66. Raine
66
Raine
My blood is practically boiling as I traipse down the hall, my mind spinning from Aiden’s words.
Even now, I can’t deny the draw I feel to him in his presence, but despite that deep, twisting feeling, I know it isn’t the same as it once was.
Memories flash in my brain of that fateful night. The night this bond snapped into place, the night Aiden first came to me. The night he took me over and over again.
That night, it had all seemed endless, perfect. Like nothing and no one could touch us.
How wrong I’d been.
“Raine...” Delilah’s voice pulls me from my thoughts, and I stop dead in my tracks.
I look up, seeing her familiar face, and the pain comes back. All of it.
I barely open my mouth before she is in front of me, pulling me into her arms.
“Delilah...” I mean to speak solidly, but my voice comes out barely a whisper.
Her arms wrap around me, familiar. Warm.
But I can feel a slight tremor in her touch, almost as if she is afraid. But what would Delilah have to fear at this moment?
I hold her at arm’s length, trying to regain my footing.
I don’t know what I expect her to say. I’m not sure if there is anything she can say, but unlike mine, her voice does not waver when she speaks.
“What did he say?” she asks.
I look at the closed door, knowing on the other side of it lies the man who broke my heart. Who rejected me and his baby because he didn’t believe me.
Then I look at Delilah, anger and confusion mixing in my gut. But he believed her.
“He said he wants to claim my child.” My words are heavy in the air.
“That’s what you wanted,” Delilah says, chewing her bottom lip. “It’s what you’ve wanted all along.”
She isn’t wrong—as she says the words, I feel the weight of that truth in my heart.
I did want him. The night our bond snapped into place, and all those nights after, I wanted him to choose me because I had already chosen him. I chose him the moment I laid eyes on him—before I even knew who he was.
When I lay in that cage, I thought of Aiden. The hope that he would accept us kept me from going crazy in the darkness. Deep down in our bond, I believed fate would not have led me to him if it wasn’t meant to be.
Even after Aiden had rejected our bond and the fruits of it, I still hoped. But somewhere along the journey from Andromeda to the Southern Kingdom, things changed.
I changed.
I lost hope. But in the ashes of a broken bond, I found it again. But it wasn’t because of him.
It was because of some dumb fish and an alpha who challenged me, met me where I stood, took me as I was, and never doubted me for a moment, even though he had every right to.
“It’s complicated, Delilah,” I tell her, hating how despondent I sound.
Her eyebrows wrinkle, and she purses her lips.
I swallow hard as footsteps echo in the hall. I flash my gaze up over her shoulder to meet familiar dark eyes.
The sight of Nyx, his fiery gaze and solid stance, makes my insides flutter. My mouth parts just slightly as I realize my blood is no longer boiling, my nerves no longer frayed. A soft sound escapes my lips as I settle my hand over my belly, as I see the truth for what it is.
“Raine,” he growls my name, his tone ripe with possession.
I barely open my mouth before he is beside me, making the world around me disappear into shadows.
Fate brought me to Aiden and showed me the trappings of a bond beyond my control. But destiny led me to Nyx, and now it is asking me to choose.
“Nyx,” I breathe his name, sealing my truth.
“Yes?” his voice drops an octave, a dark whisper that I garner would strike fear into his enemies if he put more growl behind it.
“I need to speak with Delilah,” I say. “Alone.”
The sound of the door creaking open threatens to pull my attention, but I can’t look at Aiden right now.
I can only lose myself in the alpha king in front of me.
The man I’ve fallen in love with.
Nyx growls, flashing an angry scowl at Aiden behind me. I settle my hand on his arm, squeezing lightly.
“Please,” I whisper. “Just...don’t hurt him.”
Nyx grinds his jaw. I turn to look at Aiden, noticing Delilah has moved to his side.
I don’t miss the way their arms touch.
Jealousy sparks through me, even though I know it is downright hypocritical.
“Fine.” He hisses, his palm on my arm like a brand of heat. “You may speak with Delilah alone,” he says regally. “But the Northern King is to remain detained until further notice.”
I barely have time to react before Rose and Wren are beside Aiden. He flinches, though I’m not sure from who, biting out, “Don’t touch me!”
“Aiden, please, just do as they say,” I say in exasperation.
His gaze meets mine, and I hate the way it makes me feel—like somehow I have wronged him.
I turn away as Delilah stands, frozen in place.
“Rose, please show Raine and her friend to the courtyard. Make sure they are comfortable,” Nyx says to her. She only nods in agreement.
Before I can get a word out, Nyx takes one step forward, swiftly hooking his knuckle underneath my chin, forcing me to look up at him.
I barely have a moment to process the movement before his lips are on mine, silencing every thought that dares to interrupt such a perfect, deliberate kiss.
I’m no fool; I know what Nyx is doing. Staking his claim without a word, showing the alpha who wishes to challenge him what is his.
I should be pissed. I should be downright upset that I have somehow ended up in the middle of the Northern Alpha King-to-be and the vicious Southern King, but a part of me feels emboldened by that fact.
Especially the part of me that easily submits to the probing of Nyx’s tongue in my mouth.
His lips curl up in the corners as he whispers into my mouth, “Good girl,” before placing his lips at my ear, nipping my flesh with his teeth.
I suck in a breath as he places a soft kiss beneath my ear before turning away, leaving me standing in the middle of the hall, my thighs wet with heat from the ferocity of his kiss, and I remember we are not alone.
Aiden growls as Rose gently sets her hand on my arm. Delilah’s gaze meets mine, and neither of us says a word as Rose leads us to the courtyard.