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Bare feet padded silently toward him, unsure what I would say to the villain now that he was here.
My anger had cooled, but my resentment had only grown.
I had every right to tell him that what he did was wrong. That he didn’t get to bully me and compel me to do things, not if he wanted me to respect him on any level.
Mates were supposed to belovedby their males.
Silent, because I had endured years of painful training to learn how to be so, I stalked toward a room aglow. Only to halt in my tracks at the sound of soft female laughter.
Peering from the doorframe, somewhat hidden by the dark, I saw them. The general tall and proud, a woman on his arm, smiling at something he said.
Silvery-blonde hair and perfect ingenue features, she looked like something straight out of a storybook. From the shining blue of her dress to the glittering jewelry around her wrists and throat, the peak of femininity I dreamed I might one day aspire to. Yet her beauty was something I could never achieve, and that made me instantly timid that she was looking up at me, with my tangled hair, hunched shoulders, and wrinkled naked dress, and seeing gracelessness and faults.
Why was she smiling up at the general after taking one glance at me, arm intertwined with his as if they were familiar?
And why did murder feel like the appropriate response to her friendly “Hello” when she acknowledged me watching from the dark?
I had never disliked another female so much in my life.
Disengaging from my mate, she eased closer to where I flared clawed fingers in warning that she was not welcome.
Threatening her as I was, she waved my stance off with a smile. “It is completely normal for you to feel uncomfortable that I am here. And I must add I appreciate that you have not threatened murder… thus far. An unknown female entering your den so soon after you were mated is generally frowned upon. But I have come as a friend. Cyderial thought you may appreciate having an experienced woman to talk to.”
Cyderial, standing by the door, wisely kept his distance.
The glare I gave him let him see clearly that he and I had unfinished business.
The stranger’s arm dared loop with mine. “Let’s get you cleaned up while we chat, hmm? Have you ever had a hot bath before? I remember the academy only had those horrible cold showers. When I was first mated, a hot bath might have been the only reason I softened at all toward my beast. Ah, he was awful in the beginning! I love him now, but how I dreamed of peeling the skin right off his bones all those years ago.”
Okay, I could get on board with this. Violence toward men seemed like a valid option. Narrowing my scathing glare at the man waiting across the room, I hissed, “I would rather slit his throat while he sleeps.”
With a conspiratorial laugh, she breezed me out of the dark, urging me into the light and closer to my mate. “Come, give him the opportunity to apologize.” To him, she lost her smile and softness. “His behavior was abominable, and he won’t do it again.”
It didn’t matter if she was his guest or if she had been brought here for some nefarious purpose; she must have had a death wish. No one, especially a tiny wisp of a woman, talked to the general in that manner.
Clenching my jaw so hard my teeth began to ache, I watched him run his gaze over me from toes to throat, finally landing on my face as if seeing me—even raging mad—was really quite a gift. But he did not apologize.
“Don’t worry about him.” Voice annoyed, the odd female motioned for me to look away from the man and pay attention to her. All seriousness, she said, “Order him to make you something to eat. That will keep him out of our hair.”
The whole moment was utterly absurd. “What?”
“Like this.” She spun us about so we might fully face the stiff, observing male, employing a tone of stern command once more. “I want to eat braised hilp cabbage smothered in bacon and cream.” Giving me a quick wink, she added under her breath, “A salted meat from Earth so delicious our human ancestors brought pigs on the ship should they find a home after their apocalypse. It is very rare and expensive. Now, you try.”
Extracting myself from whatever kind of foolishness this was, I shook her arm off. Yet as I began to retreat into the dark, she grabbed my hand, pulling me back with more force until we were face-to-face. “Don’t be intimated by his rank. He’s your mate now. You own him. Command him to serve you.”
This pantomime may have been cute had it been acted out on another academy girl, but I was not that naïve. “My life is not some game! What is it that you want here? Trouble? Because I’ve had enough trouble to give me years of nightmares.”
Cupping my shoulders in her hands, she gave them a squeeze. “I want to show you that Cyderial isn’t scary at all. Not when it comes to you, at least.”
The silvery-haired waif was starting to seem like the scary one. Incuriously, I blurted, “Have you met him? He’s horrible!”
Laughing, she conceded a bit of the point. “To earn the rank of General required a great deal of sacrifice. Having to endure over a hundred years of loneliness while waiting for his mate to appear may have roughened him around the edges a bit.” She squeezed my hand a bit too hard, her voice congenial. “But see what happens when you order him to serve you.”
Academy students do not issue orders, not unless they want to be beaten to a pulp.
“Try, Lorieyn.” Her arm slipped around my shoulders, the female giving me a chummy jostle. “Don’t be such a baby.”
It was hard to tell if I was starting to like this woman, or if I really wanted to thumb out her eyeballs. The bones in my spine cracked as I stood taller, the wiggle of my shoulders a clear sign I wanted her arm off. “I am very hot, and I would prefer if you stop touching me.”
