Page 133 of Rejected By the Shifter King

At all fucking times.

And that was why—

One moment, he was just about to reach for her hand from behind.

And then the next moment, it was chaos.

Alarms shrieking to life, doors slamming open asL’Allianceguards blazed out from every direction, and her name ripping out of his throat—

“Samira!”

Security converged on him, but there was no way he would let them stop him from reaching her.

His hand almost touched her shoulder—

Alarms shrieked to life.

Doors slammed open. Left and right, up and down the corridor. Guards poured out—Panthera warriors with their enhanced strength, Caro enforcers with their preternatural speed.

“Sir, you need to stand down—”

Hexius shook off the first guard who tried to restrain him. His eyes never left Samira’s retreating back.

Fifty feet.

A massive shifter grabbed his left arm. A Caro enforcer his right. But Hexius threw them both off with just a twist.

Sixty feet.

His Samira was at the end of the corridor now.

More guards rushed in. Six of them this time, coming from three directions at once. Hands locked around his arms, his shoulders, his waist.

“Samira, please—”

He fought against the bodies holding him. Not with his full strength—he wasn’t completely lost to reason—but enough that it took all six of them to hold him.

“I love you!”

He shouted the words out as security forced him on his knees.

And that was when Samira’s steps crashed to a halt.

And she turned to look at him, tears endlessly streaming down her cheeks.

“You don’t have to lie.”

She only whispered the words, but he heard them from a distance, and they cut him to the core. “I’m not lying—”

“Then why?” Samira asked brokenly. “If you r-really love me, w-why? Why c-can’t you still read my mind?”

No. God. No.

Security wouldn’t let go, and he could not remember feeling this helpless.

He loved her.

He knew this now.