Breeder To The Brutal Alpha King

​Rebecca’s POV

​”Where the hell have you been?” Kane demanded the moment his eyes settled on me.

​”On the rooftop.”

​His brows pulled together, and his mouth opened, probably ready to start another round of shouting, but I cut him off before he could get a single word out.

​”Kane, let’s talk upstairs.”

​His jaw clenched.

​I glanced deliberately toward the guards and servants standing around the hallway, all of them pretending they weren’t listening while very obviously listening.

​”We have an audience.”

​Kane followed my gaze and seemed to finally realize how much attention he’d attracted. He muttered something under his breath before turning sharply toward the stairs.

​”Fine. Come.”

​I followed him, but before leaving the room, I couldn’t stop myself from looking back at Kaden one last time. Our eyes locked for a second—his dark green gaze searching mine, full of unsaid words, his face unreadable.

​For barely a second, memories of less than an hour ago rushed through my head, and my stomach tightened. I quickly looked away and followed Kane upstairs.

​The moment we entered the bedroom we were supposed to share, Kane slammed the door behind us and turned toward me, his eyes blazing.

​”Rebecca, you have a lot of explaining to do.”

​I stared at him in disbelief. Then I scoffed, a bitter laugh escaping my lips.

​”Really?”

​His eyebrows pulled together. ”What?”

​”You’re standing there telling me I have explaining to do after what you just caused?”

​”What I caused?”

​”Yes, Kane!” My frustration finally exploded, my voice rising in anger as I pointed to the heavy metal band around my neck. ”Do you even remember why we’re here? The entire plan was for you to help me get this fucking choker off my neck. But ever since we came here, you’ve barely been around!”

​His expression changed slightly, shifting from aggressive to confused.

​I didn’t give him time to interrupt.

​”Listen, I don’t have a problem with you meeting another woman—whether she’s your mate, your girlfriend, whoever she is. That’s your business. I don’t care. But I do have a problem when whatever you’re doing starts jeopardizing my plans.”

​”Rebecca—”

​”I almost had it tonight.”

​That stopped him. His forehead creased. ”Had what?”

​”The key to my freedom.”

​Kane stared at me.

​I laughed bitterly and shook my head. ”Of course you don’t know. You don’t even know how far we’ve gotten, do you?”

​”What are you talking about?”

​I reached beneath the blanket wrapped around me and pulled Helen’s locket from under my shirt, holding it up between us.

​”The key to this choker is inside this locket.”

​His eyes dropped to it.

​”And the locket needs a tiny pin key to open it,” I continued, stepping closer to him. ”We’ve been trying to find that pin for days. Logan finally figured out where Kaden keeps it.”

​Kane’s attention snapped back to me. ”Where?”

​”Inside Kaden’s private room.”

​His expression darkened.

​”I saw it tonight,” I said. ”I fucking touched it, Kane. I was right there. All I needed was for Kaden to fall asleep so I could take it.”

​Silence.

​Kane’s eyes slowly narrowed. I could almost see him putting the pieces together.

​”Private room?”

​”Yes.”

​”What private room?”

​I hesitated before answering. ”His BDSM room.”

​Kane went completely still. For several seconds, he just stared at me.

​Then his nostrils flared. Once. Twice. He leaned in closer, taking a sharp breath as he sniffed the air around me. My stomach sank because I knew exactly what was coming. His eyes traveled slowly over me before returning to my face, darkening dangerously.

​”Did you fuck Kaden?”

​There was no point lying.

​”Yes.”

​The word landed heavily between us.

​Kane looked like he hadn’t heard me correctly. ”What?”

​”I slept with him.”

​His jaw tightened, clenching and unclenching as if he was trying to process the sharp sting of my words.

​I walked toward the table, grabbed the bottle of water sitting there, and twisted the cap open. ”That was the only way I could get inside his private room without making him suspicious.”

​Kane remained completely silent.

​I took a long drink, trying to calm the frustration and burning heat still surging through me.

​”I finally got him to take me there. I found the pin. I waited until he fell asleep, and I was literally getting out of bed to take it when one of his guards started banging on the door because you had returned and were tearing through the palace screaming for me like what we have was real!”

​Kane’s expression shifted.

​”You ruined it.”

​His eyes flashed. ”I ruined it?”

​”Yes!”

​”You fucked my brother, and somehow I’m the fucking problem?”

​”It wasn’t about Kaden!”

​”Bullshit.”

​”It was about getting into that room!”

​Kane stared at me as though he still couldn’t process what I was saying. Then he gave a short, humorless laugh and dragged a hand across his jaw.

​”So that’s it.”

​I frowned. ”What’s it?”

​”You picked Kaden.”

​For a moment, I didn’t respond. He muttered it low, unable to fully believe it, and something about the way he said it sounded strangely personal. Not angry. Almost hurt.

​But that didn’t make any sense. Kane had found his mate. He had been disappearing constantly to see her. So why was he standing there looking at me like I’d betrayed him?

​I didn’t deny what I’d done or offer him comfort. Instead, I lifted the bottle to my mouth and took another long sip to cool the burning frustration in my throat.

​Kane watched me the entire time.

​When I lowered it, I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and set the bottle back on the table, turning around to face him with my arms crossed.

​”Now that we’re discussing who is sleeping with whom...” I said, staring directly into his dark eyes. ”Care to explain where you have been?”

​His face immediately closed.

​I folded my arms tighter against my chest. ”Because you definitely haven’t been at your pack.”

​