Ch. my mate gambled me away to the lycan King 6 my mate gambled me away to the lycan King 6

Chapter 6 

“What… did you just say?” 

Kane stood frozen, champagne dripping from his chin. 

For one heartbeat, the whole ballroom was silent. Then it exploded. 

“No way! He hired her!” 

“That’s not the Runt! The Runt was two hundred pounds!” 

“Nice try, Alpha! Paying a model to save face?” 

46 

A few of Kane’s warriors rushed forward, waving their phones with the funeral photo zoomed in, searching my face for proof I was a fake. 

Then one of them stopped dead. His face went white. 

“Look… look at her collarbone.” He held up his phone with shaking hands. “The crescent. It’s the Ashford mark. Only the old Alpha’s bloodline has it. It’s… it’s in the funeral photo too.” 

“Moon Goddess,” someone whispered. “It’s really her.” 

“She’s not a tank. She’s a knockout.” 

“He gambled THAT away? Is the Alpha insane?” 

The warriors who’d been laughing a minute ago stared at their shoes. 

Kane’s breathing went ragged. His eyes locked on the crescent, the same mark he used to kiss in the dark. 

“Lyra?” His voice cracked. “How… what did you do up there? Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“And miss this?” I turned my empty glass in my fingers. “You put me on a poker table for a strip of land. Did you want progress pictures?” 

He opened his mouth. Nothing came out. Sweat beaded at his hairline. 

Then I watched it happen. The disgust in his eyes melted away, replaced by something desperate and hungry. He forced out a laugh and reached for my hand. 

“Baby, come on. You’ve made your point. I was joking about all of it. We’ve been together three years, Lyra. Let’s go home. The bet’s off.” 

The room howled. 

11:28 Wed, Oct 21 

< Chapter 6 

46 

“Off? Five minutes ago she was a pig!” 

“You can’t take back a bet to the King, man! You got a death wish?” 

Bianca shoved her way forward, her face a sickly shade of gray. She grabbed Kane’s arm like a leash and 

glared at me. 

“Okay, so you lost weight. Congratulations. That doesn’t give you the right to humiliate him in front of everyone! He made that bet for the pack! Have some class!” 

“Class?” I tilted my head and looked at her like a bug on my shoe. “Bianca, sweetheart. You’ve been warming my mate’s bed while I was gone. Don’t lecture me about class.” 

Gasps rippled through the crowd. 

Bianca’s red lips trembled. “You-” 

I didn’t let her finish. I turned my back on both of them. 

I walked across the ballroom, every step echoing, toward the man standing alone in the center of the 

room. 

Alaric didn’t move. He just watched me come, his storm-gray eyes never leaving my face, like nothing else 

in the world existed. 

I stopped a foot away from him and tipped my chin up. 

Behind me, I could feel Kane’s horror like heat on my back. 

“Your Majesty,” I said, loud enough for every wolf to hear. “It’s seven o’clock. A drink with linked arms. A photo for the pack chat. A fifteen-second carry.” 

I opened my arms. 

“A bet’s a bet. Are you brave enough to accept such a heavy gift?” 

Something blazed in Alaric’s eyes. Heat. Hunger. And something that looked almost like pride. 

He didn’t answer with words. 

His hand slid around my waist and pulled me hard against his chest. 

11:28 Wed, Oct 21 

< Chapter 7