“Ms. Hexwood, how do you feel about sharing your mate with his wife?”
“How did you and Premier Corvane meet?”
“What’s your relationship like with Madam Corvane?”
The questions didn’t stop, and combined with the heat from the lights, I was beginning to feel dizzy. Victor noticed me wavering and wrapped his arm around my waist, bringing me close. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “We just need to get through this.”
Then he spoke into the microphone. “I hold the deepest respect for Accalia. She is a terrific wife and mother to our son, Alaric. But for all her wonderful qualities, she has always been my friend first and foremost. My mate bond with Sage may have changed some things, but not the foundation of my marriage.”
I really hoped Accalia wasn’t watching this. He’d pretty much admitted to all of Lundaria that he’d never loved her.
There was more shouting, more questions, but Victor ignored them as he continued. “While this arrangement may seem unorthodox, it isn’t new by any means. Our grandfathers and grandmothers often took consorts in addition to wives and husbands, recognizing that different partners can fulfill different needs for love and companionship. And Accalia, being a werewolf, is well-accustomed to the idea of a ‘pack’ family, and remains my steadfast supporter.”
It was such a load of kraken shit, and anyone with half a brain could see that Victor was just making this up as he went along. I simply wanted this to end, to crawl back into my bed and sleep. To spend the rest of my life in blissful unconsciousness, unaware of how the rest of Lundaria would feel about me, how people would begin to look into my background, and how shocked they’d be when they realized there was nothing to find.
And how Ronan would react when he eventually saw my face plastered on the news.
Victor finally lost his patience with the shouting. “I will not be taking any further questions on my mate bond with Sage or my marriage with Accalia at this time. Further information about the incident in the Godscar Basin will be released once it becomes available.”
He reached out to take my hand, and I hesitated, just for a moment. It was enough to earn myself a quiet growl, too quiet for the mics to pick up.
I finally took it, and he led me off the podium and back into the green room, where his Communications Director was waiting, and she didn’t waste a second.
“Premier, Ms. Hexwood, good job holding it together. Victor, you’ll need a concise statement ready for the morning feeds. Social media is already picking up threads; we’ll want to get ahead of those.”
She swept past us, checking monitors and typing notes. “Every headline is going to exaggerate, so remember, we stick to the core message: you’re mates in love. Repetition is key here, and anything else will make the narrative slip away.”
Her eyes darted between the screens, her gaze sharpening. “I know this was your first press conference, Sage, and you look, well… scared. But Victor, I think you come off as very protective. That’s good, so let’s see more of that alpha-omega dynamic. You’ll garner a lot of sympathy with that.”
I watched with a morbid curiosity, seeing us for the first time in anything other than a mirror.
We just… didn’t match. Even with the styling, I couldn’t help but feel like we were two pieces from a completely different puzzle jammed together. I unfocused my eyes and imagined Liora, at least from the pictures I’d seen of her, by his side instead.
They would have made a lovely couple.
I went back to us, then imagined Ronan taking Victor’s place, and I couldn’t hold back the tears.
They stopped talking and turned back to look at me. “Sage?”
I shook my head, opening my mouth to say I was fine, but my voice cracked, and Victor rushed to my side. “Darling, you did well. Really.”
The Communications Director took out her phone, scrolling and scanning. “We’ve got some initial reactions on MagikGraph right now. It’s mixed, as predicted. I imagine the greatest push back will be from werewolves as they’ll see this announcement as an insult to Accalia. Relations with Fenmoor have been tricky for years, and they’ll use any excuse to pounce. Fucking mutts…”
I gasped when I looked up at her, her cheeks reddening slightly. “Pardon my language.”
Victor stroked my head, pulling me into a hug. “I could not care less about public opinion in that flea-infested hellhole. Noctis is where we live, and the vampires will support us. They will love you as I do, Sage.”
I snorted. An involuntary response that hadn’t been conditioned out of me yet, and Victor stilled. “Was something I said funny?”
The snort turned into a burst of uncontrollable belly laughter. Victor stepped back, and the room grew uncomfortable.
“Artemia, leave us.”
I could hardly breathe with how hard I was laughing, and just barely heard the door click close when Victor grabbed me by the shoulders, shaking me as he growled. “What is wrong with you?”
“Oh man,” I sighed, chuckling and dabbing my eyes. “What isn’t wrong with me? With us? Because this?” I pointed towards the screens with my thumb. “Is a complete shit show. A circus.”
And as much as Victor probably thought he was the one in charge, I knew who the real ringmaster was.
