Preview of The Rose King
The Rose King is being released a section at a time as a serial novella to my newsletter subscribers.
Prologue
The Portland high school only felt like it made sense when Rex had Gemma at his side. He had so much to say, so much to share, but he’d never really fit in. The only person he felt he could talk to was Gemma.
Meaning, it was going to be excruciating when Rex finally told her that he was leaving town after graduation.
The bell rang, signaling the end of third period, and Rex rushed out of trig and in the direction of Gemma’s AP English class over in Hanson Wing. The crush of students around him was hell on his wolf shifter senses, but he’d managed public school for this long—he could handle it for another two months.
As soon as Gemma’s head of dark hair came into view, Rex’s heartbeat picked up. It was a privilege to see her, a guilty pleasure, a—there was no other word for it—joy. Gemma made him joyful.
“Gems!” he called.
She looked up, and her serious brown eyes met his. Her smile made his heart feel full and empty at the same time. He was going to say goodbye to her? On purpose? Every fiber of his being fought the idea.
Do what’s best for her, not what you think is best for you, his parents had said. Make the smart choice.
The ten-minute break after third period was when all the students rushed the vending machines, hoping for sugar or carbs to get themselves through until lunch.
Gemma nudged his shoulder in greeting as they walked to the nearest machine. He breathed in her faint, natural scent that was something like strawberries. It was overlaced with the rose-scented shampoo she used. Somehow, she made the combination work. Or maybe he just liked it because it was her.
“How was English?” he asked her.
“More Shakespeare. Stupid idiot Hamlet, messing with Ophelia like that. If he’d just talked to her…” She trailed off and got a concerned look on her face, the perfect arches of her eyebrows wrinkling. “Mrs. Fife’s going to post our grades at the end of the day.”
Rex touched her shoulder before quickly moving his hand away. “I bet you get an A. Fife loves you.”
“I’ll take that bet,” Gemma said. “Winner gets control of your stereo on the way home.”
He laughed. “Guess you’ll be listening to Led Zeppelin, then.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Nah, you’ll be enjoying Feist. And singing along.”
They reached the front of the line and Gemma reached into her pocket. “Oh no. I had a dollar, but I must have dropped it.”
Rex looked around, but couldn’t see anything in the crush of people.
“It could be anywhere,” she said. “Don’t worry about it. Give me a few of your Fritos, okay?”
He fed his own dollar into the vending machine, but instead of selecting his usual bag of chips, he got a Milky Way instead—Gemma’s favorite. He passed it to her.
“Wait, no,’” she said, laughing. “Totally sweet of you, Rex, but I know how hungry you get. There is no way I’m taking your food.”
It was more important that she was happy and felt good. He wanted her to be comfortable—it was in his instincts.
“I had a huge breakfast,” he said. It was a slight lie—yes, he’d had a huge breakfast, but it was the same giant breakfast he had every day to try to keep up with his rapid shifter metabolism. But Gemma didn’t need to know any of the details. She just needed to be happy and comfortable.
“Fine,” she said. “But I’m buying your snack tomorrow.”
“If you insist.” He nudged her shoulder, and she nudged him back as they escaped the press of students.
They didn’t have any other friends. Just the two of them, in their own little world, ignoring the rumors that they were a couple—they weren’t. Despite wanting her so bad he thought he’d break his dick with all that jerking off, he hadn’t touched her. Ever since his first shift into a wolf, he’d known that Gemma was special to him. But he came from a life of violence. He’d heard tales of pack wars, pride wars, clan wars, all between groups of shifters who couldn’t agree on how to share territory. And there were deaths, so many deaths, all adding up from those wars.
Too much fighting. No way he’d bring a beautiful, fragile human into the mix.
So he contented himself with friendship, keeping her close, taking care of her as much as he could.
As they walked, he saw Spencer Grey. Worse, he saw Spencer Grey see Gemma. Spencer’s gaze lingered on her curves, and he sauntered over to him and Gemma.
Shit, Spencer had never actually gotten up the nerves to approach them when they were together, although Rex had seen through a classroom window one time that Spencer and Gemma were partners on a project. He knew she talked to other students. So did he…but only when he had to.
Spencer swaggered instead of walked. He stopped in front of Gemma, forcing her and Rex to stop, too.
“Hey, Gemma,” Spencer said. His letterman’s jacket was slung over his shoulder like he was some kind of preppie in an L. L. Bean catalog.
Rex resisted the urge to sneer.
“Hey, Spence,” Gemma said.
Rex noticed that her eyes didn’t light up for Spencer like they had for Rex. The thought soothed the beast within him.
“You got any plans for prom?” Spencer asked.
Gemma looked at Rex, and her expression said everything—she wanted Rex to ask her.
It was too close to taking a step into couplehood, something Rex couldn’t risk. Now, as Spencer looked at Gemma and Gemma looked at Rex, Rex realized that he should have made some kind of alternate plan with Gemma for prom night. Like going to the planetarium in Portland, or doing…anything. Anything else. Of course, though, he’d just assumed that they’d hang out in her tree house or in his basement, listening to music and playing board games or just watching movies together.
Because he hadn’t thought things through, now she didn’t have plans. This was Rex’s own fucking fault.
“None,” she finally said, turning back to Spencer. It wasn’t Rex’s imagination that her voice sounded disappointed.
“I was wondering if you’d go with me, then,” Spencer said, adjusting a fold on his jacket.
Like he was trying to make the moment picture-perfect. Barf.
Gemma looked back at Rex again.
Rex looked back, hoping his face was a mask of indifference. Maybe this was better. Maybe she should go. Last night, his parents had told him about another pride war in southern Oregon where an entire family was wiped out. Violence was in the nature of shapeshifters.
Gemma should take advantage of this chance to do a normal human thing and live a normal human life.
And that way, when Rex left in June, Gemma would be okay. She’d be well on her way to her normal human life, and Rex could leave the territory with an easier conscience.
When Rex didn’t say anything, Gemma turned back to Spencer again. “Sure,” she said. “That sounds like it’d be fun.”
“Great,” Spencer said. He linked arms with Gemma and pulled her ahead of Rex. “We have tons of details to discuss.”
Gemma turned around once to look at Rex as she walked away with Spencer. Rex gave her a little wave and a smile, but inside, inside he knew this was the beginning of the end, and it broke his fucking heart.
*
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