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“You really are something, Fletcher, you know that? You know I love this place. It’s mine. It’s my family’s. It’s the last damn thing I have left that hasn’t been taken over by this contract.”
Her voice was scratchy and tired, which would have made Fletcher sympathize had he not been so disturbed by her avoidance.
Fletcher bloomed with hurt.
“Don’t shake your head at me,” he said in an authoritative tone. “You’ve been prolonging this engagement with the excuse of needing to work for months. I see what you’re doing. And I don’t like it at all, Madison.”
She opened her mouth to spew more venom. Fletcher could nearly see the cauldron of insults spinning in her eyes. But then she clamped it shut, the violent spark fizzling out as she ran both hands through her hair.
She really had no leg to stand on, but Madison wasn’t known to go down without a fight. It wasn’t the Hart family way.
“You could have told me you were doing this rather than thrusting it on me after my store got trashed.”
Madison couldn’t meet his eyes. She brushed her hair with her fingers, pushing back the strands that had fallen forward during their conflict. Madison looked defeated, and that softened Fletcher’s resolve to stand firm on his decision.
“I have to get back,” she said, trying to push past him.
Fletcher grabbed hold of her wrist. When he spoke, desperation forced the words out of his mouth. He sensed that the little trust she had in him was wavering. If he didn't act right then and there, she would slip through his fingers so quickly it would be like they, Madison and Fletcher, never existed.
Don’t let her go. Don’t let this erase everything you’ve built together.Fletcher’s thoughts were fast and as desperate as his words.
“Wait.”
Madison sighed, then met his gaze reluctantly.
“What else, Fletcher?”
“I don’t just want to have the mating ceremony with you because of some contract, Madison. I want it because you are my mate. I want it because my very existence depends upon it. You are my fated mate. I’ve known it since the second I saw you.”
Madison’s face tightened with alarm. But as she realized what Fletcher had just said, the tension in her face and body melted away. A spark returned to her violet eyes, though the spark wasn’t as vicious as it had been before.
Instead, it was a gentle, beautiful glow that lit up the rest of her face.
“What … are you saying, Fletcher?”
The king’s mind raced, his body rigid with a vulnerability he had never exposed in his entire royal existence. He was thankful that, at that very moment, the office manager whom he had hired knocked politely on the open door.
They both looked at her with relief from the tension of their interaction.
“Hello, My King,” Lila said, smiling kindly with a briefcase in her arms. “I apologize if I’m interrupting something here.”
Fletcher didn’t realize that he was still holding onto Madison’s wrist. Before he let it go, he noticed her body relax at the sight of the woman she had met several times since she had arrived at Willowfrost. Lila was an intelligent businesswoman, and he had relied on her for several large projects over the years. He had certainly taken that into account when hiring someone. If only Madison had given him a chance to explain.
“No, not at all,” Madison said, shrouding her face from him with her hair. “I will show you around. I’m so glad you’re here.”
Madison quickly scooted around Fletcher to pass the threshold and return to the store. The king took a second to catch his breath, realizing what he had revealed was something that couldn’t be undone.
But for the moment, he’d have to let it go. She finally knew his true feelings for her, which hadn’t been born from a binding agreement but rather written into the fabric of his very cosmic being before they even met one another.
She had grown up with a shifter for a father and must have read all of the lore. She knew what a fated mate was. She understood the importance of exactly what he was saying, that she was destined as his other half for the rest of time.
They weren’t just choosing to unite themselves in marriage. They belonged together. Judging by her evasive behavior in the shop for the rest of the day, he couldn’t be sure how she had taken the news.
Fletcher returned to the main floor of the store and instructed his enforcers to clean up the mess that the wolves had made. He then instructed them to call in some more security detail to look at the tape Madison had shown him and start canvassing the area. He then paid attention to Madison with Lila, crossing his arms over his chest and looming over them.
Madison paid no mind to him as she started with the basics of the magic within the garments. Of course he knew about the magic, and he had learned more than he ever planned on knowing about witchcraft and the details behind it in the past three months. He adored hearing her talk about it. It wasn’t only part of her family legacy but a passion that burned from beneath the recesses of her heart.
He felt the same sensations of awe and wonder as his future queen described the workings of the charms embedded within the very threads of the clothing. He could tell that she was ignoring him, having switched into pleasant retail mode while he observed their playful and professional interactions.
