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Chapter 12

Jax

IDIDN’T KNOW WHO WASmore deserving of my rage—Tannin for expressly disobeying my direct order, or the princess for tempting us both and placing this massive wedge between us.

Fucking cowardly Tannin. I should have known he wouldn’t be strong enough to do the job with his endless compassion and gentle heart. It made him weak. He was supposed to be my brother, my second-in-command, and yet he’d turned his back on me for that conniving royal brat.

I should never have delegated the task to him in the first place. I was the Alpha. Eliminating threats wasmyjob. I should have taken the responsibility of killing her myself.

Yet, as I sat in my armchair, stewing and chewing on my dark thoughts, I couldn’t convince my body to move.

Why hadn’t I just killed her before? Or let the cusith destroy her. Last night after I made my moon song would have been the perfect opportunity, while she was asleep and unable to use her feminine wiles to disarm me.

Why wasn’t I getting off my ass and doing it right now? At least an hour had passed since Tannin had stormed in here and berated me, and all I had done was brood impotently.

I didn’t want to kill her. The thought of it seized my muscles and joints, making it difficult to breathe. But it was just the mate bond doing that to me. I knew nothing about the girl to whom Fate had cruelly decided to shackle me. The only thing I knew for sure was that she was the Varinyan heir, and I should hate her for that.

But I didn’t. Not in any measurable way I could use to fuel my muscles into action.

Was I weak like Tannin? Was I too beguiled by the mate bond to do what I knew must be done?

Furious tension ripped through my seemingly frozen muscles. No. I wasnotweak. I was the fucking Alpha, and I was going to take care of this once and for all.

Right now.

With great effort, I shoved myself off the chair and strode for the door. I would not stop until I found the princess, then I’d grip her by the neck with both hands and choke the life out of her before she even knew what was happening. Then she wouldn’t be my problem anymore.

Just as my hand reached the doorknob, a soft tapping came from the other side, and I hesitated.

Perhaps it was Tannin coming to apologize for his incompetence and beg for my forgiveness?

A smug sense of satisfaction swept over me, loosening my shoulders. But then it disappeared just as suddenly. Maybe instead he’d come to plead with me to spare the girl’s life like the sniveling pup he was.

Either way, I would be the magnanimous leader he needed and set him straight. The princess had to die. End of discussion. And hewouldcome to heel.

I turned the knob and pulled the door open, ready for whatever Tannin had to say.

But it wasn’t Tannin.

The princess was standing in the hall, draped in a lace negligee so sheer that I could see every torturously sensuous inch of her through it. My blood flash-boiled with desire as my mouth hung open, my dick instantly hard beneath my slacks.

“Can I come in?” she purred, flaring a perfectly arched eyebrow as those amber eyes locked me in their snare.

Too stunned to speak, I mutely took a step to the side to welcome her inside. She sashayed past me, and I was helpless not to visually devour her perky ass that swayed from side to side as she made her way to the center of the room.

My mouth ran dry. I closed the door, facing the wooden panels for a few seconds as I struggled to regain my wits and resolve. Then, with bated breath and thundering pulse, I turned the dead bolt.

Whatever happened next, I didn’t want any interruptions from Tannin.

This was perfect. I didn’t have to hunt her down. She’d practically delivered herself to me on a silver platter. And now trapped in my room with only me, there was nothing and no one to stop me from killing her.