Chapter 81
I try my best not to think about Caleb sleeping with some other woman, yet the image of it still creeps into my mind again and again. My stomach turns, imagining him naked with another woman, thrusting inside of her or doing all those wicked things with his tongue…
This shouldn’t bother me. The man wants me dead. He’ll likely humiliate and torture me during the Grand Ball and then kill me after he finds out I’m not pregnant. I shouldn’t feel any kind of connection with a man who has the desire to end my life.
Yet when I think of him with someone else… it makes me want to tear this room apart in annoyance and rage… and jealousy.
I hate myself for feeling this way, for allowing my bodily desires to overcome my critical thinking skills and my self-preservation. Yet I can’t deny that I do feel this way. I want to find out whichever woman he’s sleeping with right now and pull her hair out.
I force myself still, refusing to allow myself to give in to those impulses. Caleb has an entire harem of women ready and waiting for him. I’d have to be some kind of fool to think that he’d prefer me to the rest.
Especially because Samuel is the man that I love. He’s the one I should be fantasizing about. The one I should be thinking of, pretending to be with when Caleb fucks me.
Yet time after time, again and again, Caleb is the one that I desire.
I must be the world’s biggest, most gullible fool.
Suddenly, the door to my room swings open. I pounce up from my bed to face the intruder. My flight or fight instinct comes skidding to a stop when I realize it’s Caleb storming through the door. He slams it closed behind him.
When he spots me, he heads in my direction. His gaze travels down the length of my body.
I’d been ready for bed, so I was only in a simple nightie, my robe draped over the foot of the bed. The nightie is sheen and shear, cool on these warmer nights. Yet it’s practically translucent. He can undoubtedly see all of me without much effort on his part. At least I’m wearing panties.
His eyes darken with hunger as he takes me in. When they lift back to mine, they are equal parts passion and rage. I brace myself for the brunt of his anger. I’ve seen it enough by now to be prepared. As long as his eyes aren’t red, I have a chance of talking my way out of anything.
“What sort of spell did you put on me?” he grumbles. He stops two feet away from me, towering over me.
“What are you talking about?”
“You are a witch,” he snaps. “I should not desire you half as much as I do. I should be able to lie with the others of my harem, stroke their pussies and clutch their tits, without thinking about how you would feel instead.”
Satisfaction immediately floods through me. Vindictively, I hope he had the worst time of his life with whoever he chose over me tonight. I’m glad I was the one in his thoughts, even as he lay with another.
“I am not a witch,” I say, very careful not to smirk or be otherwise too smug about it.
“That can’t be true. Not after tonight. And not after last night.”
“I didn’t do anything last night.”
“You bewitched me,” Caleb growls. “I would never come inside of a consort otherwise.”
I didn’t want to remind him that this was the second time he’d done so with me, but I held that back, not wanting to bring up the non-existent secret child he believed I was hiding from him. That’s an entirely different argument.
“If you wore a condom, you wouldn’t have to worry about that,” I say shortly. I’m tired of being blamed for this. It takes two to tango. He should have wrapped himself up if he was that worried about it.
Both the rage and passion on his face grow in equal measure. As he takes a step closer, I’m unsure if he wants to hit me or kiss me.
I’m starting to think it might be both. Delight coils through me, imagining him bending me over and spanking me. Quickly I shove away those thoughts. I’ve never wanted anything like that before. Why would I want that with Caleb?
“You have no right to tell me what to do,” he growls, his voice going deeper now.
“Then make better decisions,” I snap in reply. That dark look in his eyes is igniting a fire within me. Distantly, I know I should be more cautious and submissive, but I can’t help but challenge him. Self- preservation be damned, he’s gotten his way for too long. Someone needs to tell him how it truly is.
“I could have you hung for your insolence,” he says.
“If you wanted me dead, you would have killed me by now.”
“So bold…” He inches closer. His chest brushes mine. “How dare you stand against me?”
I narrow my eyes. “What are you going to do about it?”
He glares at me hotly for half a heartbeat. Then, in a flash, his arms are around me, and his mouth is crashing down on mine. I move at once, clawing at his shoulders as I open my mouth for the bombardment of his tongue.
But then, unbidden, I think of that same tongue having plunged into some other girl’s mouth tonight. Or worse, between her thighs.
Annoyed and disgusted, I turn my face away.
“You dare deny me what is rightfully mine?” Caleb growls.
“You fucked someone else tonight,” I snap back, not looking at him. “I’m not some sloppy seconds.”
Caleb’s growl increases. “You witch. You think I laid with another while you invaded my every thought?”
He grabs my nightie and yanks it over my head, more fully exposing my breasts. His hands cover them at once, massaging while he flicks his thumbs over my nipples.
I want to hate him. I want to be pissed. But gods that feels so fucking good. My mouth drops open and I gasp. My nipples are hard in an instant, and I press my breasts outward to more fully fill his hands.
“Fucking perfect tits,” Caleb growls. “Now for the rest of you.”
He drops his hands to my hips and tears my panties off my body. Then, he shoves me so that I flop back onto the bed, naked and exposed.
“Spread those legs. Let me see what’s waiting for me.”
At his command, my legs fall open, almost as if they moved on their own.
Caleb drags his own shirt over his head, then kicks off his pants. There, he stands naked beside the bed, slowly stroking his rock-hard cock as he drags his gaze greedily over my body.
Lightly, he scents the air. “Better,” he says. “This is as it should be.”
Recovering my thoughts slightly, I start to close my legs. “I’m not your sloppy seconds.”
“You are whatever I want you to be,” he snaps. Leaning over me, he grabs my knees and forces them open. Then he inserts himself into the space between them.
My body comes alive with his closeness and the promise of what’s to come.
He lines himself up and pushes inside of me without any resistance from my body at all.
“Stop,” I tell him even as I claw at his back, trying to bring him closer.
“I won’t be second…”
Caleb silences me with a passionate kiss. Then pushing himself up slightly, he begins to thrust into me.
I hate how good it feels, and how much I want it.
But not as much as I hate that someone else might have felt this tonight first.
Jealousy fills me, and possessiveness takes over my brain. So, grabbing him, I yank myself up to meet him, put my mouth on his neck, and suck in a mark.
His growl deepens.
Chapter 82
The next morning, I’m sluggish and satisfied, naked in the bed. The covers are over me, but only from the waist down, leaving my breasts exposed while I stretch my arms over my head.
Maybe I’m just more comfortable like this.
Or maybe I’m putting on a bit of a show because Caleb is still here and he keeps glancing back at me, through the body-length mirror he’s standing in front of. He’s naked too, so I can easily spot his twitch of interest every time he glances back.
When he does look back at his own reflection, he examines the clear love bite I sucked into his neck last night. It’s just under the jut of his jawline. If he wasn’t clean-shaven, he might have been able to hide it with a beard. It’s too high for even his highest collar to fully cover it.
I’m satisfied with it, especially after he visited a different consort last night. It pleases me immensely to see my mark on his skin.
His feelings on it elude me, however. One minute he seems amused by the mark. In the next, he’s annoyed.
During an irritated moment, he grunts, “I’ve killed consorts for less than this. No one has the right to mark me. You belong to me, not the other way around.”
There’s always danger, being in the room with Caleb. He’s unpredictable and paranoid, especially when he’s raging. After his rage the other night, and Bethany’s certainties that Caleb means to harm me, it’s difficult to be fully comfortable while in the same room as him. Even as blissed out as I am, I recognize the danger.
Even after everything we shared last night, I’m not sure if he still means to kill me.
Maybe I should cower away from the idea. If I’m careful and submissive, he might decide to let me live, even with all his reasons to kill me.
But I’m not careful or submissive. After all the hardships I’ve faced, I’d prefer to just know upfront what I’m facing.
So I ask, “Are you going to kill me?”
“Maybe,” he says, without even needing to think about it. Stepping away from the mirror, he makes his way back to me. His eyes immediately fall onto my bare breasts. “Probably not today.”
Crawling onto the bed, he moves over top of me, then lowers himself down, face first. His mouth closes over one of my nipples, which immediately perks from the attention.
I comb my fingers through Caleb’s hair.
Then, he shifts his mouth away from my nipple and onto the meat of my breast, where he sucks mark after mark after mark onto my breasts and collarbone. The mark I made, he returns tenfold onto my body.
I hold onto him as he does so, entirely at the mercy of his mouth and his touch.
It doesn’t take long until he has me panting and moaning and screaming his name.
Later, after Caleb has left and Bethany has returned with the new dress, I stand in the mirror, looking at the love bites Caleb put on me, just as he inspected the one I put on him.
Bethany holds up the dress she’s worked on all night, and while it’s beautiful and basically perfect, it has a low, scooping neckline, revealing many of the offending bites and marks.
“Perhaps we could cover them with makeup?” I suggest.
“Impossible,” Bethany says. “King Caleb forbids covering any of his marks. It’s in the core rules of this place.”
Great. And it’s too late to make alterations to the dress. I wouldn’t even want to ask after how quickly and dutifully Bethany has worked on this. It’s clear she didn’t sleep much last night, with those dark bags hanging heavy under her eyes.
“People are going to have questions,” I say. I know I would, if I saw someone as marked up as me. I look like I got into a fight with an octopus, with suction marks all over me.
“You are in the King’s harem,” Bethany replies. “Trust me, they won’t have any questions.”
My face heats up in slight embarrassment. Even as a member of the King’s harem, I don’t want people to know that much about our sex life. Yet a great amount of detail is right here. Clearly, we are passionate about each other. If they see the mark on Caleb, then they will know it isn’t one-sided.
How humiliating.
My stomach drops. What is Samuel going to think?
I want to ask Bethany her opinion, but there’s a chasm between us that spread apart yesterday and seems insurmountable now. I hate it. Bethany is my best – my only – friend here, and if things are going to go south tonight, I don’t want things to end as they are, this distant.
After last night and this morning, I’m not so sure that Caleb wants to humiliate and torture me. He’s promised that he won’t kill me today. But with his temper and paranoia, it’s difficult to say what could happen. I need to be ready for anything, even the bad things.
Bethany walks around me, taking in the dress where it needs. She doesn’t have much work left. It fits like a glove.
“Bethany,” I say. “We should talk…”
“About what?” she asks dully. She definitely knows about what.
But I don’t snap at her. Instead, I force myself to keep my calm. Bethany is my best friend and I want her back. I won’t let my own frustration carve an even bigger canyon between us.
“I know you were trying to protect me,” I say. “It’s clear how possessive Caleb is…” I gesture to my chest. “If he had come last night, and I was out meeting Samuel, he likely would have killed me for real.”
Bethany sighs and some of the tension eases from her shoulders. I hadn’t realized how tightly she’d been carrying herself until she let all that tightness go.
“I’m sorry,” she says. “You are newer here than me. You don’t know the rules… or how things work… If you met Samuel, the King would have found out about it. Then whatever mercy he’s been gifting you by continuing to keep you alive would surely be spent.” She shakes her head lightly. “You need to put any sort of escape out of your mind. There is no escape from the capital. Any that have tried have died.”
I know about that. My escape attempt landed me in the coliseum. I’m not eager to repeat that misadventure. In fact, I still have nightmares of that place.
“I’m sorry too,” I tell her. “I should have listened to your concerns instead of thinking you didn’t care…”
“I do care,” she says.
“I know. Me too.”
We look at each other. I can see my own pain reflected back at me in her eyes.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight,” I tell her. “But I do know that I have a friend here. No matter what happens, you will always be my friend.”
She smiles as she comes in for a hug, which I eagerly return.
After, when I look in the mirror at myself in my beautiful silver dress, I try to brace myself for whatever could await me tonight.
Something dangerous is in the air. I can feel it.
I just hope I survive it.
Chapter 83
Entering the Hall for the Grand Ball, I’m once more amazed by the room’s transformation. This time, golden chandeliers dip down from the high ceiling. Shimmering chains of crystal and glass weave around them, connecting them to each other with delicate grace. When the light passes through the crystals, it sends prism rainbows dancing around the room.
It’s beautiful and feels a bit like walking through a dream. At least until I notice all the people looking at me. Then it feels like a nightmare.
They look at me, then turn to snicker with each other. Instinctively, I want to cover the red marks dotting my skin, but I force myself not to. Instead, I stretch out to my full height and walk as proudly as I can.
These marks were given to me by the King. These people are just jealous.
Even with the awkward location I left the mark on Caleb, I expect him to cover it somehow, with makeup or some type of extra-tall collar.
What I don’t expect is, when I see him standing near his throne, his shirt collar is so low, it sits at the base of his throat, allowing the love bite to be seen far and wide by anyone who looks.
He’d been so annoyed by it before, but now he’s wearing it like a badge of honor.
I truly do not understand him at all.
Though it does make me blush, heating up my cheeks in a rush.
Maybe I should go over there and tease him a little. He might enjoy that if he kept the love mark exposed.
Yet, just as I’m about to walk over there, I stop dead in my tracks when a blonde woman with a high ponytail puts her hand on Caleb’s chest. It’s too familiar, too romantic, and Caleb isn’t pushing her back. Not even when she leans in close, pressing her breasts against his arm as she whispers something into his ear.
She’s not a member of the harem, nor is she any Alpha’s mate. I don’t think I’ve seen her before.
“The Alpha of the Moonlake Pack brought his daughter,” I hear a whisper to my right. Another couple I do recognize from some of the other events is looking at Caleb and this blonde woman. They are part of the King’s court. “What was her name? Sandy? Saundra?”
“Sonya,” says the woman of the pair, correcting her husband.
“Regardless,” the husband continues, “His interests seem clear, and by the way our King is responding, I think the effort is proving successful.
“The Moonlake Pack is one of the biggest, most powerful packs,” the wife says. “It would do well for the King to actually marry this one. It could be a good match.”
“He could add her to the harem,” the husband says.
The wife doesn’t seem convinced. “The Moonlake heir? She’s not the kind you cast aside. She’s worthy of wearing the crown.”
“Perhaps we should introduce ourselves then,” the husband says. “I’d prefer to be on the good side of our future Queen.”
That is where I stop listening.
It hurts too much to even consider this, even though it shouldn’t.
It’s none of my business really if the King wants to get married, and who to…
But after last night and this morning…
Well, it would be a shame to be cast aside.
Thinking like this, I’m ashamed of the marks on my skin and wish I really could hide them away. It makes me feel cheap, to know the King came to me for sex but is seeking a life partner in someone else.
Ug, it’s so frustrating. This shouldn’t be bothering me either! What do I care if the King gets married? Or gets a thousand more harem members. He can do whatever the hell he wants!
I don’t care. The only man I love is Samuel.
Unfortunately, Samuel himself is married.
Glancing through the crowd, I search for my beloved. When I spot him, he’s staring straight back at me.
My heart starts to race, though, admittedly, not as quickly as it would race if I wasn’t so damn distracted by Sonya Moonlake putting her hands all over Caleb. He must say something funny, because she throws her head back in a huge laugh, exposing her long neck.
Caleb’s looking at it which rubs my nerves the wrong way.
“Harper,” Samuel says, suddenly much closer to me. I don’t see Leah around him. I wonder where she could be. Bathroom, maybe. Or getting another drink. She would have never let him come over here by himself.
This close, Samuel looks down at my neck and chest, likely seeing the marks there. As if he’s counting them, he looks from one to the next, his expression growing more and more grim.
“I imagine the King gave you these,” he says, anger and annoyance in his voice. “Seems he enjoys showing you off as his possession.”
“I am in the harem,” I remind Samuel.
Samuel scoffs at me. “That doesn’t mean you have to be such a whore, Harper.”
Those harsh words surprise me for a moment. I never would have thought Samuel would say them deliberately without Leah’s presence. I thought his disdain for me was an act that he put on in front of his wife.
Now I can’t quite convince myself he doesn’t mean the words, since he’s telling me them in private.
Seeing my reaction, he shakes his head a little. “Forgive me,” he says. “It’s just… I wanted to be the only man to touch you. Now… you’ve been tainted by his ugliness.”
“I’m still me,” I remind him. “I’m in the harem. I’m obligated to sleep with the King, but I’m still me.”
“You don’t have to sleep with him,” Samuel says.
“Yes, I do,” I tell him. “Or he’ll kill me.”
“Some things are worth dying for…”.
He’s acting like he has some type of ownership over my body and who I sleep with, which annoys me. He’s supposed to be the one I actually love. Why is he trying to shame me?
And how much of a hypocrite does this actually make him?
“I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that you are married.”
“That has nothing to do with this,” Samuel snaps.
“Doesn’t it?” Since I heard about their marriage, my thoughts have been assaulted with thoughts of the two of them together. My whole life, I dreamed of being with him, and suddenly, all of those fantasies turned into nightmares with Samuel and Leah together.
“Some of us have integrity, Harper. Some of us stick to our principles.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that I’m not now, nor have I ever been, sleeping with your sister,” Samuel says.
“You… aren’t?” I can’t quite believe what I’m hearing. He married her, after all. Surely, he would have had to lie with her. Don’t they have mating bites? How could that be accomplished without the soothing pheromones of an Alpha in a rut?
I’d heard rumors of mates taking painkillers before the bite but… that seems so unnatural. So… wrong.
A mating bond is supposed to be a special, beautiful thing. Not something forced with drugs.
“I haven’t slept with your sister because my heart is with you,” Samuel says. “I only wished you felt strongly enough about me to abstain as well.”
Chapter 84
“You are asking me to deny the King of the kingdom,” I tell him. “The man who does not take no for an answer.”
“Threaten to kill yourself if you have to,” Samuel says.
That slices through me like a blade. Samuel would rather I hurt myself than be ‘spoiled.’ How can this cruel, apathetic man be the man I love? Unless… have I been fooling myself, thinking Samuel was my one true love?
Someone who loved me wouldn’t be happy with my situation… But they wouldn’t think I’m tainted because of it. They wouldn’t think I needed to hurt myself or die outright.
Seeing this side of Samuel makes me glad I decided against running away with him. His love seems entirely conditional. I hate to think it, but at the first real sign of trouble, he might have left me flat.
“What are you thinking?” Samuel asks. “Why are you looking at me like a stranger?”
“Because you are one,” I say. “I don’t recognize the man I love. The way you are talking about me, it’s -“
“There you are.”
I turn and find Caleb suddenly beside me. Glancing around, I notice the entire room has seemed to stop. Everyone, especially the King, is looking right at me.
“Harper,” Caleb asks. “I am offering you the first dance.”
I know better than to turn that down. With everyone watching, rejection could easily be seen as an embarrassment. I’ve been fortunate to so far avoid the fate that Bethany had thought for me. I’m not about to tempt fate by risking it now.
Besides, dancing with Caleb would give me the perfect opportunity to escape this terrible conversation with Samuel that was actively breaking my heart.
Thirdly, I also kind of just really wanted to dance with Caleb.
So as he holds his hand out, it takes me no time at all to slip my hand into his. His fingers curl protectively around the back of my hand as he tugs me, encouraging me away from Samuel and closer to his side. I move at once.
Then, as I’m beside Caleb, he glares at Samuel for a firm five seconds before we blessedly start to move away.
No one is dancing yet, perhaps waiting for the king, so it is up to us to determine where the dance floor begins. Caleb leads me toward the center of the Hall at the front, near the stage holding his throne.
There, he tugs on my hand again, harder this time, yanking me toward him so that I have to lift my free hand to keep from colliding with his chest. My hand presses there instead, though I am close now too. Caleb wraps his free hand around my waist. He lifts the hands we are holding together off to our sides.
He nods somewhere, to an orchestra perhaps, as they immediately start a song with a slower tempo. With violins and timpani, it sounds like a full orchestra.
He moves first, leading, and I follow. Soon, we are slowly dancing around the room. The guests move back, giving us a wide oval of room.
As we near some of the onlookers, I start to hear the whispers. “How could he dance with a harem girl and not his fiancé?”
My stomach sinks. Previously, I’d only heard gossip that he and Sonya would only be a good match, but this whisper now… Had they actually become engaged?
Then why would he choose to dance with me? If he’s truly met his perfect match, then he should be with her. Unless that is another piece of misunderstanding or gossip. Maybe Caleb really isn’t waiting for his perfect mate. Maybe he’s just waiting for close enough to perfect to get by.
From this angle, I have perfect view of the love bite I left under Caleb’s jawline. It gives me some satisfaction seeing it, especially as this new jealousy surges through me.
If he gets married, will he give up his harem? What would happen to me?
“You are staring,” he says, catching me.
I quickly look away. “You should have covered that up.”
“Why? You were bold enough to mark your king, but not bold enough to own it?”
“People don’t think it’s mine,” I say. I refuse to tell him that they think it’s his fiancé’s. I’m not ready to talk about that just yet, afraid of having my worst fears confirmed.
“Then they are fools. We are, after all, a matching set.”
“You gave me twenty compared to your one.”
Caleb glances down at me, heat burning in his eyes. “Oh, there’s many more than twenty.”
Heat flares in my cheeks. I know I’m blushing furiously, likely a bright and vibrant red, but I can’t seem to temper it down. I keep thinking about how they got there.
Gods, what a pleasant morning it was.
Caleb smirks, entirely smug. I want to hate him for it, but he’s earned it this time. And honestly… I find that look on him somewhat endearing. He looked younger like this, boyish and carefree as if teasing me was the most important thing to him at that moment. Usually, the weight of being king hung heavy on his shoulders.
After we danced alone for a moment, others began to choose their partners and join us on the dance floor. Yet even with the other couples, Caleb directed us masterfully around the floor. Or, perhaps, the others were just smart enough to get out of the way.
Another turn and Caleb says, “You were talking with Samuel.”
I would rather trip and fall on my butt in front of all these people than talk about Samuel with Caleb. But with how fiercely he’s holding me around the waist, that doesn’t seem possible.
“I was,” I say and hope that will be the end of it.
With Caleb, of course, it isn’t. “You didn’t seem particularly happy about it.”
I frown a little. I have no idea how to get out of this conversation. I likely can’t, not without giving up at least a kernel of truth.
“He’s changed since I’ve known him,” I admit. “Life has made him hard, maybe. Or perhaps it’s life with my sister that has. But he is no longer the boy I knew.”
Caleb’s smile is gone, replaced instead with a harsh line. The heat in his eyes has dimmed also. It’s frozen over now.
“No longer the man you love?” he asks, voice entirely devoid of emotion.
“I don’t know…”
The Samuel I love could still be in there, somewhere, buried down deep and covered with pain and harshness. Or the Samuel I love never existed at all. He could have been a fallacy I invented in my youth and pinned on Samuel because I wanted him to be more than he was.
I’m hoping for the former, and that I will see that man again. But I suspect the latter might be closer to the truth, with how crudely he was speaking to me. It’s difficult to think if that boy I thought he was is inside there at all, that he would speak to me that way.
Caleb blessedly drops the subject, allowing me to relax again.
That moment of relaxation lasts about ten seconds until we turn a corner and see Sonya of the Moonlake pack standing on the outside ring of guests, watching the dancers.
“Next dance is mine!” she calls boldly.
My stomach drops once more.
I should leave it alone. Things between Caleb and I seem well enough right now. We aren’t fighting at the moment. I could still be pregnant, but it’s unlikely. Caleb hasn’t tried to hurt me all day.
But… it’s like I can’t help myself. I need answers, and I’m not much for waiting. Not when I could have my answers just by asking one simple question.
“Are you really engaged?”
Chapter 85
Caleb glowers at me so hard, so suddenly, that I immediately regret asking my question.
“The King’s personal business is none of yours,” he says sternly.
I nod, embarrassed again. Even curious as I am, and jealous as I am, I can’t force him to answer if he doesn’t want to. He’s the King. He holds all the cards here.
“But, no,” he adds. “I am not engaged.”
“You aren’t?”
He glances at me. “You sound very happy about that fact, Harper. Were you worried I was?”
“Of course not,” I say and quickly look away.
I can feel him smirking again, so I ignore him entirely as we continue to circle the dance floor.
The song ends and a new, faster one begins. I think Caleb will let me go now and find a new partner. Perhaps, Sonya, who clearly made her wishes known for this next dance.
Instead, he continues to hold me and we continue to dance, albeit faster now, to keep time with the tempo.
“My advisors wish for me to marry. They believe the Moonlake heir would be a good match politically,” Caleb says.
“I’ve heard other guests say much the same,” I tell him.
“They like gossiping about me.”
“Well, you are the King. As the most interesting man in the room, it’s only natural that they’d want to talk about you.”
Oh, he’s definitely smirking now. I glance sideways and catch a glimpse.
“Most interesting man in the room, you say?” he teases.
“Don’t let it go to your head,” I reply. “Your ego is big enough already.”
Caleb hums pleasantly, but then continues in a flat voice, “I will not settle for her or anyone else. I am searching for my perfect mate, and only she will satisfy me enough for me to marry.”
Ah, so that much of what Bethany said is true. Caleb only wants children with his true mate. By that account, of course, she’s the only person he would want to marry and make his Queen.
I wonder who she is. I almost hope she’s some rambunctious country girl, his total opposite, who might show up and through a wrench into his entire life. It would be amusing to see Caleb thrown off his game a little.
Yet, at the same time, I also almost hope he never meets his match. He would likely leave me alone if he met her. I should want that, but to my heart, it sounds very lonely. By body especially has enjoyed Caleb’s visits.
“My mate will solve everything,” he says somewhat distantly, almost as if he’s talking to himself.
He’s not though. I’m right here listening, so I don’t let him escape into himself that easily. “Solve what, exactly?”
Caleb is a capable king, albeit a ruthless one. He has a hold over his kingdom that no one really seems to object to. Maybe he could be kinder, but with a war brewing in the north, the kingdom needs someone strong.
“I can admit that I am somewhat more… short-tempered than I used to be. And I acknowledge that I can be… paranoid,” Caleb says. “These shortcomings have been growing exponentially over time. Doctors believe I might be struck with the longing.”
I’ve heard of this. It’s rare, but sometimes if a werewolf senses his true mate and then loses her, or if it’s been too long discovering her at all, he will slowly succumb to rage and paranoia until it drives him to complete madness. The symptoms are stronger in Alphas, who tend to already have more aggressive wolves.
Caleb has the biggest and most aggressive wolf I’ve ever seen. It’s no wonder he is already combating the longing.
I can understand then, Caleb’s urge to find his true mate, as well as his urgency.
It still hurts to think about him with someone else, though. Especially someone who is so perfect for him that she can help heal him. No wonder he’s already in love with this mystery woman.
I will never know love like that. In the King’s harem, I will only ever be known as a number to the king. Whether I am favored in the harem or least favored makes little difference. In the end, the best we could ever hope to be is second to an unknown woman, Caleb’s true mate.
My heart aches and I don’t fully understand why.
“My King! There you are!” Sonya says, bouncing up to us. She’s all smiles and energy. I’m tired just looking at her. “Are you ready for our dance?”
It’s unorthodox for anyone to approach the King for a dance, especially when he’s already dancing with someone else. But she is persistent and confident, I could give her that. The first quality might irritate Caleb but the second would intrigue him.
“Very well,” he says, though doesn’t seem particularly happy about it. I can’t tell if this is a personal move or a political one. With the Moonlake pack being so big and influential, he’s unlikely to want to offend her, the heir.
So he releases me without a word and puts his arms around Sonya instead.
Instantly, I feel much colder.
His attention is entirely on Sonya now, as she chatters about anything and everything. They turn, moving away from me, leaving me behind.
Another couple nearly bumps into me.
“Get off the dance floor if you aren’t dancing,” says one of the pair, snidely.
He could have been nicer, but he’s right. I am in the way. So quickly, I turn and weave my way through the dancing couples to slip past the edge of the crowd.
My plan is to head toward the drink table to retrieve some water. I’m only halfway there when Gwen and Leah step directly into my path. I try to walk around them, but they keep stepping with me, allowing me to go no farther.
“What do you want?” I ask them.
“The King danced with you first,” Gwen says, ice in her voice.
“That was his choice,” I tell her.
“It’s unheard of for a slut from the harem to have the first dance,” Leah adds.
I expect Gwen to be offended by her words, but she doesn’t. They both continue to glare at me, a united form of bitchy aggression.
My heart hurts from being ditched on the dance floor, as well as from the conversation we had before. I’m also combatting nerves over the possibility of being pregnant. I know it’s unlikely but until I have that negative result, worries continue to creep into my brain unbidden.
With those emotions, I hardly have time for petty little jealousies, like the ones Gwen and Leah feel for me. Leah shouldn’t even be bothering me at all. She won Samuel. If she put more effort in, she could probably keep him.
I expect insults and slander, so I lift my chin and prepare myself for the onslaught, defiant. “There’s nothing you can say that will hurt me,” I tell them.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Leah says. Looking to my side, she curls her finger and a new figure approaches us.
I freeze at once, recognizing the shape of Caleb and the way he walks long before I look to confirm it’s him.
“You are worse than a slut, Harper,” Samuel growls. “You are as vile as they come.”
Chapter 86
“You enjoy when he fucks you,” Samuel says with a sneer. “You pretend that you don’t, but you do. The way you danced with him, the way you looked at him… You claim you don’t care for it. You say you fight him but he takes it anyway. Well, I think you want it. I bet you fucking beg for his dick.”
Again, I look at Gwen. She’s in the harem too. She knows what it’s like. But she just crosses her arms and looks down at me with amusement quirking her lips and raising her brows.
“Oh, no. Are you going to cry?” Leah asks with false sympathy. It immediately shifts to hate. “I know you’ve been lusting after my husband since your disgrace, Harper… No, what do they call you here?”
“Harlot,” Gwen provides.
“Harlot,” Leah repeats. “It must hurt you to know how Samuel truly feels about you. How little you matter to him. How disgusted that the mere sight of you leaves him.”
“I see those marks on you and I want to be sick,” Samuel says.
I lift a hand, trying to cover a few of them, but there are many.
Samuel makes me feel so small. The other two, I could have handled, but Samuel is someone who supposedly loves me. He’s said so. He kept the necklace. Yet here he is, saying such vulgar and crude things about me.
Even if he’s angry or jealous or whatever else, there’s no excuse for the way he’s looking at me now, like I’m not even good enough to be put in the garbage.
I can’t face him, not when he’s like this, not if I don’t want to break down.
Currently, the rest of the room is focused on the dance floor, but how soon could their attention turn to us, if one of my attackers spoke too loudly. I couldn’t handle that humiliation, especially not if I were to start to cry.
So, looking up at the ceiling to hold back the tears, I turn away from Gwen, Leah, and Samuel, and start for one of the exits.
I don’t make it far before Gwen pushes me, making me collide with a table. I try to go around it opposite her, but this puts me against the wall. Suddenly, I’m boxed in, with Gwen on one side and Leah and Samuel on the other, and the table in front. There’s nowhere for me to go.
“What are you going to do now, disgusting slut?” Samuel mocks.
“Face who you are,” Leah adds. “Admit that you are the worst kind of whore.”
Gwen just laughs.
“I’m not a whore,” I tell them.
Leah harrumphs. “Those marks say differently, you piece of -“
“Enough,” booms a nearby voice. All of us turn and see Caleb standing tall and regal behind Leah and Samuel, glaring down at them both.
At his raised voice, the orchestra abruptly ceases, though not all at once. A violin shrieks out last night. A tuba plays another bar before falling silent.
Everyone in the room is looking over here now, at Caleb, at my attackers, though Gwen is shying away now, hiding her face, and at me, trapped in a corner.
“Those marks were left on my consort by me,” Caleb says. “Perhaps you would like to call me a whore as well?”
“Of course not, my King,” Leah says, dipping immediately into a deep curtsey. “I did not mean you when I said those things.”
“Yet, you insult the woman I share myself with. Is that not also an insult to me?”
“No, King Caleb, I… I only meant…” Her voice trails.
“Perhaps your husband can explain himself better than you,” Caleb says, turning his icy focus onto Samuel instead. Samuel bows.
“Harper offended us,” he says.
“She did?” Caleb asks with fake curiosity. His voice might have lilted upwards at the end, but there is a distinct annoyance in his eyes that he’s not bothering to hide. Maybe, since they aren’t looking upwards, they cannot see. That’s the only reason I can think of for why Samuel might try to double down on his accusation.
“Most vilely, King Caleb,” Samuel says. “She is a disturbed woman, who meant to flaunt her sex in our faces.”
“How?” Caleb continues to play along.
Samuel takes a second to answer. He clears his throat, then he says, “She propositioned me.”
My eyes go wide. “I did no such thing!” I start to defend myself, but Caleb holds up a hand, silencing me. I can tell from his steady gaze on me that he doesn’t believe it.
Thank the gods.
“Are you suggesting that I leave the women of my harem so unsatisfied that they seek pleasure from other, lesser men?” Caleb asks.
Samuel stiffens as every inch of visible skin on his body pales. “N-no, King Caleb! That’s not what I meant!”
“Then perhaps you should think before you speak next time. If there is a next time,” Caleb says. He motions to a pair of guards that approach. To the guards, he orders, “Watch this pair. If they speak to any member of my harem again, remove them from the capital.” To Samuel and Leah, he says, “You’ve not appreciated my hospitality so far. Do not make me regret my decision to keep you here.”
“Of course, my King,” Leah says.
“Thank you, my King,” Samuel adds.
Caleb’s already done with them, looking to me, instead. “Come with me, Harper. I would speak to you about this privately.”
Nodding, I step between my sister and ex-fiancé to follow along behind Caleb.
Caleb leads me to a familiar side chamber, with a table and a couch.
After we enter, with the door closed, he pushes me up against the wall and kisses me.
Even with his tongue in my mouth, I’m rattled by what just occurred. I can’t keep my hands from shaking, and a pair of tears drip from my eyes.
As Caleb leans back and sees the state of me, he deeply frowns. “I shouldn’t have left you alone.”
“I can handle myself,” I tell him, though my voice is weaker than usual.
“Clearly,” Caleb replies. Suddenly, he drops to his knees.
“Caleb?” I gasp, forgetting formalities for a moment.
In this moment of privacy, he doesn’t seem to mind. He grabs the hem of my dress and rolls it up and up, all the way to my waist.
“Hold this, and accept your King’s generous gift,” he says.
I hold the rolled-up skirt at once. The moment I do, Caleb lets it go and hooks his fingers over the top of my panties instead. Slowly, he tugs them down, down, down to my ankles, and then off of me entirely.
I’m bare and exposed to his hungry eyes. He licks his lips.
“Put one knee on my shoulder,” he commands.
As soon as I do, he lifts his hands, pressing apart my folds, exposing my clit. Then, he leans in, tongue first, and laps greedily at the tender bud.
Immediately I fall about against the wall, but with my leg over his shoulder, and one of his hands firmly on my hip, he keeps me steady as he sucks and licks.
“Ah…” I moan as he presses a finger up inside of me.
“So wet,” Caleb whispers against the meat of my inner thigh. “He’s just jealous, you know. He’s never had you like this, and he never will.”
He hooks his fingers inside of me.
“Caleb…”
“You are mine, Harper. And you will never be his.”
Chapter 87
Caleb keeps me busy for a full 45 minutes, before he rises, wipes off his mouth, and kisses me again. By now, I am fully relaxed, entirely blissed out, and feeling so much better about life and the world.
“I need to return to the Grand Ball,” he tells me. “You are not to leave my side again. Do you understand?”
I don’t trust my voice just yet, so I nod.
“Good.” Looping his arm around my waist, he leads me back out of the side room and to the main hall.
The crowd has moved on to other things. The dancing has continued, and some servers have brought out some foods that people are snacking on. The alcohol is also running aplenty.
As such, some people glance, noticing us as we return to the party, but for the most part, people aren’t giving us much mind.
Caleb’s advisors notice though, or at least the few that I recognize. One of them seems particularly annoyed.
“That’s George,” Caleb whispers in my ear. “He’s been one of my most vocal dissenters.”
“Yet he’s one of your advisors?” I ask.
“I need people around me that will not blindly agree with all of my decisions,” Caleb says. “To truly make the best choices, I need to be presented with every option, to see the events from every angle. Then, I can make the best, most informed choice.”
I’ve seen these things happen in real-time, so I’m not terribly surprised to hear him say this. But it still seems so unusual. For a man so ruthless, he does listen to what almost everyone has to say. In the end, he does what he wants anyway, and the advisors have to respect that since he’s king. But even just listening feels like a step more than other ruthless kings would allow.
George the advisor isn’t the only one giving us a disapproving glare. Sonya, Caleb’s potential suitor, also watches us with a lowered brow and a pouty bottom lip.
Unlike George, however, she has the boldness to actually approach us.
“King Caleb,” she says, ignoring me entirely. “I was hoping that we could speak some more.”
“You are welcome to speak with me now,” Caleb says.
Sonya side-eyes me. “I was hoping to do so… privately.”
Caleb gives her a blank stare. “No,” he says simply.
Sonya must not be used to hearing that word ever in her life, because she recoils as if he physically slapped her.
Caleb glances away, looking as bored as Tristan usually does.
Sonya looks at me. She’s angry now, her brow lowering again. “Could you make some room? I’d like to speak with our King privately.”
Caleb already told her no, but I still look to him for guidance. If he wants me to leave, I will, but I’d much rather stay right where I am and rub it in Sonya’s face.
Caleb ignores us both, but his hand is firm on my hip, telling me. without his needing to verbally, that I’m not going anywhere.
This gives me the confidence I need to look at Sonya and tell her, “No. I don’t think I will.”
Her pouty lip turns into a snarl. “Do you know who I am?”
I tilt my head. I do know who she is, but I’m not going to give her ego any kind of boost right now. She already seems to think highly enough of herself already. Approaching the King like she is, as if she knows him as if they are on the same level…
… I could just be jealous. I know that. That’s the only thing keeping me from gloating.
“I do as the King commands,” I tell her, reminding her gently – I hope – about her place.
She glowers at me, then pouts at Caleb. “My King…”
“You’ve had your answer,” Caleb says. “You can stay and speak with me like this, or you can leave. Those are the only two options presented to you.”
Sonya’s face crumples like she doesn’t know what to do with it. She’s entirely at a loss.
I was joking mostly before, but maybe she really has never been told no before. She’s acting so shaken and unsure.
“Come, Harper,” Caleb says, leading me toward the balcony. “There is something I want you to see.”
Caleb and I move first, leaving Sonya behind. She seems confused like she isn’t sure whether to follow or not. In the end, she stays put where she is.
As Caleb and I move toward the balcony behind the throne at the end of the hall, many other guests follow along behind us. Perhaps I’m not the only one who wishes to see whatever is about to happen. I’m starting to get the feeling that I’m in for a spectacle.
Outside, night has set in, and the stars burn brightly in the sky. Some of the outside lights have been dimmed. For the show? I nervously shift from foot to foot, unsure what to expect.
That is until I hear a nearby guest say the word fireworks.
My heart fills with glee as I look back at Caleb. He’s watching me.
“Fireworks?” I ask, excitement bubbling in my voice.
He nods.
“I love fireworks,” I say. They’ve always been a bright spot for me, before my disgrace and after. They almost feel larger than life, so bright and beautiful, memorable, even if short lived. They fill me with a sense of wonder, and make me hope for a brighter future, one where I could shine and sparkle again.
“I know,” Caleb says.
This surprises me, and I look at him again in curiosity. How could he possibly know? Before I can ask, the first pop sounds in the sky, draw my attention.
Caleb spared no expense with this show. There’s an assortment of colors and sizes, some pop like bubbles, others invert. Some trail across the sky with a shrieking wail. Some pop into shapes, like a flower, a moon, or, most impressively, a wolf.
I’m so entranced with the fireworks that it takes me longer than it otherwise would have for me to realize that Caleb isn’t watching the show. He’s watching me.
I meet his gaze, and in the dark, I can see the reflection of the fireworks there in his eyes. It’s enchanting. I’ve never watched fireworks like this before. I can’t look away.
My heart thunders loudly in my chest, and I become very aware of the arm still wrapped around my waist, the hand pressed against my hip.
“Caleb…” I whisper, but the sound is instantly swallowed by the thunder and crackle of the fireworks.
The scent of gunpowder hangs heavy in the air.
At that moment, I feel more alive than I have in months. Alive and… happy.
How can I be happy when I am a slave? A prisoner under a ruthless king?
Yet, I get the distinct impression, somehow, even though it’s likely misguided, that he did this for me. Because he knows I love fireworks. I still don’t know how that’s possible, though I’m learning, with Caleb, nothing is impossible.
The man has many secrets, and he’s only shared a tiny few of them.
Suddenly, another firework booms louder than the rest, so loudly it makes the castle itself shake.
Caleb’s brow furrows as he looks away.
Another boom sounds. Wait. That’s not fireworks.
With a flash, one of the towers along the outer wall explodes, sending bricks and debris flying, and fire smoke into the air.
Caleb pulls me back away from the railing.
With the backdrop of the flames, and the fireworks still popping, I see curious figures. They’re round at the top and…
“Parachutes,” Caleb curses, sending an alarm crashing through me. “We’re being invaded.”
Chapter 88
More and more people start to notice. Then screaming and panic begins. People start running for the doors back into the hall. Caleb and I, closest to the railing of the balcony, are left pushing at the back of the fearful crowd.
Behind us, more and more parachutes blot out the sky. A few come uncomfortably close, landing in the courtyard beyond. Gunfire sounds, lighting up the night with flickering flashes. The sounds make me cower, afraid of being hit.
Then, my worst fear, before the balcony can fully clear out, a few large men with parachutes land directly onto the balcony.
“Behind me, Harper,” Caleb demands, shoving me as he steps forward.
The other men have assault rifles. I pull out my small knife like that will make a difference.
“King Caleb?” one of the men calls out. It’s hard to discern their figures exactly, with them wearing black as they are. They even have dark paint smeared over their faces.
“You already know,” Caleb growls. “What is the meaning of this intrusion? Were you disappointed you never received invitations to the party?”
I’m in awe of Caleb at this moment, facing down the guns of his enemies and being glib about it. He truly knows no fear.
“Long live the bear clan!” one of the intruders shouts and suddenly gunfire breaks out.
A few guests behind me scream. Bullets clatter around us, striking nearby. A few people, I suspect, are hit, by how fast they fall to the ground.
Caleb’s body shifts as the bullets hit him. Still, he roars as he shifts, growing in height and width. His wolf is two stories tall, towering on the balcony, barely able to fit.
He roars again, as he rushes forward, swiping the enemies with his large claws.
“These are silver bullets!” one of the men cries, fear in his voice. “They should hurt him!”
“Take him down!” another command, likely the leader of this particular group. “Take him down!” He’s louder than the screams, somehow able to rally what’s left of his troops.
Unfortunately for them, Caleb is as fast as he is vicious, and he tears through them all without mercy.
Unfortunately for us, more enemy soldiers are dropping onto the balcony, like there’s an endless wave of them. How could there be so many? Is the bear clan dropping their entire army down on us?
Caleb turns and in his red, monstrous eyes, I see a hint of fear. It’s not much, but when combined with the blood oozing from the wounds on his chest – wounds that aren’t healing, I know we are in very real danger. He nudges his head toward the door. It’s open now, I can escape within.
But I don’t want to leave him.
I have to though. What good is my knife against an army of well-armed bear shifters? If I stay, I will only get in his way. He’ll be hindered, forced to protect me.
“Follow,” I tell him. “Don’t stay out here.”
He chuffs at me and turns, facing the next group of attackers.
I don’t wait for the bullets to fly. If he won’t listen to me, I have to find more guards to send his way. And the only direction I know guards are is inside the Hall.
Rushing, I fly into the hall only to be faced with more chaos.
Somehow, bears have infiltrated inside of the palace as well. Many of these enemy soldiers have already shifted, and now large actual bears are bellowing and storming through the room.
Many guests have already fallen, mauled by the bears or the bullets.
There are too many wide spaces now, with people fleeing through the open doors or fallen and dead. There’s nowhere to hide.
So when one of the mauling bears turns his bloody maw to me, I can only run.
I’m fast for a human, but not so fast for a bear. Three wide strides and a pounce, and the bear collides with me, sending me toppling hard down onto the ground. I slide across the bloody floor, stopping as I back against an overturned table.
I scramble to stand again, as the bear rears onto its back feet and roars straight into my face. I hold my knife out in front of me protectively, my last line of defense.
The bear huffs a few times, like it’s laughing at me and my small knife. Then, it rears back to one side, as if it is about to swipe down to strike me.
Just as it’s about to, a gray wolf pounces on it, closing its jaws into the side of the bear’s neck. By sheer mass, bears are generally larger than wolves, even Alpha ones, and this is no exception. The wolf dangles like an accessory around the bear’s neck.
Yet bears are slow whereas wolves are faster. And with the wolf already clamped down on the bear’s neck, it struggles to beat it away. Soon, the bear is brought low, choking in a pool of its own blood. As the wolf turns to face me, I recognize it at once.
Samuel.
This is Samuel’s shifted form.
Leah screams from nearby, drawing both of our attention. A bear swipes at her, catching her on the side. She’s flung like a paper doll. Samuel instantly moves to block the bear’s second attack.
Meanwhile, I rush to Leah’s side.
I roll her over to inspect the damage. Her dress is torn at the waist, and she’s bruised pretty badly. Yet miraculously, the bear’s claws only left slight marks on her skin. They aren’t deep.
Leah’s fear must be fueling her adrenaline. As I pull her up, she doesn’t even complain about the pain, or about my closeness. She simply seems as if she’s desperate to get away.
“Harper,” she starts.
“We’re going,” I tell her and push her out into the hallway. There’s less chaos out here, at least for the moment, and we have a moment to breathe.
I urge her forward toward the stairwell that will lead us down to what I hope is the safety of the underground.
As we near it, I say, “We should wait for Samuel.”
“To hell with that bastard,” Leah snaps.
I glance at her, confused and surprised. Had they not attacked me as a unified front only a few minutes before? What could cause this division between them now?
“Didn’t you see?” she says to me, cruelty and hatred in her voice, even as she clings to my shoulder for support. “The bears attacked us both, yet he ran to you. It was you he saved before even considering my life. Me! His wife! The Luna of his pack! Still, he wants his whore.”
“Don’t call me that,” I say, only now realizing how right he is. Samuel did rush to my protection, abandoning his wife to her fate. Worse, he might not have even realized he’d done so.
“I’m sure he just didn’t see you…”
“Bullshit,” she snaps. “That bastard abandoned me. Let the bears. have him.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“Like hell, I don’t.”
As we round a corner, I hear a distinct set of wolf footsteps behind us. Just as we reach the stairwell, Samuel is with us once more.
“Get the hell away from me!” Leah shouts.
From deeper within the stairwell, I hear the distinct sound of a bear growl.
Chapter 89
Leah’s angry shriek at Samuel has alerted every single danger in the stairwell to our presence, and some in the hallway too. Their thunderous footsteps come closer to us.
Samuel uses his body to push Leah and me inside the stairwell. I yank closed the door behind us and turned the inside lock.
From somewhere beneath us, padded footsteps start to come up the stairs. Samuel places himself between us and the stairs.
“You protected Harper,” Leah continues to hiss like our lives aren’t in immediate peril. I shush her, but she doesn’t listen. “You went to her like it was your reflex, and left your wife to die.
It could be the fear and adrenaline, and perhaps some blood loss, that is making her panic like this. But that panic isn’t helpful right now. Not when her frantic outbursts are just making more trouble for us.
“He’s protecting you now so be quiet,” I whisper to her.
“So easy for you to say, Harper. You aren’t here about to die knowing your husband won’t put you first.”
There are so many things I want to say to her, like, Maybe, you shouldn’t have married my ex-fiancé. Or, What do you expect when you treat everyone around you like garbage?
Instead, I tell her, “We can argue about this later.”
“There won’t be a later!” Leah shouts.
Too loud. Far too loud.
Whatever had been looking for us in the hallway began to pound on the door. That lock is flimsy, meant only to direct and deter the slaves. There’s no real threat in it. It’s not meant to keep out monsters.
The wood of the door begins to splinter. What surprises me, in my panic-addled brain, is how the door seems more likely to give before the lock. Perhaps it’s not such a flimsy lock as I previously thought.
Samuel starts to growl. He backs up some, shielding me somewhat with his body.
Leah’s eyes go wide with shock and distress. “You utter bastard! You are doing it again!”
Just then, the bear breaks down the door. Its massive form fills the doorway. Drool and blood drip down from its chin in sick wet globs. It lifts itself up onto its hind legs, rears back like it’s taking in a great inhale of breath. Then it roars loudly straight at us. The breath – the stench of it assaults our noses.
Samuel growls as he lowers himself, ready to pounce.
As the bear finishes its roar, it moves to take one step forward, when suddenly, a massive arm smacks it from the side, sending it flying away. It careens away like a bag of potatoes, disappearing further down the hallway.
In its place, Caleb, in his massive Alpha wolf form, leans down to peek his head in through the doorway. When he sees me, he immediately shifts down to his human size.
“What the hell are you still doing here, lingering around?” he demands. Though he’s shifted to human form, the blood remains covering him. His face is red, and it’s dripping down his arms and legs. “Come on.” He pushes past Samuel and immediately starts to go down the stairs.
I follow along at once, with Leah and Samuel behind me.
Down a flight, we hear another growl of a bear.
Caleb turns to look at me. “We have to get downstairs. No matter what else happens. The only way out through the tunnels is one the base level.”
“We’re running away?” I ask.
“Just follow me. No matter what,” he says. He’s gross, covered in blood and who knows what else, but he’s serious. And for whatever reason, of all the people he could be choosing to protect right now, he’s picked me.
Right now, I’d follow him to the ends of the earth.
At least, I want to.
A flight of stairs down, we are confronted with another bear. Caleb shifts into his massive wolf form and tackles it. He’s contorted in the tight chasm of the stairwell, but even then he still seems to be winning.
“This way!” Samuel says, pushing Leah and me toward the exit of this landing, which would lead us out into one of the interior floors, but certainly not the lowest.
“Caleb said to follow him!” I reply, pushing back.
But Samuel is much stronger than me. “Your king is the target here. He’ll only lead us into death!”
I continue to try to fight against Caleb, but he doesn’t give me an inch, He said to follow him. He said the lowest floor was the only way out.
Samuel’s not listening. To any of it. Not even to me, as I scream, “We have to follow Caleb!”
A bear appears in the hallway behind us, forcing us now to run forward and leave Caleb behind. I curse with each forward step. Samuel shifts, turns and faces the bear, and pounces again. I look behind me, to make certain that Samuel is okay. When I look forward again, Leah is gone.
Did she hide? Where did she go?
I have no idea, and before I can figure it out, another bear appears before me. Not knowing what else to do, I duck into a side door and hope to the gods it has another way out.
Locking the door behind me, I peer farther into the room I’ve found myself in. It looks like a classroom, with desks and shelves of books. Near the back of the room is another descending staircase, though it’s not nearly as steep as the main one that connects all the levels. This one, at least, might lead me to a safer location.
At this point, any way of getting down is a good way, after hearing what Caleb said to me.
Rushing to the stairs, I take them two at a time down, down. There’s a door at the bottom. I try for the handle but it’s locked.
On the other side of the door, I hear women talking.
“Hello?” I call. “It’s Harper! Is anyone there?”
“Harper?” I hear Gwen’s voice. “Don’t open the door, you idiots. This is our chance.”
“Please!” I say. “I know we’ve had disagreements, but -“
“Enjoy your mauling, Harper,” Gwen shouts. “There’s no way anyone is letting you into this safe room.”
I’m too frightened to be hurt or proud, so I beg, “Please, Gwen! This is life or death!”
“It was too, with Nina and Madeline! You’ve made your choices, bitch. Now live with them!”
I realize with a growing pit in my stomach, that Gwen is not going to let me inside this room. It’s a safe room, she said so herself, but to me, it might as well have been on a different planet.
Then, thinking of all the harem members locked inside, I had to ask, “Is Bethany in there with you?”
“Why the hell would we save the handmaidens?” another girl scoffs.
Shit. Gods, I hope wherever she is she’s safe.
Right now, with this option barred, I have to focus on myself.
I move back into the classroom and then press my ear to the door.
It’s quiet now, I don’t hear anything, so I risk opening it, just a hair. There’s no one in the hallway.
Careful not to make a sound, I sneak out of the room and move back toward the stairwell. There’s no sign of Caleb or anyone else, at least, not beyond the blood and ripped-out floor on the stairs.
I send a quick prayer to whatever god might be listening that it’s not Caleb’s.
I move slowly down into the depths of the capital, holding my breath with each step.
Then, blessedly, I reach the final step and the final door.
On the other side, the house-like rooms are dark and abandoned. The wallpaper is torn. There’s bullet holes in the walls.
This was a battlefield once, but no longer.
Curiously, I move toward one of the open doors.
Just as I reach it, I watch Caleb’s strong Alpha wolf crash through an upstairs window. He falls lifeless down, down, gaining speed as he goes, before disappearing behind a nearby building with a sickening crash.
Chapter 90
Maybe I should be more worried about myself. There are unfamiliar soldiers walking around the streets, and gun battles seemingly around every corner. Here, underground, where everything already echoes, it’s disorienting, not knowing which way the gunfire is coming from.
I move to step out of the capital building and onto the underground street when a hand catches my arm and yanks me back into the inside shadows.
I turn, ready to swing my knife but stop when I see Samuel’s bloody face. Oh, I could still smack him for separating us from Caleb, whose life now presumably hangs in the balance in that alleyway. But I don’t want to actually stab him. Yet.
“Where’s Leah?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” he says. There’s something wild in his eyes like his wolf is simmering just beneath the surface. “But now’s our chance, Harper. Don’t you see?”
“Chance for what? What are you talking about? Everything is in chaos.”
“And that chaos is just the distraction we need to finally escape.”
It takes me a moment to realize what he’s talking about. With everything going on, I’d been much more focused on survival than on anything else. But now he’s talking about me and him, running away.
He doesn’t even know where Leah is. She could be dead. And so could the King.
Logically, this would be the time to make our escape. If the bears find or kill the King, then everyone would be running around so much, that they wouldn’t even notice us missing. They’d probably just assume we were dead too.
Samuel takes my hand. His is covered in warm slimy blood. It makes my skin crawl.
“We can finally be together,” Samuel says. His smile conveys his hope, but it also is unnerving. With so much death around us, so much pain and destruction, how can he feel anything but bleak misery?
He and I just aren’t built the same. I knew it while he accused me of being a whore in the Hall, and I know it now.
I can’t run away from this, while so many people are hurt.
While Caleb is hurt.
“He landed somewhere around here!” a soldier yells from outside. I look but I genuinely can’t tell if it’s a soldier on our side or not.
If it’s the enemy, they don’t know where Caleb is. But I do.
If I could get to him first…
“Harper…?” The hope starts to wane from Samuel’s face. We might not be meant for each other, but we’ve known each other our whole lives. He must be able to see that something has shifted within me. “You have to come with me,” he says with added desperation.
“I’m needed here,” I say.
“By who? Who needs you more than I do?”
“The King…”
Samuel’s upper lip curls into a snarl.
“The bears are all around, and they are searching for him. If they find them, and he’s too hurt to defend himself… I have to help him,” I say, trying to make him understand.
“And just what could you possibly do? That little knife might deter a human but it won’t do anything to a bear.” He’s angry now, furious that I’m choosing Caleb over him. He doesn’t know he already lost me earlier in the day. He thinks everything is happening in this moment.
I don’t have the time or the energy to explain where he went wrong. It has to be enough right now for him to just accept the rejection.
“I’m sorry, Samuel. Truly, I am. But I’m not going to leave Caleb out there to die.”
“Now, he’s just Caleb,” Samuel spits.
I don’t have time for this anymore. “Goodbye,” I tell him, then rip my arm free of his grasp. Before he can stop me, I slip outside.
I’m not a trained soldier and I don’t know much about stealth, but I keep to the shadows as best I can as I move around toward the alleyway where I saw Caleb fall into. Fortunately, as this area is underground, it’s already dark. And many of the streetlights have been shot out, making it even darker.
The bear soldiers have flashlights on their helmets. I freeze when a pair of them go by. Then I count to ten before I move again, moving silently around the curve of a building. I take a few wrong turns into wrong alleyways before I finally find the one with the right body.
I know it’s Caleb as soon as I turn the corner. He’s not in wolf form anymore, shifted back to human. That he’s still mostly intact fills me with relief. He didn’t shift until after the fall, thank the gods, or he might be in pieces right now.
Swallowing thickly, I hold my breath as I approach him. Kneeling beside him, I reach out and slowly place two fingers at the pulse point in his neck.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
His heartbeat is light, but present. I exhale, relieved. He’s alive. Though looking down at the broken and battered state of his naked body, I don’t know how long that will continue to be the case.
But what can I do to help him? I’m no nurse or medic. I don’t have any medical training. And I’m also unsure if I could move him if I tried. But don’t I have to try?
“Harper,” Samuel hisses from behind me.
After the initial shock, I’m overjoyed to see him. He’s stronger than me. He’s not as strong as Caleb but he’ll be able to help me lift him. Together we can get Caleb somewhere safer, somewhere the invading bear clan can’t find him.
I start to tug at Caleb’s arm. “Help me. We have to move him.”
Samuel shifts his gaze from me down to Caleb. He takes a step forward, but there’s something stilted about it. Something off.
“Samuel?” I say, feeling a twinge of fear at the base of my spine. How unusual. Even when I’ve been pissed as hell at Samuel, even when he’s called me terrible names, I’ve never been afraid of him.
I step a little closer to Caleb, blocking off Samuel’s direct line of sight, blocking it.
Samuel refocuses on me. “We could do it, Harper. No one would know it was us. We could end his tyranny.”.
“Are you serious?” I ask, hoping with all my heart that the answer is no. I’ve known since earlier today that Samuel isn’t my partner, but if he’s serious about this, he won’t even be my friend.
Killing Caleb while he is too injured to defend himself is cowardice down to its core. How could Samuel even entertain the idea?
If he truly wants this, he’s not fit to be the leader of my pack.
“I could do it if you cannot,” Samuel says. “I’ll save you from him, Harper. He’s the reason you continue to stay here, right? You feel bound to him? Then let me cut his throat and free you from your chains.”
He moves to step around me. I move too, blocking his path.
“If you suggest this one more time, I won’t ever speak to you again, Samuel.”
That seems to surprise him. “I want to save you…”
“By killing an unconscious man? It’s not honorable, not for him and not for you. And not for me, to be sited as the reason.”
“But, Harper…”
“Leave, Samuel. Now. If I have to fight you to protect the King, I will.”
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