Page 8 of The Shattered Kingdom (The Cursed Kingdom #2)

MASON

LILLY brINGS HER hands to my waist, and I bite my tongue so hard it bleeds. Her fingers are cold as she slips them underneath my shirt, touching my bare skin.

I fight the urge to flick her away.

It seems I’m not making enough attempts to hide my emotions, as she lets out a long, drawn-out sigh. Abby’s always giving me the same noise, and I’m growing sick of it. I’m a prince and a shifter. People don’t sigh at me.

It doesn’t bother me so much when Abby does it because she’s a human and, if I’m honest with myself, I deserve her irritation. Lilly should know better.

“Mace.” Lilly’s glancing between my eyes and my lips, but I’m not going to kiss her. “You’re punishing me for something I didn’t do. Not intentionally. I understand this isn’t an ideal situation, but we’re mates. I’m trying, and I’m only asking that you do the same.”

My mate? She’s a dirty fucking liar is what she is. I don’t know what kind of magic she’s using to make Kie feel the mate bond—it most definitely doesn’t belong to the faeries—but it doesn’t work on shifters. I feel nothing when I touch her. She isn’t our mate.

I can’t let her know I realize that, though. Lilly’s playing a dangerous game, one I’m determined to understand. I figured it would be easy to pretend I feel the bond, but it’s significantly more challenging than anticipated. I hate her touch, and she’s going out of her way to be close to me.

Lilly slides her hands up my waist and to my front, resting her palms on my chest.

I’ve always known that I would eventually have to let a woman touch me, but I didn’t realize just how dirty it would make me feel.

It makes my skin crawl, and I fight the urge to shift into my animal form and put a protective layer of fur between us.

The urge is becoming harder to control, and I’m nervous that I soon won’t be able to contain my instincts.

The bathroom toilet flushes, and I tense as I wait for Abby’s inevitable return. She refuses to leave Lilly and me alone, which is ideal. I don’t trust the faerie’s intentions, and I intend to keep a close eye on the human. Her loitering makes both tasks easy.

Lilly notices the way I shift, anticipating Abby’s return. “You and Abby seem to have quite a…” She pauses, thinking through her following words. “Tumultuous relationship.”

I suck my cheeks into my mouth, not wanting to discuss my relationship with the human.

I feel guilty about how I treated Abby, but I already apologized and there isn’t anything further to do.

She’s chosen not to forgive me, which I grudgingly accept, and that’s all there is to it.

I won’t beg for her forgiveness. I’ve never done so before, and I will not start today.

I’ll learn to live with the guilt. It occasionally steals my breath and makes my palms sweat, but I’m confident the intensity will lessen with time.

“It’s tense,” Lilly continues. “Would you like me to talk to her for you? ”

Why is she offering this?

I shake my head. “No.”

Abby finally enters the room, capturing my full attention. I’m becoming increasingly nervous regarding the safety of the human. I don’t know what Lilly is capable of, and until I do, I refuse to leave them alone. Abby needs my protection.

She eyes Lilly and me, her gaze lingering on Lilly’s hands on my chest, before she looks away and steps into the kitchen.

The urge to brush Lilly away intensifies, and I let out a quiet breath when she retreats on her own.

She was on me the second Abby left the room, and I’m relieved she’s pulling back now that the human has returned.

The front door opens, and Kie comes sauntering inside a moment later.

He glances around, taking in everybody’s position, before shutting the door behind him.

I can tell he’s pissed by the tenseness of his shoulders and the furrow of his eyebrows.

There’s also the fact that he’s openly glaring at me.

“Where have you been?” The question is directed toward me.

I was supposed to meet with him and the council almost an hour ago, but I chose not to go. I intended to, but the women took forever to get ready. I managed to make up the lost time on our tour, but then I couldn’t bring myself to leave.

Kie turns toward Lilly. He’s trying his best to act casual, but I notice the stiffness in his movements. He’s fallen victim to the pseudo bond, but I can tell he feels a wrongness with it. He hasn’t said as much to me, but I can read between the lines.

I want to tell him it’s fake, but I worry he won’t be able to maintain the charade.

We’ve long since accepted that we’d never meet our mate and trigger the bond. Our future marriage is to be a political move and nothing more. The kingdom needs a queen more than we need a mate .

That only works if the mate bond is never triggered, though. To deny an active bond and marry another would infuriate Zaha, and it’s not a risk any faerie or shifter would ever take. Heavens, I can only imagine the punishment she’d dole out.

Kie and I never discussed the possibility of finding our mate, but I know he’s always secretly hoped for it. I’d be lying if I said I never had, too. Giving up my mate isn’t a sacrifice I’ve ever been happy to make, but a necessary evil.

He believes Lilly, and I don’t enjoy lying to him. But if I tell him the bond is fake, his reaction will undoubtedly alert Lilly. I need her to think her magic is working, and to do that, I need Kie to believe the bond is real.

“Lillian.” Kie’s gaze falls to her dress. “You look beautiful.”

Shit. I probably should’ve complimented her earlier. It didn’t occur to me, and as I take in the way Lilly preens, I regret my oversight.

Kie closes the gap between him and Lilly, and I look away as he grabs her forearm and kisses her. It's chaste and awkward, and he clears his throat once it’s over.

“Where have you been, Mason?” Kie repeats, pulling away from Lilly.

I wave my arm toward the women. “With them.”

Kie hums. Abby’s in the kitchen, and she refuses to look at us as she aggressively eats the few bites of her breakfast she didn’t finish earlier. Kie mentioned having the kitchen stocked for them, but it’s yet to be done. I’ll look into it later.

“The council is waiting for us. Now,” Kie says, drawing my attention. He gestures toward the front door, but I’m not leaving. “Mason.” He sounds frustrated. “I’m not asking.”

I raise a brow. As far as I’m concerned, he’s no longer in a position to order me around.

“Yeah,” Abby chimes in. “You should leave. ”

Someday soon, I’m going to tape her mouth shut. It’s a miracle Kie hasn’t used his magic to seal her lips together already. I shoot Abby a dirty look, hoping she gets the silent message to shut the fuck up, which only causes her to smile.

I miss the days when she was afraid of me. She was significantly less irritating.

“We’ll behave,” Lilly says. “You shouldn’t leave the council waiting.”

Her fingers curl loosely around my wrist, almost as if she’s afraid of my reaction to her touch. I try not to appear too uncomfortable, but I can tell I’m not succeeding as Kie furrows his brows and cocks his head to the side.

Fuck.

I bring my hand to the back of Lilly’s head. I’ve always preferred it when women wear their hair down, and I run my fingers through her soft strands before bringing my lips to her temple.

Her skin is warm as I quickly kiss the side of her head. It’s all she’s getting from me.

I resist the urge to wipe my mouth as I release her and step away.

If she were truly my mate, I’d be all over her.

I’ve heard that the mate bond is all-consuming, and soon my indifference toward the faerie will attract questions.

I’ll no longer have an excuse to hold back once we’ve confirmed Lilly’s story.

I assume it’s going to check out. Lilly’s mother was cunning, and I doubt her daughter is much different. They had twenty years to cover their tracks, and it will take more than one surface-level investigation to uncover the truth.

I just need Kie not to impregnate Lilly in the time it takes me to do so.

They aren’t having sex, at least not yet, but I doubt Kie will be using protection when they do.

It’s our duty to create heirs, and it’s not unheard of for mated pairs to begin trying almost immediately after triggering the bond.

As far as the kingdom is concerned, we have no reason to wait.

The three of us are of a reasonable age, and we have the means to care for a child. The faeries won’t care to hear any excuses.

“Go away, Mason,” Abby repeats. “You’re not welcome here.”

Lilly makes a quiet noise of disagreement, but she doesn’t argue on my behalf.

She wants me gone, too, which is only more of a reason to stay.

Is she planning something? Maybe she intends to run away with Abby.

She won’t get far, especially not while she’s still so weak, but I wouldn’t put an attempt past her.

“Tell the council I’m busy and will attend the next meeting,” I say.

I shouldn’t push them off. The council members hold power and influence, and they won’t take kindly to my rejection. I don’t have any other options. Somebody has to protect the infuriating human, and it sure isn’t going to be the guards.

They don’t know Lilly’s true identity, and they’ll choose her safety over a human’s. Telling them to do otherwise would only draw attention, especially when they learn Lilly is our mate.

“Please don’t make this any harder than it needs to be, Mace.

” Kie runs his hands through his hair, and I flinch as his composed facade momentarily drops.

He’s stressed, not to mention exhausted.

He drained himself traveling through the forest and opening the portal, and now he’s run thin with Lilly’s discovery and my impending ascension.

Kie and I may not always see eye to eye, but he’s important to me. I don’t enjoy seeing this side of him, and I grind my teeth as I turn toward Abby.

“Behave,” I order. My gaze shifts toward Lilly. “I will be back soon.”

Kie follows me outside, silently judging as I order the guards stationed in the courtyard to keep a close eye on the house and alert us if either of the women attempts to leave. I’m fidgety as I head toward the chamber rooms, already anticipating the headache this meeting will be.

The faeries are scrambling, and the number of meetings they wish to have only proves it. We typically only have formal meetings once a week. Daily ones are practically unheard of outside of shifter conflict, and those I’m typically discouraged from attending.

Now, I’ll be leading them. My father will be ecstatic when he hears the news.