Page 20 of The Shattered Kingdom (The Cursed Kingdom #2)

KIERAN

I HEAR THEM the second I walk through the front door.

Abby’s moans are muffled but loud, and I follow them to Mason’s bedroom. The door is cracked, and I can’t resist the urge to peer inside. I haven’t explicitly told Mason I don’t want him having sex with her, but I shouldn’t need to.

Forked mate bonds are rare, but there are established rules. Mason and I share Abby, which means our first time with her will be together.

I’m pleased to see Mason isn’t fucking her. He’s on his knees at the foot of his bed, his face buried between her thighs. Abby’s on her back, her legs wrapped around his shoulders and her hands lost in his hair.

I lean against the doorframe. I’m exhausted, my body begging for rest, but sleep is the last thing on my mind.

I never imagined Mason would so eagerly drop to his knees for a woman—even his mate. It’s an advancement I didn’t expect, but I’m not surprised Abby’s drawn it out of him. She’s mean and bossy, and Mason seems to enjoy it when she believes she controls him.

How long will it take her to realize she doesn’t ?

Abby moans, rocking her hips. My throat is suddenly dry.

Mason seems to think I’m in denial of the bond I share with Abby, which couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve been drawn to the human since I first laid eyes on her, but she doesn’t want my bond. She doesn’t want me, and I won’t touch her and force it.

The distraction of my mother and Lillian is making it easier to avoid her.

I was a fool for believing the bond with Lillian was real, despite all the signs warning me that something was wrong.

I wasn’t drawn to Lillian the way mates should be—the way I am with Abby.

Mason’s reluctance should’ve been another warning sign.

It was, but I ignored it.

Now my mother is dead, and my true mate wants nothing to do with me. I have nobody to blame but myself.

I’m trying to remain impartial and give Abby space.

It’s working. She doesn’t look at me the same way she looks at Mason, which is another form of torture.

I’m willing to endure it, though. I have too much on my plate, and adding the complexity of a mate bond with a human who wants nothing to do with me isn’t feasible.

Mason slips a hand between Abby’s thighs, and her entire body jolts a second later. I wonder if this is the first time he’s put his fingers inside her, and I’m pleased he waited until I was present to do so.

I’m avoiding her, but I don’t want to miss too many firsts. They’re still important to me.

Abby slams a hand over her mouth, trying to quiet her moans. She’s largely unsuccessful, and I can’t help but wish I were in Mason’s position. Is she soft inside? I shake my head. Of course she is. She’s soft and warm, and I bet she feels incredible around his fingers.

I’m surprised she’s letting him touch her .

Abby continues rocking against Mason’s tongue, her moans growing louder until she buries her heels into his back and arches off the bed. She’s cumming. Mason’s arm flexes as he works her through it, and he continues until she relaxes and drops her legs from around his shoulders.

The movement fully exposes her, and I force my expression to remain neutral as I finally see her slick cunt. She’s soaked, but that’s not what captures my attention. Mason’s fingers are still inside her, his middle and ring, and she’s stretched tightly around them.

I have to look away.

I’ve fucked plenty of women, but none have made me as desperate as the human.

Abby hasn’t noticed me leaning against the doorway, her focus entirely on the shifter. It doesn’t bother me nearly as much as I feared it would. I’ve never felt jealousy toward Mason, but a small part of me always worried that would change if we ever found our mate.

If anything, I’m pleased they’re together, even if it only appears to be in a sexual manner. We haven’t been kind to Abby, and she’s entitled to keep Mason on his knees.

I want her underwear back, though.

Mason pulls Abby’s dress down her thighs before throwing himself on top of her, pinning her to his mattress. She lets out a muffled grunt and almost immediately begins punching him in the arms and back.

“Get off me!”

Mason laughs. It’s genuine, and my heart lurches. I haven’t heard Mason laugh so freely in years, and the irrational bolt of jealousy I’ve been fearing travels up my spine. He’s getting everything. I used to be the carefree one, and all my loss has been his gain .

He has our mate. He has the title that’s been promised to me since birth.

He is working to reconnect with his parents after I just put my remaining one in the ground.

He can pretend his decision to reach out to Alpha Theon is within the kingdom's best interests, and maybe it is, but I know Mason. He’s always held out hope of reconnecting with his parents.

They abandoned him, and he’s looking for any excuse to forgive them. He’s also desperate enough to take whatever shitty excuse they give him, which will undoubtedly cause issues.

He believes everything will be solved after one conversation with his father, that Alpha Theon will choose Mason over the woman and daughter who successfully brought down the ruling faerie family.

“Mason.” Abby releases another loud shriek. “Get off me!”

Mason laughs again. “I got on my knees and begged my forgiveness into your pussy, and now I’ll tell you my life is meaningless without you—which it is—and how ashamed I am of the way I treated you—which I am.

” Mason slides a hand down her leg, then curls his fingers around her ankle.

“And now, Daddy, I’ll suckle your big toe. ”

I’m not following.

Abby screams absurdly loud as she kicks her legs, trying to keep Mason away from her feet.

I suck in a shaky breath, trying and failing to rein in my anger.

I should be happy that Mason is finally finding companionship.

He’s been dealt a challenging life, abandoned as a child and forced to live with strangers who openly hated him.

I shouldn’t let Mason’s newfound happiness make me bitter. He deserves this.

“Stop it, Mason.” Abby continues to scream. “Stop it right now!”

Mason releases her ankle. “Does this mean you’ll sleep in my bed? I’ve done everything you asked, and I get so, so, so cold at night.” He lowers his voice, and I roll my eyes. He’s so fucking dramatic. “I need my mate to keep me warm.”

“I hate to interrupt,” I lie. Abby’s about to answer him, but spitefulness prevents me from letting her do so. “But I thought you’d want to know I’ve returned.”

Mason ignores me, fully intent on pretending he hasn’t been aware of my presence since the second I opened our front door. Abby isn’t keen to do the same. She pushes at Mason’s shoulder until he gives in and rolls off her.

He shoots me daggers. I don’t acknowledge them.

Abby’s face is red. Is she embarrassed to have been caught with Mason? She’s doing her best to keep up the appearance of hating the shifter. She must be upset to have been caught being soft with him.

She slides off the bed and fixes her dress, a blush spreading down her neck.

It’s hard to keep my expression neutral as she collects herself.

I’m desperate to know how it feels to touch her.

I felt something with Lillian, but it wasn’t what I always imagined a bond to be. Will it feel different with Abby?

She’s already touched Mason and tied herself to us, so there’s no reason for me to postpone. If it weren’t for her hatred of us, I would’ve done so already. I’d like comfort. I would’ve liked to hold my mate as I spoke my final words to my mother earlier today.

“The faeries will be testing you tomorrow,” I say to Mason. “They want to prove you aren’t fit to lead, and they’ll be eager to embarrass you during court.”

We don’t hold court often, mainly because it’s time-consuming and nobody ever comes. I suspect the throne room will be filled tomorrow. The faeries will have plenty to say and ask, and Mason needs to make a good impression.

Things are unstable, and it’s only a matter of time before the shifters, and other noble families, try to exploit it. We need to maintain a united front.

“The faeries are never going to accept me,” Mason says.

“That doesn’t mean they won’t respect you.”

“I beg to differ.”

Mason has spent years ruining relationships with the faeries. They never gave him a chance, and he acted accordingly. Mason left a trail of bodies everywhere he went, and he never bothered hiding his hatred toward my people.

It wasn’t ideal, but considering there were no plans for him to ever step into real power, my mother and the council didn’t spend much energy trying to repair the relationship. They focused on me instead.

Abby clears her throat. “Kie—”

I shake my head, stopping her. I already know where she’s going with this, and I don’t care to discuss my mother’s death right now. There are more important matters to focus on, and the royal family doesn’t mourn. The kingdom doesn’t stop moving, so neither can we.

It’s what my mother said to me after my father’s death, and it’s what she’d advise me to do now.

“I should brush up on foreign policy,” Mason says. “Given my ties with the shifters, that’s where the faeries will be aiming their jabs.”

I nod, in complete agreement.

Abby chews at her bottom lip. “Do I need to come to court?”

“Yes.” Mason and I speak in union, but it’s Mason who continues. “You’ll remain with us until we find Lillian and Callie.”

Abby’s presence will raise questions, specifically about Lillian and our lack of a wife or mate. We aren’t formally announcing Abby’s position, but we aren’t going out of our way to hide it like we were with Lillian. I hesitate to make any formal announcements until things have settled.

Abby is weak, and if we confirm our tie to her, she’ll become a target. Mason and I were set to have a political marriage, and many will feel jilted when they discover we’ve chosen a human female. Abby doesn’t know how to lead a kingdom, and she doesn’t show much interest in learning.

She doesn’t even want to be here, for fuck’s sake. Just yesterday, she was asking me to take her home.

Mason gestures to the door. “Shall we?”

“Yes.” I shoot Abby a fleeting glance before exiting Mason’s room. “I’ve had study materials brought to my office.”

Mason takes a long moment to respond. “We shouldn’t be out.” He glances at Abby, concern written plainly across his features. “We can better protect Abby from our home.”

“We need to convey the impression of confidence. Abby is safe with us.”

I say the last bit for her benefit. The kingdom is on high alert, and there’s no way for Lillian or Callie to enter without us noticing. My mother wasn’t prepared, but we aren’t going to put ourselves, or Abby, in a similar position.

It’s a short walk to my office, and Abby is suspiciously quiet the entire way. What’s she thinking? Does she worry we can’t protect her? She walks between Mason and me, pointedly avoiding touching either of us, and storms ahead once we enter my office.

Abby helps herself to my desk chair while Mason and I stand at the long table in the corner of the room. It’s piled high with books, most of which are on foreign policy. We have a human mate and a shifter king. The faeries will be most concerned about how we intend to handle that.

A map of the shifter lands is laid out, and I brush it aside before reaching for the policy book our tutors forced us to memorize when we were teenagers. Mason groans the same way he did back then, and he swipes the book from my hand before sinking into a chair.

Abby rips open my desk drawers, and I avoid looking over. She’s going to find the plastic tiara and peanut container, and I don’t care to see her angry expression when she does. I keep my focus on Mason instead.

“I don’t remember this book being quite so thick,” he says.

I hum. “That’s because you were given a modified version.”

His discussed the most critical topics, but my copy dove deep. As a prince, Mason was expected to learn more than most, and he probably has more knowledge than even our most involved nobles, but I was held to an even higher standard.

“The benefits of being king,” I say, cracking a smile. It’s almost genuine.