I had to know. Ever since Chloe had sowed the seed of doubt, there’d been a niggling in the back of my brain. Was Lorenzo responsible for the attack that killed Dad? He couldn’t have been, could he? He loved me; people who loved other people didn’t kill their fathers.
As much as I wanted to believe this, I wasn’t sure.
“Did you?” I repeated, glaring at my mate.
He still had a death grip on my wrist, but he’d stopped trying to drag me through the door. “Leah,” he chuckled. “Are you really going to let her put lies into your head? She’s got a head injury – she’s not thinking straight.” He conveniently left out the part where I’d given her said head injury.
If I didn’t know him as well as I did, I might have believed his deflection. But I’d spent years with him.
ChloeI was going to die here. I wasn’t sure where Leah had gone, but I knew when she came back, she was going to go too far. I wasn’t sure if it was just because her mate wanted me dead or because she wanted me dead, but I realized it didn’t matter. At the end of the day, she was going to kill me regardless of her motive.“Chloe,” someone whispered near me.My head swam, and opening my eyes took too much effort. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Had someone else entered the motel room? Finally, I settled on a soft “Yes?” with my eyes still closed.“Can you open your eyes?”“No.” I tried to shake my head, but even the slightest movement made it swim. I stopped immediately.“Try anyways. I need to check your pupils. It looks like you banged yo
CadenI didn’t know what to do other than comfort Leah. I’d never felt for her like I’d felt for Chloe when she’d been my mate, but I couldn’t deny that I felt bad for her. I knew she’d never want my pity, but that’s what she had from me at the moment.I knew from the screaming when we’d entered that Leah had been hurting Princess Harper, but I’d just watched the woman rip her mate’s throat out. It had been traumatic for me; I could only imagine how traumatic it had been for her.Leah clung to me, tears and blood staining the front of my shirt.“I killed him,” Leah gasped, nearly hyperventilating.“Yeah, you did,” I said, casting another glance at Lorenzo’s body. I’d never seen anything as gruesome as what she’d done. If she’d done that to someone she loved,
ChloeAdrian did everything in his power to keep me awake on the car ride back to the palace. He chatted nonstop the entire ride. I’d honestly heard him speak more in this one car ride than I had the entire time I’d known him.He also kept his thigh pressed against my legs. At first, I’d thought it was a mistake and had shifted away from him, but he’d only scooted over to continue the touch. It wasn’t that it hurt; in fact, the warm heat from his legs felt amazing, but I had a hard time thinking when he was touching me, and I was already disorientated.“You have to stay awake, Chloe,” he said for the millionth time.“You’ve already said that, Adrian.”“That’s because you aren’t listening,” he sighed, rubbing at his face.“I’m glad you’re back
ChloeIt seemed like every time I opened my eyes, I saw someone different in my room. After the first day and a half, Adrian hadn’t been required to check on me every hour anymore, which was probably best considering I was cranky every time he woke me from deep sleep. He’d shrugged off my bad mood, but still.King Charles had all but camped out in my rooms. He’d dragged the comfiest armchair over to the side of my bed where he was every time I’d woken up.“Chloe,” he sighed the first time I’d awoken to his presence.“Hi,” I yawned.“You gave us all a fright,” King Charles sighed.I raised an eyebrow at this. “I didn’t do anything. Someone kidnapped me. It surely wasn’t on purpose.”He rolled his eyes, a small smile tugging on his lips
AdrianAfter I didn’t need to wake her up every hour anymore, I stayed away from Chloe’s room whenever I thought my family might be in there. We needed to have a serious discussion, and it wasn’t something I wanted prying ears listening in on. It took all my self-control not to enter her rooms and kick everyone out. Now that she’d acknowledged the mate bond, my feelings for her had tripled. The longer I stayed away from her, the more irritable I became. I tried to hide it, but I knew my family had noticed. Luckily, they chalked it up to my recent rescue mission and left me alone.Finally, after having not seen Chloe for almost two days, I saw my opportunity. It was late, and I knew I’d probably be waking her up, but her rooms were empty of visitors. I nodded at the guards we’d stationed outside her door and entered, closing the door softly behind me.I went to her bed a
Adrian“No,” I said, my voice harsher than I intended. “No, we are destined mates. We are meant to be together, Chloe. The Moon Goddess doesn’t make mistakes this big.”Chloe shifted in my lap, pressing against my erection. I let out a hiss involuntarily. She froze. “Did I hurt you?”“No,” I ground out. “I just…” I trailed off, not sure how I could point out the obvious delicately. I didn’t want to freak her out. I didn’t intend for anything to happen between us tonight. She was still injured and was getting used to the idea that we were mates. I didn’t want to push her away.She shifted again, pressing herself up against my cock, and I hissed.“Are you trying to figure out how to delicately saw I’m pressing against your cock.”My mouth
AdrianChloe dozed, her nose twitching every couple of minutes. I studied her soft features in the early morning light, trying to memorize every freckle on her face. I still couldn’t believe that we’d just made love. It was so much more than just sex for me – Chloe was my mate, and being with her was the most important thing I’d ever done in my life.“If you take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Chloe said.I blinked down at her. Her eyes were still firmly shut, but a soft smile tilted the corner of her lips. “Are you awake?”She blinked lazily and yawned. “Mostly. Why are you still up?”I should have told her it was because I was about to leave, but that was just an excuse. I’d stayed awake because I’d needed to hold her, to assure myself that she was real and in my arms and mine. My
Chloe“So, tell me, sweet Chloe, what was it like growing up? It must have been different than my stuffy upbringing.”“I remember moving around a lot,” I said, pulling a t-shirt over my head. I’d been relieved to find out that the royal family tended to dress casually day to day. While it was fun to play dress up for special occasions, dressing up every day seemed like a chore.I turned around and found Adrian completely dressed already. I frowned at him. “Where did you get clean clothes?” As far as I knew, I didn’t have any men’s clothing in my room. Had he had someone bring them to him? I hoped not; I didn’t really want to advertise that he’d spent the night here. Not yet, at least.He had the decency to look slightly embarrassed. “I might have brought them last night in the hopes that I’d need them. I was
CadenI had been giving Chloe space, wanting her to settle back into her old home comfortably. It had been over a week since I last saw her, and our communication was limited to the occasional text message to check in on her.I decided to stop by her house with some takeout on the following Friday, thinking it would be a nice surprise.As I approached her door, I hesitated, briefly wondering if I should have called first. But then I reminded myself that a friendly visit was a good idea. When Chloe answered the door, I was relieved to find she looked surprised but happy to see me.We chatted casually as I followed her inside, catching up on the past week. As we walked into the kitchen, I noticed something on the kitchen counter: a positive pregnancy test. My heart skipped a beat, and for a moment, I stood there, frozen.Chloe, noticing my gaze, immediately turned pale. She bit her lip, looking at me with a mixture of fear and uncertainty.I d
Chloe The car ride was excruciating in its silence. I wasn't sure if Caden knew my heart was shattering into a million tiny pieces, but I appreciated that he didn’t pry. We were almost back to the Blackstone pack territory before I spoke. "What are we going to tell everyone?" The question had been rattling around the entire ride, but I’d been unable to ask before this. Caden shrugged, his eyes never leaving the road. "Don't worry; I've got it handled. No one will say anything to you."I blinked, surprised. "You've already planned out what you're going to say?"He finally glanced in my direction before quickly returning his gaze to the road. "Chloe, I've already had the discussion with the pack. There's nothing left to discuss.Everything is settled. No one is going to bother you."My mouth fell ope
AdrianI knew Chloe was gone the moment she stepped outside of the city borders. Because we hadn’t broken the mate bond, I was still connected to her, although the clarity with which I felt her presence weakened the farther she traveled. I felt like I was losing a piece of myself, and I wondered for the first time if I should break the mate bond. We didn’t have to be together for one of us to do it.My father visited after dinner. I’d refused to go down, instead staying in my rooms. After my conversation with my brothers earlier, I was confused.“You didn’t come to eat,” Father said, joining me on the window seat I’d been sitting in for the last hour.“I know.”“Why?”“I wasn’t hungry,” I said, keeping my eyes fixed out the window at the gardens down belo
AdrianI was a block away from the hotel when my anger finally faded enough for me to realize something wasn't adding up. I stopped walking in the middle of the sidewalk, nearly getting run over in the process by other pedestrians.Something wasn't right with Chloe's story, and I hadn't realized it initially because I'd been too shocked by Chloe admitting to having an affair with Caden. Or rekindling their relationship - whatever you wanted to call it. It felt like an affair to me, but I wasn’t about to argue the semantics.I turned on my heel and stormed back to the hotel, breezing past the front desk and back up to Caden's room. I banged on the door repeatedly, and after several moments, Chloe opened the door with a frown, still wearing Caden’s shirt. The sight made my stomach roll in disgust."Adrian?" Her voice was soft, and I could still see the fresh tear tracks stai
ChloeCaden and I spent the few hours between me barging in and Adrian’s arrival to plan out what we were going to do. I hated the idea of deceiving my mate, but I couldn’t think of any other way to make him leave me. He was far too forgiving where I was concerned, and I knew he’d look for any excuse not to leave me and break the bond.Unfortunately, since we’d done the marking ceremony, the only way to break our mate bond was to have one of us desire to break it with all our heart. It didn’t seem like a trick, except for the fact that the very last thing I wanted was to break the mate bond. I loved Adrian and always would. The only way to break the bond was to make him hate me enough to want to. The thought sickened me.Adrian arrived right at three. I didn’t know what his father had told him to get him here, but I had a sinking feeling from the angry banging on the do
ChloeI spent all night tossing and turning, unable to sleep. What I could do, though, was cry, and I cried until I had no tears left, and my pillow was soaked.I knew, deep in my heart, that Adrian deserved someone better than me to be his Queen Luna. I loved him so deeply that I’d ignored the glaringly obvious: we were from two different worlds.The closest I came to being royalty was having a dead stepfather who was a Beta in my old pack. He’d been a kind man, but he’d been unpolished, too. I came from a different life, and I’d be a fool to stick around and destroy everything by being a terrible Queen Luna.Not to mention, if we stayed together Adrian would have to constantly be explaining our relationship to everyone. He was expected to marry a polished woman who knew how to play the game, not a nobody like me.When the dawn broke, I kn
Chloe“You’ll be upstairs today, Chloe,” the head maid said, scanning her list. “The yellow and blue sitting rooms are yours.”I blinked at her in surprise. Since I’d been demoted to maid, I’d stayed out of the more public spaces in case someone recognized me. The yellow and blue sitting rooms were fairly busy spaces. “Alone?” I squeaked.She looked up and gave me a sharp look. “No. Since it’s your first day cleaning these two rooms, Hannah will be with you.”I nearly sighed in relief. Hannah was nice, even if I did think she chattered too much. I got it, though. If I was a talkative person, it’d be so hard to spend the workday alone.Once the head maid had given everyone their assignments, Hannah flounced over to me, a wide smile on her face. “Are you ready?”
ChloeEven though I’d been given a room downstairs with the other maids, I spent every night wrapped in Adrian’s arms in his rooms. He’d gallantly offered to stay a night in my room, but I only had a twin bed, and while I enjoyed cuddling with him, it was a bit too close in my new bed. Luckily, it hadn’t been too hard to convince him that his king-sized bed was superior.I knew Adrian had had some sort of fight with his father because he’d found me afterward. While he’d only muttered about crazy old men, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to put together that he was speaking about the King. I had a feeling the conversation was about me, and I wasn’t looking to find out the details. The King’s rejection still stung, even if I understood it.“How do you feel about completing the marking ceremony?” Adrian asked as casually as one would ask abou
AdrianI wasn't expecting a summons from my Father, and receiving one immediately put me on edge. A summons meant business, and more often than not, it was unpleasant. I couldn't ignore a summons, and he knew that.I entered his office without knocking. He was seated at his desk; however, his chair was turned to the window. I didn't think he was actually looking at anything out there."Sit," Father sighed, turning to me."No, thank you."He raised an eyebrow at this. I ignored him."I had a meeting this morning," Father said.I blinked in surprise. I was usually included in his meetings, especially now that my assentation to the throne was so near."And why wasn't I invited?""Well," Father paused. “I didn't know what he wanted to say, and I feared you might end the discussio