Chapter 9
“I’m surprised you have a cook here,” Lucie said as she stared into the kitchen where the chef had disappeared after asking how she wanted her eggs.
“Really? Well, I guess it would seem odd, if we were just a bunch of vagabonds,” Tonya said, flashing a bright smile as Zach walked into the room, taking a seat next to her at the long table.
“I bet you thought we were just a small band of rogues, huh?” Zach chuckled as he kissed Tonya’s temple.
“Hey, I wasn’t going to judge.” Lucie smiled sheepishly. She definitely thought they were just a random band of rogues.
“Nope. Not us. We are the prince’s men,” Zach said, causing Lucie to spit up her drink.
“You’re Derrick’s men?” Lucie coughed out. She looked over at Ryan, who tilted his head and smiled at her.
“You know our prince?” Zach said, flashing his eyes at Ryan then back to her. “And why are you speaking his name so casually?”
“Well …” Lucie squirmed a bit uncomfortably in her chair.
She wasn’t going to say anything about who she was, but maybe it was for the best. After all, if Ryan knew she was his prince’s fiancée, he would understand why she couldn’t be his mate.
She fiddled with her fingers as she stared at them.
“I’m Derrick’s fiancée.” She looked up to see Zach and Tonya’s jaws drop.
Out of the corner of her eye, she looked at Ryan.
She noticed his eyes flickered slightly but his expression didn’t change.
“Wait. You’re the prince’s fiancée? Then that means you’re the werewolf princess?” Zach asked, and she nodded slowly. “Bloody hell. How the hell did you end up captured?”
“That’s what I want to know too.” Ryan’s eyes darkened as his voice lowered.
His changed demeanor made Lucie look at him for a moment. She didn’t know why, but the fact that he sounded upset made her feel upset. Maybe it was because he was her mate?
“I allowed myself to get taken. I wanted to know what they were up to. I heard them mention my pack’s name, so I thought I would get answers.”
“So you willingly let them take you?” Ryan growled. His amber eyes seemed to glow as anger radiated from him. “You could have been killed.”
He was her mate, and that made her want to be upset that he was angry with her.
But she was also a princess, a natural leader.
And THAT made her want to lash back. “For my people, I will risk my life. How many of my people could be killed? What is my one life compared to many?” Lucie shrugged.
“If they want to kill me, they can try. I’ll take as many of them down with me as I can. ”
Ryan kept his eyes locked on hers. “You should be more careful because of who you are. Do you think you can easily be replaced? We all need our leaders. What happens with the treaty if you die? What about the masses then?”
Lucie smirked and sipped her coffee as she looked at Ryan. “Well, I have to marry the prince for there to be a treaty. So are you relinquishing the bond?”
Ryan chuckled darkly. “Not. A. Chance.”
“But Ryan … she’s the prince’s girl,” Zach said, mortified.
“She is mine,” Ryan said, challenging Lucie with his intense stare.
“Do you think that someone who was willing to die for her people wouldn’t sacrifice this much for them as well? I’m sticking to the treaty.” Lucie felt bile rise in her throat even saying the words. She watched the amusement shine in Ryan’s eyes as he stared at her.
“You’re very loyal to the prince. You two must be close,” Tonya said innocently.
Lucie looked over at Tonya and felt her stomach drop.
She wasn’t close to Derrick. Honestly, she barely knew him.
He acted like he didn’t want to be bothered with her.
They could have been better friends if he wouldn’t have gotten weird with her.
Around puberty … hmmm. She wondered if maybe he had gotten a girlfriend.
Maybe that was why he’d started distancing himself from her.
Though according to Jasper, he still kept tabs on her.
Derrick confused her. She didn’t know him. Her crestfallen face gave her away. Her eyes dropped to look at her hand. She was going to be marrying a man who only looked at her as an obligation. He never looked at her like she was precious, not how Ryan already looked at her.
“Oh look, the food is done,” Tonya said, happy to distract Lucie from whatever she was thinking about.
Her pained face was obvious to everyone in the room.
She looked up at Ryan, whose eyes reflected Lucie’s pain.
She wondered what he was actually going to do about this situation.
He couldn’t go against the prince. Would he try to plead his case?
Surely he wouldn’t try anything stupid …
“These are scrambled eggs, Lucie. We use this metal object called a fork to eat with. Or would you prefer a dog bowl so that you can lap it up?” Zach chuckled at his own joke.
Lucie snapped out of her inner turmoil and looked over at the unamusing jokester.
“As you can see, having a mate isn’t everything.” Tonya teased and flicked Zach on his forearm.
“Ouch!” Zach pouted, rubbing his arm.
Lucie smiled. Tonya could say that playfully, but it was obvious by the way the two of them looked at each other that they were very much in love.
At that moment, the two men playing video games in the living room walked into the kitchen.
“Lucie, this is Enzo and Lenny. Guys, this is my mate, Lucie,” Ryan said, giving Lucie a cocky smile.
“Yeah, she is also Prince Derrick’s fiancée, so we may be getting a new leader soon.” Zach laughed with a mouth full of food.
Enzo laughed. “You like to live on the dangerous side, don’t you, Ryan.” He grabbed a seat at the far end of the table and Lenny followed suit.
Lucie quietly ate her food. The whole time she could feel Ryan’s gaze burning a hole into her.
He was watching her every move. The caring and possessive way he looked at her actually gave her a small thrill.
At least she got to see it. At least for once, she was able to be looked at like that.
It would be something she would secretly hold close to her heart.
She would keep the memory of her mate close so that she could remember that at one point, she was someone’s world.
“You’re going to have to give me your full name so I can reject you properly,” Lucie said, glancing up at Ryan. He smirked at her.
“You’re not rejecting me.”
“Wow. For being their ‘leader’, you’re not very smart. I have a fiancé, remember?” Lucie set her fork down and looked into his amber eyes.
“I am your fiancé. You’re mine. And I’m yours.
You’re the one who isn’t listening to me.
I’m keeping you. From now on, you’re mine.
My mate.” Ryan leaned his face on his hand as he smiled at her.
His eyes wandered over her slowly, taking her in.
He wanted to hold her close. He wanted to mark her as his.
She was still healing, so he would wait, but she was his.
His eyes trailed over her and up to her lips.
He wanted to taste them, too. He then looked up to her green, pooling eyes and could see the pain in them. “Lucie …”
It wasn’t like she wanted to do this. Didn’t he think she wanted her mate?
Of course she wanted to be with her mate.
It was natural. Your mate was the one person that was made just for you, the other half of your soul.
No, she didn’t want to be separated from him.
No, she didn’t want to go to another man who seemed hardly interested in her.
But she had to. She was going to do this for both their species.
And this was actually the greater sacrifice, more than sacrificing her life. It was forfeiting her heart.
“I think the prince has a woman anyway. I don’t see why you two can’t work it out,” Lenny said, eating a biscuit.
Lucie shot her gaze at Lenny. “What do you mean?”
“The last time I was there, I saw the prince from a distance. He was walking in the garden hand in hand with a dark-haired woman.” Lenny shrugged. “Maybe it can just be a diplomatic marriage where you both get to keep the person you really want.”
“You don’t know that was the prince you were seeing. You’ve never seen the prince up close. We were handpicked by the king to be the princes’ men.” Enzo gave Lenny an annoyed look for spreading gossip about their prince.
Lucie stayed quiet. She wasn’t sure if she believed he had someone or not.
But she couldn’t deny that it made sense.
It could very well be the reason his personality had changed with her.
Okay, he had his person. But this still presented a problem.
She had to produce his heir. There was no faking that part of the relationship.
On another level, hearing this kind of gossip about Derrick bothered her.
This was their prince. She wouldn’t want her people to speak badly about her, repeating rumors or unproven facts. She looked up at Lenny.
“I think it’s best not to say such things without proof.
You don’t wish to tarnish your prince’s name.
He’s done a lot of good for your kind and is even sacrificing his own happiness for his people as well.
He has to take me as his bride and not his mate.
Those sacrifices should be remembered when you casually speak about your prince.
” Lucie’s eyes gleamed with a hint of sharpness as she looked at Lenny.
Tonya smiled at Lucie. “Already defending your future husband even in his absence. You have good qualities.” She looked across the table at Ryan, who was studying Lucie with a frown on his face. Did he not like her coming to their prince’s defense, or was it something else?
“You’re right. I misspoke,” Lenny said quietly.
“It’s okay.” Lucie smiled. “So you guys like to play racing games?” The two men grinned.
“Yes we do.”
“Any good at it?” Lucie quirked her brow at them and gave them a crooked smile.
Enzo laughed loudly. “Are you challenging us?”
“Well, I thought I would show you how to really race. Unless you’re content with staying on the kiddie track.”
“Haha, game on,” Lenny said as he pumped his fist in the air.
“I’m in too,” Ryan said as he continued to look at Lucie curiously.
Lucie smiled and shrugged. “Well, if you don’t mind looking bad in front of your people.”
A wide grin spread across Ryan’s face as he stood up. He walked over to Lucie, and she was back in his arms again. He cradled her into his chest and leaned his head down so that his lips were near her ear.
“Show me what you’ve got … princess.” His hot breath beat against her ear, making her body shudder.
She felt her treacherous heart begin to pound in excitement.
It was hard enough being near him like this.
The least he could do was put a shirt on.
Her resolve was being chipped away as her body begged her to give in to him.
No. Now was not the time. She needed to focus on the battle at hand.
Racing karts was not for the weak at heart.
People had lost friendships over games like this.
She needed to focus and bring her A-game.
She would show them her power. She spent years playing against Aedan and Justice, and now she would see if her years of training had paid off.