Page 43
“Y eah, we know what that means, full moon, but that’s it. We decoded so much, but it’s still fruitless. Still more like a prophecy than real clues.”
I wake up to a conversation that makes absolutely no sense, and the oddly familiar bluish-gray windowless walls.
“Oh, finally,” Cain grunts at me. “Wear a ball gown.”
He turns around, and marches out without a second glance.
I’m laying in the infirmary in a hospital gown, left alone with Atlas and Claudia sitting on opposite sides of my bed.
“Why do I need a ball gown?” I try to sit up, but I get dizzy again.
I don’t need a doctor to know I lost too much blood. I was too distracted with all the fighting and keeping pretenses, and that stupid sex talk, to realize how bad it was. I knew it was compromised by the fact my true mate was the one that did it, but I didn’t think it would be missing-organ-serious. I thought it might be slower, but I should still be able to heal. Shit, I was wrong.
“Swearing-in ceremony,” Atlas responds while eating chocolate pudding, which I’m pretty sure should be mine.
“Thief,” I try to sit up again.
Claudia helps me prop myself on the pillows, and Atlas starts feeding me pudding every other spoon.
I’m not sure if exchanging saliva with Cain’s gamma is the best course here, but I don’t fucking care anymore.
He couldn’ t even stay with me, his wife! I huff with annoyance and close my eyes.
I try to concentrate on accelerating my self-healing powers. That’s when I feel that weird tugging on my wound, so I push away my hospital gown and look down at the wound.
“What the fuck is that!?” Some dark threads are sticking out of it!
“Stitches, your Highness.” The pack doctor comes in with a black clipboard.
Black. You can see who’s in charge of ordering the supplies for this pack. Cain doesn’t know that other colors even exist.
“Luna is fine,” I say, and his gaze lingers on the mark on my neck as if he is double-checking if I am, in fact, his true Luna.
“Luna,” he says finally. “So, your wound kept opening up, especially after you lost consciousness and I had to… Luna, what are you doing?!”
I’m picking at the stitches with my elongated claw. I need to heal, and I can’t concentrate on it when they are tugging at my flesh!
Atlas puts a hand on the doctor’s chest, stopping him from intervening. “Don’t. You know Alpha lets her do whatever she wants.”
I laugh at that fucking untrue comment, and let Claudia help me pull all the threats out. When we’re done, I close my eyes again and start healing myself.
“Well, um, I ran some blood tests…”
I put out a hand and the doctor hesitantly gives me the clipboard.
Princess Asher Black
Black? Is it like… Cain’s official last name? Is it my last name now? I shake my head with disbelief, and continue reading through the last period date I gave him. My age, weight and height, some basic blood counts, and anemia markers, until I stop at the end of the list at hCG levels.
hCG… none
“Why did you check for pregnancy?” I ask, giving him the clipboard back .
He waves his hand at me as if it wasn’t important.
“I told Alpha it’s impossible at this point of your cycle to get a positive result, but he insisted anyway.”
I lift my eyebrows, but he ignores my questioning expression and starts looking at my now nicely healing wound. “Oh, it’s already closing.”
“I was just distracted, and forgot to heal.”
He should put down bending-the-truth, as my middle name in that chart.
“Well, it’s healing nicely now. You can go then, Luna.”
“Thank you,” I say, and grab Claudia’s outreached hand just in case I get dizzy again. My wound might be closing, but my blood still needs to restore all the loss.
“Alpha brought you this to change into,” Atlas throws my olive-colored sundress at me.
Should I be thankful my husband did one decent thing for me? Is the bar that low? Hell no.
I turn my back to Claudia and ask her for help untying the hospital gown. The moment it falls to the floor, Atlas turns around clearly to not look at me naked.
“We are werewolves ,” I roll my eyes, and start pulling the fresh dress over my head.
The whole pack already saw me naked at my wedding! And during the hazing.
“Do you want a repeat from the library?” Atlas barks.
“What happened at the library?” Claudia immediately asks, with a gleam in her eye.
That woman loves all the gossip and sexy details .
“Why don’t you tell her exactly what happened, Gamma, hm?” I use all my alpha force on him, just in case it works, now that I’m the officially marked Luna of the pack.
“Alpha and I pretended we wanted to rape Luna after she… Oh shit, how did you just command me?” he gives me an accusatory look.
I know I have no real power over the Alphas—the Rogue Alpha Prince and probably his alpha-blooded Beta either—but I can command his beta-blooded Gamma just fine if he’s not ready to fight it. Huh, I just discovered a whole new range of possibilities.
“Pretended?” I ignore his question in favor of mine.
“Well. Fuck,” Atlas starts rubbing the back of his tattooed neck, “I guess I can tell you that Alpha just wanted to scare you.”
“Well, it worked.”
“Oh, come on, two sexy dudes wanting to sandwich-fuck you at once in a public library is not—”
“Oh my God, that’s like my biggest dream!” Claudia gasps.
I give her a death stare. We are not talking about fantasizing with your vibrator in your safe space, but about a real and fucking scary situation that I didn’t consent to .
I catch Atlas looking blankly at Claudia for a second, but he composes and turns to me again.
“I just meant, it was only scary because you believed it was possible, not because it really was.”
Yeah, I believed it was possible, because I read the reports and I know my dad’s kingdom used to send rapists here. Oh, my Goddess, I can’t believe I basically let it slide when I knew what they do here. I read the reports, hell, I even personally interviewed some of the survivors we got back from here.
I suddenly feel so… dirty. Even more so when my immediate thought is to shake it off because I do have to live with them after all .
“You know he wouldn’t let anyone else actually fuck you, right? Especially me.”
I raise my brow at Atlas. Especially him ? What the heck does that mean? Is Cain really that jealous of Atlas? Is that why he started tattooing himself? Because he thinks I’m more attracted to Atlas than to him?
No, that’s stupid. He is a royal Alpha werewolf, and has an ego to match.
“Okay, I’m leaving before you use more power on me. Claudia can escort you to your room.”
He leaves so quickly I feel the shift of the air behind him.
“Men. Because an alpha werewolf needs escorting anywhere,” Claudia scoffs, and I can’t help but smile.
We part ways on the second floor, while she mumbles to herself how many things she still needs to do before going to the pack party.
I don’t know why she needs to do them, she’s gorgeous without them already, but if that’s what she wants, then who am I to judge?
I climb up the rest of the million stairs, trying to wrap my mind around all the bits of mismatched information. Cain brought me spare clothes, and I think he was in the room waiting until I woke up—unaware of probably helping my wound situation with his presence, but when I did wake up, he just left me there, all cold and unbothered. And what am I supposed to think about him trying to scare me with the library threesome? Like… what the fuck?
“Oh, hi,” I’m surprised to see him in our room.
Even more surprised to see him wearing a suit, and trying to tie a tie. Everything he has on himself is pitch black and he’s pulling it off with ease. Handsome bastard.
“The water is still warm if you need it,” he points at the filled-to-the-brim bathtub.
I can’t think straight. I cannot even follow all of the ups and downs from the last few days. Was it a few days? I can’t. I’m suffocating under all that toxic shit.
“I think we need a break,” I blurt out and bite on my lower lip.
He stops mid-move and looks at me blankly.
“What?”
“Maybe I should go to the wedding alone. Or with… I don’t know.”
“Or with Atlas?” he scoffs at me. “What the hell, Ash?”
He abandons the tie and takes a step in my direction.
I take a step back and, by the look on his face, it’s a big, fat mistake.
“You are not going to the alpha-filled wedding without your husband, and it’s the end of the discussion.”
“Okay,” I lie, because I’m apparently this whole new untrustworthy person that I don’t recognize anymore.
He creepily observes me while I’m brushing my teeth in the bucket of fresh water, and then while I’m choosing a dress for the evening.
I pick something not black on purpose. I don’t want to match Cain. I don’t want to give him this satisfaction.
“You won’t wear that,” he comments at the sage gown I’m taking out of the wardrobe.
I roll my eyes, “Fine.”
I take out a papaya orange dress just to make him growl.
And he does growl at me, but it’s not as satisfying as I thought. It’s actually arousing. Fuck me.
Yes, fuck me! The wolf part of my brain can’t take the sexy picture out of my head.
I ignore it, and take out an extra-long grey off-the-shoulder gown with a high slit, and I challenge Cain with a lifted brow.
“Fine. ”
He sits on the bed to put on his black dress shoes.
“Do you have fancy balls often?” I change into the gown as quickly as possible.
“Tired werewolf is a well-behaved werewolf. If we don’t fight, we party. Balls, concerts, sex orgies…”
Try to fucking go to an orgy, and I will rip your … I abruptly stop my inner alpha-wolf monologue, trying to tell myself it’s just my possessive werewolf nature, and not some feelings I truly have.
It’s just lust, that's all.
“Zip me,” I stand back to him.
“We have to go soon,” Cain says while helping me, little tingles dancing on my skin where his fingers brush over. “How much more time do you need?”
All these empty corridors I passed on my way here, gave me an idea.
“I’ll go with Claudia; she’s waiting for me to help with makeup.” It’s the only excuse that comes to my mind.
I know Claudia won’t come to the party for a long time, with the list of things she wanted to do, so she won’t have a chance to blow my cover.
“Oh yeah? Do you know where her room is?” he’s a skeptic.
I don’t blame him. He has good instincts; I would be disappointed if he didn’t ask even one question.
“Of course, on the second floor,” I make an educated guess. “And you should wear the pocket square.”
He can still mind-link her, but I’m pretty sure she’s smart enough to know to cover for me. I hope so.
I grab the black purse and new high heels I paid for with his Beta’s card, and leave, not waiting for more of his interrogation.
He’s too occupied with looking for the pocket square in the drawer chest to run after me, especially when he doesn’t have a clear reason to.
I go straight to Cain’s office, and try to find bobby pins in my purse. They are always hidden in all my purses, just in case.
But the second I touch the doors, they just open wide before me.
I guess no one ever tries to snoop in the cruel Rogue Alpha Prince’s office, so he doesn’t need to close it. They are all too scared of him and his punishments.
Well, thankfully I’m not that smart.
I enter and close the doors behind me. I don’t know how much time I have, so I go straight to his desk.
There is a laptop sitting on it, and I power it on without a second thought.
My heart almost stops in anticipation. Does it have a password? Is it pin-protected? I will be screwed if it asks for a pin. I’m not even completely sure about our wedding date, let alone any of Cain’s truly important numbers.
The laptop’s system just starts up with a ‘bing’ sound, and doesn’t ask me for anything. What the heck? Is he really that cocky?
Just in case someone walks in on me, I try to look more confident while I open the browser in incognito mode to login into my email account.
I have to look like I should, and can be in here. I’ll be good then. As long as it won’t be anyone high enough to be on the constant mind-link with Cain, of course.
I draft a quick message to my brother Greg, asking him to pick me up from the border at ten a.m. on the day of the wedding. Normally I would proofread it a couple of times, but I don’t have time to be princessy proper right now. I send it as it is.
I wait for his response as long as I can, keeping the cursor over a log-out button, ready to leave no trace.
Greg’s always on his phone. He will write back. He must…
The doors open wide, “Luna? ”
I look up, but don’t recognize the guy.
“Officer…?” I look back down because in my peripheral vision I noticed I’ve got a new email.
Gregory
I’ll be there
I click the log-out button and look at the unknown Officer expectantly.
“I am your husband’s Delta, Kylian,” he says with a sour voice, and steps inside, all imposing, arm crossed over a button-up shirt.
Shit! He’s definitely on the constant mind link with Cain!
“Do you need anything?” I try to look unfazed, because that’s my only way out.
“I should ask you the same,” he stares at me as if I was stinking.
I lift my brows at his attitude. Someone could cheer up here.
“I’m fine, thanks,” I close the laptop in a passive manner.
I don’t stand up. No, that would only underline the fact I shouldn’t be here. Instead, I open my purse in hope of finding anything makeup related, so I don’t have to use a marker for eyeliner. I mean, I need to have some make-up on at that party if I want to save my face from this situation.
Pun not intended.
I take out my pocket mirror and some old mascara that I probably should have thrown out years ago. Oh fuck it, it’s not like I'm getting an eye infection, I’m a werewolf. I put it on my eyelashes while the creep stares at me expectantly.
“Do you need anything?” I ask again, showing a healthy amount of annoyance, and throw the mascara back into my purse.
“Do I?” He leans on the desk in front of me, and wets his lower lip with his tongue in a very obscene way. “You know, I heard Alpha let everyone touch you.”
He reaches his hand in my direction, but I’m quicker. I instinctively take the knife from under Cain’s desk, because of course that psycho has a knife there, and I pin Kylian’s hand to the table with its sharp blade.
He tries to take it away, but he’s too late and only widens his stab wound.
“I guess you didn’t hear how many bones I cracked after that, and you are not even Alpha-blooded.” I bring my nose to him and shamelessly sniff him, “You are just a regular… delta. Hm.”
He snarls at me with hatred.
“Go to the hospital wing and take care of it,” I say with alpha command, so he can’t ambush me on my way to the party.
I don’t even bother trying to ask him not to tell Cain. Even if he didn’t mind-link him already, I’m sure it’s impossible to make anyone lie to his Alpha. By the glazed look he had for a moment there, I’m guessing he already reported everything, so it’s really pointless.
I’m not sure where the party is, but when I pass the kitchen I meet a few servants with trays of fancy-looking food. Chef Greyson outdid himself.
They notice me and greet me cheerfully, complimenting me on my dress. We walk together after I admit that I’m not sure where to go. They stop in front of the huge double doors on the ground floor, and start giving me a pep talk.
“Guys, I’m fine,” I chuckle.
“Sorry, Luna,” says one of them, “But it’s your first party in our land, and you seem…”
“Elsewhere,” another one helps him find the right word with a nod of his head.
I’m taken aback by how sweet they are to me.
I smile, and close my eyes to center myself. I straighten my back with confidence, fix my loose strawberry-blonde shoulder-length waves, and take control of my facial expression before opening my eyes again .
There is a collective “wow”, and I smirk at them before positioning myself in front of the middle of the doors, ready.
Two of them, trays still in hand, open doors wide for me, and I stride in—satisfied with the way the slit of my gown shows my thigh when I take a step with my right leg.
It’s sexy, and I feel good about it.
I also feel everyone’s eyes on me, and it’s boosting my confidence even more. I always loved a healthy amount of attention, nothing has changed.
But my eyes are glued to particularly broad shoulders in a black suit in the middle of the big ballroom, and that’s where my long legs take me.
On my husband's arm is the slender hand of a slim, but curvy brunette in red. They look like they just came here together.
“Alpha,” I bow before him, and they turn to me.
“Luna,” he addresses me with this sacred word for the first time in public, and it gives me a weirdly positive feeling.
I smile at him and Claudia, who is the brunette on his left arm. She looks breathtakingly gorgeous, totally stealing my show, and I’m. All. For. It!
“Wow, you look so beautiful!” I stare at her long chocolate brown hair, pinned in an elegant low knot bun, and a red form-hugging mermaid dress.
“Thanks, you too!” she winks at me with her smokey eye.
“Imagine my surprise when I go to Claudia’s room to pick you up, and your scent is not even there.”
What scent? I want to ask, because he’s not supposed to smell the true mate's scent on me, but I bite my tongue. He is part Lycan, he can probably smell my custom shampoo everywhere I was today. Or the whole past week, even.
“Sorry,” Claudia mouths at me, but I’m not mad. She couldn’t do anything if he went to her room .
“Let’s not pretend you have not gotten any report from your Delta,” I say to Cain with a fake smile.
“We’ll talk about it with fewer fucking werewolves’ ears around,” he gives me the same smile back.
Then he looks somewhere behind me, and gestures with his fingers. Someone starts to play music, and I look around. There is a band with piano, guitar, and drums. Some of the pack members begin to dance, and I would like to dance too—but Cain is already dragging Claudia in the direction of the two dark, and intimidating thrones where Gamma and Beta already stand on the platform.
It’s a throne room, I realize.
Alpha confidence or not, I’m not dancing without anyone I know, and the only people I know in this castle are serving the guests. It looks like half of the Capital came.
I march after my husband with my head held high.
Cain sits on the left throne with a bored expression, and gives me an unfavorable stare.
Claudia stands on his right where he steers her with his hand. She looks good there, and sure. She used to be his number one personal whore, and knowing the rogue ways, that’s her usual spot.
I stand with Atlas and Beta who are chatting about food. I try not to be jealous of Claudia, because that’s not her fault and I don’t have anything against her. Plus, Cain and I didn’t even know each other back then, and I’m just a stranger to this pack—who used to kill their family members, and our marriage is not even real, just an arrangement, and I…
My down-spiraling is fortunately stopped by the sudden joint squeak of mini wolves. I turn around to see a group of over a dozen toddlers, running through the crowd to their Rogue Alpha Prince with delight on their chubby werewolf faces.
He opens his arms wide, and they all jump and climb on him in the cutest group hug I’ve ever seen .
My heart melts at the view. The way Cain smiles, pets their heads, and patiently answers their questions, makes me smile so wide that Atlas snickers at me.
“What?” I shoot him an annoyed look, and take a thyme and fig goat cheese mini pastry that Beta offers me, from a handful he’s highjacking.
“Nothing,” Atlas chuckles, probably thinking my ovaries want to burst.
The pastry is delicious, and I wish I had been in the kitchen all afternoon, instead of lying unconscious in the hospital wing.
I look back at Cain and our eyes lock. He somehow manages to hold all the laughing pups on his lap, but he’s a huge guy, so I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s a good look for him. Makes me wonder if he indeed would be a good dad. He seems like he wants to be. Or at least have what it takes to be a good one. Yes, he would be. And he would shower them with affection like these mini wolves right now, and he would protect them no matter the cost like a Ruthless Alpha he is, and… Oh, my Goddess! Do I really think about wanting to have children with Rogue Prince someday? Not just having, but wanting to have them? With him ?
I look down ashamed. What happened to me? Is it the mate bond talking? Hormones? Lust? Fucking love? Because it’s certainly not all the toxic hot-and-cold shit he’s done since we met.
Cain shushes the mini wolves and raises his hand. I realize it’s the first time I’ve seen him without any weapons strapped to his body, outside of our bedroom. No sword, either. Well, I fought his massive ass wolf form once, and I know with those claws and canines and unnatural speed, he’s even more deadly than with the help of knives—so I shouldn’t be so surprised.
The music ends and I turn around to see everyone standing still and quiet.
That’s when the ballroom doors open, and the last person I expected to see, on this side of the border, is escorted inside.
Table of Contents
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- Page 43 (Reading here)
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