All Chapters of The Alpha King is Addicted to Me: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

(Bria POV) Relief flashes across Aiden’s face and is replaced so quickly by savage anger that I’m left wondering whether I imagined it ever being there at all.“Aiden?” I ask uncertainly, trying to sit up, but I’m hampered by the pain in my chest. I remember the arrow and seeing Adrienne just before losing consciousness. For the second time in my life I seem to have miraculously escaped death.There’s also an uncomfortable echo of the expression on Raul’s face when I woke up last time and Aiden’s forbidding visage now. He’d been holding me tenderly when I came to, but that person appears to have left the building in a hurry.“Please, can we talk about it?” I beg. His jaw flexes and he strides out of the room, clearly incapable of looking at me for another moment.“Nobody leaves until their replacement shows up,” I hear Aiden telling someone, presumably guards, outside my door. “And the door stays open if anyone but me comes to see her. Anyone,” he emphasizes.It’s not long before a h

(Bria POV)Days have passed and Aiden hasn’t come back to see me. The only people I interact with are Eleanor and the healer, Airmed. It’s obvious that she can tell from the slowed pace of my healing that Aiden hasn’t been around. “It’s a pity the king’s so busy, but he did well to get you started on the right path,” she tells me with a pat on the shoulder. I try to offer her an unconcerned smile, but the way she flinches slightly and her mouth tightens in sympathy has me suspecting it’s not a grand triumph.Eleanor continues to try and fatten me up and I’m grateful for her non-stop nattering when she’s in my room. She doesn’t expect very much from me by way of response and she’s an endless well of information on everyone. I don’t know who the vast majority of the people are whom she tells me about; still, it passes the time and gives me other things to think about than my own woes.Aiden’s absence leaves a searing ache within me and the desire to be with him smolders like an unquenc

(Aiden POV)She’s sitting here in all her radiant beauty, which shines magnificently even while she’s still frail, telling me things that should make my heart sing. If I could get past deploring myself, perhaps I’d be able to believe her and rejoice. Conner had no right to bring her here and he could bet his ass there would be consequences. I never wanted Bria to see me in this state. The drunkenness is bad enough, but the real issue is the self-pity I’m wallowing in. It’s like being stuck in quicksand. The more I struggle to get out of it, the deeper I sink. I don’t deserve her, no matter what she says, and hating myself makes me lash out at everyone around me. I want to pull her close and never let her out of my grasp again, which is abominably selfish when I know what a wreck I am. Mother broke me and then pasted me back together with cracks in all the right places so she could pour her venom in. I am the perfect vessel for her to manipulate.A mess of bad self-esteem and the

(Bria POV) “Oh dear, Briana, that cut on your face seems fresh. What happened?” Adrienne asks with mocking sympathy. I keep my smile in place, but don’t respond. She’d be absolutely thrilled to hear that Aiden was responsible. The fact that it was an accident is unlikely to temper her exhilaration.“His father was also prone to outbursts of violence,” she tells me. “I have a story for every scar on my body and an expensive piece of jewelry to go along with it. Sometimes we have to pay a high price for choosing to be with powerful men.”For a moment I almost feel sorry for her. Is that why she turned to the dark arts? Perhaps she was only hoping to find a way to protect herself. She was his mistress, her position had to be tenuous at best before she found a way to cement her position at court. The magic may have taken control of her, warping her mind and forcing her on to a path of darkness.“Save your pity for your own pathetic life, I don’t welcome or need it. I courted his loss of

(Valerie POV)It’s been almost a week and I was starting to lose hope that Abigail would recover her wits, when she suddenly murmurs, “Lucille?” while we’re feeding her. Lucille grabs both of Abigail’s hands, her voice shaky with repressed emotions when she responds staunchly, “I’m here Abby. You’re safe. We got you away from that awful place.”Abigail’s eyes slowly swivel to take in the strange room. “Where are we?” she asks in a broken whisper. “We’re with Alpha Raul’s pack. This is his Luna, Valerie. She’s been helping me take care of you.”Abigail stares at me, then drops her eyes bashfully. “Thank you my lady,” she says croakily. “You don’t need to thank me and please don’t call me by any titles. You’ve been through so much, I’m only happy we were able to help. I’ll leave the 2 of you to talk for a while.”I know that Lucille and Abigail were both servants in their old pack and no matter what I say, Abigail is bound to feel uncomfortable in the presence of a Luna she’s never me