13
Thorn
Something was different with Sagan—she was different…
And I didn’t really think it was for the better.
She was colder to everyone, cut off. It was like that royal perfect mask she’d worn when I’d first met her but even worse.
It wasn’t her being perfect, but like she was just out of hope and resigned to… I wasn’t sure.
Her life?
That her life would suck?
She was cold when she called me on how I’d treated her. Not like she was hurt, but annoyed she had to explain it to me. And okay, fine, that was pretty fair but just… Not like her.
Maybe I didn’t know her as well as I thought, but even when she’d been really upset with me before and had to clue me in, she hadn’t been so cold. It felt like she was now the person the media had always called her.
But it was also more than that—or more than anything to do with me.
Monday was the announcement of Wilder being out of the “contest” for her, the Alpha of Nevelyn holding the press conference for it. He blamed the temple as planned and all of the Alphas and contestants signing on that they weren’t giving the temple power over Sagan.
Plus, more than that and it was a success.
A huge success from the follow-up interviews and whatnot.
There were a few bumps because nothing was perfect like Uncle taking a shot that the Alphas were glad to take auditing the temples off Sagan’s plate since she was so inexperienced and didn’t have help anymore because the elders were corrupt.
Right, because the temples in his area weren’t already his responsibility?
Asshole.
But it was a win and she didn’t care. I didn’t see one smile or moment of victory. She was just… Cold.
“She’s amazing,” Gavriil said from next to me, talking about Mystic Frost. He wasn’t as bad as some of the other candidates and admitted he needed to get out and some air. He was handling the auctioning project with me and was dedicated but just inexperienced.
“Yeah,” I agreed, impressed once again and glad I’d brought him. I’d been here several times now—when she was fighting and a few times not. The noise of the place just helped clear my head.
And drown out my dragon who was still pissed at me most days.
I watched as Mystic Frost toyed with another fighter.
I’d easily spotted the first time that she was holding back.
She honestly reminded me a lot of Sagan the way she watched her opponent and took them seriously but mostly seemed bored.
So not dismissive or egotistical and always careful… Just realistic about her level.
She snorted when the fighter lunged for her in a sloppy move and again I thought of Sagan. How she showed up at my room again Monday night, and when I’d let her in, she’d just snorted.
Yeah, duh, of course I was going to let her in when she wanted sex. I was an asshole at times, not fucking stupid. I wanted her.
I wanted her more than I should. I wasn’t going to deny her when she…
She was right and it was exactly what I had said I’d wanted and the sex was amazing.
It was the best sex of my life. Fine, it wasn’t as great as what we’d shared before, but those times one of us had been drugged and drowning in pheromones.
I frowned, thinking of last night when she’d come back too and she’d seemed sated, but it hadn’t been like before for her. Though it was only one round and not several.
And she still wouldn’t sleep over.
“You good?” Gavriil asked when my beer bottle broke in my hand and I made a mess.
“Yeah, just thinking of that appraiser,” I lied.
One of them was giving me a hard time like I was a fucking infant and I didn’t hide how much it was pissing me off.
Like enough that I thought he wasn’t worth the drama and was about to talk to Sagan.
If he was that dismissive and downright demeaning, he could miss something with his ego.
“Grab me another?” he asked when I said I was going to get a replacement.
I nodded and went to the bar. It really upset me that Sagan didn’t sleep over, but she needed to handle things how she needed to. But it really was like the sex wasn’t the same for her or just… I adjusted my neck when I realized it was because she’d had better since me.
Joris. Joris Fucking Visser, who would probably end up being her mate, was probably perfect in bed too just like in everything else.
“You should be happy for her when you won’t be what she needs,” my dragon snapped.
Yeah, well, I wasn’t perfect.
I glimpsed Myriam while I was waiting for our beers. I’d seen her there a few times, asking her what she was doing there the first time. The look she’d given me like I was a fucking moron actually amused me. She muttered I was a sexist jackass and walked off.
That was… Okay, fair actually, but I wasn’t an aide to the queen.
Just one of her mating candidates so again… Fair.
I did a double take when I saw Belinda with her. What was the ancient doing there?
Well, currently laughing, but that actually made sense because she seemed to want to learn everything about “this new age,” as she called it. Plus, that was a woman who wanted to be tapped in, so again it really did make sense. And given they were both close with Sagan, they would get along too.
“You’re just annoyed they’re closer to her than you are and she actually wants to spend time with them, not you. She only wants sex from you and only one round that she doesn’t seem to enjoy all that much,” my dragon mocked in my mind.
And I broke the beer bottle in my hand that the bartender had just handed me.
I sighed when he shot me a validly annoyed look. “Rough fucking week, mate. I’m sorry.” I pulled out my wallet and gave him a hundred. “I think I’m done drinking.”
“Yeah, maybe don’t be around all this testosterone and go for a walk,” he suggested, but at least wasn’t pissed with that kind of tip.
I brought Gav his beer and said I was heading out. He was looking at me with wide eyes and a bit like a date I was ditching and then I realized I kind of was. I’d brought him and this wasn’t his scene.
“We can finish the fight,” I said. “Sorry, just…” I mumbled something about family stuff and he nodded, mostly focused on the fight. He thanked me for the beer and I was glad when Mystic Frost lost patience and knocked the guy out.
“We’re gonna come back, right? I want to see this again but…” He glanced around.
I nodded but also wanted to tell him to grow a set and like stay to step outside of his comfort zone. For real.
But that was my bad mood talking more than anything.
I decided to at least swing by the cage’s exit and caught Mystic as she was coming out. “Great fight. Congrats.”
She did a double take when she saw me and her eyes flashed too much at once. That weird recognition like she really did know me, not just from here. Seriously, there was just something about her that felt familiar but also like—I couldn’t put my finger on it.
A swift nod was all I got and then she was gone.
So I left. I decided to get a second workout in.
I didn’t like how many were in front of me when we’d raced after Sagan that day when she’d thought there was a security issue.
I mentally snorted. She’d just been gone.
Like vanished and because she was worried over a shop owner she’d met once.
That was the sweet Sagan I’d seen glimpses of.
But then she was cold and threw bombs into the media like she never did. She went after that late-night asshole and three more elder families when she strived to keep things peaceful and slowly turn the people in her favor.
A plan that was working. It was working well. Painfully slow and crazy it was needed, but it was working.
So why fuck with it?
I froze when she was sitting in my room waiting for me. She was on her phone probably handling thirty things… And she was mostly naked.
“I’m not even going to ask how you got in here,” I muttered, staring her over like my favorite meal as she lounged in boy shorts and sports bra like she owned the place.
“I own the place and have the override code,” she mumbled, only half paying attention.
Yeah, pretty much figured that was the answer.
“Which was how I knew you were in the gym and just waited so we could shower together,” she continued. “You said to come by anytime. I could go if you want?”
“Get your ass in the shower,” I chuffed, knowing full well what her response would be.
Sure enough, she snorted, a smirk on her lips as she nodded and told me she had to finish one more thing, but I could get started without her.
I ground my jaw at her flippant attitude and then had to swallow a growl when my dragon told me that I deserved it. I didn’t deserve her giving me affection and welcoming me home like we were together. That this was exactly what I’d said I wanted.
I know! Shut the fuck up already! Fucking be on my side for once or fuck off and I’m not letting you fly again!
I barely stopped myself from punching the wall, knowing that would upset Sagan and probably ruin my chance to get to see her even like this and that would crush me. Luckily, my dragon realized he’d pushed me too far and shut up.
But Sagan had felt something because she was cautious when she came into the bathroom and I was checking the shower’s water. “What’s going on here?”
“Too much to explain,” I grumbled, but then shot her a look. “What’s going on with you?”
She raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t come here to talk.”
“Yeah, exactly, so why bother asking?” I snarked, mentally wincing when anger filled her eyes.
And hurt.
She ran her tongue over her teeth. “You’re right. My mistake. Let’s fuck so I can get on with my night.”
I was going to say something and maybe have the argument we needed to instead of just ignoring what was going on, but then she took off her bra.
All the intelligence and desire to fight left my…
Everything. All the blood went to my cock and I just wanted her.
I wanted to be closer to her and touch her.