14. The Third Wheel
THE THIRD WHEEL
I thought about turning back, but I needed to talk to Damien about Leif. It was just ... I hadn’t expected him to crash my date with Johnathan!
I approached them hesitantly, and before Johnathan could say anything, Damien said, “I hope you don’t mind me tagging along, Fenris.”
“Actually, I mind it very much. Will you leave, then?” I crossed my arms and said sternly.
“Nope,” Damien replied instantly.
Johnathan said softly, “Sorry ... Fenris ...”
“It’s not John’s fault. I threatened to tell his father you two were going out on a date if he didn’t let me come.” Damien shrugged as though it was the most natural thing in the world.
I didn’t know what game he was playing, but I could only guess it was because he didn’t like the idea of me dating Johnathan ... Maybe because of the mark, he thought he had some sort of claim on me. And it irked me to no end.
“Fine, if you want to tag along and be the third wheel, be my guest.” I inserted myself between them, wrapped my arm around Johnathan’s waist and pecked his cheek as though Damien wasn’t even there.
Johnathan giggled a little.
I could almost sense the heat of Damien’s fuming anger reaching me from behind like red tendrils.
We went to the stable, where the grooms had prepared horses for us.
We rode out of the palace and arrived at the city just as the sun was about to sink below the jagged silhouette of the buildings.
A warm, red-orange hue spread across the rooftops and stone-paved, winding streets, like apricot jam, making everything feel warm and fuzzy.
Because there was going to be a fireworks contest that night, the market was much more crowded than usual. We had to leave our horses at a stable and make our way through the bustling throng on foot.
It was the first time I had roamed in the city since coming to Erevos, and everything fascinated me.
We also had a market in Jarlstead, but it only consisted of the same dozen or so vendors who always sold the same things: mostly cookware, preserved meats or vegetables, mead, and hunting weapons.
Occasionally, travelling merchants would bring small trinkets or rare spices, but the unspoken rule was that only omegas or female betas should be interested in those items.
Here, however, I saw so many things I had only ever heard of, such as small figurines made of sugar, glass lamps that rotated and cast moving patterns of light, and boxes that played music when opened.
My eyes were so busy taking everything in that I almost bumped into a cart, but Damien pulled me away in time.
“Thanks ...” I grunted under my breath. Then I looked around and realized I couldn’t see Johnathan. I grew worried.
“He is ahead,” Damien said, as if reading my mind. “Don’t worry, we said we’d meet at the tavern if separated.”
Fantastic, within half an hour, I had lost my date but was stuck with my nemesis ...
I decided to stop looking around and try to catch up with Johnathan. But then, Damien tapped my shoulder, and when I turned around, he shoved something in front of my face.
It was an apple on a stick, beautifully preserved beneath a glossy red sugar glaze. I had seen it on the stand before.
“Go on, take it,” Damien said in a rather rigid voice, as though he were handing me a sword rather than a snack.
I raised an eyebrow. Did he buy it for me?
“I saw you were looking at it,” he explained, slightly awkward.
“I looked at a lot of things,” I pointed out defensively.
“You looked at it for a very long time, so long that you didn’t even notice your Johnathan had gone.”
“I was just curious!”
“Do you want it or not? I’ll have it if you don’t want it.”
He was about to put it into his own mouth, but I snatched it away.
It was sweet, very sweet, but in a good way. The cane sugar coating broke with a crispy sound between my teeth, and the boiled apple still retained a hint of its original fragrance and sourness.
I only realized that I had just accepted food from another alpha after I’d devoured most of it.
It was an alpha’s instinct to provide food and resources for their mates. By accepting Damien’s food, I was basically acknowledging his claim on me ... I glared at his grinning face and hissed, “This means nothing!”
“Of course,” he said nonchalantly, even though the smile on his face grew even wider. “It’s only a candied apple.”
We found Johnathan a few minutes later. He was waiting for us by a gaming booth, where many colourful targets were hung on the wall, and you could throw darts at them to win prizes.
Johnathan was having a go at it. He was pretty good for a non-warrior; most of his darts hit the middle rings, with one very close to the bullseye.
He even won a small prize, which was a little tin lucky charm.
“That’s pretty good! Great job!” I said cheerfully, clapping Johnathan’s back. But Johnathan looked a little disappointed.
“I wanted that.” He pointed at the top prize sitting on the top shelf. It was a beautifully crafted knight figurine, with intricate details on the silver armour and gems inlaid into the sword. I recognized it as Renfri the Valiant, a famous character in the well-known ballad “The Seven Knights.”
This was a perfect chance for me to impress him, and I would be a fool to let it slip away. I dropped some coins in the vendor’s hand and winked at Johnathan, saying, “Give me a minute. I’ll make sure you leave with your Renfri.”
I took all seven darts and threw them out one by one, nonstop with ease, showing off my skill. All of them hit the bullseye, as I expected. I heard Johnathan whoop, exhilarated, which gave my ego an immense boost.
I was about to claim the prize, but the vendor said awkwardly, “Um, there is only one top prize. Who should I give it to?”
Only then did I notice the target next to mine also had seven darts hitting the bullseye, and Damien stood beside me, an impish smile tugging at his lips.
The fucker!
“Really?!” I scowled at him. “What’s wrong with you?!”
“Is there a law saying I can’t play it?” He shrugged, giving me several infuriating innocent blinks. “But it’s okay, let’s just say you won, you can have the prize.”
He said it as though he was letting me win. The audacity!
Johnathan said with a big sigh, like he wanted to say, “not this again”, but instead he just said, “Can we just get the prize? It doesn’t matter, you both are good.”
“No, if he wants to play it this way, then so be it.” I had forgotten my original purpose and only wanted to teach Damien a lesson. I paid for another round, then took five steps away from the designated spot.
Damien did the same, with that smug little smirk still sitting on his face.
We threw the darts again at a similar rapid pace. The darts whooshed through the air and hit the bullseyes, all fourteen of them. And so we played another round, this time from even farther away.
On and on, our distance grew farther from the stand, yet we were evenly matched in every round. A curious crowd gathered around us; some cheered for me, others cheered for him. It all reminded me of our first encounter in the fighting ring.
I was all riled up, consumed by the need to win, and completely forgot that Johnathan was still waiting there.
We went on and on, pushing our limits, and sooner or later, one of us would miss our aim.
In the back of my head, I knew how ridiculous this was, but I just didn’t want to lose to him again.
Damien stole a few glances in my direction. The grin on his countenance subdued a little, and the sharpness in his eyes went softer for whatever reason. When it was his turn to throw the next dart, it missed the bullseye by less than an inch.
“Ah, blasted,” he muttered as though frustrated with his own slip up, then turned to me, spreading his right hand, saying, “You win.”
In the thunderous cheer from the crowd, I stared at him. I was almost certain he had missed the target on purpose, but I couldn’t prove it. It made my blood boil.
Was this supposed to be some sort of nice gesture? To me, it was more like an insult. I didn’t need anyone to let me win!
Yet Damien had already returned the rest of the darts to the vendor, and only then did I notice Johnathan’s watchful green eyes. I realized I had all but forgotten about him for the past fifteen minutes. All my thoughts were entirely consumed by Damien.
Feeling guilty, I returned to his side, expecting his anger. Yet Johnathan’s countenance remained eerily calm, not even a sign of frustration. Still, the way his eyes oscillated between Damien and me made me nervous.
I accepted the knight figurine from the vendor and gave it to Johnathan, muttering a soft apology: “Sorry for the wait ... I get overly competitive sometimes.”
Johnathan shrugged; it didn’t seem to bother him, as he still held the figurine with a happy smile. He said, “We should head down to the dock now, it’s going to be crowded.”
It was truly a wonder that he hadn’t even given me a shred of attitude ... I didn’t deserve him.
The dock was already packed with people; we could hardly find room to stand. However, considerate as Johnathan always was, he had booked a nice table on the second floor of an inn, right next to a window that opened onto the river, where the fireworks ships were parked.
The inn was stuffed with overexcited, half-drunken people, and making our way to the second floor had already proven challenging. Waiting for the barmaid to notice us and take our order was basically impossible.
“I’ll go downstairs to get us some drinks and food. You two could use the time I’m away to do some date-like things,” Damien said sarcastically before he left us alone.
I exhaled in relief. With Damien being around, I was constantly on edge. And now I could finally have some alone time with Johnathan. I smiled at him and was about to compliment him on his patience with me today, yet he beat me to it, saying, “I know there is something between you and Damien.”
I gaped at him, my head refusing to process his words for a few seconds, then I forced out an awkward scoff. “Yeah, we have a mutual disdain going on.”
“I think it’s the contrary,” Johnathan said with his gentle, rational, almost calculated calmness.
I never realized how piercing his green eyes were.
“On the island, I found you two before Leif’s calling interrupted your moment with Damien. I saw how he touched you. And it was definitely not two alphas about to get into a fight.”
I felt as if every element of my body had just turned into stone. I said rigidly, “You don’t know what you saw.”
“Why didn’t you make love to me on the island, then?”
“I told you, I wanted to do things properly!”
“Yet you never made a move, never asked me out. More importantly ...” He sighed, lowering his voice. “I know Damien, Fenris. When I told Damien about our date, the look on his face ... the jealousy, the fury, as though I’d stolen something from him. He tried to hide it, but I know that look.”
“You are being ridiculous!”
“Oh yeah?” Johnathan stared me down.
I had never known a beta could be so ... intimidating.
“If I’m wrong, show me your neck,” Johnathan said.
“What?!”
“You’ve been wearing clothes with a high collar or having a cloak to shield your neck for a while now, ever since the hunt. Why is that?”
Johnathan’s tone was so steady, not a trace of threat or bluffing, yet it froze me to the core. I had no idea he had been observing me so closely ...
I didn’t know what expression I had at that moment, possibly somewhere between aghast and horrified, knowing my life could fall apart at any moment.
Yet Johnathan’s hard gaze melted a little, and he placed a hand over mine.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell anyone. I know how much damage such a rumour can do to you and your clan; it will also destroy Damien’s reputation. I trust you’ve thought about all the consequences if a rumour like this gets out?”
Was he ... was he threatening me? Blackmailing me? My head was too stunned to make any judgement right now.
I had known Johnathan was a clever person. He was quiet, but observant, and always made sure that things under his management ran smoothly. He was extremely capable, even though most people wouldn’t even notice him. Now I wondered if he was also more ambitious than met the eye.
“Then why did you ask me out?” I asked. My voice sounded foreign to my own ears.
“Because I like you, and I think we can be allies. That’s also what you wanted, isn’t it?
” His slender fingers traced along my hand and lingered on my wrist, suddenly shifting into a tight hold.
“You and Damien wouldn’t have a future. Two alphas ...
you’ll destroy each other, you know that, right?
I can’t allow you to jeopardize his position when the king is about to decide who will be his heir. ”
“We are not in any relationship, if that’s what you are worrying about.
” I hissed angrily, wanting to get out of this situation, but Johnathan tightened his grip on my wrist further.
It wasn’t anything I couldn’t get out of with a little force, but for some reason, there was a strange authority on his face that compelled me to obey.
That was ... weird. I’d never been intimidated by a beta before.
“Whatever Damien might have given you, I can give it to you, too,” Johnathan said, his words dripping with a dark intrigue. “I’m not your usual beta. I trust you can tell that now.”