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We’re silent as she composes herself, wiping a few more tears from her eyes. A sad little sniffle echoes around the cell, and my heart cracks into a million pieces. She shouldn’t be in here.
You think? my wolf howls.
“And what was your father like?” the woman asks, catching me off guard. It feels like I just got punched in the stomach. Every muscle in my body tenses. She shared her past with me, but am I willing to do the same?
“Strict,” I clip out. I want to give her an answer, but I don’t know if I can make myself go there. Not with my mind and heart at war, my libido through the fucking roof, and my wolf ready to take over at any moment.
I leave it at that, but I’m sure she’s going to keep poking until I give her a real answer. It doesn’t feel fair after she opened up to me about her own father, but I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to talk about my fucked up family.
“My dad was like that too,” she admits softly.
I blink a few times, waiting for a follow-up. She's not going to pry there? No sly comments? Maybe she's starting to soften toward me.
“It was hard, growing up in his shadow,” I continue.
She nods, her eyes full of understanding. My wolf leaps to his feet inside of me as we continue to stare at each other.
“Do you want to be King?” she asks. I’m grateful for the change in topic.
“I like it. I think I’m good at it.”
She looks around her cell and then back to me and I can tell before she opens her mouth that she’s about to say something sassy.
“Forgive me if I don’t agree with that statement,” she says drily. My lips twitch.
“Of course,” I say, giving her a regal tip of my head.
She smiles at me.
It’s small, barely a smile, but her lips are tilted upwards and it still counts. I can’t move, can’t breathe, can’t fucking think with her attention on me like this.
God, she’s pretty. Her whole face lights up when she finds someone as smart as her to talk to. I’ve always found conversations to be boring or nothing but small talk, but somehow even small talk with Salem is interesting.
Her eyes flash as we study each other, and I swallow hard, letting my guard down just the tiniest bit. My feet move on their own, shuffling closer to the bars until I'm nearly pressed up against them.
Salem tilts her head up, up, up, her eyes meeting mine. Goddamn, she looks so small and vulnerable. Without thinking, I reach my hand through the bars, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear. She leans into my touch, and I notice a scar on her temple as I tuck more of her hair away.
My eyes scan hers, a silent question passing between us. She nods her head once, confirming my suspicion. Her piece of shit father gave her that mark.
I trace the faded line with the pad of my thumb, trying to make sense of everything I’ve learned about my mate today.
My wolf lunges inside of me. He wants to mark her.
Why are we waiting? he growls inside of me. I grit my teeth, withdrawing my hand and looking away from my radiantly beautiful mate.
I know I’ll have to make a decision soon on what to do with her. I can’t keep her locked up here forever. My wolf wouldn’t allow it, and to be honest, I don’t think I’ll make it past the mating moon in two days either.
I’m softening towards her already. The more I find out about her, the more time we spend together, the more I start to doubt why I wouldn’t want her for my mate.
Sure, she’s a human but fate doesn’t make mistakes. If I was meant to have a human mate, then maybe it’s for my own good.
I know what my father would say. I know he would find all of this a cruel, hilarious joke, but why am I still listening to a man that I hate? A man that I defeated and laid to rest years ago?
SIX
Salem
I’m waiting for Koda to show up the next afternoon. I haven’t seen him all day, and while I would never admit it to him, I look forward to talking to him. I’m trying to convince myself it’s because he’s the only person I see. Isn’t that Stockholm syndrome or something? Falling for your captor?
