I was stunned for a while and my mind went completely blank. For a moment, I didn’t know what to say and could only grit my teeth in anger.
Although Rufus didn’t explicitly insult me, he implied that I was too arrogant to take the royal family seriously.
I couldn’t help but think about what I had heard about the new lycan king. People said he was extremely difficult to get along with.
I didn’t expect it to be true!
I didn’t believe their words at first, defending Rufus fiercely in my heart.
I knew that Rufus had lost his memory, but how could he have become so impossible?
Rufus’ POV
I looked coldly at the masked she-wolf in front of me. When faced with my questioning, she was hesitant at the beginning, then guilty, and then later she became sharp-tongued. She was shamed into anger. She was arrogant and held contempt towards royal power. In a word, she looked down on me.
I just wanted to ask her why she didn’t come to the imperial capital to pay her respects to me, and she had so many excuses.
The most frustrating thing about it was that every excuse sounded just reasonable, rendering me speechless.
“If I had left the border pack, the vampires would’ve harassed the civilians. The border is so far away from the imperial capital; it would’ve taken over a week to make the journey back and forth. What if something happened during my absence? Nobody else could’ve protected the people.” This hateful she-wolf was still making excuses! Worse yet, she was wearing a mask. I could only see her eyes and mouth. I could see the cunningness in her eyes, which made her look rather proud.
But I couldn’t do anything to her. After all, I was the king. As a king, I had to be magnanimous.
Besides, I also felt that the strength of this she-wolf was… unfathomable. Perhaps she also held the same lycan power as me, but I wasn’t too sure.
I had to find out.
“Since you’re available now, let me show you around the training grounds. Perhaps we can even have a friendly sparring match. You can show me your power,” I suggested in a seemingly casual fashion.
It was common for werewolves to spar with each other. When my father was young, he often spared with Leonard.
“It’s getting late. How about tomorrow?” the she-wolf glanced at the wall clock and looked a little embarrassed.
I pursed my lips unhappily. “It’s not even ten o’clock. Is that too late for you?”
The she-wolf seemed to be cornered. After a split second, she came up with yet another reasonable explanation. “I got carsick earlier, and I’m not acclimatized to the local environment here. If you didn’t come to see me, I would’ve been asleep by now.”
“Is that so? But you look wide awake.” I looked at her coldly.
My constant questioning seemed to anger the she-wolf. She raised her voice and said defensively, “I’m telling you, Your Majesty, I’m really tired. If I spar with you now, I won’t be able to use my full strength. Are you trying to take advantage of me?”
I wasn’t expecting a retort, and consequently, I didn’t know what to say. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that this she-wolf was strange. Not only did she not fear me, but she even dared to provoke me. How arrogant!
I tried my best to hold back my anger and smiled. “Okay, then let’s take a rain check.”
The she-wolf pouted and didn’t say anything more. She then began to praise me in an effort to curry favor, I suppose. She praised me for my handsomeness, valor, and for my proper governance. She said it was a great honor to see me.
I sneered internally. If it was such an honor, why didn’t she come to see me before?
This she-wolf was such a despicable liar.
I listened to her quietly, pretending to pace the room casually. As I was about to step past the she-wolf, I suddenly made a move, trying to force her to react instinctively.
Unexpectedly, she didn’t respond at all. Instead, she was taken by surprise and lost her balance.
I immediately wrapped my arms around her waist to catch her before she fell.
The she-wolf gripped my shoulder in panic, her mouth slightly parted, as though she was frightened.
I had caught her without thinking. When I came to my senses, I found that we were extremely close to each other. Her scent sent me into a trance.
I could smell her strong perfume, but I could also smell other unusual scents mixed with it.
When I met her gaze, my heart pounded violently in my chest, and a strange feeling that I had never experienced surged. Realizing this, I quickly released her and stepped back in one swift movement.
Crystal’s POV
Rufus struck me suddenly, leaving me with no time to react. Seeing that I almost fell down, his conscience seemed to kick in and he caught me in time.
But as soon as I heaved a sigh of relief, he tossed me to the ground again.
Was he serious?
I was furious. I rubbed my aching back and nearly cursed out.
But my common sense held me back. This man was now the lycan king. I would have to show him some respect.
But this thought aggrieved me. I never had to think this much before telling him off before.
“Get to your feet. You’re a dignified Alpha, but your reaction time is slower than a new student’s at the military school.”
His voice was icy, and no emotion was visible in his eyes when he stared at me, as if I was good for nothing. I was truly afraid that he would blurt out, “Your Alpha appointment was bought with money, right?”
I pursed my lips and stood up unhappily. I was so enraged that I wanted to argue with him.
“Why are you quiet? Did I say something wrong? You’re the Alpha of your pack. How could you be knocked down so easily? If I were a vampire, I would have taken your life already,”
Rufus reprimanded me harshly, leaving me unable to meet his eyes.
As my helpless gaze remained fixed on my toes, I inwardly cried out that I was being wronged. When had I ever been on guard against him?
Normally, no one put up their guard against their close friends or loved ones. As my mind flashed back to the past, I remembered how Rufus wanted to be around me all the time. If I ever displayed indifference or defensiveness toward him, he would have definitely felt hurt and then lost his temper.
Only a few years had passed, but now he wanted me to be wary of him.
However, his attitude was understandable because he had lost his memory.
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