68. Aiden
68
Aiden
With the reputation that precedes him, I half expect the Southern King to throw me in a dungeon. Instead, I find myself in a room that is most certainly fit for guests of stature.
The gesture only makes me even more suspicious of his intentions.
Raine’s words echo in my head, my brain turning them over and over, trying to understand.
She said Calloway plans to claim this child as his.
My child.
The notion of any alpha claiming another man’s child as his own is absurd, let alone claiming one as an heir to his throne.
Unless Calloway plans to use Raine and our baby to take my kingdom.
It would be the smart thing to do, although Raine certainly doesn’t seem to suspect him of plotting it. Then again, for all her charms, she has no idea what sordid things happen behind closed doors when it involves alphas and kingdoms—the choices one must make to protect their people or the things we must do to keep things peaceful.
Like agreeing to take a Luna before you discover your fated mate.
Calloway’s beta inspects his fingernails on the other side of the room as I shift in my chair. I’m not entirely sure how long the Southern King plans to keep me here in this damn room, but I am, if anything, a patient man.
Most of the time.
I meant every word I said to Raine. I can’t begin to make her understand the depth of my regret. Whatever happens between us, I will have to live with my actions for the rest of my life. I rejected her, our bond, and my own child.
I will do whatever it takes to right those wrongs, not because I deserve a second chance—Lord knows I don’t.
But because Raine and my child deserve so much more.
I shift in my chair as the image of her beneath his grasp fills my mind. Knowing the sounds she makes and what her tongue feels like against my skin, amongst other things, makes me equally hard and angry.
I’d doubted Calloway, assuming he had kept his distance because of the obvious facts. But all assumptions were thrown out the window when I watched the Southern King kiss my mate and saw her come undone beneath him.
Jealously threatens to spread as I adjust my stupid cock. I suppose I will have to work harder for Raine than I planned if she is already so deeply enmeshed with Calloway.
The door creaks open, and hope blossoms in my chest, but it is immediately squashed when I see Calloway instead of Raine.
“Wren. Leave us.” He says coldly. I watch his beta sigh, strolling out of the room as if the
Southern King has annoyed him somehow.
How odd.
Once his beta has gone and the door is closed, he speaks. The air in the room gets colder.
“Have you come to give me what is rightfully mine?” I ask, keeping my voice steady despite the mixture of emotions swirling within me.
Calloway laughs. He fucking laughs like this is some sort of game. Perhaps, to him, it is.
“The fact you think you have any ground to stand on where Raine is concerned is absurd,” he says, crossing his arms.
“If you are not here to give me what I came for, you can leave.”
My wolf bristles beneath my skin, hungry for a fight. Fighting is all Calloway knows how to do, anyway.
Perhaps he will be more amenable to my demands with my teeth in his neck.
Just as I had suspected, he was before me within seconds, baring his teeth. His dark eyes glow with fury.
“You are in my house, Aiden , and you best remember you are only alive at this moment because killing you would cause my mate distress.”
I know I shouldn’t rise to his bait, but I can’t help it. His hot breath in my face, his tone, my antsy wolf…it’s too much.
I rise, pushing him back with a snarl of my own.
“You are not her mate. You will never be her mate.”
Calloway’s hand wraps around my throat before I have time to react.
“I am more of a mate to her than you will ever be, Summers,” he growls. “You rejected her. Your bond is broken.”
He grips my throat as he holds me up, and I kick out of his hold. The momentary distraction as my foot connects with his stomach makes him drop me, and it is enough for me to get my bearings.
“You think you can play hero, and she will succumb to your deception? We both know you aren’t the hero in anyone’s story, Calloway.”
My fist connects with his jaw, and before I know it, we are rolling around on the floor, jaws snapping and growls echoing in the room, some cross between beast and man.
“You are nothing,” he bites. “You are not even king! Your kingdom itself is so fucked, you can’t even control your packs! You believed that piece of shit alpha over your mate , and you think you can just waltz into my fucking house and take her?”
His voice is full of anger and pain, two things I recognize well.
But I can’t let my understanding of such things cloud my judgment. Nyx Calloway is my enemy.
And he is more than an obstacle.
His fingers grab my throat again, his claws shifting along my skin to draw blood.
“Careful,” I bite. “We wouldn’t want to upset my mate. ” I grin.
He roars, his fingers tightening their grip, and there is a knock on the door.
“Your Highness, Raine has requested to see our...visitor.”
The faint voice of a female sings beyond the door, and I swallow harshly.
Calloway growls as the voice beckons again. “She says she’s coming in in ten seconds if—”
No sooner am I dropped, falling to my damn knees as I catch my breath.
Raine stands in the doorway, looking as beautiful as ever. But her gaze of love and wonder does not fall on me as I wish it would. No, her bright eyes flash to him.
But she is not alone. Behind her, bright eyes find me, the evident look of concern on Delilah’s face making my heart sink. I brace my hands on the floor, looking away.
I don’t want to see her pity.
Nyx is right—I am not a king. A king would not be on his hands and knees fighting for breath right now.
“Trust me,” Raine whispers, and I realize I’ve completely zoned out. I look up at Delilah, at the way she’s chewing her lip. Her gaze implores me, and I hate that she looks so worried.
Her comfort has been most helpful during this hunt for Raine, and I hadn’t realized how much it soothes me.
Looking at her shouldn’t soothe me at all. I know that.
Not when my fated mate is standing in front of me, whispering to my enemy of all things.
To my surprise, Calloway says nothing. He only kisses her once more, like he did earlier, reminding me in his not-so-subtle way of what is at stake.
Her eyes flutter shut, and when he is done, he plants a kiss beneath her ear, making her gasp as a fresh scent of arousal disperses around us.
A myriad of emotions ransacks me as I watch him tear himself away from her flesh, his stone-cold gaze holding me in place. My insides heat like a boiling pot, but I can barely concentrate on my anger because he stops outside the door next to Delilah.
Fury and jealousy bloom in my gut, my wolf growling beneath my skin. I don’t like him so close to her. I don’t like him period , and I’m sick of him touching what belongs to me.
Before I can process such a thought, Calloway speaks.
“Wren will be behind this door. Just say the word,” he says. With that, he sets his hand on Delilah’s back, guiding her away. He shuts the door, and I am trapped.