Chapter 74 Tainted Heat
Kira’s POV
I stood there, staring Victoria down, my heart pounding like it was trying to break out of my chest.
She was still on the floor, cradling her cheek, that mix of fear and hate in her eyes making me feel a twisted kind of satisfaction.
Good. Let her squirm. After all the crap she’d pulled on the real Abby, she deserved way worse.
But I couldn’t stand there gloating forever. I stank…like dirt, river water, sweat, and yeah, sex. Adrian’s scent was probably baked into my skin by now, and the thought made my stomach churn. I needed to scrub it all off before I could even think straight about escaping this frozen hellhole.
“Wait here,” I snapped at Victoria, pointing a finger at her like she was a dog I expected to stay. “Don’t move a muscle until I say so.”
She opened her mouth, probably to whine or snap back, but I was already turning away, heading for the bathroom attached to this ridiculously beautiful royal suite. I paused at the door and glanced back.
“You better think of a way to sneak me in there undetected in the next hour. Am I clear?” I said in a cold tone.
“Actually, no,” I said immediately before she could respond. “On second thought, why don’t we leave immediately? Everyone is probably busy at the moment talking about the scene earlier. Why don’t we make use of this distraction and leave now?”
Victoria blinked up at me, wiping her face with the back of her hand. “That…that could work. But I suggest we use the night as cover. We wait till night when everyone is probably indoors. The guards rotate shifts at intervals. We just have to…”
I looked her dead in the eye, stone-cold serious and interrupted her. “Are you always this clueless? Don’t you know security is tighter at night? Right now, everyone’s still buzzing about what went down in the courtyard…fights, drama, the king dragging me off like some caveman. Adrian’s probably locked in some big alpha meeting, barking orders and stroking his ego. They’re all distracted. Now is the best time to slip out. He will be with me at night. How do I sneak out?!”
Her mouth snapped shut, cheeks flushing redder than the slap mark. She looked away, muttering something under her breath.
I didn’t care. “Get up,” I ordered. “Go get me some shorts and a polo. Something normal. Normal human girl clothes. Not these formal gowns Adrian packed in the closet. I’m talking sweatpants, bumshorts, crop tops, tank tops, leather jackets etc.”
Victoria scrambled to her feet, staring at me like I’d grown a second head. “Are you serious? I… I doubt that you’ll be allowed to wear any of that.”
“Why?” I crossed my arms, impatience boiling over.
“Because you’re a princess, and the King’s bride,” she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You have to wear decent, royal gowns. Even when the king didn’t favor you before, you were always dressed properly…just outdated stuff, last season’s designs that made you look like a frumpy reject,” she added with a little chuckle.
I glared at her furiously, and she flinched back, muttering a quiet apology. I sighed, deep and frustrated, rubbing my temples.
God, I was beginning to hate this place. The rules, the gowns, the constant power games…it was like living in some suffocating modern royal drama.
“I don’t care how you do it, Victoria. Steal them, borrow them, buy them, magic them out of thin air. But when I get out of this bathroom in a few minutes, I want my merchandise waiting. Got it?”
She just stood there, gaping.
“Scram!” I yelled, pointing at the door.
Victoria jumped like I’d shocked her, then bolted out of the room, muttering stuff under her breath…probably curses or complaints about the “new crazy princess.” Whatever. I was already tuning her out, my brain racing ahead: routes out of the palace, how to dodge guards, getting to that Human Camp, finding Dominic, figuring out how to get to the airport or whatever magic doorway led back to LA. Two days. I had two days.
I slammed the bathroom door behind me and cranked the shower to hot…scalding hot. Steam filled the room fast as I stripped off the hoodie, kicking it into the corner like trash.
Then I caught my reflection in the full-length mirror and nearly jumped out of my skin.
Holy shit.
Is this how I looked the whole time in the courtyard while acting like a baddie? While Adrian paraded me around like his conquered prize?
My hair was a tangled mess…leaves and twigs knotted in it from rolling on the ground, dirt streaked across my face and neck like war paint. My skin was pale from the Alaskan cold but flushed in patches from…everything else.
Bruises bloomed on my thighs and hips…finger marks, his grip. My lips were swollen, eyes red-rimmed from crying earlier. I looked like I’d been dragged through a wilderness brawl and then thoroughly wrecked. Which, yeah, wasn’t far off. I’d dipped in the river after, sure…freezing water to “clean up” but that had just left me half-numb, not actually clean.
I stepped under the spray, letting the hot water pound my skin. I grabbed the soap and scrubbed…hard…trying to wash away every trace of his hands on me. His mouth. The way he’d pinned me down, growling like he owned me. If I scrubbed hard enough, maybe I could erase the memories too. The heat building in me, the desperation, how my body betrayed me completely. Gone. All of it.
But it didn’t work. The images flashed anyway…his eyes glowing, the river rushing beside us, the cold ground under my back. I scrubbed until my skin was raw and pink, then just stood there, letting the water run until it started cooling.
Finally, I turned it off, towel-dried roughly, and wrapped myself in a robe. Time to move.
I stepped back into the bedroom, expecting Victoria any second.
But she wasn’t there.
Someone else was.
Liana.
She was standing by the window, hands clasped in front of her, looking…off. Guilt hit me like a truck. She’d warned me…straight-up begged me…not to let the king touch me. And what did I do? I practically threw myself at him the second whatever that was back there kicked in.
What the hell do I even say to her? Do I confess? Lie? Do I even owe her any explanation? Well, kinda…she did say Adrian wants to use me for some curse whatever.
“Princess,” she said, dipping into this weird little bow with a spin…like a pirouette. It threw me off completely. Liana doesn’t do that. I’ve only been here a week, but she’s never been this formal.
She must’ve seen my confused face because she hurried closer. “Sorry I let myself in, Princess. I knocked several times, no answer. Figured you were in the bathroom. Did I scare you, my Princess?”
Something was definitely wrong. She wasn’t calling me Abby anymore…just Princess, over and over. Liana usually stuck with Abby whenever we were alone, said Abby told her to keep it casual, friendly.
I stepped fully into the room, eyeing her. “What’s with the fancy bows and all the ‘Princess’ stuff?”
She dropped to one knee, head bowed. “Forgive me, Princess. Don’t replace me, please. I heard you got a new maid, so I’m trying to be more respectful, act right…so you don’t fire me.”
She started sobbing, shoulders shaking.
Oh. That explained it. She was scared, going overboard to keep her position.
“Get up, Liana,” I said, softer this time. “I’m not replacing you. I just want to teach that brat a lesson. She sent me into the Dark Zone knowing I could die!”
“She did?” Liana echoed, standing up and wiping her tears. Her face hardened. “She’s the worst. Bullied you the most at the Academy, even around the pack. Always making you kneel, run errands for her and her bimbo squad.”
Anger surged through me again, hot and sharp. Victoria was going to pay…big time. Every humiliation, every tear she’d caused Abby, I’d make her feel tenfold.
“Don’t trust her a bit,” Liana went on, voice low. “Victoria’s as cunning and scheming as the king. They’re all the same…every single one of them in this pack. It has always been me and you against them all…”
She paused, nose twitching as she sniffed the air. Then her eyes widened, and she stammered, “Did…did the king…did you two…?”
“No!” I waved my hands frantically. “It didn’t happen!”
Inside, I was panicking. I couldn’t tell her the truth.
What would she think? That I’m weak? Easy? Worse…that I’m not the real Abby? She might start suspecting, and that could blow everything. Plus, she mentioned some plan yesterday…something to help me escape or fight back. I needed to hear that first.
Liana’s face scrunched in disgust anyway. “You reek of sex. The king’s scent is all over you.”
I lifted my arm, sniffing discreetly. Nothing but body wash and that lavender aromatherapy stuff from the shower. “I don’t smell anything.”
“Werewolf noses,” she said simply. “Anyone with a wolf can smell it. I’m sure the whole pack knows by now. They’re probably whispering that you’re easy…sleeping with the same man who’s humiliated you countless times.”
My stomach dropped. The courtyard…everyone staring, smirking maybe? They all knew? That I’d just…with him? Right there by the river?
Heat rushed to my face, shame burning me up as tears spilled over. I buried my face in my hands, crying hard. “I couldn’t help it. My body was on fire earlier…like I’d die if it wasn’t quenched.”
Liana’s expression softened. She stepped closer, rubbing my arm. “It wasn’t your fault. That’s your heat. The king just took advantage to taint you. But don’t worry…I know a way to reset it. Only after resetting it can we talk about our plan.”
“Reset it? How?”