Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King novel Chapter 163

Chapter 163: 0163

Lorelei POV

I expected those words to reassure her, to make her feel less guilty. Instead, they seemed to hurt her even more.

She didn’t say anything, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed her hands tightening in her lap until her knuckles turned white.

"You don’t look okay, though," she murmured after a long silence. "When I saw you earlier... I almost didn’t recognize you."

Her eyes slowly searched my face.

"You’ve gotten so pale. You look exhausted, and..." She hesitated, as though she wasn’t sure whether she should continue. After a moment, she quietly asked, "I heard... people saying you’re with the Alpha King."

And there it was. I had seen that coming.

The smile slowly slipped from my face as I lowered my gaze to my hands, my teeth sinking into my bottom lip while my fingers fidgeted absently in my lap.

For a long moment, neither of us spoke. The silence stretched between us until I finally forced the words past the lump in my throat.

"We’re... sleeping together."

The second those words left my lips, Raven sucked in a sharp breath.

I looked up just in time to see her entire body go rigid. Her hands curled into tight fists, and her blue eyes widened with a mixture of panic and fury.

"Did that bastard force himself on you?" she demanded, her voice trembling with barely restrained anger. "Did he..."

"No."

The word left my mouth before she could finish.

I shook my head quickly, meeting her panicked gaze.

"No. Not like that. We... we made an agreement."

"What kind of agreement?" Raven shot back, her voice rising despite herself. "Lorelei, you were a victim. Even if that tyrant believed you were a criminal, he had no right to use your situation against you. He had no right to..."

"Raven..."

I reached over and gently took her hand, stopping her before she could say another word.

My gaze fell to our intertwined hands as a familiar ache settled deep inside my chest.

For so long, I’d been trying to bury the truth.

Trying to outrun it.

Trying to convince myself it wasn’t real.

But I couldn’t lie anymore.

Not to Raven.

Not to myself.

"I like him," I whispered, the confession so quiet it was almost swallowed by the silence as the words finally slipped past my lips.

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