A catch

Chapter 5

Iris

"I thought I asked you to leave, what are you still doing here?" He thundered as whispers and gasps from the crowd filled the hall, displaying their confusion.

His smooth voice wasn't the cause of my confusion, his face was. How could I explain what I felt? What I saw yesterday?

My mind was a jumbled zone, so I said the only thing that kept ringing in my head. "Your eyes. They… they are different," I forced out, my fingers itching to pinch my skin to be sure that I wasn't dreaming.

He scowled, furrowing his brows in irritation. "That shouldn't bother you, lady. Do I have to remind you that I'm not supposed to ever set my eyes on you?" His voice deepened by the minute, and the noise that had thickened because of the prince's rejection died down.

My hands fell to my side. "You aren't Prince Devin, are you?"

I knew that my probing was of no use to me, if anything, it would only make the man standing in front of me angrier; but I was already in trouble so it would be better for me to know what exactly I was facing.

He drew in a deep breath and shut his eyes while I spared a glance at my back. Prince Devin's arms were folded, his expression filled with disapproval and bridled rage that wasn't directed at me but at the man before me.

His eyes snapped open again and this time I had to move back. The intensity of his glare was unnerving.

"I'm giving you one last chance, get out of here right now and never come back again." He barked, and my hands clutched at the hoodie of my worn-out sweater.

His tone held a note of finality I couldn't challenge, so I nodded in fear and took some steps backward.

With my heart beating faster than it should, I said, "Don't worry about that, sir, you will never have to see me again." I bellowed.

My legs broke into a sprint while the doors automatically opened up for me. I guess, the guards didn't want to go against whoever that man was.

Within a few minutes, I was at our house. I gathered the remaining rags I had as clothes, then took a wooden stool and climbed on it, ignoring the fact that one of the legs was almost disjointed from the remaining part of the stool.

I was able to find a balance, then I pushed open the ceiling and began to search for the box. Peace settled over me when I found it, and I came down and pulled it open.

My eyes widened and the box slipped from my hands as I went numb with shock. My body suddenly became taut and I sank onto the ground and stared at the box.

It was empty.

The bracelet I'd left inside of it was missing.

"How?" I yelled, pulling at my hair in frustration.

No one was around when I hid the bracelet in the box and kept it in the ceiling. My sister, who couldn't tell when to mind her business sometimes, was with her boyfriend when I came in yesterday, and I didn't bother telling her about it because I didn't trust her.

Wiping off another bead of tears that cascaded down my cheeks, I sprang to my feet.

I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that the bracelet had disappeared into thin air, but this wasn't the time to search for it. Prince Devin's brother had given me an ultimatum, and he might have sent some guards to make sure I was on my way out of the pack, so I slung my dirt bag over my shoulder and hurried out.

My soul left my body when I pushed the door ajar and found him, Prince Devin's brother, staring at me.

“W-What are you doing here?" I stuttered, my heart slamming against my ribcage.

If I wasn't an omega who was respected in the pack, I'd have asked him how he found my home, but that wasn't the right question to ask because having him here only meant one thing.

Danger.

His eyes were calm in a deceptive manner. He tucked his hands into his pocket, but the aura that radiated from him was scary. Even though he didn't show it, this man wanted to tear me apart.

"The last time we met, I passionately explained to you my hatred for thieves, right?" He said curtly, and I swallowed nervously.

My back hit the wall. I didn't even know that I'd taken some steps backward.

"How can I forget, Prince?" I whispered, bowing subconsciously while praying fervently that he wasn't here for the reason I thought he was.

"It's Prince Gradel. But I don't ever want to hear my name from your mouth,"he warned. I felt his thumb lifting my chin to meet his eyes, and a fluttery feeling spiked in my stomach. A wrong feeling at the wrong time. "But you went against my words and took what belonged to me,"

I gasped, my eyes reeling from the realization that I'd been found out, but I had to find a way out of this.

Technically, I didn't steal it from him because I found it on the ground, but saying that to him would only worsen the situation. So I summoned courage and cut off our connection, his bare thumb was already causing a commotion in my head.

I had to think straight if I wanted to escape.

"I'm sorry, but I never took anything from you. I have no idea what you are talking about," I lowered my lashes and simultaneously took deep breaths to calm my frayed nerves.

He chuckled briefly then folded his arm. "Aside from stealing, there's something else I resent. Lying."

I froze immediately and cast a glance at him. "I promise I'm not lying. I left as soon as you asked me to and the only reason you saw me again was because my sister forced me to come for the mating ceremony,"

"Why did you steal my bracelet?"