~ROWAN
I stood in the middle of the throne room, staring at the large grandfather clock.
It was ti for dinner, and I’d invited Nyssa to join , yet I was standing here, my body unwilling to move.
"I hope you know what you’re doing," my lycan said simply in my mind. "If she finds out who you are-"
"She won’t," I hissed. "This isn’t about that."
"Isn’t it?" he scoffed. "Are you going to lie to her forever? The selfless thing to do would have been to tell her the truth or let her go."
He was right about that much, but I’d never prided myself on being good or selfless. You don’t get to be King by choosing the nice way out.
"Are you just going to leave her waiting for you in the dining room?"
"Of course not. I’ll join her."
"When?"
Thankfully, I didn’t have to respond because a knock on the door snapped out of my thoughts. I turned just in ti for the door to be pushed open.
A guard apologized profusely as Henry stord into the throne room, his brows knitted together in annoyance and his cheeks a bright shade of pink.
He always had a penchant for getting upset. He liked having his way, then again, who didn’t?
I waved my guard off and stared at Henry, waiting for him to announce the reason for his arrival.
I knew it had sothing to do with Nyssa.
He was definitely still in love with her despite having rejected her. I had no idea why he did what he did, but I didn’t care.
"If this is a way to get back at , consider us even. Leave her alone."
I raised a brow. "You are imnsely full of yourself."
He growled low, his cheeks burning hotter.
If it were anyone else, they would’ve found themselves without a tongue, but Henry and I had too much history for to kill him outright. No, he deserved to suffer slow.
"Let remind you that you are my subject and my guest. You are also in my castle. If you growl at again, you can be rest assured that your pack will be without an Alpha within the hour."
Embarrassnt filled his eyes.
If I were anyone else, he would’ve challenged , but he knew better. Not only was I his superior, I was far stronger than him on my weakest day thanks to my lycan genes.
"She doesn’t deserve to be a pawn in your ga," he hissed.
"And who said this was a ga?" I crossed my arms over my chest. "She is my mate, and unlike you, I know better than to reject my mate for no apparent reason."
"You don’t know anything," he spat. "I had my reasons."
"And I don’t care what they are. Nyssa is mine now, and you will do well to rember that. If you try to hinder our agreent in any way, I will consider it an act of war. You know the rules binding packs, and you know that it is an offense to keep a male from his mate."
I had never seen Henry this wound up in my entire life.
A part of almost felt bad for him.
He opened his mouth to speak and I waited eagerly for him to say one thing that would give the right to beat his ass. I’d been waiting for the opportunity for years.
Unfortunately, he decided to use his brain and took a step back.
"This isn’t over," he warned. "She’s not yours yet. She still has to make the choice."
"Yes she does. Now if you’ll excuse , I have a dinner to get to."
I brushed past him before he had the chance to speak.
As I made my way to the dining room, I tried my best to calm the rage coursing inside of . It was an unfortunate side effect of spending ti with Henry. He had the ability to elicit such violent reactions out of .
As soon as I got to the dining room, I knew sothing was wrong.
For starters, there were no guards outside.
I had strict rules regarding Nyssa. I’d instructed the maids to make sure a guard was situated outside the dining room. The only person who could have undermined that rule was...
I pushed the door open. "Hello, Aria."
My sister stopped whatever she was saying and smiled tightly at . "We were just talking about you. I was beginning to wonder if you’d ever show up. I was telling Nyssa that you hate eating at the table."
I ignored her obvious jab and turned to my mate.
She looked uncomfortable. Her hands were folded neatly in her lap and her spine was taut.
"Lay off her," I warned Aria.
"I was rely talking."
"Talk nicely then. Do not scare her."
"I told you already, you’re not being objective about this. What if this is all a-"
"Drop it, Aria, now!"
She let out a dramatic sigh. "Whatever."
She severed the mind link between us and stood to her feet, mumbling sothing about not being hungry.
She slamd the door behind her and I saw Nyssa’s shoulders sag with relief.
I made a ntal note to have a longer conversation with Aria about it.
"I apologize for her behavior. My sister is very... protective. Siblings can be like that."
"I wouldn’t know," she mumbled. "I don’t have any."
I winced at that admission. I knew she was an only child. I did all the research after I killed her parents.
"Is she older or younger?"
"Younger, by ten years."
Her eyes widened in shock and I couldn’t help but bite the inside of my cheek to hold back a smile.
Lycans didn’t age the sa way humans did... she’d co to figure that out soon enough.
Silence so thick and awkward descended upon the dining room.
Neither of us spoke, save for the sound of our utensils scraping against our dishes. The tension was so thick I could cut it with a butter knife.
"I don’t know how to do this," she admitted finally. "I’ve heard... things about you."
I sighed.
I knew this conversation was coming.
Placing my fork down, I turned to her. "Do you believe them?"
"Should I?" she shot back.
I didn’t hesitate for a mont before responding. "Yes. I am whatever you have heard about and more. Don’t ever think for once that I am a good man. It will save you a lot of heartache."
Reviews
All reviews (0)