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Natalie
What a mess. The mate I'd given the cold shoulder to had tuned out to be the only one who genuinely cared about me. What were the odds?
When I first met Rumir, he’d looked at me as if I was life itself, while Lucian had turned away from me. I should have ended things in the forest that night, after the way he treated me.
I’d known something was wrong. No wolf turned away from their mate unless they didn't want them. And as it turned out, that was precisely the case. I replayed every moment I’d shared with him in my mind, adding together the moments I overlooked when he'd been indifferent. There had been so many.
I’d been a fool.
It made sense now, why he hadn't wanted to rush things between us. He'd kept himself at arm's length, and I’d accepted it. I didn’t know who to be angry with. Him for leading me on, or myself for not ending things long ago.
I was pacing back and forth in my living room, unable to sit still, a thousand thoughts filling my mind.
What happened to Otsana was horrible. I didn't know her, but I understood how she must have felt when she’d asked Lucian to take her life, knowing she was putting that responsibility on him. I could still remember clearly what it had felt like knowing I had only moments before I would become a vampire.
The burning in my veins had been excruciating, and for Otsana, it would have been worse. She had fully turned.
How had ending my life affected Ruby? Hopefully, she hadn't tortured herself or blamed herself for spilling my blood. Ruby and I cared for each other, we were friends, but Lucian and Otsana were mates. And though he’d done it as an act of mercy, taking the life of the woman he loved must have been excruciating.
I palmed my face and sat down.
“Why do I always do this? I keep trying to find the good in people, even when they do bad things. Lucian was wrong! And he’s been lying to me this entire time! Goddess, what were you thinking?”
All he'd had to do was tell me the truth, that he was shackled by his past and not in the right frame of mind to be with anyone.
Sure, when we'd met, he hadn't known me well enough to think I'd understand. But later, once he knew me better, he could have told me. After all, it was my life he was playing with.
Thinking back, there were so many times he could have told me the truth.
I got up and searched through my contacts, looking for Rumir’s address. I didn't bother trying to find out if he was home before I teleported. I just needed to be away from this house, this forest, and Lucian.
If he wasn't home, I'd go somewhere else. But I needed to get out of here in case Lucian showed up.
I moved from one location to another in the blink of an eye, and when I opened my eyes, I was standing outside the towering walls of a castle. Before me, looming wooden doors were shut tightly, and I reconsidered my decision not to contact Rumir before coming.
In fact, now that I thought about it, showing up here, in the state I was in, was a bad idea all around.
If I told him what Lucian had done, he’d likely lose it and pick a fight with Lucian.
Personally, I would have loved to punch Lucian in the face, too, but I was in no mood to deal with a fight between the two of them today. My day had started off great—perfect in fact—and now, it had gone up in flames.
I turned away, planning to drop into Rehema’s store instead, when the doors began to open.
The second my eyes fell on the man leaving the castle, I knew exactly who he was, and my wolf growled with menace. Just as Rumir had said, he looked exactly like his father. And it wasn’t just family resemblance. They looked almost identical.
Cedrik Fafnir, dragon King of the clans in the Esavale region, looked me over, from head to toe. “You’re my son’s mate, aren't you? The Enchanted girl with two mates?” He came to a stop in front of me, and the doors behind him slammed shut. "My son isn't home.”
He made no effort to mask his dislike for me, and I made no attempt to hide mine for him.
I turned away without saying a word. Why bother to waste my breath on this man? I didn't care about his status as a dragon King. All I could think of was the horrible way he’d treated his son. And I didn’t want to have anything to do with him.
"So you’ve got nothing to say to the father of your mate?" he called after me, his voice booming as I tapped at my bracelet to teleport.
I turned to him. "What is there to say? Remir isn’t home, so I’m leaving. I didn’t get the impression that any further discourse was necessary."
His long brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail that reached his shoulders. And there was a long scar across his face, as well as a permanent crease between his brows.
There was no warmth in his stare, and one peek at his aura told me all I needed to know. He was without question the epitome of a dragon King—arrogant and mean.
