~ ROWAN
I was convinced that Nyssa had an ability to find the things that belonged to my mother.
There were people who’d lived in this palace for years and never found the gardens. They weren’t easy to navigate after all... my mother made sure of that.
She didn’t want people stumbling across it by accident and ssing with her flowers. They were her pride and joy. The only reason I still kept it tended to was because of her.
Aria tore a new asshole today.
She stord into the dining room while I was halfway through my coffee and yelled at for five minutes straight.
At first, I thought she was just upset about sothing else, but when she ntioned a bruise on Nyssa’s hands, my blood ran cold.
I knew I grabbed her hard, but I didn’t know it was hard enough to leave a bruise.
I left the dining room imdiately and went in search of Nyssa, but I heard she hadn’t left her room all day.
I thought she just wanted to be alone so I let her be until fifteen minutes ago when one of the guards I put to watch over her told that she was on the move.
She stood slowly, her spine going ramrod straight as she turned to . "If I’m not ant to be here, I’ll just leave."
"You can stay."
She shook her head. "I think I would be best if I just left."
I frowned at her words.
Her tone was more curt and formal now than it was the first ti we t. It took a mont to realize it but I did.
It was noticeable in the way she wouldn’t look in the eye, and in the nervous shuffling of her feet. I could tell by the way she twiddled with her thumbs and the goosebumps that crawled all over her flesh... she was scared of .
I nearly laughed in disbelief.
She was arguably the only person in the world who had no reason to be scared of .
Even if I were to hate her with everything in , I was physically unable to hurt her. The mating bond worked in a very funny way. It prevented from actually being able to inflict harm on her.
As long as the bond remained unbroken, I couldn’t touch her with the intention to harm her. It was probably the only reason the bruise stayed... I never intended to cause it.
Her fear was unfounded, and the knowledge brought a feeling so unfamiliar and uncomfortable that my chest fucking ached.
"It’s a fucking garden," I snapped, unable to stop myself. "It’s not like you’re going to burn it down."
She pursed her lips tightly. "I could."
"There are servants who would stop you before you even light the match," I told her. "I heard about your hand. I didn’t realize it would leave a bruise-"
She scoffed. "That’s what happens when you grab people harshly. What did you expect would happen? Did you think a rainbow would pop out into the sky?"
I liked her annoyance more than I liked her fear.
I’d prefer she fucking hated than she cowered when I ca close. Her ire stroked sothing inside of , and it ant that she was at least interacting with .
"You were sowhere you weren’t supposed to be. I thought you were a maid-"
"And that gives you the right to put your hands on ?" she asked in shock. "So if I were a stranger you would have hurt more?"
The conversation was going downhill very quickly.
On a good day, I would have stepped back and explained. I was a century old for fucks sake. One of my greatest assets was my ability to be diplomatic but that all went out the window when she was involved.
This little werewolf had a way of pushing every single button I owned.
"I would never hurt my pack mbers intentionally. Don’t you dare imply for a second-"
She pulled back her sleeves to reveal dark bruises on her wrists. "I’m not implying shit. The evidence is right here! I thought you were a decent man. I thought Henry was sohow misguided but you’re just like the other Alphas. You throw your weight around-"
I growled low but she didn’t stop.
"Maybe if you don’t want people to go sowhere, put up a damn sign! How was I suppose to know that you didn’t want people touching your girlfriend’s shit."
Girlfriend?
The corner of my lips tugged upwards as I realized what this was about.
She wasn’t pissed about the bruise, she was pissed because she thought there was another woman in my life... she was jealous.
If I were a better man, I’d put her out of her misery and tell her the truth, but there was sothing amusing about watching her cheeks burn red.
"I’ve never been here before and you just brought from my pack and left here with no information, no help... nothing! If you didn’t want here then you didn’t have to bring . I’m a big girl, I can handle a rejection."
"I am not rejecting you-"
"Then what do you want?" she scread, throwing her hands up in defeat. "I don’t know what ga you’re playing, but for fucks sake, leave out of it. I didn’t ask to be put between you and Henry and I sure as hell don’t want to touch your girlfriend’s shit-"
"I’ll put up a sign. Would that make you happy?" I teased.
"Very fucking happy!" she yelled. "While you’re at it, get a goddamn map of the place."
"Anything else?"
She stared at for a long minute before shaking her head. "Fuck you, Rowan."
Without another word, she brushed past , storming out of the garden.
I watched her go, a small smile playing at the edge of my lips.
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