Chapter 36 #2
“Sienna,” he murmurs, his voice laced with vulnerability. A knock sounds on the door and Xandros sucks in a deep breath when it suddenly opens, Javier walks in and Xandros holds his hand out, his eyes trained on me.
“She marked you?” Javier asks.
“She did,” Xandros tells him, using his other hand to wipe his blood from my lips, when Javier drops something in the hand he’s holding out.
Before I have a chance to even pull away, the cold metal is biting into my wrist. “You will not shift to break out of these, and you will do as you’re told from now on,” Xandros orders.
His command strikes like an urge, yet is slightly different, strong and relentless, yet not painful like every other time.
I’m torn, caught between my anger and the undeniable connection we share.
There’s a part of me that wants to push him away, to protect myself from further pain.
However, another part, a part that still loves him, can’t ignore the depth of his emotions.
He then stands, his arms slipping beneath my ass, and I thrash, realizing he is about to handcuff me to the bed.
He tosses me on the bed making me bounce before I can even think of moving, his chest is pressed against my back.
“You will remain here until I say otherwise, you disobey me or try to run, Toby will die, and I will make you kill him while I watch, are we clear?” Xandros growls, and I nod, tears slipping down my cheeks.
He clasps the handcuff to the metal frame of the bed and rises. “King Vin and Carina are downstairs waiting for you,” Javier tells him.
“Stay with her, don’t let her out of your sight, and send for someone to fix the windows. I want everything in this room stripped out or bolted down,” Xandros snarls before stalking out of the room.
My chest rises and falls rapidly with every ragged breath. I’m trapped here, with only my thoughts for company. Tears slip down my cheeks as I wait for Xandros to return.
The maids he chased out of the room earlier must have returned already because I don’t see them anywhere, yet I hear the sounds of moving around the room while I lay on my side, my eyes trained on the ceiling above.
From time to time someone looks in, but no one enters.
Tired from all the emotions that keep swirling through me, I finally slip into a restless sleep.
For how long, I don’t know, but the sound of someone talking is what eventually pulls me from my sleep.
The voices are soft and muffled, so it takes me a few seconds to realize where I am and what happened.
Sitting up, I lean against the headboard, as my eyes adjust to the sudden burst of light after having slept through the entire night.
Except for Javier, no one has ever been kind to me and that might be a reason why it’s such a nice feeling to have someone be concerned about me, even if only for a short span of time.
“Try and eat something,” Javier’s voice says at the door, followed by a softer voice of one of the maids.
“We’ve removed everything and bolted the last few things down,” she tells him, and I glance around to find most of the furniture gone, only the bare minimum, even the pictures have been removed from the walls.
Javier watches me for a few seconds.
“Why does he insist on keeping me here?” I ask him, my heart twisting in agony at being denied death, denied the right to live, denied everything.
Javier sighs heavily. He steps in and moves to the other side of the room, gazing out the window.
“You and I both know, Sienna. There’s no escape from this,” he murmurs.
He looks tired and worn out. Anger mixed with exhaustion and regret, and something else; acceptance if I had to guess. Slowly, Javier turns to me and smiles gently.
“I can smell his scent on your neck. Now everyone will know who you belong to just the same as him, the bond has fully merged.” He peers around, still like through a fog. “King Xandros did this for yours and his protection, you must try to understand that…” he says softly, and I frown.
“I don’t understand,” I tell him, confused about what he means by protection. He shakes his head.
“Some believe only death can break a mating bond,” he tells me, turning to stare out the window again, and for a moment I see the pain in his eyes before it’s quickly wiped away by the mask Javier has on when he turns back to me.
“Xandros could kill you tonight, Sienna, but if you didn’t already know, that would mean he is forced to mark Carina or lose his mind.
He doesn’t want her, he’s been fighting this marriage since he found you.
He is obligated to his kingdom, your kingdom once he figures out how to fix the mess this has become. ”
Javier glances at me with sad eyes. “As king, Xandros has responsibilities to his kingdom and his people. He must put their needs above his own desires.”
I swallow hard, trying to push down my own desires and fears. “And what happens to me in all of this?” I ask, feeling small and insignificant.
“You are still the future queen of your kingdom,” Javier reminds me. “Xandros must protect you for the sake of both kingdoms.”
I nod slowly, feeling a sense of wistful resignation settle over me. “So, I’m just supposed to stay here and wait for it all to happen?” I ask, a sense of hopelessness washing over me.
My mind reels at Javier’s words. Xandros could kill me? And all because of this supposed mating bond? I feel like I’m in the middle of a nightmare, one I can’t seem to escape.
“Why did he mark me in the first place?” I ask, desperation creeping into my voice. “I never asked for any of this.”
“Sometimes these things just happen,” Javier says with a sad shrug.
“And once the bond is formed, there’s no going back.
You and Xandros are tied together forever now, whether you like it or not.
If it makes you feel any better, Sienna, you think he isn’t fighting for you, but he just breached the treaty by allowing you to mark him, that in itself is a challenge against Carina,” he tells me, and I gasp.
“Don’t worry, Carina hasn’t declared the challenge, she is aware you’re his mate, and honestly, I don’t think her vendetta is against you, something else is her driving force in all this.”
The weight of this settles over me like a heavy blanket, suffocating me. I’m trapped, consumed by the tangled mess of emotions Xandros has stirred up within me.
“And Carina?” I ask, my voice coming out as a whisper. “What about her?”
Javier’s expression softens. “She’s just a pawn in all of this, too, like he is,” he says, his voice filled with sympathy.
“Xandros believes she is being forced. It’s clear she loves him, she is just not in love with him, and the fact she refuses to agree to the divorce yet allows him to keep you says her hand too is being forced,” he tells me.
“By her father?” I ask him and he shrugs. “She’s scared of her father. I’ve heard them on the phone. She told me she couldn’t go back home. She almost sounded sorry,” I whisper, wondering what Carina means by all her cryptic conversations.
I nod numbly, not sure what else to say or do. The reality of my situation is starting to sink in; I’m trapped here with no way out, and the only person who has any power over my fate is the same man who marked me against my will.