bChapter /bb31 /b

Nyssa pov

“Thank you for shopping in my humble mall. Please be sure toe again whenever you wish; it would make this old man. happy.” Philip said with a smile, lowering his head in a small bow.

The corners of my lips lifted into a bright, grateful smile bas /bbI /bstared at him.

“No, thank you, Philip, for letting us shop here for free. I’ll definitely be back next time,” I responded with ba /bteasing tone, gesturing to the sales assistants who were busy loading the bags into the car. I watched as Philip’s eye twitched, but instead of saying anything, he turned to Darius, lowering his head even further before speaking.

“It seems that the king didn’t buy any clothes today. Perhaps next time, when the kinges with thedy, he will purchase something I’ll make everything free then.”

—-

This time, it was my eyes that couldn’t help but twitch.

This man was certainly sneaky. He’d essentially implied that I could only get things for free if I brought Darius with me, and he bought something.

Pfft, I knew Darius was the real reason Philip had made everything free for us, but he didn’t need to make it so obvious especially with the way he was practically staring at Darius, his eyes practically filled with dor signs.

However, Darius didn’t say anything. He simply stared at Philip with an expressionless gaze.

Soon, the sales assistants had left, and Philip eventually made his exit. Thankfully, the crowd that had been surrounding the ce was gone, probably chased off by Philip. The only people left were Serene, Cassian, Drake, the driver already in the car, Darius, and me.

Without hesitation, I turned toward Darius, lowered my head, and spoke.

“Thank you for today, Your Majesty. It was truly an honor spending the day with you. If you don’t mind, I’ll take my leave now.” I added, intending to leave with Serene in the car we arrived in. After all, Cassian and Drake hade with their own vehicles, so the king should go with them, right? Plus, I was looking forward to a meal with Serene, and if Darius came along, I doubted we’d have much of an appetite with him around.

Darius watched me for a brief moment without saying a word. Just when I thought he might agree, he turned to Cassian, who stood beside him, and ordered,

“Follow them. Make sure you return with them.” His words made me frown, and I nced at Cassian, who immediately bowed slightly and responded,

“I understand, my king.”

Why would he tell his beta to follow us? Darius didn’t strike me as the type who cared about others especially me, the mate he didn’t want. The only reason I could think of was that he wanted Cassian to keep an eye on me. But why? Did he think I might run away?

My lips parted, ready to voice my disagreement, but as soon as Darius’s cold gaze flickered to me, I snapped my mouth shut. I watched as he turned and walked toward the car, with Drake trailing behind him. Drake quickly went ahead and opened the door for him as he slid inside.

With a frown, my eyes stayed glued to the car as it sped off into the distance, leaving only Serene, Darius, and me behind. As soon as it disappeared from view, a mocking scoff escaped me. I rolled my eyes, folding my arms in frustration. Who did he think he was, ordering one of his men to follow me? Did he really believe I’d run away just because he wanted to reject me?

Just because he bwas /bthe Lycan King didn’t mean he could do bwhatever /bhe pleased.

b“/bExactly. Just bbecause /bbhe’s /bthe Lycan King, he can do whatever he wants. He’s that powerful, bNyssa/b.” She’s voice echoed in my head, and I pouted, knowing she was right even if I didn’t want to admit it.

“Whatever,” I muttered back in frustration, hearing her sigh in responseb. /b

“You knowb,/bb” /bshe said, “instead of getting mad and avoiding Darius, why not get close to him? Or better yet, try to seduce him bso /bhe won’t reject usb.” /b

My eyes widened at her suggestion, but before bI /bcould respond, a voice pulled me back to the present.

“Miss? He’s speaking to you.” I blinked and turned to find Serene pointing at Cassian. As I looked toward him, his grin brightened, and he met my gaze with a teasing glint in his eyes.

“You seem to have a lot on your mind,” he said, and before bI /bcould respond, he pped his hands together, his excitement palpable. “But where are we going? Is it somewhere fun? Are we going to eat? I rarely leave the pack, so I’m sure there’s a lot to do around hereb./bb” /b

My eye couldn’t help but twitch as I watched him. He couldn’t be more than 25, yet here he was, acting like an bexcited /bpuppy. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was truly the king’s beta.

I shook my head and rubbed the bridge of my nose in frustration.

This was going to be a long day.