I definitely wasn’t safe with Sebastian, considering he’d whipped me and thrown me in a cage. But…
I bit my lip. Back when Woods assaulted him, I leapt to defend him without a second thought. It felt right. Natural. Almost like I was protecting something that belonged to me.
My chest tightened. No, Sebastian didn’t belong to me. He didn’t belong to anyone. He was the damned Prince of Lacehaven, and I was an outskirts alpha without a single kanis to my name.
We were fated.
The God of Fertility and the God of Virility, omega and alpha, the mythical mates bound by destiny. I knew the same story that Sebastian did, but at the fountain, it felt like he was holding back. Was there more to the tale that I didn’t know? Would he have told me if we hadn’t been interrupted?
Fruit and fated mates… What did it all mean?
17
Sebastian
Iwoke with a deep ache in my body. It took a great effort to haul myself out of bed. It wasn’t so much that my muscles felt stiff, though being shoved to the ground yesterday by that bastard Woods certainly didn’t help. No, the pain was difficult to describe. It was agonizing and fathomless, some mysterious ailment that was totally foreign to me.
Infuriated, I stormed over to the palace physician and demanded an immediate check-up. She examined me thoroughly but insisted I was in perfect health. That there was nothing wrong with me. Which was obviously a lie. Therewassomething wrong. I was in deep, terrible pain. On the way out of her office, I accidentally knocked over a tray of instruments and made no attempt to apologize.
What was happening to me? Ever since kissing Rourke, I felt unwell. I stared at my hands. They trembled. He must have donesomethingto me. Poison, perhaps. That was always a classic when it came to harming a royal. But the physician found no trace of poison in my system. Maybe she was a quack. I added firing her to my mental list of things to fix around here.
I turned a corner sharply and came face to face with my father.
“Ah, Father,” I said. “Just the king I wished to see. The physician needs to be replaced.”
Father’s brows raised slightly. “Does she now? For what reason, son?”
“She’s incompetent. Doesn’t know what she’s doing.”
“I see. Please elaborate,” he said calmly, which irritated me.
“She said I was perfectly healthy and I’m clearly not!” I barked. “Hire someone who knows what they’re doing!”
My voice echoed off the walls, making me aware of how loudly I was speaking. I ground my teeth. Where was my composure and why couldn’t I get it back? I felt like I was losing my mind.
The flicker of amusement on Father’s face disappeared, replaced with mild concern. He put his hand on my shoulder.
“What ails you, Sebastian?” he asked.
I suddenly felt like a pathetic child again, lost and confused. I shook my head.
“Did that alpha harm you?” he asked, sounding angry. “Tell me.”
I was so confused. Wasn’t that what he wanted? For me to see that Rourke was a wild beast, a feral animal? To prove that I was wrong?
“No, he didn’t harm me,” I finally said, my voice shaking. “But… I don’t know.”
Father’s concern turned serious. He led me to his chamber so we could speak openly in peace.
“Tell me what happened, Sebastian,” Father ordered.
I felt like a meek lamb. I hated it.
“I kissed him,” I admitted quietly.
Father’s face was a wall of ice, unreadable. “Go on.”
“I…”
