"YourbelovedSimon is no longer with you because he fucked with my mate. The next person who tries willwishfor a death as fast and painless as your Beta’s. Spend your moment of silence considering how lucky he was that I let him live as long as I did."After another threatening sweep of his eyes, Callum handed the microphone to Gwen, and walked back toward us like he was in no hurry at all.
"Your face is the color of a tomato," Liv whispered.
I ignored her, standing as Callum approached.
Instead of taking the seat, the way I expected him to, he tugged my body to his and kissed me deeply, in front of the crowd.
I kissed him back.There wasn’t a way around it, but honestly, the kiss was more instinct than choice. It just felt right.
When he pulled away, he sat back down in the seat, setting me on his lap again.
With his bargain markings showing beneath the sleeves he’d rolled up his forearms, I noticed that ours was a slightly softer shade of gray than the others. Not as dark, and a little more shimmery.
Maybe he’d already used part of it when he forced me to move in with him?
Hmm.
I tried unsuccessfully to process many different feelings while Gwen announced the start of the challenges, and the first pair went out to fight.
Every day would cut the number of challengers in half, giving the fighters two days to recover before the next round. There were nearly nine hundred to start with, so there would be multiple fights going on at the same time, and it would still take the rest of the day to get through them.
The last thing I wanted to do was watch wolves tear into each other for the next handful of hours, butat least the werewolves were catering, so the food would be good.
eleven
KAT
One fight bled into another,and eventually, we could leave.
Callum's hand gripped mine as we made our way back to the car. I was tired enough that I didn't protest when he recaptured it as he pulled out of the parking lot.
We were both quiet during the drive. He played folk music, surprisingly enough. The same kind I had on in all of my cafes all the time.
"Do you like this music, or is it just for my sake?" I asked.
He didn't reply.
I didn't feel like prodding him for information.
So, I stayed quiet through the drive.
Tomorrow was the mating ceremony, which was... a lot.
We picked up food, and Callum's phone buzzed while we were eating back at the house.
I tried to focus on my food instead of watching him work, but it mostly failed. Honestly, I was curious about him. Between his constant pain, the stalking, and his family, there seemed to be more to the guy than I’d realized.
My mind eventually went back to Gwen.
She had hardly looked at me during the challenges.
Not even after Jonah kicked a guy's ass and I gave him a thumbs-up, which made Callum growl, and everyone in a twenty-foot radius shivered in response to the chill that filled the air.
Except me, and the other fae.
Liv had smacked him on the arm.
Merrily had grimaced.
