Surrogate for the Alpha Prince in a Coma novel Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Lillian’s POV

I pulled the hem up to my ribs. The skin along my left side was purple and scraped raw where I’d hit the stairwell railing. The old lash wounds on my back had reopened in two places, thin lines of red seeping through the closed

skin.

Grayson knelt beside the bed. His hands were steady. He pressed a gauze pad soaked in antiseptic against the worst of the scraping, and I sucked air through my teeth.

“Hold still,” he said. The same words he’d said the night he’d put his hand between my legs. But the tone was different now. Quieter. The sharp edge filed down to something I almost didn’t recognize.

He cleaned the wound in silence. Taped the gauze in place. His fingers brushed the edge of one of the reopened lash marks on my back, and he paused.

His thumb traced the raised line of the scar. Just once. Light enough that I might have imagined it.

“You shouldn’t have gone back to that pack,” he said.

I didn’t say a word. Didn’t even breathe. The moment was so fragile, a mere pin-drop might have shattered it. My heart beat so loudly in my ears, I worried he might hear it.

Instead, he seemed to be hearing something else, his ear ever so slightly turned toward the door.

“Someone’s coming,” he said. At once, he shoved the medical supplies off the bed, toward the wall so that they would be hidden from the door. He threw himself toward the bed, jostling me off balance. As he aligned himself, his head on the pillow, eyes closed, I nearly fell on top of him, holding myself up by my elbows. My shirt was still bunched up under my arms.

The door flew open, and a short woman was there. Like Grayson, her hair was dark, her eyes bright blue. But she was barely five foot tall. Right now, looking from me to Jason and back again, those eyes widened as large as

saucers.

“What are you doing to my comatose brother?!” she asked sharply.

At once I pushed myself upright, and hurriedly pulled down my shirt. “It’s not what it looks like,” I said at once.

“I’d love to hear what kind of story you could tell to try to spin this,” she said. “What I’ve just seen with my own eyes. That is now burned into my retinas forever.”

The Prime Beta appeared in the open doorway behind the woman and cleared his throat. “Josephine, this is Lillian. She has been chosen to be Prince Grayson’s surrogate.”

Josephine blinked. “…surrogate?”

“Yes,” the Prime Beta said. “She will be responsible for providing heirs -”

“I am aware of what a surrogate is, thank you,” Josephine said quickly. “I’d rather not have to think about my brother in context to one. Neither would I want to see the act myself!”

I pushed myself away from Grayson and stood. “I promise it’s not what it looks like,” I said.

She held up her hand, stopping me. “I suppose it doesn’t matter if it was or not, if you are… responsible for heirs. I guess I have to… apologize… for intruding.” She cleared her throat. “I didn’t knock.”

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“You didn’t,” I said, glad she had pointed that out. I had thought it, but was hoping to salvage some kind of good

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first impression. The last thing I needed around here was more enemies.

“I didn’t,” she said, nodding. “Piers and I had only just arrived, back from our tour, and I couldn’t wait to see Grayson. I hate when I have to leave him. I’m always afraid that I’ll miss something.”

“I”

“Like you! I wasn’t here, and now he has a surrogate. I feel like I should have been here, to help decide, though I guess his wolf did most of the choosing. Some of those other girls…” She shuddered. “Well, I’m glad that violence ends now. What did you say your name was again? Lillian?”

“Yes -”

“That’s a pretty name. Please excuse me.”

She stepped toward Grayson, and I quickly moved out of the way, still trying to wrap my mind around her sudden appearance and apparent lack of need to breathe. She was something of a whirlwind, a woman who clearly wore her emotions on her sleeve and kept no secrets.

She sat on the edge of the bed and reached for Grayson’s hand, lightly placing hers over his.

Grayson’s shimmering wolf moved towards her, taking a comfortable position at her side.

“I’m sorry to have been gone so long, brother. Piers insisted on extending the trip, and you know how I indulge him. Against my better judgement, sometimes.” Lowering her voice, she said, “Maybe I hoped that by extending the trip, you would be awake by the time I returned. A fool’s notion, I suppose. Or a sister’s big heart.”

My own heart ached, seeing so much of the way I cared for Ronan in how Josephine was speaking with Grayson. I barely knew this girl, and already I felt bonded to her.

Glancing at me, she spoke louder, “He looks well. You must be doing a good job taking care of him.”

I nodded.

“Please continue to do so,” she said. Her eyes narrowed. “Or else, I’ll make your life hell.”

My life was already something of a hell-state, but I had no reason to incur further wrath, especially from someone that I secretly wanted to like me, as I already liked her.

She glanced back at her brother. “I can’t stay, but I’ll be back. I’ll visit you as much as I can.” She cleared her throat again. “I’ll knock first next time.”

Standing abruptly, she looked at me. “As the surrogate, you should be naturally invited to things, right? Like, events and the like.”

“I-”

“My parents are holding a celebratory dinner tonight for Piers and my return. You should be there.”

“I can -”

“I’ll have the servants find you a gown. You’ll enjoy it. Excuse me.” With that, she turned and walked out of the room. The Prime Beta was still standing there. His flat gaze met mine as he reached for the door knob and pulled the door closed, leaving me alone with Grayson once more.

Grayson rubbed his hand over his forehead.

“Why don’t you tell her the truth?” I asked. “She clearly cares for you. You can’t think she’s the traitor?”

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“She is no traitor,” he snapped, his body tensing so sharply for a moment that I regretted opening my mouth.

Josephine’s bubbly conversation had put me at ease. For a minute, I forgot my place. I had no friends here. Tenuous allies, at best.

“Josephine would want to keep the secret,” Grayson said, lowering his hand back to his side. His body relaxed somewhat, the tension leaving it. “But she would struggle. She can be blunt and hotheaded.”

And chatty, I thought, but did not say.

“She wouldn’t mean to, but likely she would share the secret on accident.”

I nodded, understanding.

“You are invited to her celebratory dinner,” Grayson said. His eyes were open now, looking at me. “Will you go?

“I should, shouldn’t I?”

He considered this. “I will have you watched.”

Whether that was intended to be comforting or threatening, I wasn’t sure.

“Piers is Josephine’s fiancé,” Grayson said, frowning now. Even the way he said the name dripped with disdain. ” He can’t be trusted. Do not go near him.

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