13. A Date
A DATE
Leif found me packing up our belongings the next morning, and he asked with a confused frown, “What are you doing?”
“Packing for home,” I said as I folded the tunic I wore yesterday. I wouldn’t have much of a chance to wear fine clothes like this in the North. I planned to visit Johnathan before we set out, extend an invitation for him to visit Winterthrope. Hopefully, some sort of alliance could come out of it.
Leif said, “Are you leaving?”
“We are leaving together, of course!”
“I’m not leaving, Fenris,” Leif said softly. “Did Damien tell you he offered us his alliance? All I need to do is play along.”
I gawked at him, speechless for a few seconds, before I burst out, “You CANNOT be serious! You want to be his fake mate?!”
“We need him, Fenris,” Leif said resolutely.
“It’s a miracle he even offered this. He has no reason to choose me when he doesn’t even want me.
And it’s not a bad arrangement for me, either.
If I don’t marry him, Father will marry me to some random drunk jarl in the North, and I would be trapped in a dingy longhouse, giving birth to cubs nonstop until an alpha comes along.
If I stay here, he promised I can do anything I want, including going to Sirenchester Academy and studying medicine.
He’ll even sponsor me. I’ll have a life here. ”
“But you would still need to produce an heir for him! What if he finds his fated mate later? What if he discards you?!”
“Then I would be free, filthily rich, and I could become a physician,” Leif said with a shrug. “You may not understand this as an alpha, but to an omega who usually doesn’t have control over his life, this is actually a very good deal!”
I slumped into the couch, crossing my arms, shaking my head. “I don’t like this ... I don’t trust these people in the Nocturne court. They’ll eat you alive!”
Leif rolled his eyes, snatching the crudely folded tunic from my hand and placing it back in the clothing trunk. “I’m not as helpless as you think, Fenris. Give me some credit, will you?”
I wondered if I told Leif about the mating mark, would he change his mind? But then ... I was scared.
What if he found me disgusting after knowing what Damien and I did in the bathhouse, what I allowed, even begged Damien to do to me? What if he looked down on me like others would? What if he were never to speak to me again?
I was a coward, after all.
I needed to talk to Damien privately, but he had proven to be hard to find.
The king had given him many duties, from commanding and training the Steel Legion, the most elite army in the Kingdom of Nocturne, to making diplomatic visits to other clans as a royal envoy, which made his free time sparse and precious.
I had tried to request an audience with him through the chamberlain, but Graham kept giving me vague, perfunctory answers about Damien’s whereabouts, and, with his nostrils pointing to the sky, the chamberlain generally implied that I was not important enough for the prince to disrupt his busy schedule just to have a short meeting with me.
Leif’s upset reaction on the island was keenly noticed, and the court had assumed that Leif had been rejected.
Damien’s absence further confirmed their supposition.
And as far as they were concerned, the northern clans were no longer relevant in the mate selection process.
They no longer bothered to send us invitations to those small social gatherings, considering we were the losers who had no value or power in the game anymore.
Leif decided to use the free time to explore Vesperfort Palace’s massive library. He would happily disappear into the forest of ceiling-tall bookshelves for hours, entirely forgetting the outer world’s existence.
I, on the other hand, didn’t have such a good relationship with books. When I was a cub, the seer of Jarlstead had to lock me in a room so I could finish my studies rather than run in the woods chasing rabbits.
So instead of the library, I spent my day in Steel Legion’s training yard, doing weightlifting, agility, and resistance training, as well as practicing my sword fighting and axe-throwing skills against the dummies.
I also wanted to use their Wolf Run to test my strength, speed, and balance in my wolf form, but considering that involved taking off clothes, which might expose the mating mark, I decided to stay away from it and check it out later, when no one was using it.
The legion’s soldiers and commanders didn’t talk to me or acknowledge me in any way.
They generally pretended I was not there, a common attitude southern nobles adopted toward northern clan members in this palace.
However, when I was practicing axe-throwing from over fifty feet away and still had my axes land perfectly in the middle of the dummy’s head each time, they gathered around and watched, with mouths gaping.
I had to admit I enjoyed their awestruck admiration.
It always felt good when other warriors appreciated your skills.
Someone clapped their hands. I looked to the side and saw Johnathan leaning on a column, smiling at me. He was wearing a light green tunic, which matched his beautiful green eyes. He looked stunning.
I jogged over to him, smiling widely. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Johnathan said with a jesting tone. “Out there showing off your excellency again?”
“I was just practicing.”
“Look at them, they are practically worshipping you already.” Johnathan pointed his chin in the general direction of the soldiers.
“Are you also worshiping my excellent axe-throwing skills?” I propped one elbow on the column Johnathan leaned on, giving him a flirtatious smirk.
Johnathan rolled his eyes playfully. “You wish.”
“So, why are you here? You aren’t planning to train in those fancy shoes, are you?” I teased.
“I thought Damien would be here. I have some diplomatic letters that require his attention. But apparently, he’s disappeared on me again.
But finding you here is a happy coincidence.
” Johnathan tilted his head a little, asking sheepishly, “Hey, I know you are probably bored out of your mind in this palace. There is a fireworks contest at the dock tonight. Do you want to go out? We can grab a bite in the city.”
Wow, was he asking me out? It was rare to meet a beta who would ask an alpha out on a date, rather than waiting to be asked. I liked how forward he was.
“Hmm, I dunno. I’ll check my VERY busy schedule,” I said with feigned hesitation, albeit a big grin had already spread across my face.
Johnathan snickered and shook his head, then said, “Well, if your lordship manages to make it, I will wait for you at the western gate. Don’t be late.”
I returned to my room in such a good mood that I was whistling a tune.
Then, I heard the sound of the door opening and closing from Leif’s room.
He probably had also just come back. I thought about telling him that I might be out tonight, and when I opened the door, I saw him lying on his bed, holding a book to his chest, a big, love-struck smile plastered on his face.
He was startled by the sound of me entering and jumped off his bed, shoving the book under his pillow hastily as though caught reading some ... racy adult books.
“Fenris! We talked about this! You should always knock!!” Leif scolded me loudly.
“Sorry ... I forgot, but what was that?” I pointed at his pillow with one brow raised. “You know, you are an adult now, you don’t have to hide inappropriate books from your mum or me anymore.”
“It’s not that kind of book!” Leif exclaimed. His cheeks were redder than the red velvet curtain in his room.
“Then what is it?”
“It’s none of your business!”
Hmm, interesting ... the last time he acted like this was when he tried to hide the fact he had a beta boyfriend when he was fifteen...
I eyed him suspiciously, and he grew more uneasy by the second. Eventually, he pulled the book out and showed me. “It’s just an herbalism book, you can see for yourself!”
“Then why are you hiding it?”
“I don’t know! You should have knocked!”
Welp, I guess my little brother was entitled to some secrets and privacy. I shrugged, saying, “Fair enough. I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be going into the city tonight. You good by yourself?”
“Yeah, of course!” He seemed relieved that I let the topic go. “You go and have fun.”
And that was that.
I took a bath and shaved before I set out to meet Johnathan at the west gate. The summer night was warm, and the air was fermented with the scent of orchid and rose. My steps were light, and my heart was lighter. It was going to be a great night; I was sure.
However, my optimism came to a sudden halt when I noticed two figures waiting at the gate.
Johnathan was there, prettier than all the flowers in the garden, though he looked a bit awkward and apologetic when he saw me.
And then, there was the other person. Dark blue velvet tunic, black trousers, my precious red garnet dagger hung on his belt, a grin on his devilishly beautiful countenance.
Why the fuck was Damien here?!