AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Carlak glared at me. “You’re sitting there, lying to my face, when we both know the truth. I can’t believe it.” He got up, flicked his jacket to straighten it, and stalked toward the door.
“Hey! Where are you going?” I called out. “Did you seriously just fly all the way home to call me a liar, then leave again?”
Carlak turned to stare at me. He would be a great king, when the time came. He’d been able to cow just about anyone since he was six years old withthatlook.
“You are a liar, Anthony,” he said, more gently than I expected. “You just lied to me, but saddest of all, you’re lying to yourself.”
Shock coursed through me at his words. Shock... and shame. He was right, but denying my magic was so ingrained I didn’t know hownotto do that.
He shook his head when I didn’t respond. “I came home to see if I could help you, but it’s obvious you’re past the point of no-return.”
When Carlak turned to leave again after delivering that cryptic pronouncement, I groaned. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means grow up, Anthony,” Carlak snapped. “Face up to your demons, acknowledge who you are and stop being afraid of it, claim your mate, and seriously... grow the fuck up.”
Then he left, and slammed the door for good measure.
I sat amongst my warm blankets staring after him, my cheeks blazing. Everything he’d said was correct. I was a lying spoilt and immature prince, and it was time I grew up.
Is that how Charity saw me, too? I needed to go see her and check if she was okay.
I threw back the covers and rushed to throw on some clothes. Where was Charity right now? When I’d left her...
I froze, one leg in my pants. The full impact of what I’d done to her hit me like a lightning bolt. “Oh my God.”
I’d made love to her, then abandoned her. Worse, I’d rejected her by flying away without a backward glance. All because I was afraid of showing her my true self, including the magic inside of me.
But Charity wasn’t of our world. To her, shifting into a dragon most likely seemed magical. Why would she be worried about whether I had a different kind of magic to other dragon shifters? If she hadn’t judged me for morphing into a dragon, why would she judge me for anything else?
And Carlak? Fuck me. When had he worked out I had the same powers as our mother? Why hadn’t he ever said anything?
I’d lied about my magic for so long, I felt trapped, and the longer it went on, the more terrified I’d been that I would be revealed to be a liar.
But Iwaslying, and he’d always known it. And yet, he’d never stopped caring about me.
How had I fucked up so royally?
I owed my brother an apology, but my mate was my number one priority. I finished pulling on my pants, cold chills of dread creeping down my spine. I needed to find Charity, and now.
Memories of our lovemaking began to thump into my brain. The pleasure. The connection. The way she’d moaned and shook and orgasmed around my cock. Damn it, the time we spent together in the library—however brief—had been the single most amazing experience of my life.
And I went and fucked it all up.
As soon as my sweater was over my head, I ran for the door. I pulled it open, slowed to a jog, and headed for the stairs that led back up to my mother’s old tower.
Would Charity still be there?
When I reached the door to her room, my heart was pounding. But I didn’t stop to think. I would only start second-guessing. Instead, I knocked loudly, then pushed the door open, ready for a book to be thrown at my head, or something like it.
The sight before me broke my heart in two. Charity was lying on the bed, sobbing. The sounds, clearly wrenched from deep inside her, were bone-crushing to hear.
I swallowed hard, pushing the sudden lump down in my throat. “Sweetheart, I am so sorry.”
As soon as my words found her, Charity scrabbled up to sit on the edge of the bed, her hands clutching at the bedcovers. “Get out of here.”
Her eyes flashed, and if I was reading her correctly, it seemed like she hated me. I couldn’t blame her.Ihated myself for what I’d done. “Please, Charity, let me explain.”
“No!” she yelled. “I don’t want you to explain. I just want to get out of here. I want to go home.”
