Rosalind's POVI was cleaning one of the suites when an attendant came to call me."Prince Killian has summoned you."It had been three days since we had that talk that still baffled me. I have avoided him since then by avoiding the hall altogether. The two brothers confounded me. I didn't know how to behave with Cillian who made my heart ache when he looked at me with so much hurt in his eyes. I didn't know how to behave with a version of Prince Killian who wasn't actively trying to make my life hell.I knew I would be unable to hide forever but I wondered why it had been Prince Killian and not Cillian. I wondered why it hurt so much. Then I wondered why he wanted to see me at all. Was he back to his plan of torturing me?I followed the attendant anxiously. He led me outside the palace to a limo. And standing in front of the limo, dressed in the colours of blue and white was…"Cillian?"He smiled at me and I found my lips lifting up in response before I stopped myself in time. He
Killian's POVIf I saw one more painted simpering lady try to make a pass at me, I would abdicate and leave the throne for Cillian. I never agreed for the girls to be brought here so why was I suffering for this?"I am done with this." I informed my brother. Cillian merely looked at least though I was exaggerating."I came out of my bathroom and that one with the curls, Ash or something, was in my bed. Naked.""And since when do things like that irritate you?"Okay, Cillain had a point. I liked my women with imagination, silence, willingness and spread legs. If she was already in my bed, all the better. Which was the reason I told the council I wanted to mate for love. I already had so much meaningless interaction with women. If and when I got mated, it had to mean more than that to me. "It irritates me when said naked woman is the daughter of a powerful family and wants to trap me with sex." I poured myself a glass of wine. "Besides I never asked you to meekly follow the wishes o
Rosalind's POVThe woman who stopped me was taller than me and effortlessly beautiful like she had just stepped out of a capital magazine. She also seemed familiar like I had seen her somewhere. She had brown hair done up in intricate braids that pulled her hair away from her face showing off her aristocratic features and glass-smooth skin. Unlike the other brides-to-be that were here, she covered up her body. She wore a luxurious gown that looked expensive enough to buy at least three orphans in the districts. Her grey eyes were as cool as steel. And her nails dug into my arm.And I don't understand what she is saying."Pardon me?"She hit me across the face and I clutched my cheek stunned silent by the suddenness of the slap. I hadn't done anything to warrant her to treat me like that. As I looked up at her and saw the disgusted sneer she regarded me with, I realised where I had seen her. Earlier yesterday, I had bumped into her when leaving the dining room after seeing Prince K
Killian's POVI don't think I have ever been this angry before. This thoroughly consumed by anger. So angry that my body trembled from the intensity of my rage.Another tear dropped from Rosalind's beautiful eyes and I wanted nothing more than to rip into my brother for causing her this much pain. "I knew he could never choose me as his mate. But I hoped. I hoped so much and seeing him like that with her hurt so much." Rosalind sobbed and buried her head in my chest again as nerve-wracking sobs hit her body. I held her close to myself, my shirt was getting rather wet but I didn't care. I wanted to comfort her even if I had zero ideas how exactly that worked. "You were stupid. That's not a sin."Rosalind cried harder. Goddess, my brother was stupid.What happened to all the plans we had made together? Was he no longer planning to leave the throne to me? He had seemed so certain when he spoke to me about how she meant the world to him only for me to hear this now. I felt myself gett
Rosalind's POVI sat in my bed feeling a chaotic whirl of emotions. My lips still tingled from Killian's kiss and my heart still ached from Cillian's betrayal. This was wrong. I shouldn't feel this way about both of them. It wasn't fair to either of them but I was unable to control how I felt.I loved Cillian. I had loved him from the first moment I met him and he took my hand. I had fallen even deeper in love with him every day he treated me like a queen. The way he tried to solve all of my problems, his shy smile and the way he stared at me as though I hung the moon and he couldn't be luckier to have me and the way his reverent kisses and his touch excited me beyond what I thought was possible. With every kiss we shared, I felt even more bound to him and my wolf confirmed what I had always felt deep down. He was my mate. The one person created by the moon goddess specifically for me. And then there was Killian. Killian who had almost had me executed the first time we met. Who m
Cillian's POVThe conversation I had with Rosalind was still stuck in my head playing on repeat. I had been unable to sleep, to stop thinking about her and rethinking all the things I could have said or done to effect a different outcome. I was wrong, Prince Cillian. When I said seeing you mated would kill me. It won't…I don't like you the way you like me, Prince Cillian.I refused to believe her words. Not when she had looked at me with those blue eyes filled with pain. The root of our problems was this damn princess selection so I would get rid of it. I knew there would be repercussions but nothing mattered to me more than Rosalind at this point. I would deal with the rest later. "Cillian?" Adelyn looked at me questioningly and I returned to myself. "I can't do this." I faced someone who had once been my friend, confidante and more before the years and growth had torn us apart. "I am sending all the brides home. I thought I would tell you for old times' sake."Adelyn's eyes wer
Rosalind's POVWe entered the council meeting hall where I had once stood outside to eavesdrop on the conversation about the prospective brides. They were in session and I saw Cillian and Killian seated before the guards tossed me to the ground and I landed on my hands and knees. Instinctively I knew I should not raise my head. I should not draw notice here. It could be the end of my life. I heard the outraged cry of one of the council members, his name might have been Gaius from all my eavesdropping sessions. "What is the meaning of this interruption?"Adelyn was elegance incarnate as she simpered."I apologise dear esteemed council members. I have brought a case of theft for your judgement. Brought here as a part of the incoming brides, I was assured I would be treated like royalty."The room was silent and I wondered if just anyone could bring a case of theft to the Goddess damned council or if it was because she was Arthur's daughter. Her soothing voice continued to hammer nai
Rosalind's POVWhy did I come here again? Right. To talk to Killian to let him know that the same way I had nothing to do with Cillian was the same way I could have nothing to do with him. What we had was just attraction so I could let go of him now, I had to. After I finished speaking, he didn't seem surprised at all by my words, instead he looked at me and smiled. His smile sent shivers running down my spine. Then he stepped into my personal space and brushed my hair away from my left shoulder and I froze as his fingers touched my skin. "Did I ever say I wanted anything from you?"His breath moved over my skin and it took everything in me to not moan loudly and wantonly. "I guess not."Killian dropped a kiss on my exposed neck and I trembled in his arms as he led me close to whisper in my ear. "You have a lot of pride. Was it because I gave you a moment of my time? Someone like you is unworthy of me."What was it about this man that made me wet with the way he spoke to me even