Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
Idid my business to get ready for bed and clicked off all the lights in my bedroom. The nights didn’t scare me anymore, but my hands were still clammy, and my shoulders were tense. My mind kept bringing back thoughts about Torin and Layla, doubts and anxiety gnawing at my chest.
Pushing my emotions down to the depths of my soul, I distracted myself by looking out my window.
I placed my hands on my old study desk, where I spent hours doing calligraphy, and leaned forward.
The only light in my room came from the full moon.
The sky was cloudless, and the stars were bright little lights against the darkness.
It didn’t seem like it would rain tomorrow, and I couldn’t decide if this was good for the kingdom.
Cordelia could manipulate water, and who knew?
Maybe she could drown us if it rained. But if she brought those vicious dogs with her who breathed fire, then rain would mean fewer burned-down buildings.
The beastly creatures weren’t like anything we had ever faced before. Their savagery, the raw power they possessed, was enough to send a chill through my body. I almost wished Cordelia brought an army of vampires rather than those hound dogs.
Dad and the Alphas would have warned our people by now about the fight we faced tomorrow. Even though we had a plan to take shelter in the hidden royal tunnels, the knot in my chest didn’t disappear.
I let out a heavy sigh. Every step of the way in this kingdom hid some danger or a trap.
Tomorrow was my birthday, and we had our fight with the dark witch. I could survive it, or I might not.
I touched my golden bracelet, and a jolt of electricity tingled my fingertips. If the witch whip could only help me tomorrow, my chance of survival would increase against Cordelia. But I had no idea how to command the weapon, so it garnished my forearm as beautiful jewelry.
I sent a mental prayer to the Fates, hoping I could make it past my twenty-sixth birthday.
On my birthdays, Tammy would sleep over in my London apartment.
She knew I didn’t like to go out that much.
We’d order pizza or burgers with the huge chocolate chip cookie pie.
We’d fight over which movie we wanted to watch until she let me win since it was my birthday.
Later, we just went to bed. Tammy and I would lie on our sides facing each other and talk until after midnight. She was the sister I didn’t have but always wanted. I would tell her stories from my mythology books, and she would tell me her plans for next season's cafe menu.
Tammy was all I needed on my birthday.
Now that I was back in the kingdom, everything was so complicated.
I blinked back the tears and was about to go to bed when two warm hands grasped my shoulders. Sparks exploded on my bare skin. I yelped, but then I let out a content sigh.
Although the mate touch of pleasurable sensations could come from Hayden or Torin, I immediately knew it was Torin who hugged me from behind. My body relaxed as I leaned back into his hard chest.
Hayden would have knocked. Torin marched inside without an invitation.
I twisted my body, Torin released me, and I faced him. We had some talking to do, regardless of how much I liked it in his arms.
“I’m here so we can talk,” he said and smiled.
My heart skipped a beat. I couldn’t think clearly around him. I walked to the bed and sat on the edge. Torin chose to stand in front of me.
“Layla knows that I’m your other mate.”
I sucked in air that burned my throat. How could she have learned? But again, that was Layla, and she had her ways. I shouldn’t have been surprised.
“So she blackmailed you?”
Torin nodded. “I tried to scare her, but she only became more defensive.”
My palms grew wet. “What does she want, then?”
“She said that I’ll need to do what she says when the time comes.” He paused. “But whatever she demands, I’ll handle it, Anna.”
Layla was just as good of a storyteller as I was but in a different way. She could spin rumors and gossip out of control. She could be the reason for a divided kingdom tomorrow amid our fight with Cordelia. She could be the reason we lose to the dark witch.
“I’m afraid of what she’ll do. She’s capable of anything, Torin.
She hates me to the point of wishing for my death.
I don’t like you walking away with her. I don’t like her at all, and yet, I can’t make myself hate her,” I said.
“I’ve carried the guilt of being a part of her dad’s death for so many years that the weight is now a part of my life. ”
Torin averted his gaze to the window—not the reaction I expected. I thought he would console me just like Hayden. Or warn me about Layla. Tell me to stay away from her.
Instead, he stood still, grimacing, looking out the window as if he recalled some painful memory—something that made him guilty, too. He took a deep, painful breath and closed his eyes. After reopening them, his amber eyes shone brighter. Somehow, his body was more slouched. He looked defeated.
I gave him time to recover, and once he was out of whatever trance he’d fallen into, he knelt in front of me, eyes intently set on me.
“For now, I’ll have to deal with Layla and see what she wants, but we’ll go through this together, Anna.
We can’t let your cousin tell everyone about me as your mate because I wouldn’t last much in the kingdom.
There’s only this much that the Alphas and pack members here would tolerate. And I want to be by your side.”
There was so much desperation in his voice that my chest ached.
I scooted closer to him. “Then, let’s run away together. Forget everyone and every issue here. I don’t care about being the Queen.”
Torin blinked. “But I do. It’s your birthright. And do you want Layla to take it?”
“Then mark me. If you do, it’ll be a done deal, and Dad can’t argue.”
Torin sighed. “I care about what your dad thinks, Anna. I look up to him and don’t want your relationship with him to suffer because of me.”
“Torin, don’t you see what you’re doing…maybe even not realizing it? You fight me every step of the way as if you don’t want to be with me or you’re afraid to commit to me.”
I refused to believe that Torin used me to satisfy his physical needs because our mate bond drew him to me. I wanted to believe there was more. He told me so.
I pulled my legs to my chest. “Then turn me so I’m like you.”
Torin’s answer was a low growl and narrowed eyes. “I won’t do this to you. There are so many things wrong with turning you that I don’t know where to start. But you sure know how to push my buttons, Princess,” he said in a deep voice, almost changed to his vampire’s.
Torin scoffed. “A part vampire Queen of werewolves. That would never happen, and Layla will be the next Queen by default.”
I puffed up my cheeks and blew out a warm breath.
“And did you think about how you’d lose your independence? I’d be your sire, and I could boss you around.”
I shrugged. “You can do that. I know you won’t abuse your powers.”
“Mmm…but what if I want to,” he challenged.
“You and your vampire won’t hurt me, Torin,” I snapped, and he jolted.
If he were my fated mate, wouldn’t he want to give his mind, body, and soul just to be together with me? I could do that for him. I was ready to do so for him right now.
He stood, and I knew the conversation was over.
“The only way is for me to defeat the vampire Queen.”
Not that again.
“Get some rest for tomorrow, Anna.”
He walked out of my bedroom, but it felt more like he was leaving my life.
I moved to my nightstand, picked up my phone, and set an alarm for early in the morning. I would retrieve my book tomorrow without Torin.
The sky was in a bad mood—angry clouds hung low while the sun barely peered from behind them.
I woke up even before my phone alarm went off. I moved quietly into my room, getting ready for today.
Cordelia would show up with her army to take my bracelet by force, even if it meant she’d cut off my arm and bring havoc to the kingdom as revenge. And I hadn’t found a way to trigger the bracelet to turn into a weapon.
Oh, and happy birthday to me.
Instead of a celebration for my birthday, the kingdom would go to war with the dark witch.
I sighed and pulled up my black skinny jeans. I fumbled with the zipper while holding my toothbrush with the other.
The book was the only thing that could keep me alive in the battle as long as I found the location of another witch weapon within its pages. I had to get to my book before Torin or Cordelia arrived. I was sure Mom and Dad were out of their bedchamber, preparing the kingdom for future destruction.
I rinsed my mouth and returned to my closet to put on my white tank top. Crouching, I pulled on my old, worn-out black boots and tied the laces. When I stood, Torin stood in front of me, and I yelped.
His enormous body blocked the entire closet entrance. I wished I could feel angry with him, with his irrational idea of killing the vampire Queen as the way for us to have a future.
His brilliant plan was doomed from the start, though. The vampire Queen only needed to be around Torin for him to lose his own free will and follow her every whim. Didn’t he see that it wouldn’t work? Didn’t he feel my escalating hurt?
Yesterday I suggested that he turn me or that we run away. No matter what I suggested, he shut me down with reasons why my plans wouldn’t work. But Torin couldn’t stop me from convincing the Alphas and the kingdom to accept his vampire side in our territory.
I placed my hands on my hips. “Why are you here, Torin? I thought you’d get the message when you tried my bedroom door and found it locked.”
He smiled. “A locked door can’t stop me from getting to you, Princess.”
I sighed, started to collect my hair in one hand, and managed to tie it in a messy ponytail.
“I knew you’d go without me.”
“I don’t want you to be in more trouble than you are.”