Chapter 13
Chapter
Thirteen
KADEN
It’s been days since Max was released from the prison, allowed to share my bed and haunt my dreams.
It’s fucking torture. I can feel her when absent, smell her scent in the halls, hear her laugh like wind-chimes drifting through a breeze. She’s my torment in corporal form.
My beast yearns to have its mate and I crave to feel her. Not her body or her lips, but to feel her soul near mine, two halves of a whole meant to stay together as the bond is made to be. But she clearly still doesn’t trust me—doesn’t even like me.
The blood doused over me was a giant indicator.
Gods, I want her and hate her, all in the same breath. Because of her, I’m like this: angry, uncontrollable, longing for a woman who won’t have me. My beast rallies for control and my shadows have a mind of their own, reacting to my emotional unrest.
I’m so close to snapping, that any little upset right now is liable to get my wrath.
The Woodland Fae in particular feels like a worthy target. If I’m being honest, it’s been decades in the making.
He stands to the side of my father’s desk, his brother at his elbow, a few of his guards further back. The other kingdoms aren’t our true allies—not yet, so it’s an intimate affair of the Woodland Fae and Oslo, Zelos, and myself.
The room is dark, caged in shadows of the late night, but still, Fenrir shines like a fucking sun in this office. I hate it, him, everything he’s done to me.
My fists curl over my pants, black claws cutting into the leather.
Fiery Bel’s balls, I inhale, forcing the beast back into its cell. I’m slacking, and he’s slipping through my cracks. Every day he takes more liberties, more control. If I don’t watch it, everything will be lost.
Sitting before my father’s desk, my uncle behind me, we listen to the report from the spies Mal coordinated. I’ve no quarrel with the younger of the siblings. In fact, I admire him. He’s intelligent, and fights on the front lines while his brother hides behind his mother’s skirts.
After my battle with Griffin, the rest of the Fae kingdoms went on high alert. It’s unusual for me to let an enemy go, and since, they’ve been proactive in getting information.
Mal, in particular, took to the task well. Their spies are decent, though not as well trained as ours. I’ll need to send Zeke out for more information so I know all bases are covered.
I don’t regret choosing Max over Griffin. I would happily make the same choice again. She is more important than revenge.
“He mobilizes,” Zelos mutters, leaning back in his seat, eying me sharply. “Because you couldn’t keep your mind on the war and not a woman’s cunt, you let our enemy live to see another day.”
I can sense Fenrir’s amusement and my beast roars in my ears.
“That woman is my mate,” I growl, jaw muscle bunching. “What was I to do, Father? Allow her to be killed and me along with her?”
Zelos sighs, pinching the bridge of his brow. He can shout his displeasure all he wants, but we both know at the end of the day, he would rather I stay alive to be his perfect weapon. “Because you couldn’t keep from claiming her.” He gives me a pitying look. “I expected better, my heir.”
“It was the best chance we had to keep her.” My eyes scan the two Fae royals and I tug down my tunic. They still don’t know who or what Max is and I’d rather keep it that way. “To keep her with us, Father. You know the risk we faced if I did not.”
“And now he prepares for war.”
“If what the spies say is accurate,” I scoff, turning toward the Woodland Fae. Mal frowns but remains quiet. It’s Fenrir who looks affronted. “No disrespect to Mal’s resources, you’ve done well. But we both know our kind are better suited to the actual task of espionage and war.”
“Do you have a better option?” my father asks, chin planted onto his fist.
“We send our own spies,” I retort, shrugging. “It’s not hard to verify the information.”
“Our information has been verified,” Fenrir cuts in, holding a hand up as if to stop the flow of conversation.
He’s always had to have the spotlight. “Our spies are sound. Griffin grows panicked over the last battle. He’s barricading himself into his kingdom, forgoing the other allies.
Allies he made at the summit you infiltrated. ”
My father grins, pleased at how well his—my—plan worked to gain access to the Lone Human King.
“Who are his allies?” I ask, looking to my uncle as he comes to my side. “Surely, your spies know this.”
“The Witch Covens.”
“Which?” I drawl, crossing my leg over my knee. Do I need to dig at the Woodland Fae? No. But it’s soothing a part of my soul that hungers for pain.
It’s better than letting my thoughts wander to my mate. Or to the burning bond in my chest.
Mal steps forward, hand on his sword. I don’t think he means to do it, but my father eyes it warily. To put him at ease, I call forth my magic, eyes submerging black.
“He’s aligned himself with the Freemantle, Greenbriar, and the Blackwoods. But he has pulled resources from the Covens.” Meaning he no longer supports them and has left them to flounder.
A niggling of guilt curls around my gut. “How does the Blackwoods Coven fair?”
Mal shakes his head. “You know our spies are not so well trained. We have little need of them since the Dark Fae take the brunt of the battles. But from what we can deduce, their shields are down. The village is still rebuilding, and without the King’s protection—”
“They’re vulnerable.” Godsdammit. “And you’re certain?”
He sighs. “We intercepted a raid not too long ago. Only a few Humans, looking to take women in the night. Without those shields, the Coven is in danger. It’s only a matter of time before more come to test their resistance.”
“And how does this affect us?” Zelos interrupts, grabbing a chalice off his massive desk. “The Witches forsaken us centuries ago during the Great War. Why should I care if a Coven is being left to fall while our enemy stockpiles his weaponry to harm my people?”
“That Coven is your future queen’s family,” I growl, keeping my tone in check, even as my claw shred the armchair.
Granted, Taylay is a moron for fearing my mate, and the new Matriarch seems to be hiding things from her as well, but they’re still her family. She mourns for them, misses them; I’m not so cruel not to see how being without them affects her.
I’m a bastard, but even I know of their shared bond.
“Will it cause her to… retaliate?”
There’s a slip of fear in my father’s eyes and I relish it.
He may want to keep Max, use her, but he’s also afraid of what she can do. We’ve gotten lucky he hasn’t questioned her lack of rebuttal—my father’s arrogance is astounding—but he knows how dangerous she is. How one wrong move would result in her crushing his chest.
He’s frightened of my kitten and that gives us power over the king.
“It may.” I lean back, keeping my face bored. “Max is very protective of her Coven. She has family there. If something were to happen…” I let myself trail off, shrugging.
Zelos bites his inner cheek, mulling over my insinuation. I can’t push him too hard, but wait for him to take the bait. There’s a brief pause before he gestures to my uncle. “Can you prepare spies to inspect the Coven? Provide feedback on their condition?”
Oslo bows deeply. “Of course, my King. We only need hours to send them out.”
“Do so.” Oslo turns to relay the communication to one of our guards at the door as my father levels a stare at me. “We’ll also need eyes on Griffin. We need to know everything he’s doing. If he prepares for war, then we must.”
“Are we not already doing that, Father?”
Zelos locks eyes with me, his hand crushing the metal. “I want all possibilities covered. I leave that to you, my heir.”
Because I’m his favored weapon this falls into my lap. He may have kept me from the Eternal Night Forest, but gave me a gilded cage in return.
“I hear a wedding is in order.”
My heart skips but I remain emotionless. The Woodland Fae look to me, sensing the topic is going to change into something dramatic. Fenrir is practically foaming at the mouth to learn a bit of gossip.
“There was always going to be one.” I don’t bother to hide it. I made the announcement in order to draw attention away from Zelos’ grand plan.
But, secretly, I made the claim to tie her to me, one final way.
I’ll have her soul, her body, and her heart. Any way possible.
“Yes. The bond.” My father rolls his eyes. He’s never had a bond, never been in love.
As a child, I thought my father grew to love my mother, a political wedding that solidified two powerful houses. But that was a child’s dream. My father hated my mother; he’s never loved anyone, including his children.
My father only cares for power and how to gain more of it. It’s almost depressing.
“What shall we do about that?” His cutting eyes scan me, and I resist the urge to attack, my beast ready to break free.
“We’ll need a Mage and they’re in short supply.
” Mainly, because my father wiped most of them out.
He’s never been a Gods-fearing man. “We can’t afford a distraction now, my heir.
The officials are here, Griffin amasses troops in the south.
A wedding is the least of what we need.”
“On contrary, brother,” my uncle interjects, “it might be exactly what we need.”
“Explain.”
“The longer a bond goes without being unified, the deeper the base instincts come out. As Kaden is not just a Dark Fae, but cursed with the soul of a beast, he is more likely to succumb to those urges.”
My father snaps his gaze to me, a flicker of unease in his amber eyes. I enjoy seeing his discomfort.
“Will he… regress?”
For Bel’s sake, I’m right here.
“I won’t regress,” I bite out, jaw tense. My body stills, coldness seeping into my limbs. Regress, like I’ll return to a mindless beast he locked in the dungeon all those years ago.
That was a horrid time. I was lost to deranged thoughts and feelings, unable to speak as I mentally warred with the curse, physically manifested into a beast. It was my burden to bear, but it took all my strength and all my concentration just to live.
Chained in that dark cell, I was left to rot until I could contain it. I never want to repeat that, to have my body and mind not my own, pushed into the depths no one can reach.
Uncle’s hand falls to my shoulder, calming my anxiety. “We don’t know for certain. Kaden is strong, stronger than any other firstborn who has carried this curse. He will prevail but a bonding is rare. We don’t know how everything will react to it.”
Zelos regards me, not as a father to a son or a king to a subject. But as a master to a pet.
“Marriage,” Zelos drawls, rolling his eyes. “How tedious.”
“But necessary.” Oslo gestures to the grounds. “A traditional bonding, not a political marriage.”
I’ve been reading on them after returning to the Shadowlands. It’s a private affair, evoking the Gods, asking for their blessings, and in our case, the exchanging of blood. I’ve already had hers—the sweetest berry in the height of summer—but by giving her my blood, we’ll seal the bond.
She’ll forever be a part of me and I, her.
Cold amber eyes fasten on to me. “Can you control yourself until it happens?”
I’d be insulted if I wasn’t feeling the effects of this bond. The rage, the uncontrollable tendencies to take, the searing pain from my mate not being fully mine? It’s all mounting and a tendril of fear wraps around my heart. Fear that I am regressing.
I don’t show that, though. “Of course,” I agree, crossing my legs.
“Fine,” my father sighs, disappointed.
By bonding myself to Max, completely, he can’t have her. Not the way he wanted.
Good.
“What shall we do of Griffin?” I ask, watching the guards leave. The Woodland Fae remain at the door, still interested in the conversation. I didn’t bother hiding my control issues from them—let Fenrir see how close I am to slicing his throat. Let him fear me. “We need a plan.”
“Discuss it.” He glances between me and Oslo. “Figure out a solution. Decide who will go to retrieve information. I have officials to entertain and a war to plan.”
Standing, I bow my head to my father, going to the hall as the rest depart. It’s best to avoid him now.
“You are different,” my uncle whispers, peering into the shadows for an unseen threat. “You must keep your head. If you give into these baser instincts, I cannot promise I will be able to bring you out of it.”
“I’ll be fine.” I brush off, though my stomach twists. Uncle was the only one who kept me sane in the dungeon, teaching me control. “Just continue our plan. We need to finish this. Soon.”
Oslo nods, bowing to me. “Of course, my heir. I understand.”