“Did you kill her?” I ask.
Kaden inhales on my exhale. He’s taking my breath into his lung, holding it close as if it’ll sustain him. “With my own hands? No. She left my bed alive.”
I can taste the guilt on his words, my heart cracking open even as jealousy taints my feelings. He could lie, tell me he didn’t kill her, but the grief over losing her speaks volumes. He’s mourning her, even now, for whatever happened.He blames himself.
“You’re not afraid,” he murmurs, eyes curious. “You haven’t been afraid of me, not since we met. Even now, after everything, learning about Sose, I expected terror.”
The wonder on his face strikes me to my soul. How long has he carried this tale, felt the guilt, and been shunned for it?
Licking my lips, my hands curl into his tunic, pulling him closerstill. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m following this pull—I’m choosing him. “Are you afraid of me?”
“Never.” It’s immediate, factual.
“Then why would I fear you?”
He looks at me like a child seeing the stars for the first time. It’s open, curious and awestruck.
And it’s all directed at me.
Then, his smirk turns wicked.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
MAX
“Do you hate knowing another woman was in my bed, kitten?” he asks, scenting me. “Perhaps you hate knowing even now, females are willing to entertain me.”
The growl of jealousy sounds from me again and I’m too incensed to ignore it. Is this what he meant by things would turn baser, my instinct to take and claim once the bond grew—accepted?
I didn’t accept the bond, not outright. But perhaps, there is something growing inside, feeding off my ability to understand the heir. When I submitted in the woods, when I opened my heart to him, the bond forged.
Yanking him close, I whisper darkly, “Are you saying you’ll take a mistress? If so, maybe I should take a lover too. Fenrir seemswillingto repeat the past.”
He slams me back into the wall, my head banging into the stone. He’s on me before I can blink, body caging me as if to shield me from others.
“Sose chose Fenrir when she couldn’t stand to be around me. When she grew too afraid of what I might do to her.” He pressesclose, our chests moving as one. “The idea of Fenrir being anywhere near you makes me want to hunt him down, rip his head from his body and stake it outside my walls to warn anyone who would dare to have what ismine.”
We’re so close, lips brushing with every word. In the forest, it was easy to pretend it was all a dream, as we clawed at each other like wild animals. Here, I’m pushing his buttons, daring him to do something in this terrible mess of jealousy, grief, and rage.
“I’m not yours,” I taunt, staring up into his eyes.
Kaden smiles, fangs glinting in the low light. “You’ve been mine, Max. Since you cut open your chest, pulled out the bloody organ and gave it to me for safe keeping in the Eternal Night Forest all those weeks ago. And I’ll tell you another secret, pet. I’m not giving it back.Seticould call me home and I would still have your heart. Because you havemine.”
The words rock me, shock coloring my cheeks. It’s the first time he’s said it. No power play for domination. Just us, in this shadowed alcove, alone with small truths and secrets being spilled.
I want to hate him. I want that pain, that grief to fuel me. I should escape and forget the coup, his plans, his promises and be free. If I stay, there is no guarantee I will not be an enslaved weapon if he fails.
But I wanthimmore than I want anything else.
I’m too tired of fighting it. Fighting him. Fighting the bond that’s driven me near-mad. Fighting fate with my other half here, with me, wanting me as surely as I want him.
He chose me.
“What do you want?” he asks, words full of need.
I don’t think as I breathe, “You.”
