside of her—her bond—rejected everything about him. She tried to reach for the keys in his pocket without being obvious.

Slowly, her wolf said.

Claire tried, she did, but her entire body was shaking from rejection. The taste of his mouth reminded her of dirt and gravel. Sticky and untasteful. Iron and mold. It was … disgusting.

Her fingers wrapped around the edge of the circular keychain when Tristan's hand popped up and trapped her wrist. "You thought I would fall for that, Little Bean? You're going to have to up your game to get one over on me. You'll never get out of these chains unless I. Let. You. Out. Got it?" he mumbled.

Claire tried to pull away, but he swung her to the bed and trapped her beneath him. Her wolf began to growl in frustration, and angry tears built in the corners of Claire's eyes.

The bastard would not touch her anyway she didn't want him to. Claire kicked upward, kneeing him in-between the legs and making him groan.

Obviously, werewolves bounced back quicker than a normal guy with a knee to his goodies, but it did piss him off. His eyes danced a dark color, and his elongated teeth bared when someone knocked on the door.

Tristan hissed and shook his head, his eyes going back to normal. He got off Claire and walked toward the door, fixing his hair before swinging the door open. Claire stood up, seeing a glimpse of Demetria behind Tristan's head.

"Aunt D!" Claire screamed, racing toward the door. Tristan easily stopped her. And when he did, she noticed the rest of her family.

Her dad. Kerry. Aunt D, and Axel.

They were all detained with silver, and other wolves stood by to keep a watch. A mixture of emotions swirled in her stomach at the sight of her dad. He'd lied to her—for her entire life. He was one of them.

A lycan.

A royal lycan.

A royal lycan liar.

"Axel," Claire whispered.

He jerked away from the wolf holding him, and Claire realized she knew that face. It was Jaxton Phillips, Axel's roommate. But nothing surprised her as much as when the second of the double doors opened and Cat stood in the doorway.

"What in the—you pink-haired freak," Claire mumbled. "I should have known you were a psycho."

Cat chuckled and brushed a stray hair from her shirt. "Oh, come on now, Claire. You think I would seriously befriend a sad little pushover like you? You're sleeping with the guy that tormented you for years. It's pathetic."

"You're right," Claire said. "And so is spending so much time pretending to go to school for some lycan king that doesn’t give a rat's ass about you."

Cat shrugged. "I'm not here for the lycan king, sweetie. I'm here for his brother. Now, can we hurry this along? I have things to do today."

"Well, I'll avenge you, Claire," Tristan said, wrapping his arm around her waist. "I'm going to execute your bully in just a few hours."

Claire's bottom lip trembled, and her wolf began to pace in anticipation.

She wanted out as badly as Claire wanted to ram Tristan's head into the brick wall. Axel shook his head, trying to tell her something that she couldn't focus on. All she could imagine was her entire family being murdered because of her.

"Get your hands off her," Axel said, pulling away from Jaxton again.

Tristan smiled and simply kissed Claire's cheek. "You know what, Claire. I don't think we'll wait to remove your mark. In fact, take them down to the parlor and call Cynthia. The witch in the cell. Tell her it's time to remove a mark, and I want her mate to watch."