Page 83 of The Alpha's Fake Mate

Though Orion showed his rage, there was still no sign of the Burn within him.

I felt a strange, odd calm surround me. The prospect of seeing Bosk should have terrified me. Instead, I felt mostly disgust, and a sense inside myself that I would do whatever it took to win Orion back. I did not accept my fate with Bosk, but I had accepted that I could endure it.

Neither of us said a word. I glanced at the clock to the side of the bed. We had another half hour before we had to leave. My heart went into my throat before I calmed myself again, before my breathing leveled out.

Orion’s hand squeezed mine, feeling my stress.

As I closed my eyes, his phone went off.

He sat up partway to remove it from his pocket and look at it.

“It’s Saben,” he said to me.

I sat up as he answered and put the phone on speaker.

“Orion!”

“Here.”

“A little change of plan. Have you left yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Good. We’re all meeting at the courthouse. I got an appointment at the last minute with a judge. He will hear us out. My argument. Your argument.”

Orion inhaled sharply. “What time?”

“Four. You’ll have to leave now.”

I was already up and running to the bathroom to wash my face and comb my hair.

When Orion walked in he stared at my reflection in the mirror.

“This is better news, right?” I asked.

“Maybe. At least we will be heard by an impartial party.”

“Good.”

Before, all we could hope was that we might convince Bosk, through our lawyers at the meeting, to make him give up his claim. Now, we had a judge. An Alpha judge, but still a judge.

The limo had stayed parked in the drive at the end of the front path. It was ready for us as soon as we walked out the door.

Orion held my hand tightly. I squeezed back as hard as I could.

He looked at me as the driver opened the doors for us. “I cannot lose you.”

“No matter what, you never will,” I said.

*

Everything was new to me. Alien and strange. I’d been off the farm for only a matter of days. Eight to be exact. In that time, I’d experienced so much: outrage and fear, gratitude and wonder, and falling in love. My emotions had tested me. But I had very little experience, still, of the real world.

I’d never seen a courthouse except in videos.

We drove up and passed a little gate that forced the driver to take a ticket before it would open to let us in. We entered a dark tunnel. On either side I could see parked cars everywhere in lines. Up ahead was a curb and a sidewalk. The many lights here were white, everything lit up.

The limo pulled up to the curb and the driver got out to open our door.