Rejected and Claimed by The Alpha king

CHAPTER 5

Kali’s POV

Time seemed to slow to a halt all around me, and for a second there, I was tempted to think that the world had stopped spinning, or the moon goddess had decided that my life was no longer worth living and she'd plucked me out of this world at the moment I least expected it, but I was wrong, very very wrong.

My heart slammed rapidly against my chest, as the words I never thought I would hear echoed in my skull like a drumbeat. I tried to push it out, I tried to pretend like I hadn't heard so much as a syllable from his lips, but the harder I tried, the more his words circled around my brain, like a broken recording stuck on repeat.

"Show me what you've got.” He'd said. “Prove to me that you're sincere about this deal"

I was stunned, beyond that even, and every part of me couldn't help but feel like the question that could easily describe how I felt hadn't been invented yet.

What the hell did he even mean by that? Prove myself? Had the situation been slightly different, then best believe I would have burst into a string of laughter the moment the words slid past his lips. It would be easier then, but now , now I didn't dare chuckle if I wanted to live.

All my life I'd been tasked to prove myself. I had to prove I wasn't just a worthless omega, I had to prove that I deserved to be Luca's mate, I had to prove that I deserved to be treated like a sister by Katya, I even had to prove that I didn't have a hand in her death. And just when I thought I'd escaped that life, now I was tasked with this?

I just stood there, staring at him, my mouth slightly parted, and my pride shredded like paper in a storm. I hadn’t thought he’d say that. I’d expected anger, mockery, even a flat out no, him dismissing ne instantly.

But a challenge? A demand to prove myself? I didn't see that coming. At all.

My mind spiraled, and believe me when I said I was already feeling lightheaded. If it wasn't for the soft pillows behind me and the extra comfy duvet I was currently wrapped in, I would've passed out the second time.

What did proving myself even look like? Would I throw myself at his feet? Beg for his approval? I couldn’t. My pride, what little remained, would never allow it.

Still, I had nothing else, bo home, no pack, no name, and as much as I hated to admit it, I had no one else to turn to either.

My eyes dropped to the floor, but only briefly. When they rose again, they landed on Diego.

And the Goddess help me.

He was devastatingly handsome. Even now, standing just a few feet away with firelight cutting shadows across his face, he looked like something born from war and sculpted by desire. His shirt clung to broad shoulders and a hard chest that made it nearly impossible to think. The way his dark hair curled slightly at the ends, messy and damp from the storm, and his sharp jawline flexed as he watched me, my breath hitched.

Heaven knows I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to stare at him all day, if he wouldn't find it creepy , that is. L

The thoughts of him had barely registered itself in my mind, and I could already feel the warmth building in my belly.

Stop it, I whispered to my wolf, who was already humming with interest.

You can’t be attracted to him. He’s not safe. He’s dangerous. He’s the Alpha King, and he….

“Careful, little wolf,” Diego said, cutting into my spiraling thoughts like a blade. “You’re thinking too hard.”

“No I wasn't” the words tumbled past my lips faster than I could catch them, and I almost fainted in embarrassment. My heart jumped when I realized he was closer now, and all I could do was swallow.

I hadn’t even noticed him move.

I blinked, trying to breathe normally, but my lungs didn’t seem to get the message. He took another step forward, slow, confident, and deliberate. I found myself tilting my head back to meet his eyes, as my pulse thundering in my ears, and then he leaned in.

Not fully at first, and not yet, but close enough for me to catch the clean, masculine scent of him. He smelled like woodsmoke, leather, and something richer, something intoxicatingly dangerous, that had me swooning instantly. I sucked in a sharp breath, as his hand lifted, just to graze my cheek with the back of his fingers. Call me pathetic or not, but that single gesture was more then enough to send shivers down my spine.

“You keep staring at me like that, and I might start thinking you want more than just a deal,” he murmured, voice low and rough.

I opened my mouth, a shaky protest on the tip of my tongue, but nothing came out, because the truth was, I had been thinking it. What his mouth would feel like on mine. How his hands would feel pinning me down, and my body betrayed me with a soft ache between my thighs.

But before I could respond, before I could even process the heat coiling between us like a fuse about to spark, he pulled back.

The distance he put between us wasn't much,but just enough to leave me cold. If there was anything I got from our little exchange, it was the fact that he found it amusing, because a sly smirk made its way to his lips almost instantly.

“You have three days,” he said, all emotion gone from his voice, replaced by hard authority. “To prove you’re sincere. Convince me why I should give you revenge, or a place here.”

“Three days,” I repeated, swallowing past the lump in my throat. “What if I can't!”

“Hmmm.” He nodded once. “Fail, and I’ll assume you're just another liar looking to manipulate the king, and I hate liars.”

Then he turned and walked away, keaving me in the silence of the room.

What the hell was I supposed to do now?