AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Like all that business about an heir. I could play my part by his side, pretending he was my mate. I wouldn’t have to fake a physical attraction. Now that I wasn’t at the commemoration protecting my sister or fearing for my life, I’d had time to settle. Be around him. I couldn’t deny that my body was very reactive to him. I chalked it up to being the first man I lived in close quarters with. Waking up to a king in nothing but his boxers while he made flirtatious comments . . . Yeah, my inexperience was no match. But that was superficial. There was so much to figure out beyond the physical. Sure, we’d had some dinners together. Learned a bit about each other’s likes and dislikes, but it was just the tip of the iceberg for a mated couple. Newfound fated mates were downright obsessive with each other. Jealous and possessive. Infatuated to an unhealthy level. That was what the world expected to see from me.
Staring at the ground as I walked, I kept my hands tucked into my pockets. There was a pleasant chill in the air, but my limbs were starting to get cold. My stomach growled, reminding me I should probably feed myself. The snap of a twig caught my attention, and Nova’s hackles raised. We both lifted our heads, catching the scent on the wind. Internally, I groaned. He was the last person I wanted to see right now.
“What do you want, Markus?” I asked, acknowledging his presence.
He strode out from the trees several yards away, then headed toward us.
I took him in. His hair was somewhat messy compared to what he usually looked like. Dark circles hung beneath his eyes. His shirt was wrinkled and untucked, but he walked with an air of confidence.
“When I saw you leaving for a walk alone, I thought we could spend some time together,” he said, coming to a stop in front of me.
“Again?”
“You agreed.”
I wrinkled my nose at his response. It wasn’t exactly like he gave me another choice here.
“Following someone in the woods is creepy,” I said, changing the subject as I continued down the path. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get rid of him. It was just a matter of dealing with him until we got back. Looking over my shoulder, I added, “I was just about to head back. Are you coming, or did you want to keep lurking in the shadows?”
He fell into step beside me, and I kept my pace brisk. The less time I spent with him, the better. Now, if only he’d just stay quiet — “The whispers in the hallway were louder today,” he started, his voice tight. “Apparently, Elias has publicly announced he’s found his mate.”
“I told you what was coming the night we got here,” I said, wishing I had the power to just teleport away.
“You failed to mention the part about you being his queen.” To punctuate his last word, he kicked a rock hard, sending it skipping across the dirt path. “It wasn’t something I’d considered.”
“Kind of goes hand in hand with being mated to a king.” I sighed. “It is what it is, Markus. We’re in this situation because you won’t reject me, and you won’t accept my rejection. This is our home now. I don’t know how else to word it, but putting it bluntly, that’s the truth of it.”
“So you’ve said,” he muttered. “But I can’t look at this place as home.”
Because it isn’t. Not without seeing Adora, Mom, and Abbey. The thought interjected itself, unbidden. I couldn’t afford to think that way. Part of accepting this life was changing my reactions. Adjusting my responses. Lamenting the fact they weren’t here wasn’t going to make it so.
I nodded. “It’s new, and it probably won’t feel like home for a while, but we’ll get there,” I said, trying to sound encouraging, if only for myself. “The Pacific Northwest is ours. The smell of the forest and the moisture in the air. At least that feels like home.”
“Home wasn’t filled with vampires.” There was a hint of venom in his tone, and though I knew I shouldn’t have been surprised, the meaning of it still caught me off guard. “Just this morning, one of them hit on me. Can you believe that?”
No, but not for the reasons he thought. “So what?” I said defensively. “There’s nothing wrong with vampires. Every House is mixed. At one time, Fire and Fluorite was only half shifters.”
He scoffed. “The better half.”
My jaw fell open, and I stopped in my tracks, crossing my arms. “Really? I thought it was just a show you put on in front of everyone because you were the heir. But it’s real? You actually believe yourself to be superior? Stop acting like you’re better than everyone else. You’re not. No species is.” I looked him up and down, thinking about how I’d been treated in our former House and how it was a stark contrast to the meeting with the High Court. None of them had looked at me with disgust. They hadn’t looked at me like a freak or a bad omen. Like something was wrong with me. Some of them might have questioned our story and what I was doing there, but whatever they’d seen when they looked at me, it hadn’t been because I was different. “Blood and Beryl showed us kindness. Elias didn’t have to take us in, but he did.”
Markus gave me a deadpan look. “First of all, he made a deal to suit himself. Second, he took you in, not me. You did that. A shifter looking out for a shifter.”
Nova snorted loudly, shaking her body. I cocked my head. “Now you see me as a shifter? That’s a first. When we were kids, you held me underwater until I passed out while saying my mother should have drowned me.” I uncrossed my arms, turning on a heel and walking away.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” he said quickly, covering the few paces to catch up with me. “Or said it.”
“And yet you did. Repeatedly,” I responded.
I didn’t want to hate Markus forever. It had nothing to do with him. It was the hate itself. It was exhausting. The anger and the hurt festered, never allowing the wound to close. I’d just avoided him for so long in an effort to not deal with it. It was easier. And now fate wanted to screw with me. Just because I didn’t want to hate him didn’t mean I wanted to like him.
“I would never hurt you again.” His words ran over my skin, tugging on that stupid invisible line that connected us. It tried to reach within, coaxing at emotions that weren’t real. Not for him. Never for him.
Nova huffed loudly, adding a slight growl under her breath. He frowned at her, moving away by an inch.
“Markus.” I sighed. Looking up, I focused on the damp pine needles of the forest as we walked. “I . . . I appreciate that, but if you’re about to start up with the mate thing again, drop it. Please. I have entirely too much on my mind right now.”
“The mate thing?” he said, his tone clipped. “The mate thing is why you saved me. It’s why I’m here, even if you won’t admit it.”
