Chapter 4 #2
Seth’s mouth opens and closes several times, no sound coming out. His green eyes dart frantically between Zane and me, confusion and what appears to be alarm crossing his features. “That’s…that’s…”
“Quite fortunate for me, wouldn’t you say?” Zane continues with that same charming smile, seemingly oblivious to Seth’s obvious distress.
Seth’s jaw works silently for several seconds before he manages to speak again. “I need to interview Selene about the incident in the woods,” he says finally, his voice hoarse and uncertain.
“Then you can do so in front of me,” Zane replies smoothly.
Seth’s lips pull back in something that might be called a smile but is more like a grimace. “That’s not possible. This is official business, and I need to speak with her privately.”
Annoyance flares through me. I already told him everything that happened. What more could he possibly want to know? I suspect what he really wants is to understand this whole fated mate situation—why Zane thinks we’re bonded when Seth and I used to be. That’s going to be a fun conversation.
“Selene,” Seth says, his voice commanding despite the bafflement still written all over his face. “Come with me to my office.”
I don’t want to leave Zane, and I don’t want to deal with whatever interrogation Seth has planned. But the authority in his voice makes it clear this isn’t a request.
“I’ll see you later,” I whisper to Zane, reluctantly stepping away from his warmth.
His hand catches mine briefly, squeezing gently. “I’ll be here when you get back.”
The promise in his voice gives me just enough strength to turn away and follow Seth across the garden, already dreading the questions I know he’s going to throw at me.
The walk to Seth’s office feels like a death march.
I can practically see the tension radiating off him as he strides ahead of me, his shoulders rigid with barely contained emotion.
When we reach his door, he holds it open with exaggerated courtesy, but the moment we step inside, everything changes.
The door slams shut behind me with a bang that echoes through the room. Before I can even turn around, strong hands grab my shoulders and spin me back against the wood. Seth cages me there with his arms on either side of my head, his face inches from mine.
“What the hell is Zane talking about?” he demands, his voice low and dangerous.
But there’s something else in his green eyes that surprises me: panic. Real, honest-to-god panic, like his world has fallen off its axis. The sight of it sends a rush of satisfaction through me that I don’t bother to hide.
“He’s right,” I say simply, meeting Seth’s gaze without flinching.
His jaw clenches so hard, I can hear his teeth grinding. “You and I are fated mates, Selene.”
I push his hands away from the door frame, forcing him to step back. “Not anymore,” I tell him with a calm that seems to unnerve him. “I don’t feel the fated mate bond toward you anymore. I feel it toward Zane.”
His mouth opens and closes like a fish gasping for air. “How is that possible?”
I brush past him and settle into one of the visitors’ chairs, crossing my legs with deliberate casualness. The action clearly throws him off balance; I can see him struggling to process this new version of me, the one who isn’t shrinking away from his anger.
“Why do you care?” I ask, tilting my head with mock curiosity. “You wished I was gone. And now, I feel nothing for you. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
Seth stands frozen in the middle of his office, staring at me like I’ve grown a second head. “It’s not possible,” he says, his voice hoarse. “I still feel the bond toward you.”
A laugh bubbles up from my chest, sharp and bitter. “Stop lying, Seth.”
His face darkens with anger. “I’m not—”
“Ask whatever questions you have and let me go,” I interrupt him, examining my nails with exaggerated boredom. “I want to go back to Zane.”
There’s a dangerous glint in his eyes at the mention of Zane’s name. “You’re suddenly very interested in him,” he says scathingly. “Is it because he’s a nobleman?”
This time, I laugh outright, shaking my head. “You can be as nasty as you want, Seth. It doesn’t bother me because you don’t matter to me anymore.”
I can see my words hitting their mark, the way his face pales slightly before flushing with anger. Good. Let him feel a fraction of what he put me through.
“In the ten minutes I spent in Zane’s company, he treated me with more courtesy than you ever have,” I continue, my voice steady and calm. “So yes, I’m drawn to him. The fated mate bond also helps.”
I know I’m upsetting Seth. I can see it in the way his hands form fists at his sides, the way his breathing becomes shallow and quick. Part of me should feel guilty, but mostly I just feel satisfied. This is payback for months of humiliation and rejection.
“If you have any other questions for me, you should ask them now,” I say, checking an imaginary watch on my wrist. “I don’t have all day.”
“Zane is not your fated mate,” Seth says through gritted teeth. “I am.”
I give him my sharpest smile, the one I’ve been practicing in mirrors since my release from the infirmary. “Why are you fighting this, Seth? I don’t know how it happened, but it did. I have a different fated mate now.”
His face goes through several emotions before settling on desperation. “Zane is dangerous, Selene. You don’t know what—”
Anger flares in my chest, hot and sudden. I spring to my feet, my chair scraping against the floor. “What is this?” I demand. “You don’t want me, so nobody else should, either?”
Seth opens his mouth to respond, but I’m done listening to his excuses.
“Get over yourself,” I snap, taking a step toward him.
He actually backs up, which gives me another rush of satisfaction.
“If it hadn’t been for the fated mate link between us, I wouldn’t have given you the time of day.
” The words are pouring out of me now, things I’ve been holding back for months.
“I may be weak, Seth, but I have standards. And you fall short of every single one of them.”
His face goes white, then red, various reactions clearly warring in his head. But I’m done with this conversation. I storm toward the door, and my hand is already on the handle when his voice stops me.
“Selene—”
I don’t turn around. “You obviously only brought me here to waste my time, Seth. You’ve gone out of your way to make me feel small and insignificant ever since we met.
You could have rejected me and ended it all, but you just had to be an asshole over this whole thing.
You were punishing me for being your fated mate.
” I look over my shoulder at him, all the anger I’ve been feeling evident in my voice.
“As far as I’m concerned, we’re done. Don’t bother me again. ”
I yank the door open and step into the hallway, my heart pounding with a mixture of terror and pride. I can’t believe I just said all of that. I can’t believe I finally stood up to him.
My hands are shaking as I walk away, but my spine is straight, and my head is held high. For the first time in months, I can breathe. I feel like myself again. Not the weak, trembling girl who let Seth Rowan walk all over her, but someone with fire in her veins and steel in her backbone.
The sound of his office door slamming shut behind me echoes through the hallway, but I don’t look back. I have somewhere else to be. Someone else is waiting for me. Someone who actually wants my company.
A week flies by, and suddenly it’s time for my twice-monthly lunch with Astra and Daciana.
I settle into the plush cushions of Astra’s private sitting room, the afternoon light filtering through her tall windows and casting everything in a warm, golden glow.
This is so much better than the crowded dining hall—just the three of us, plates of sandwiches and fresh fruit spread across the low table, no one else around to overhear our conversation.
“You’re glowing,” Astra observes, curling up in her favorite armchair with a cup of tea balanced on her knee. “Why are you in such a good mood?”
I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face as I reach for a strawberry. “Can’t I just be happy?”
Daciana snorts from her spot on the window seat, already halfway through her sandwich. “She’s being courted, that’s why.”
“Courted?” Astra’s eyebrows shoot up with interest, and she leans forward like she’s ready for good gossip. “By whom?”
“Zane Radrick,” Daciana says with obvious satisfaction, like she’s delivering the juiciest news of the week. “And who wouldn’t be happy when someone like that is pursuing them?”
The surprise on Astra’s face is immediate and obvious. She sets down her teacup with a soft clink, staring at me with confusion written all over her features. “Zane Radrick? But I thought you and Seth had something going on between you.”
The denial bursts out of me with more force than I intend, sharp enough that both my friends flinch. “Absolutely not!”
They blink at the vehemence in my voice. Astra recovers first, speaking slowly, like she’s trying to work through a complicated puzzle. “I just assumed…I mean, Seth has been in such a gloomy mood this past week. I thought it was because of you.”
I wave a dismissive hand, focusing on arranging the fruit on my plate into neat, little piles. “I’m sure it’s because of one of his bedmates. You know how he is.”
“Could be. But he’s pretty down. I wonder what happened, then,” Astra murmurs.
Daciana leans forward from her perch by the window, her soldier’s instincts for gossip fully engaged. “I’ve heard that Seth hasn’t been with a woman in quite a few months.”
I look up sharply, my hand freezing over a grape. “That’s ridiculous.”
“It’s not,” Daciana insists, her voice carrying the certainty of someone who has access to all the best palace rumors. “I have it on good authority that Seth has been completely single. All the women who’ve approached him have been gently turned away.”