Chapter 17
Reyna Cruz:
“Turner!” I took a seat in the chair next to his and swiveled his chair to face me.
“What have I said about not wandering off by yourself?” I asked, my jaw tense. I was in the middle of a very stressful situation. With him here and Hunter giving him that intense look, I could see how badly this could go wrong.
“But I’m an adult now. I’m not sneaking off into the woods or anything,” he said while chomping down on a big bite of the doughnut. I don’t recall him ever behaving like this. I raised him to know better.
“Why would
you say that?” Something made me think he knew more than we realized.
“Nothing! Aren’t you going to introduce me to your coworkers?” he pouted and rolled his chair back to face Hunter.
“Hi! I am—“Turner was about to engage with the stern man, who had been staring at stepped in.
him as if he
if he might kick h
him out, when I
“No talking to strangers, Turner! My statement left Hunter flabbergasted. He cleared his throat and adjusted his posture in the chair.
“Kid, I’m Alpha King Hunter,” I didn’t appreciate him interacting with my son. He was the reason I had to spend my pregnancy alone. I found it rather intimidating that he saw me telling my son not to speak to him and decided to speak to
him.
“Oh, I’ve read about you in my books. Are you the grumpy Alpha King? Turner continued in his sweet, innocent tone. What he didn’t realize was that this man would never grasp his innocent questions. He would never understand any pure heart.
“Grumpy? Is that what they call me in the books?” The way Hunter had forced a fake smile and kept chatting with my son made me believe he was doing it to annoy me. He saw that I wasn’t happy with him talking to my son, so he decided to do the very thing that would upset me.
“No, that’s what the other kids say, Turner replied. “Hey, I know you.”
I frowned, facepalming when they continued talking.
“You have to be the Alpha King who kicked Mommy out of the pack. I mean, I’ve heard the Alpha King kicks people out, but why did expected to hear from my son. In fact, he had never asked me these questions before.
1 kick out Mommy? She’s a nice person,” the conversation was heading in a direction In Kicks people out, I
As Hunter looked in my direction, I shook my head at Turner. “You know you’ve broken many rules today. So don’t just sit here and talk as if you didn’t just run from school. When we get back home, you’re grounded, I’d never spoken so harshly to him, but the more he talked with Hunter, the more anxious I became.
Especially when I saw them together, I was shocked by the similarities. The same hair and eyes. He got it all from that man.
If Hunter had been a bit more perceptive and trusted me, he might have already noticed the sketchy resemblance between him and
my son.
“Okay, I was just feeling lonely at school, Turner set the donut down and averted his gaze from me
“Why? What happened to your friends? I inquired, feeling uncomfortable discussing his school with Hunter still staring at him.
“Everybody was asking me why my father never comes to pick me up,” he whispered softly. I fell silent for a moment before hugging him. I hadn’t known he was getting bullied at school. But as my eyes landed on Hunter, I saw him observing us. He
had been asking me all these questions about Turner’s father, all
Turner’s visit to the office had put me in a difficult spot. I didn’t know how I would ever get out of it.
“Why? Does your dad not want to pick you up? Maybe he’s just really busy with work?” To my surprise, Hunter took this moment to delve into our personal lives. I stared at him in disbelief while Turner pulled away from the hug. I couldn’t believe Hunter was now asking my son the same question he hadn’t received a response to from me.
“Oh, I don’t know where Daddy is. I’ve never met him,” my innocent son replied. I quickly grabbed him by the arms to keep him from saying more.
“Why don’t you go wait in the waiting room while I finish gathering my stuff, and then we’ll leave,” I told him, my stern expression making it clear that he needed to obey me now. Turner understood and got up, head down, and walked out of
the office.
“Such a smart kid,” Jeffery commented, shaking his head and smiling as he left the office, I, on the other hand, was just glaring at Hunter, who had comfortably leaned back in his seat, smiling happily.
Once Jeffery had left, I found myself preparing to ask Hunter about his questioning of my son. “Why did you those questions?” It felt strange discussing my son with him.
ask my
son all
“What? I didn’t know it was a forbidden topic. You know, I thought you didn’t want to answer me, but it seems like you don’t even have answers for your son. For once, I feel like karma does exist,” the confidence in his tone tore at my heart.
He was waiting for my karma?
It felt like a sharp slap to my cheek..
“Karma?” I scoffed in disbelief. Did he really think kicking me out wasn’t enough?
“How much do you hate me, Hunter?” I raised my voice more than I expected. Seeing Turner talking to him had clearly gotten under my skin.
“Really? You have to ask me that?” He stood up aggressively and yelled back at me.
“I caught you in the room with that man, and you have the nerve to look me in the eye and make it seem like I was the one who cheated after I accepted your friend. You can’t compare someone cheating on their mate to the victim moving on quickly. Those are two different things, he hissed, breathing heavily and looking quite menacing.
“And who are you to accuse me of moving on quickly when you probably got pregnant in the same month you got kicked out,” he muttered, and I began to nod my head emphatically.
“Are you just assuming I moved on and slept with someone willingly in a place so frightening that finding shelter was impossible, but I found a boyfriend that easily?” I looked him in the eye, watching him slowly shift from being very talkative to having no answers.
“Somebody forced himself on you?” The sudden change in his tone left me feeling uncertain. His eyebrows furrowed, and a look of concern overtook his face, which puzzled me.
“No!” I shook my head in a low voice.
“Then whose child is he?” he inquired again. I watched him take slow steps toward me, so I stepped back from him.
“He’s none of your business,” I maintained my composure and responded to him.
I couldn’t understand why he was so determined to know about Turner. Was he planning to make me feel guilty by constantly bringing up his father? Was that his endgame? After hearing him talk about karma, I could only assume that he had been waiting for moments like these to inflict pain upon me.
16:08 Thu, 9 May G B
Chapter 17
“Well, I’ll find out on my own, Reynal” He adjusted his coat and declared, sending shivers down my spine.
“You will not pry into my life and my matters,” I warned him in a hushed tone.
He didn’t seem to back off, and it was beginning to terrify me.
“I am the Alpha King: I can do anything. You had your fun, acting all high and mighty with your copywriter status. Now it’s time I show you what real status, like Alpha King, can get you,” he hissed, narrowing his eyes at me before pointing to the door. I didn’t stay around and left to retrieve my son, whose mere presence in the office had turned everything upside down.
Icouldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking, as he had never behaved like that before.
