Arabella Toussaint:
Oh, Goddess. What should I do?
Why was he behaving this way?
Should I stay or go ahead with my plan?
Guilt was slowly taking over my heart. He was still looking into my eyes, maybe trying to see through me, trying to read every thought I was hiding.
His thumb was brushing over the back of my hand as he kissed my forehead, "Lilith wants to examine you again," he gently tucked a loose hair strand behind my ear, "Last time she checked you, she felt a few knots in your stomach."
I was taken aback by the sudden change of topic. I knew Lilith was a witch, and she must have sensed that my pack Alpha bound me.
King Lucien might kill my family and me if he discovered we had been hiding things from him. I needed to buy some time and then go ahead with my escape.
Hell with the mate mark.
"Don’t look at me like that," he muttered and bent down to bump his nose lightly against mine, "You have no idea how hard I’m trying to control myself around you."
Heat rushed to my cheeks, "W...what?"
His eyes dipped down to my lips and lingered there for another heartbeat before taking half a step back, "Take your time, Princess. I’ll wait for you."
My heart skipped a beat. Somehow the guilt inside me hurt even more. I lowered my eyes, unable to meet his gaze.
He was willing to wait. Willing to fight his family for me.
Why?
I took a sigh of relief when his eyes glazed back. He was receiving a mindlink. The softness on his face disappeared as his brows drew together.
He looked at me before letting out a slow breath, "I need to go, sweetheart. My mother is rushed to the hospital."
"Oh," I gave him a tight-lipped smile.
"I’m sorry. Lilith has to examine you without me," He was already heading towards the door.
"Sure!"
I shrugged, not knowing if he even heard me. Honestly, I didn’t even care about that old hag. She deserved to die.
My eyes widened in shock.
Arabella! Your thoughts are getting darker day by day. Maybe your family was right to keep feeding you wolfsbane, you bitch.
***
I was on my way to the kitchen to see if Maya had sent me another message when someone called out from behind.
"Lady Arabella."
I wanted to laugh. I stopped and turned around. A frown settled on my face when I saw Jasmine standing a few steps away. She jogged toward me before stopping at some distance. For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then she lowered her head and bit her lip, "I ..." She looked around as if she was having difficulty saying the words, "I’m here to apologize..." She swiped her tongue over her lips, "I’m sorry."
I blinked in surprise. Was she really...
"I shouldn’t have attacked you that day. It was low of me," she let out a quiet sigh, as though trying to control her emotions.
She hesitated before looking back at me, "And thank you..."
My brows knitted together in surprise, "For what?"
She chuckled, shaking her head, "For saving me that day. I deserved that punishment but still... you decided to stop him."
She fell silent again, staring at the ground.
"I was wrong," she admitted quietly, "And I paid the price."
There was so much guilt in her voice that I couldn’t even pass a snarky remark. The girl standing before me wasn’t arrogant. She wasn’t even mocking me.
With a nod, she turned to walk away. I didn’t know what came over me, "Hey, Jasmine."
She turned back immediately, "Can we talk?"
A flicker of surprise crossed her face before she gave me a small nod, "I’d like that."
***
A few minutes later, we found ourselves sitting across from each other in the deserted corner of this garden. Two mugs of hot coffee were placed between us, that was delivered to us by her warrior friend.
For a while neither of us spoke. I didn’t know why I wanted to talk to her. She hated me, and obviously she wasn’t someone I wanted to trust.
"What is it?" she asked me, trailing her finger on the rim of her cup.
I shrugged, staring at the steam coming out of my cup, "Why do you hate me so much?" I asked her.
A flash of surprise flickered across her face.
"I ... don’t think I ... hate you..." She said, closing her eyes, but then when she opened them, they were glistening, "Or maybe you’re right... maybe..." she sighed, "Maybe I do hate you..." She at last looked into my eyes.
"Why?" I asked her in a whisper, and she started chewing her lower lip that was now trembling.
"I ..." she looked away, and then she reached up and removed the collar of her shirt, where there was a bite mark... a mate mark. Similar to mine.
When I looked at her in confusion, she smirked, "The King marked me three years back..."
What?
I got up from the bench, but she motioned for me to sit down, "See? Now you hate me too," she giggled.
"Sit down, Arabella. Don’t you want to know why I hate you?" She slammed her hand on the bench, "Because he was mine..." Tears started running down her cheeks, "He marked me! He spoiled me! He promised me that I would be his queen... and then we had a small argument."
I placed my hand on my chest to control my speeding heartbeat and slowly sat back, "Then what happened? He rejected you?"
She shook her head, "No! He didn’t. It’s against the rules to reject a marked female. He preferred to punish me by bringing mistresses into the equation..." she sobbed, "He promised me that I would always be his Queen. But he would take ten mistresses, each one of them would bear his mark, his children. He will spoil every one of them..."
Goddess. This was unexpected.
"I ... am I the first mistress then?" I asked her, trying my best not to cry.
She shook her head frantically and looked down, "No. You’re the second. Freya was the first one."
Freya?
The bold lady who once asked Helena to treat the wound on my hand.
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