Page 48

“E xcuse me?” I look at Henry who was saying something that I haven’t caught while I was mind-linking Cain.

“I said, it’s a good thing you are the one who married Rogue Prince, Your Highness. Just to, you know, short him a peg or two.”

“What do you mean?” I furrow my brows.

I know my reputation, but does he really think anyone can shorten the Rogue Alpha Prince? He’s insane. Or maybe already drunk, but it’s a little bit too early for that.

“I meant you are strong enough to fight him off and not let him have sex with you. I know it’s not much, but at least it is some satisfaction to think he cannot fuck his own wife, right?” he snickers at his own joke and a few other warriors cheers to that.

I send him a polite smile, wondering why the fuck I am in this situation again . Why does anyone think it’s okay to talk or assume anything about my sexual life?!

“Sorry guys,” Cain interrupts us with a charming smile while paying for his order. “I couldn’t help but overhear who you are talking about… are you really the Rogue Prince’s wife?”

He’s pretending we don’t know each other, and I’m curious where he’s going with that, so I nod.

“I heard he’s really fucking great in bed. Is that true?” Cain asks, biting on an apple.

I almost snort with laughter. Of course, that’s where he is going with it! And how the hell did he find an apple in this Goddess-forsaken burger joint? !

“Unfortunately, I don’t know that yet,” I joke with a grin, no longer caring about Henry’s reaction or if someone recognizes Cain.

Because fuck anyone who thinks they can comment on whether I should have sex with someone or not.

“Is he okay with open marriage then?” Cain asks me with a smirk.

I wink at him coquettishly and hear Henry exhaling loudly, probably taken aback.

Cain leans to me, wrapping his right hand around my neck and tangling his fingers in my hair on the back of my head.

“Then he won’t mind that…” he says, looking at my lips just before kissing me with his soft, full ones.

I lean into it because it feels like a fun game to play—when we pretend, I don’t have to think about how angry I am with him. But I am angry, so I cut it short.

He smirks and runs his hand down my neck before grabbing his two pints, pointing his chin at the coke, and walking away.

“What the hell?!” Henry exclaims looking at my neck.

At my marking spot specifically. Then, at Cain’s back. Doing the math.

Great, knowing how fast news travel with the internet on this side of the werewolf Kingdom, everyone will know I’m marked by the Rogue Alpha Prince before the wedding even starts.

“Is he… is… that was…” Henry stammers, realizing the implication, and I roll my eyes.

Of course, he’s not so confident anymore.

“The Rogue Alpha Prince, yes, and we clearly had sex at least once,” I say pointing at my mark and grabbing my coke.

“Um, sorry Officer Asher, I mean Alpha… No, Your Highness, fuck.”

I get off the chair.

“Oh, and he is great in bed, so I don’t regret anything,” I wink at him sarcastically and get back to the booth, and my Rogue guys.

The burgers are waiting, and Beta has already eaten half of his.

“Finally, you’re back,” he says with a full mouth.

I put my coke on the table and settle next to Cain.

“Seriously, if one more person has an opinion about me sleeping with anybody, I will cut their head off,” I mumble and bite into my veggie burger.

“How is it?” Cain asks, looking at it distrustfully.

“A little bit spicy but good,” I say while offering him a bite.

He declines with a shake of his head, but Beta’s hand wraps around my wrist and he pulls it to his mouth to grab a taste.

“Yeah, it is spicy but good.”

“What are your life goals?” Cain asks suddenly, and I almost choke on my side salad.

“If you mean that warrior’s stupid comments, I don’t have those goals anymore.”

He puts a hand on my thigh under the table, and squeezes it lightly.

“That was a good ass burger,” Beta comments on his last bite, completely uninterested in Cain’s sudden interrogation.

Thank the Goddess.

“It’s Gregory’s favorite place,” I say, and then laugh with Cain at Beta’s annoyed grunting.

I feel Cain’s hand going up my thigh, so I look at him curiously with a half-smile.

“I’m not sure my husband would like that,” I joke, and he gives me his signature sexy smirk.

He leans to my ear and lowers his voice. “I always wanted to have a quick fuck in the bathroom, what do you think?”

“I think… I had like ten to fifteen years less to think about it,” I chuckle. “But sure, why not.”

His smirk falls, and this time, Beta is the one laughing.

“Let’s get to that University already, we have a wedding to prepare for later,” Cain says bitterly, and eats the last of his fries.

Does he have such a problem with how much older than me he is, that he went soft at my comment so quickly?

“How old are you?” I try to inquire again.

“It’s better that you don’t know, trust me. I wish I didn’t.”

“You mean our age difference?”

“Mhm. It’s creepy. Two years ago, I would barely be escaping being a pedophile,” he shudders.

“Two years ago, I would already be eighteen, an adult, and you would be twenty-something. It doesn’t sound that bad.”

Cain exchanges a look with his Beta.

“You would be under thirty, right?”

They are both quiet.

Shit. He must be more over thirty than I thought.

I eye them, standing in front of the blackboard with happy hour information in front of the burger joint we just left. “Are you sure you want to start with the library?”

“We are,” Cain says and tries to take my hand in his. “What’s wrong?”

Daylight is making my head go back to our fucked-up reality .

“Nothing,” I put my hand in his and lead them up the street.

“It’s not nothing if you flinch at the possibility of my touch,” Cain stops me and pulls me to himself, making me lift my head to see his face.

“I just… I don’t know. I guess, I still need some space from you, and…”

“I’ll give you space. I told you already, you can stay here after the wedding as long as you want, babe.”

I am getting pressed to his hot body, and ‘space’ is the last word I would use to describe it, but I try to not freak out anyway.

“Can we just get this tour over with?” I ask. “We still need to go to the wedding today and honestly, I’m the worst guide you could get. I went straight to military school at fourteen. Greg is studying here. And he makes great tours. Just… let’s get it over with already.”

“Fine by me,” says Beta, who was the reason I volunteered for this crap.

“Oh, that’s my aunt. My grandma Edith’s sister,” I say while waving at the tall and proudly straight-up grey-haired lady.

She is a history professor here, and the complete opposite in character of my favorite grandma, the previous Luna Queen of Werewolf Kingdom. The one killed by the Rogue King the Bold.

“Does she know your husband was the one who raped and killed your granny?” Beta asks and I stop in my tracks, pulling Cain with me.

“Did you?” I ask him whispering. We never got any information about what exactly happened to my father’s parents, despite getting my grandma's remains. We only knew they were dead, and he instantly became the next King. I was still a little girl back then, eight or nine years old, maybe.

Cain must have been like twenty then, probably.

“I didn’t rape her,” he whispers back evasively.

I roll my eyes.

“I know that , but did you kill her?”

He draws back his head with surprise.

“How do you know I didn’t rape her?” he lifts his brow.

“Because you never raped anyone,” I hiss back, angry at him for withholding information. I mean, his lack of negation is kind of confirmation it was him, but I wanted to hear it.

“How do you know that?” He scoffs, as if my statement was some kind of offense.

Fucking Rogues .

“You are too big on consent,” I hiss, crossing my forearms, genuinely believing in that statement.

The way he makes me feel safe to explore whatever I like in sex, even when I submit to him… He makes me forget in the moment who he is, and no matter how dominant he acts I always know I could stop whatever I wouldn’t like. He is a blood-thirsty bastard who likes to torment his victims, but there’s no way this guy would ever do anything sex-related without consent. I just know it.

Right?

Or do I just want to believe that—because the other possibility is just too horrible to be able to fall asleep at night next to him?

I almost jump. I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn’t register Cain, bent down to my height, until I heard his whisper in my ear, “You are right, but maybe I am big on consent because I did rape before, and I wanted to change.”

I laugh and he seeks my eyes, taken aback.

“You would have to be able to feel remorse for that and you don’t,” I say in my normal bitter voice. “You don’t feel remorse about any of your actions.”

He opens his mouth again, but I stop him with my hand, putting my palm against his lips.

His cold eyes and clenched jaw make my heart race, and not in a good way. But I don’t falter.

“Can you stop talking about rape? I mean it’s one of the most fucking scary and infuriating crimes there is, literally the only one where the victim is blamed first, but… Just stop doing that in front of me. You don’t need that. I’m scared of you enough with the things you actually do for real.”

He sighs and pulls me to himself by the waist. I try to block him with my hands on his firm chest, but he’s too strong and makes me hug him anyway. When I don’t do it myself, he takes my hands and wraps them around his torso by himself.

“I did kill her,” he says softly, while squeezing me tighter.

No apologies, but no bullshit excuses either. I try to swallow the lump in my throat, nod at no one in particular, and squeeze him back with all the force I have in me, just to let my emotions out in some way.

“Okay, that’s enough. Ash. Stop before you crack my ribs. Little wolf.” He takes my arms away and turns in the direction of my aunt.

Shit, I forgot she was standing there waiting for us.

I clear my throat and step toward her with a forced smile. When I try to hug her like always, she takes a step back.

“You reek of him,” she states and bites on her lower lip with a malcontent expression.

I look down at myself with confusion, as if it could clear her weird comment. Cain’s not a real pack-less rogue like Unwanted are, he smells like every other werewolf, and she never met him before to know his individual environmental-dependent scent from cosmetics and stuff—

“Like blood and… death,” she adds and turns around gesturing at us to follow her. “I know why you are here, so let's get it over with.”

“She seems fun,” Beta Lucifer comments with sarcasm and follows her.

“Yeah, you are lucky I promised not to kill your family,” Cain adds silently, and I look up at him with wide eyes.

Am I so accustomed to his dark side, that I didn’t even notice my grand aunt might have acted disrespectfully to him? Is it because I no longer care how he reacts or is he simply overreacting now?

“Where are we going?” I ask when I notice she’s leading us outside of the official University grounds, and the library they wanted to see.

“They know where,” she answers cryptically.

I press my lips together not knowing what is going on, but willing to find out naturally. I keep observing both Cain and his Beta and wondering if it has anything to do with them trying to push their troops to the University grounds. I mean, of course, it does, but I thought it was about access to higher education and resources. Now, the way they just follow my aunt without questioning anything… I don’t know what, but something doesn’t add up here.

Nothing prepares me for the target of our little trip, though.

My aunt opens heavy wooden double doors to the empty Moon Goddess temple. They step inside like it’s their everyday routine… but they don’t even worship her! What the heck is going on here?

I stop one step in and cross my arms as soon as Cain lets go of my hand. He looks around like he is looking for something specific, and so is his Beta. They follow my grand aunt to the breathtaking nightshade-covered altar without a word.

I sigh and go after them.

They look up at the giant Moon Goddess sculpture. Her gray, stone, naked, stereotypical feminine body is covered only by the sheer-looking floor-length cape carved in the same stone, dangling from her shoulders. I was always in awe of the artist’s skill in making this fabric look so real, so translucent despite being the same block as the rest of her body.

My eyes wander over this majestic sight in complete silence, stopping on the hollow tear-shaped spot on her chest and then on her eyes. The only part not made from marble. The artist, maybe the Goddess herself if you believe the legends, used moonstone for them. It feels like her down-cast sight is real and almost soul-shattering…

“The stone is gone,” My aunt says, and I see her pointing at the hollow space on the Moon Goddess sculpture. “No one even remembers what it can do, only the fact it won’t work anyway. Not without fulfilling the prophecy first.”

Cain and Beta look up at the tear-drop space with no fucking question, just… disappointment?

“What prophecy?” I ask the only logical question here.

My aunt shrugs, bows to the Moon Goddess statue, and leaves.

Um… What just happened? Why did she ignore me? I look around.

I could swear Cain is mind-linking his Beta, so I wait not so patiently for them to finish this private conversation. By the time Cain finally reciprocates my gaze, I already have my theories.

“What the fuck?” I hiss.

They exchange another look, and my blood boils.

“You know the prophecy, don’t you? What is it about?”

“We know the Rogue King can alpha command you. So, the less you know, the better,” Beta states while Cain looks at me unfazed.

I won’t have any of that. Not when I know how to manipulate my answers while alpha-commanded, and I don’t see the King that often anyway… Wait. Is that why Cain always makes sure I won’t be in the presence of his father? He doesn’t really care for me. He just doesn’t want me to spill his secrets!

“Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on here? You act fucking suspicious, and I’m not in the mood to pretend I can’t see any of it!”

“I don’t trust you,” says Cain. “Not with this.”

That hurts more than I would like to admit to myself. I clear my throat.

“So why was I dragged here then?” I try to look indifferent, but I’m not.

Cain takes a step forward. I take a step back so he can’t reach me. Beta snorts with annoyance.

Cain growls at me, but doesn’t comment any further.

“Oh, I’m so sorry I offended you,” my voice drips with sarcasm.

“Little Wolf,” his warning tone contrasts with the endearing nickname.

“What? Am I only good for fucking and taking you to my Kingdom so you could, I don’t know, stab me in my back and do whatever you planned to do before we even met? But you don’t trust me .”

I catch Beta's sight; he looks like I was on point with that accusation. He doesn’t even try to hide it.

“I only meant…” Cain stops mid-sentence and closes his eyes, trying to compose himself. “When I said I don’t trust you, I only meant with not killing me. It’s one of your goals, after all.”

“It’s not anymore! I—" I stop myself before yelling in the middle of the temple that I love him.

I do, don’t I? Fuck.

It’s just lust , I try to tell myself for the hundredth time.

He scoffs. “So, I was right. You did plan to kill me. Really planned. What was that other goal? Becoming the King? Did you plan to kill me to secure the throne for yourself?”

“Not in that particular order, but those were my goals, and I won’t apologize for doing fucking everything I could to accomplish them before you cockblocked my plans—I mean all disrespect, and here we are!”

Cain strides towards me with fury in his eyes, but Beta blocks him, putting a hand on his chest, “Alpha.”

My own alpha blood is boiling with fury, but I am talking to Rogue Alpha Prince, so I know I need to suck it up. And I do.

“I’m sorry,” I say and step to Cain reluctantly, but he leaves the temple, and I’m left alone with his Beta and immediate regret.

And a longing I try to ignore because it’s only caused by our true mate bond.

“Fuck.”

“Why are you mad this time?” Beta scrunches his face at me.

“I… I don’t want to be left on that note. We are married, and I have to spend my life with him, and it’s just not it. I don’t even remember why I was mad at him before, but it was not worth it. I don’t want to fight. It was stupid. I was stupid. Of course, he doesn’t trust me, and he has his reasons, and the way I just acted….” I shrugged my shoulders, not knowing how to dress all of my feelings in words.

I notice Beta glancing behind my shoulder, so I turn around.

Cain is nonchalantly leaning in the frame of the exit doors. He must have heard everything I said.

He gestures with his head at me to come to him and I do it without hesitation. I fall into his arms, almost knocking him over, and bury my face in his chest.

“Little Wolf,” he says into my hair with no anger left.