I zoned out, trembling and nails digging into the arm of my throne. For how long, I had no idea. Not until Chase squeezed my hand tighter and his breath fanned my face. I hadn't noticed that he had moved from his throne and was cradling my face in his. I had completely lost it. How could she? How could Bella tell such lies? How could she do that to me? How? Why? I blinked, willing for the sadness to stay put. This wasn't time for me to be sad. I had no such luxury. Bella doesn't deserve such feelings from me. If she could lie so blatantly before me, what use is pitying her? "She's lying," I murmured, my eyes desperately searching Chase's. "I did no such thing. I swear, I..." He kissed me, cutting the words off in the process. "I know," he whispered back. "I know. I never doubted you. And we've already discussed this, Snookums." "But... but..." I swallowed, my heart pinching. "How could she tell such a lie? How could she do this to me?" "Now is the time to find out," he murmured
CHASE. A gaping hole lodged itself as I watched everything unfold before me in slow motion. It was like I was watching a slow motioned drama, aired on the television. And it took me a moment, a slow agonizing moment, and the feel of my wife's body in my arms to stagger back to reality. This was real. Edward had just attacked my wife. I was in a daze as I cradled her body to my chest. As her blood soaked my white shirt and slipped through my fingers. As the scent of dona fruit hits my nostrils in mere seconds. Fuck! The bastard ate the fruit! "No. No, please Zara no," I cried. I wasn't even sure what my voice sounded like. I was past thinking. Past caring. Just like Drew's only goal was to rip Edward's arms as well. I'd sworn to keep Zara safe, and somehow I was doing a terrible job lately. One minute, she was standing before me, as I stood back to give her space and make her as comfortable as possible throughout the very triggering trial. And the next, I was cradling her bloo
My eyes roamed the room through Drew's, taking in the other elders very shocked looks. Drew had just killed a member of the consulate. And not just any member, but the prime minister, which was something that never happened in the past, so I could understand why they all looked pretty shocked about that. Even Shane and Ryan both looked like they'd just seen a ghost. I rarely ever acted on impulse, and Drew certainly never did. But this was something neither of us could control. I wasn't about to sit back and watch as he disrespected my wife, and neither was Drew. 'He should've been dead a long time ago,' Drew growled. 'I completely agree. He had no business roaming the world and my kingdom with that foul heart of his,' I agreed. He got what was coming to him, and that was all I could say about the issue. Drew suddenly roared at the elders, the sound of the roar, shaking the very old building. The elders who always had something to say or counter during every consulate meetin
ZARA. I wrapped my arms around Chase’s neck as he carried me gently and placed me on the throne with my heart pounding in my chest. Everything had been a complete blur, but now I was feeling much better. I had no idea how the wolfsbane didn’t affect me, but for some reason it didn’t and I was fine which I was happy about. Chase knelt down in front of me, brushing a thumb across my cheek, his gaze searching mine. I could see how much he cared about me and it made my heart melt. He killed for me. No one had ever done that for me before and I’d been so surprised by what had happened. “Are you okay?” he asked, dragging me out of my thoughts. “Does anything hurt?” I gave him a small smile. It was so cute how much he cared about my well being, and how he made sure I knew that he cared about me. I nodded. “I am. And no, nothing hurts.” Not taking my word, I watched him look around my body as if searching for some invisible wound he might have missed or one I might be hi
“Keep your eyes closed,” Chase warned as he led me down a path. I had no idea where we were going and despite the numerous times I had asked, he wouldn't say. “Ow,” I said dramatically as my feet hit a rock. “Be careful,” he chuckled, making sure he held me in place as we continued on. I didn’t want to jinx whatever we had going on, but I would say that it has been pretty good so far. We weathered the storm that seemed unending a a while back, and somehow, we’re here even stronger. Better than I had ever imagined. It had been a couple of weeks since that very heated session in the throne room, and whenever I think about that, my cheeks get hot because of how steamy it was. I never knew that Chase had it in him. From taking matters into his own hands and dealing with the prime minister, to taking me right there in the throne room. On the throne shared by kings and queens of Betnerd for decades. But somehow, it was all we needed. That reassurance and him letting me know he’l
After that, he plated our jollof rice, fried plantains, and chicken, and while I wolfed it down while we talked, Chase kept taking small bites and gulping down milk. He was so adorable. His eyes and nose were red, and he looked utterly uncomfortable as he forced himself to eat the food. It showed to what extent Chase was willing to do things for me. So, I set my spoon down, stood up and closed the distance between us. He looked up at me, confusion blanketing his face before he split into a grin when I sat down on his lap. He adjusted the chair, giving me more space as I wrapped my hands around his neck, and pulled him down for a kiss. Just a tangle of tongue and teeths and breath. A bubble of warmth that wrapped itself around us and sunk us deeper into our feelings. Before I finally broke the kiss. “Hey, gorgeous,” his voice was soft, almost raspy, and his gaze never left mine. “Hi, handsome,” I grinned, before burying my face at the crook of his neck. “I needed that k
CHASE. “Do you really have to go in today?” Zara asked from where she lay pouting on the bed. I turned around to look at her as I took in her bed hair which consisted of her curls sticking out in all directions, which made her even more adorable than she already was. She was wearing my T-shirt and the only thing I wanted to do right now was to crawl back in bed with her. ‘Then get back in bed,’ Drew growled within me. ‘It’s not that easy,’ I bit back. ‘We have responsibilities. Things to do.’ ‘But Zara looks so good,’ he whined. She did. And yesterday was perfect. And Zara and I had spent the remainder of the evening eating snacks in bed and talking. It ended with us making love, and I didn’t think anything could really top that. “Are you going to stand there smiling at the air or get in bed with me?” she asked, dragging me out of my reverie. I sighed as I got to the bed. “The only thing I want to do right now is to stay in bed with you.” “And why can’t you do that?”
Finally, we got to the building and I made my way to the head of the table of elders which was unusually quiet. They all greeted me in unison and fell into an unusual silence again. I could tell that they were definitely still reeling from the events of the previous meeting. “How’s everyone doing?” I asked as soon as I got comfortable. “We are all good, your grace. Thank you for asking,” one of the elders answered, their heads still ducked down. I leaned back in my chair, my fingers tapping against the wooden table with a measured calm. “Well, I gave you all time to rest after the ordeal of the last meeting, and I hope that we can move past it and focus on current issues,” I said. Some of the elders mumbled and shifted in their seats as if they had something more to say but wouldn’t dare voice it. But finally, one of them was brave enough to say something. “Your grace, with all due respect, the death of the prime minister came as quite a shock. He was a respected figure, a lo
I gripped the leather of the car seat so tightly I was certain my nails would leave marks. The pain I felt was one I’d never felt before in all my life and I was trying… and failing terribly… to keep it together. I couldn’t catch my breath. My vision blurred with tears, and all I could do was gasp, clutching my belly as if I could somehow contain the ache that tore through me. Okay, I’d heard tales about childbirth and even Margaret had scared me with one a couple of days ago, but I didn’t think that it would be this painful. Beside me, Chase was handling the whole situation even worse than me. He was practically yelling at the frightened driver and I was just hoping that we don’t end up driving up a tree with how much tension filled this car. “Can’t you go any faster?” Chase said to the driver, his hand reaching for mine. I could feel his worry, but I couldn’t comfort him right now, not when I was clinging to what little composure I had left. He rubbed my hand. “It’s okay,
ZARA. My heart was pounding when Chase and I got into the car, making our way back to the airport. This entire day has come as a shock. I mean, I had no idea that Chase was planning this. I sat in the car, watching the gorgeous trees in the kingdom I'd call home all my life blur past. Tears were stinging my eyes, but they were not falling. I simply held my husband's hand and from time to time, felt him give me a reassuring squeeze. Still, in the midst of everything, I was still in disbelief and couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Asher and Lina had gone to those lengths to get rid of me. They had been having an affair since the beginning of our relationship and I had no idea because Asher had gone extra lengths to make sure I wouldn't know he was cheating. And I almost married him. Almost merged my life with his. And to rape me? Really? Had I never meant a thing to them? Had I always been a thorn in their sides? Was that it? Had they hated me that much? To be able to g
I took a step away so that everyone could focus on the bouncer as I walked behind Zara’s chair to keep her company for a while. My hands found her shoulders and began gently massaging. She seemed so stiff and in shock and I wanted to do anything to make her feel better. Maybe a kiss. Or a hug. Anything to take off the tortured look on her face. I leaned down to her ear as I whispered. “I’m sorry.” She squeezed my hand on her shoulders and blinked, the words she said shocking me a bit. “I love you, Chase. More than you’ll ever know.” “You’re not upset? I did this without you knowing?” She looked up to smile at me. “I love that you’re protecting me and that’s all that matters.” I squeezed her shoulders again and lifted my head to face everyone once more. “You can speak now!” I ordered the bouncer. “I was hired to make Zara…” I cut him off quickly. “That’s queen Zara of Betnerd to you.” He cleared his throat. “I was hired to make queen Zara look compromised,” he said, look
CHASE. Lina’s voice cut through the council again, shrill and annoying and I was seriously getting tired of her screaming. “So that’s it, isn’t it?” she spat. “You’ve always been the whore. You and Chase, together that night, carrying on like you had some claim to him.” The whore word again? When was she going to learn? Maybe never, because that was why she opened her mouth to Edward and told him about Zara cheating on the bond when they visited. It was why he had the guts to insult her moments before I killed him. And now, even after being caught in a lie with her vile husband, Lina was still going to war for him. I was very impressed by how loyal she was no matter what was thrown their way, but she’d called my wife a whore and I wasn’t going to let that slide, not even one bit. Before she could spit out another vile word, I was already moving. I held out my hand as I grabbed Asher by the collar, and before anyone could blink, my fist crashed on his jaw again. He gasped in pain,
Chase held the pendant, looking around as his eyes met mine. “This necklace held a spell that stopped Zara from feeling any pain when Asher was cheating on her. It was why she never knew.” I swallowed, the hurt and betrayal becoming more painful by the second. “All of these are lies,” Asher spat out, but Chase was not yet done. “Shut your mouth before I order the kingdom priest to step in,” Chase said. “You can do that then,” Asher mumbled, even though I could tell he was scared. “I will. But I also spoke to the priest's daughter who said that he’d made this spell for you, Asher. And how this spell was shattered on the night of Zara’s bachelorette party.” I sucked in breath without moving as the priest was ushered into the room. He’s old and had been the priest of the kingdom for as long as I could remember. The priest greeted the king by bowing his head as he sat on the table with us. Asher and Lina looked petrified. “So, what do you have to tell us about this?” Chase as
ZARA. Excuse me? It took me a moment to process what I had just heard. A whole moment to figure out the rate of my heartbeat. This whole thing looked like a badly written movie script and I had no idea how much I could take in before I began to scream. It started like a play, with Chase revealing Lina’s branded mark, and how everything was slowly making sense. I replayed the night of the bachelorette party in my head, pieces of the puzzle slowly clicking together. I hadn’t been black out drunk that night… at least, not in the way I made myself believe. The truth was, I wanted to fall into someone else’s arms, to escape, even if just for a moment. It was a farewell to my freedom, a desperate attempt to hold on to something I could control before I got into a marriage that felt like a trap. Even if at that moment, I hadn't thought of it that way. Months before that, maybe even a year, Asher became a completely different person. I slowly started noticing that he was not the man I’
Gasps filled the room as everyone took in the mark on her wrist, the shock most evident on Asher and Lina’s faces. But they didn’t gasp or flinched because they’d both known this all the while and had kept it a secret. I let go of her wrist as she tried to regain her composure. I looked at her and then Asher with satisfaction on my face. “Would you like to explain why you’re wearing a mark that only appears when someone’s slept with another wolf that isn’t their mate?” Lina’s eyes flashed with anger. She tried to hide her hand deeper into her coat, but everyone else had already seen it. The damage had already been done. “What are you playing at, Chase?” My brother yelled, clearly pissed. “What sick game is this?” “You!” Lina screamed at me, her index finger pointed shakily at my face. “You did something to me. You… you’re trying to set me up. That mark you just showed up now. It isn’t real.” “Then why are you desperately trying to make them believe you? Take out your hand and
CHASE. The meeting hadn’t begun officially, but I was already livid. I couldn’t wait to put Asher and Lina in their place and make them pay dearly for everything they’d put Zara through. In a way, I was grateful for them because they were the main reason I was able to find my mate, the love of my life. My queen and the mother of my child. Hopefully, children. But still, it doesn’t dismiss what they’ve done and how much they’ve made her a laughing stock in her own kingdom. ‘Make sure to put them in their damn places,’ Drew growled. I tightened my palms together until it turned into a fist and clenched my jaw. ‘I fucking intend to.’ I knew that organising this meeting meant digging up past trauma for Zara, but it had to be done. Especially given the fact that she had no idea what I was doing. Seeing their ashen faces was the highlight of my mood right now. Gripping the table more, I asked again. “I asked you both a damn question!” I snapped. “Would you like to do the honors or
I blinked at nothingness as the words kept repeating in my head. I was struggling so hard to come to terms with what I had just heard. It has been months since I've been back here, after I was thrown out like scum of the earth and then Chase had stood up for me. But now, I had no idea why I was here. I decided to leave Zakori behind and never look back, but for some reason, that didn't happen. For the longest time, this place had felt like home to me and I didn't know anywhere else. I barely traveled out of the kingdom and state because I didn't need to. I was content with the life I had here. Until the day of the wedding. The day my entire world came crashing down and I couldn't stop it. The place I'd grown up in, the place that used to feel like safety. Now felt like judgment. Like I was stepping into a trial. I wasn't ready for that again. I turned to Chase now, my eyes filled with questions. "Why are we here? I thought we were going to a tropical state or something?" My voi