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“What happens if she doesn’t?” I ask. Mates are for life, but what happens when they abandon you?
“I don’t know. We’re supposed to betrue mates. It doesn’t seem right. I’ve loved her for as long as I can remember, long before I even fell. Why would she just leave?” He says it to himself more than to me, but I don’t have the answers. I wish I did. The only thing I can do is try to distract him from it all.
I come out with it. “If it makes you feel any better. I had dinner with the king, and he lifted my skirts, claiming he had a collar for my pussy.”
Brenn’s mouth gapes as he turns to me, hands propped behind his head. “No…”
“Yeah.” I grab Meg from the foot of the bed, putting her between us. “Turns out, that’s what they call cats here, and she was underneath my seat.”
Brenn’s eyes are the only things that move, slifting toward Meg. His cheeks blow as his face turns blood red, and both of us laugh until our ribs ache.
“I mean, I told you he'd be chivalrous.” Brenn drags a hand down his face, shaking his head, wiping the tears from his eyes.
“He also gave me until tomorrow to decide if I wanted to mate him, so I’m not so sure about that, anymore.”
Brenn’s face falls, expressionless as he turns to me. “What?”
“You heard me, and he gave me this. Said you left it in the library.” I grab the ring off the end table next to the bed and hold it out to him.
Brenn’s face goes ghost white as he stares at the ring. His eyes glued to it like it’s the only thing giving him air. The atmosphere in the room changes instantaneously as he rushes forward, snatching it from me. Brenn sits up to get a closer look, then his violet eyes drain of color as they meet mine.
“He gave this to you?” he asks, my heart settling lower in my stomach. The room feels tighter, like the walls are closing in.
Something is wrong.Verywrong. I nod.
“This is Mira’s. She never goes anywhere without it. She even wears it on a chain when she shifts, and puts it between her teeth. I’ve worried for years that it’s going to slip off one of them and she’s going to end up choking on it mid-flight.” Brenn panics, flipping off the bed and shoving his boots back on.
“What are you doing?” I inch closer, but he’s moving so fast, I’m not sure what else to say.
“I’m going to go ask King Everand where the fuck my mate is, that’s what I’m doing.” He kicks the bed and the hinge onhis knee whines. “Gods…I should’ve known something was up. She’d never just leave me.”
“He thinks the king has her? Or does he think he sent her away?”Hyde’s voice echoes in my head, and even she can feel the tension in the room, peering through my eyes.
I don’t know.
“He’ll consider you a traitor the moment you admit to that. Just wait.” I yell as he storms toward the door.
Hand on the doorknob he turns back to me. “What?” The word is flat, void of emotion.
“We need to be smart about this. If he’s holding her somewhere, we need to know, but bringing it up to him is only going to get you thrown into a dungeon and scheduled for death row.”
Slowly, he nods, stepping away from the door. “Fine. I know where he’d keep her. I’ll look around, but you’re not going with me. It’ll be easier that way.”
“Fine, but oil your damn hinge first. You’re not exactly going to sneak anywhere when it squeaks with every step you take.”
His lips almost pull into a smile. “I will. I’ll be back before you wake up, and if I’m not, assume the worst. Try not to scream all night.”
“Good luck to you too,” I say as he slips through the door and out into the hall.
Hours pass, and I lie awake, incapable of even falling asleep until I know about Mira.
Regardless, the king knew. It was hismotivationfor me to mate him and that alone churns my stomach.
How dare he… How does someone so perfect come from a man like King Everand. Where Loric is kind, selfless, and brave, his father is deceitful, manipulative, and conniving. They're nothing alike and I don't blame Loric for wishing to keep his distance.
But Mira… if he has her locked away somewhere, he'll kill her if I don't agree. I can't let that happen. Brenn would walk off that edge himself.
A weight settles heavy on my chest as I lay in the dim room, showered in the faint colored light. My finger skims the mark. Shivering at the thought of that touch being Loric's, how his rings would send an icy chill through me, how his warm breath would follow it, a part of me shatters. I don't want him to be gone. I don't want anyone else.
