(AMARI'S POV)
I don't know what exactly I was expecting when I walked into the room.
A large Lycan on the bed? A snarling old man with golden eyes? Perhaps the Devil himself?
All those racing thoughts came to an end when I saw him. Definitely not the scary king I was expecting.
Aside from his strange eyes, he looked like a regular attractive man whose muscular body couldn't be hidden under simple hospital clothes.
His gold eyes hadn't moved from my face. Not once. They burned into me like he could see past my skin, past the fear I was trying to bury.
"I said. Who. Are. You." The growl vibrated somewhere deep in my chest, and a thrill ran down my spine.
Tell him the truth. You're not a liar. Tell him.
"My name is Amari, and I'm your wife." My voice came out way steadier than I felt.
He closed his eyes for a brief moment and then reopened them.
I gasped softly. The golden eyes were gone, and in their place, stern, dark eyes that stared at me like I was the only one on earth.
Something about the bright golden eyes had made his face uncertain, but now his perfect features were clearer. Sharp jaw, neatly trimmed beard, compelling thin, pink lips.
"My wife." His deep voice made my heart start racing again.
"Yes," this time my voice shook. "We got married yesterday." That sounded better.
Silence. Just my racing heart as he stared at me intensely.
Then he swung his legs off the bed, stood up, and started to walk toward me.
I wanted to move back, but something rooted me to the ground. It wasn't fear. It was overwhelming emotions that I didn't understand.
My body felt unusual. My nerves were alert, and when he got to me, I shamelessly inhaled the cool, musky scent that flooded my nostrils.
His dark eyes dug into mine like he was looking at me for the first time. Up close, I could see the specks of gold in them. So beautiful.
"I don't have a wife," he stated confidently, and my reality pulled me back in.
He knows we are not married. I am finished.
I could feel my knees wobbling, and I wanted to melt into a puddle. I wanted to drop to my knees, to confess, to plead, to cry, but Talon's voice replayed in my head.
Rudina dies the moment you slip.
"I have our certificate here to prove it." The adrenaline in me was working. "I was called about your death yesterday."
"Let me have it." His eyes didn't move away from me for even a second.
I seized the chance to break our stare, my shaky hands fumbled the file before giving him the paper. He took it, not breaking eye contact until he walked away a few steps to inspect the certificate.
I released a breath that I had no idea I had been holding. I thought I would be relieved to have him walk away, but something in me felt his absence deeply.
I felt too alert around him. Almost like my nerves had been dead my whole life and I only realized it now, in his presence.
He turned to me unexpectedly. "Moon Haven?"
I nodded. "My village."
Knock! Knock!
A loud knock made me startle.
"Come in," the King ordered.
The door opened. Talon stepped in, and a wave of fear hit me. I kept my gaze down. They went straight to the King.
"Your Majesty." He greeted with a short bow. "It's good to see you alive. We were worried."
Talon's presence made me aware.
Don't look at him, Amari. Don't look—
"We?" The king's voice.
"Mother and May are outside," Talon explained.
The King nodded. "Get ready. We're going home," he said simply.
Talon frowned. "But Uncle Lucian, you just survived a fatal accident."
The King laughed, a short and unexpected sound that made my head snap up to him immediately. But any sign of a smile had gone, and only his dark eyes twinkled with humor. That was enough to make the hair on the back of my neck stand.
"You don't care so much about me, Talon," the King said. "Go get the cars ready."
Then he turned to me, and my chest rose as I inhaled my breath unconsciously.
His dark eyes sent charged jolts down my spine as they stared at me.
"Let's go home, sweetheart."