Page 57 of Rejected By the Shifter King

Chapter Twenty-One

ESTRELLA WAS IN A DAZEas she slowly made her way back to the tower room. As she made no attempt to conceal her return, the guards outside her door sputtered in surprise at seeing an easily recognizable white wolf climbing up the steps. Protocol would require them to inform a higher-up about her "escape", and she could already tell from their uneasy expressions that neither of them were looking forward to doing so.

Back inside her gilded prison, she found herself continuing to move in autopilot as she shifted out and dressed herself. Throughout it, the spymaster's throaty drawl played over and over in her mind—-

You should've married me, then my services would've been free.

Just thinking about the words made Estrella sick to her stomach. It was something she could easily imagine a black widow would have used to lure someone in its web. The invitation in Fina's words had been unmistakably and shamelessly blatant. There was no way for anyone to misconstrue the woman's meaning, and no one would've questioned the prince's right to admonish Fina for it.

But he hadn't.

Not a single word had been spoken, not even to politely dissuade the spymaster from pursuing such thoughts. Instead, all the prince had done was speak of something else before taking his leave. Not a single word of censure or reproach. Not one. And that was what Estrella couldn't understand.

Didn't he tell her that he was the one man she shouldn't ever worry about being unfaithful? That having Ammon inside him made all women unimportant? So why hadn't he said a word?Why?

She considered confronting Lysander about it, but the mere thought was enough to make her heart stutter in pain. She had become braver over the years about a lot of things, butnotover that.Neverever over losing Lysander. He was the only man she had ever loved, and losing him would always be her greatest fear.

So where did that leave her then? Should she speak to Fina? But with all the lies the spy had spouted, how could she trust Fina to speak the truth?

The twins were her only chance of finding out what exactly was going on between Fina and her husband. She could trust them to tell the truth, but she had to ask them in such a way that it wouldn't make them feel disloyal to their prince.

It would mean practicing deception, something that Lyccans like her naturally abhorred. Her race was the blunt and impatient kind, and they liked to do things in the open, whether it had to do with loving someone...or killing them.

Even before she heard the knocking on her door, the twins' scent alerted Estrella to their presence, and she slowly came to her feet. "Come in."

"Princess." Aluin wore a heavy frown on his face. "The guards informed us of your unnecessary little escapade—-"

"Fina and the prince are hiding something from me," she cut him off in a faint, strained voice, and her heart lurched when she saw Aluin's jaw clamp shut at her words. "You know what it is, don't you?" She saw the twins exchange looks, and her heart died. She had played her cards right, after all, but it was a victory she'd rather have done without.

Alain was mentally cursing the prince to perdition. What the hell had Lysander been thinking? Telling Fina the truth only gave the other woman ammunition to hurt the one person who was innocent in all this.

"I'm sorry, princess," Alain said finally. "I don't believe it's our place to speak—-"

"You owe me this, Alain." Estrella's voice shook. "You know you do...after what happened."

Alain flinched.