The Prince’s Mate (Fate’s Gambit)

Two

Walker

“Come on, is that all you’ve got?” Caelan taunted as he dodged my punch again, whirling away with a grace that reminded me he was half-cat.

Frustrated, I growled and jumped back, barely missing the kick that would’ve toppled me to the floor. No matter how much I hated Caelan, I couldn’t deny that he was a great fighter. It was why I’d started sparring with him in the first place.

While my dads loved me more than anything, they still thought I was a kid sometimes, and no matter how many times I’d asked him to, Dad hadn’t taught me how to fight, reasoning that I’d never need to. I’d convinced some of the others, mainly Nox—the previous keeper of the Burning Chasm and current matchmaker who worked for Fate—and Maximus—chief of the Anubis squad and the best fighter in Otherworld—to help me learn the basics since they treated me like their nephew, but it was only after Caelan came back that someone actually took my request seriously.

That, coupled with the fact that we hated each other, meant that neither of us took it easy on the other. It was a good thing we couldn’t get hurt, because if we could, I was sure we’d walk away covered in bruises every single day.

I took a step back and hopped on my toes, my eyes narrowed at my opponent. Caelan appeared completely at ease, but I knew better. He was coiled for an attack, and it could come from anywhere.

Just as he went for a kick that would’ve gotten me in the jaw, I blocked him, using his own momentum to push him off his feet. He grabbed me as he went down, and then I was on top of him, our faces inches apart, my forearm digging into his chest as I hovered over him.

His aqua blue eyes were mesmerizing from up close. His pupils expanded like a cat’s, his breath rushing out of him. My eyes drifted to his mouth, and I realized it would take barely any movement to press my lips to his.

Wait, what?

My brain screeched to a halt, and I scrambled to my feet, my legs feeling like jelly. Caelan slowly got to his feet, looking completely unruffled.

Had I just been thinking about kissing Caelan? What was wrong with me?

“I’m done,” I mumbled and then hurried out of the room before he could say anything.

I rushed up the stairs, ignoring whoever had called out my name as I took the stairs two at a time, only stopping once I was safely inside my own room.

“What the fuck!” I hissed to myself, recalling how close I’d come to kissing Caelan. How could I ever think about kissing him? I hated him.

“Well, it looks like that went well,” Ro’Shassz commented, and I turned to find him hanging over the back of the couch, his head inches from the floor. He was such a weird fucking snake, but I’d lived with him long enough to get used to him popping up anywhere.

“Were you watching us?” I demanded, and he slid upright, his eyes twinkling as they met mine.

“You’re like my favorite show. Of course I was watching. That sexual tension was just mwah,” he said, and I sputtered.

“What? There was no sexual tension. Absolutely none. I hate him, remember?”

“Oh, my sweet summer child. Haven’t you heard? Hate-sex is, like, the third best type of sex,” Ro’Shassz quipped.

Curious, I had to ask, “What are the other two?”

Ro’Shassz hissed in amusement, slithering closer. Then, he slid up my leg, wrapping himself around my forearm and raising up to face me so we were eye-to-eye. “Well,” he started, “the first is obviously love-making with all the sappy feels.”

I chuckled at the utter disgust in his tone, and he narrowed his eyes at me. “Your dads do a lot of that,” he added, shutting me up instantly. Ugh, I did not want to think of them having any kind of sex.

“And the second?” I asked, dreading the answer a little.

“Make-up sex,” Ro’Shassz declared, his tail flicking over to pat my cheek.

Considering I’d never had sex—with three overprotective dads who ruled everyone else in this realm, I didn’t really have many prospects—I doubted I’d get a chance to experience any of those any time soon, though I was definitely not interested in hate-sex. Call me old-fashioned, but I didn’t think I would be able to be with someone I didn’t have feelings for. It was what had kept me from going to the human realm and hooking up with someone in a club.

“Okay, thank you for educating me,” I said, and he hissed in amusement.

“My pleasure. So, what do you think? Is there some hate-sex in your future?”

I thought of Caelan’s eyes, and how they’d made me feel, of how soft his lips had appeared. And then I thought about how he’d left me when I needed him the most, and how much I hated him.

The answer was easy. “Nope. Never happening.”

Ro’Shassz made a sound of disappointment before slithering off me. Then, he disappeared, and I assumed he was headed somewhere more interesting.

I decided to take a shower to wash off the sweat. Maybe it would wash off the remnants of Caelan’s touch too. Fuck him and his pretty blue eyes. I didn’t care about him anymore, and I wasn’t going to give him any extra space in my mind. I had better things to do.

Caelan

“It’s painful to watch you two,” Ro’Shassz said, and I turned to look at him as I ran, wishing I could run far, far away from this realm. But I’d done that for years, and yet I’d ended up back here. Because as much as I wished to run away, my place was here. Walker was here.

“What are you talking about?” I asked without getting off the treadmill. Once upon a time, Ro’Shassz and I had fought like cats and dogs, but ever since I’d come back, he had been almost nice to me. I had a feeling it was because he felt sorry for me, but since he sometimes told me things about Walker that made me feel like I knew the man he’d grown into, I honestly couldn’t care less.

Fuck, I was so pathetic. No wonder Walker couldn’t look past his hate for me.

I didn’t know why he couldn’t see our bond. Or maybe Walker just hated me so much that he refused to see what was right in front of him.

“You and Walker. The sexual tension. Everyone can feel it,” Ro’Shassz said, and I rolled my eyes. Sexual tension? As if. All I’d ever sensed from Walker was annoyance and anger, and an unhealthy amount of distaste for me. But desire? Yeah, right.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me. Why do you think no one wants to be around you two when you’re together?” he hissed.

“Because we’re always fighting?” I suggested casually.

“Sure, that’s why. You’re both so oblivious it makes me sick,” he said, his tongue flicking out.

I raised a brow at him. “Did you tell Walker this? That we had sexual tension?” I asked, morbidly curious about how he’d reacted. It couldn’t have been anything good.

“Yeah, I did. And he’s just as dumb as you. You two truly are made for each other,” he said, and I glanced away.

Honestly, I didn’t know if I believed that anymore. If we were made for each other, how could Walker find so much hate in his heart for me? Why couldn’t he forgive me?

If I didn’t think it would just make him more annoyed at me, I would’ve fallen to my knees in front of him and begged him for forgiveness. But I couldn’t do that, couldn’t humiliate myself like that when I knew it would have no effect on Walker. I’d been humiliated a lot in my life, and I never wanted to associate that emotion with him in any way or form.

“Go away, Ro,” I muttered, done with the topic. He haunted my every thought anyway, so it wasn’t like I could stop thinking about him even if Ro left, but I wanted to wallow alone.

“Suit yourself,” he grumbled before disappearing, and I sighed as I increased the speed on the treadmill.

If it was any other time or any other person, I would’ve gone to Damien with my troubles, and he would’ve helped me. Like always, he would’ve talked me through it, comforted me, made me feel like I was less alone.

But I couldn’t do that now, because the man hurting me every minute of every day was his son, and I couldn’t make him choose sides.

When my limbs felt like they’d fall off, I got off the treadmill, hoping it would be enough exertion to fall into a dreamless sleep tonight.

Ever since I’d come back to Otherworld, my nightmares had gotten worse. Whatever it was, I found it hard to get even the few hours of sleep soul collectors needed, and exhausting myself seemed to be the only way to avoid those dreams, those memories that I kept locked in a box until they broke out the moment I fell asleep and my guard was down.

I trudged up the stairs to my room, closing the door behind me before leaning my head back against it. If I could just stop thinking for a few minutes, that would be great.

When I’d been in Afterworld, things had been okay. I hadn’t been happy, but I also hadn’t been as scattered and all over the place as I was now. I hadn’t had to feel how much Walker hated me every day, and I’d still felt like I belonged in Otherworld.

Now, I felt like a stranger in a realm I’d lived in for centuries. I couldn’t talk to the man who knew more about me than anyone else because the only topic I really wanted to talk about was his son, and I wouldn’t do that to him.

I would probably benefit from a few sessions with Celeste, but I couldn’t bring myself to open up my heart and spill my guts to the person who’d been the catalyst in everything going wrong. I was grateful to them for what they’d done, and I was glad they’d told me, because I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I’d watched Walker grow up, if I’d helped raise him, only to discover he was mine.

And yet, as much as I appreciated what Celeste had done, a part of me also hated them, because everything had changed after they told me Walker was my mate, and now he was all grown up, and hated the one person who loved him more than anyone possibly could.

Ro’Shassz

Wow. Just…wow.

I couldn’t with these two… Someone kill me now!

It shouldn’t be this hard to see what was right in front of us. Maybe I needed to change tactics. I needed to get the emotions out in the open. Since Caelan was already in love with Walker, it was the latter I needed to work on. I needed to get him to see past his old hurt, and I might know just how to do that.

Step : Get Walker to see Caelan’s vulnerable side.