67. Raine
67
Raine
I can barely contain myself or my nerves when I set foot in the courtyard. Delilah is the first to speak.
“So that is what has changed,” she says, her voice tinged with jealousy. With hurt.
I pinch the bridge of my nose, squeezing my eyes shut.
“I told you, it’s complicated.”
Delilah scoffs. “Yes, it looked quite complicated when the King of the South had his tongue shoved down your throat.”
I can’t help but snap, turning to her with a bite of my own.
“Do not judge me!” I say, feeling anger boil to the surface. “You have no idea what I have been through, what—”
“Really, Raine?” She shrieks. “Has the Southern King poisoned you so much you’ve forgotten that it was I who set you free from Daniel’s cell? Is his venom so potent that he has bewitched your brain?”
I shoot her a scathing look. “Of course I remember!” I say, thankful Delilah is keeping her distance. Right now, I feel far too agitated for closeness.
“Then how can you stand there and act as if I, too, have not endured hardship to find you? My best friend! To bring you your fated mate!”
Tears beckon to spill from my eyes. “I did not ask you to do such a thing!” I snap.
Delilah is in front of me within seconds.
“You didn’t have to, Raine!” she says. I can see the tears in her eyes, my own pain reflected in her gaze. “That’s what friends do. They tell each other the truth and fight for one another.”
I look to Rose, who stands in the corner, watching us intently. Her usual smile is plain, a mask.
But her eyes look misty as well.
“Do you love him?” Delilah asks, and the tension is as thick as leather in the open air.
Rose watches us, her chest rising and falling steadily, betraying no hint of worry or concern. But I know she, too, is waiting for my answer.
I open my mouth to speak, and Delilah stops me. “Don’t you dare say it is complicated, Raine. I want the truth.”
She holds my gaze like an alpha.
“Yes,” I say, my voice solid and unwavering. I don’t miss the gasp from Delilah’s lips or the smirk on Rose’s face, though she says nothing.
“It wasn’t...I didn’t plan for it to happen...I didn’t mean to—”
Delilah nods slowly, and the words come of their own volition.
“Daniel sold me, Delilah. I didn’t know what to think at first—I mean, why would a vicious alpha king like Nyx want someone like me? ” I look up at her, the tears sliding out of my eyes without permission. “Broken. Beaten. Pregnant.”
I can barely look at either Rose or Delilah as the memories resurface of those first few days when I couldn’t be certain of even my own shadow. I feared everything, even myself, then.
But Nyx never wavered.
“I was sold to him as a breeder. I was prepared to endure painful things under his rule, but...Nyx has only shown me kindness when cruelty would be so much easier.”
My gaze catches Rose’s, and I see tears threatening to spill from her eyes, too.
“Aiden rejected me. He broke our bond, and I didn’t think I would ever recover from such a devastation.”
I fall to the ground as I let the emotions and truth surface for the first time.
“I may not be bound to Nyx, not in the way I am to Aiden. But what I feel for him is so much more than I could have ever hoped to feel for anyone ever again.”
Delilah sits in front of me, taking my hands in hers.
“I cannot sit here and be angry that you have found someone that makes you feel this way,” she says calmly. “Even if it is not for Aiden. But no matter how deep your feelings run for Nyx, you cannot change the fact that Aiden is as much a part of you as you are of him.”
Her hands stray to my belly, and I have to stifle a sob.
“You can pretend all you want, Raine. Nyx can shout his claim to the lands beyond, but no amount of shouting or pretending will erase the truth.”
I squeeze her hand, the birds chirping overhead, oblivious to their surroundings.
“I’m not pretending, Delilah, I—”
“You have to think about what is best for this child , Raine. For your kingdom. Not just what is best for you.”
I know she means her kingdom. Our home.
But the truth is that is not my kingdom anymore. Aiden made sure of that when he turned me away in exile.
No, my kingdom is where my alpha rules. Where Nyx rules.
Aiden’s words reverberate in my brain. He said he’d do anything for a chance to prove he’d changed and that his feelings were true. How could I be so sure his words were genuine and not just some ploy to solidify his alpha kingship? How can I trust his words when he has failed me before?
I slip my hands out of Delilah’s, my gaze flashing at Rose.
“You’ve been awfully quiet,” I say.
Rose shrugs. “It isn’t my place to intervene,” she says, but we both know Rose has quite an opinion of her own. Her gaze flashes to Delilah, her stance tense.
“But surely you have an opinion on the matter?” I ask gently.
Rose crosses her arms.
“As much as it pains me, Delilah is right. There is more at stake here than just your feelings.” She sighs. “Though Aiden has done nothing to prove he is worthy of anything from you or your child, despite his hand in making it.” A soft smile graces her lips as she nods at Delilah. “So, you would be well within your right to deny the asshole of anything he asks.”
“Aiden is perfectly within his right to ask! It is only because of his love for Raine—his fated mate —that he has not declared war on the Southern King as is!”
Delilah stands, her cheeks flushed and pink. I watch as she and Rose circle each other. I’ve known Delilah all my life, and while she’s always been much more outgoing and bolder than I am, I’ve never seen her quite so agitated.
Especially over an alpha . I remind myself Aiden is not just any alpha. He is an alpha king-to-be. Her king-to-be.
I’m not sure why I didn’t see the signs when Delilah and Aiden arrived, but it’s more than evident now as she defends him. Defending one’s alpha king is expected, of course, but the tenor of her voice, the conviction in her words, goes beyond that of a dutiful subject.
“Stop!” I holler, but they continue to argue.
“I said stop!” I scream, my voice ranging on the edge of a howl. Both of them stop, turning to look at me.
“I need time to think,” I say as I get up, brushing past both of them as I head for the door.
Rose tries to stop me, but I shoot her a glare.
“Do not follow me, either of you.”
To my surprise, they both stand their ground. I turn the door handle, giving them my back as I make my way through the hall with a heavy heart and a nagging truth.