Page 25 of The Fallen Fae King

Tonight, I celebrate both my marriage and my funeral.

Tonight, I will die, and all I wish is that first I may be loved, for one final time.

CHAPTER FOUR

Moth Chamber, Blood Kingdom

Freya, Omega Shadow Wolf Shifter Queen

“This is not how I imagined the morning of our wedding, love.” Daire snuggles his wing around me, as we lie tangled together naked in the gilded bed with white linen. “Chained to that altar last night, however, the thing that scared me most was thinking I’d never get to touch you again, smell your scent of sweet roses, or kiss you a final time goodbye.”

“On the moon, don’t talk like that.” My throat is tight.

It is a struggle not to touch the golden dragon scale bracelet around my wrist, which Aurelius gave to me.

I crave to reach out through the bond to my Alpha and sense the golden threads, which rest like a collar around my neck.

Was Aurelius able to feel my distressed emotions through the bond? Daire’s terror?

I force myself not to sense Aurelius’ emotions. If he is suffering because he is not able to fly here and save us like the white knight he likes to pretend he is, I would rather not know.

Exhausted, my eyes are painted with deep shadows.

Neither of us has slept in this tiny, windowless room, which is blindingly white; it is like being held inside fragile moths’ wings.

The gossamer drapes that hang around the bed are velvet but flutter, as if they are alive.

I squint at them.

Could they be…?

I shake my head. I must be too tired. After what that raven starver, Heka, did to Daire at the ball, I must be imagining things. My nerves are still shredded.

I almost lost my soulmate only hours ago.

I suck on Daire’s feathers to comfort myself.

Despite the horror of Daire’s identity being revealed in this enemy court, I can’t help loving that his feathers are black again. I adore running my fingers through his silver curls.

He looks once again like the stunning fae whose beauty and lavender eyes entranced me years ago, as I watched him from the boundary of my own Fang Kingdom, as he trained his army.

He appeared wild, dangerous, and everything I desired.

He still does.

Daire’s pheromones become thicker in the air with desire, and he gives a shaky laugh. “I should face near certain death more often.”

I glare at him through my eyelashes, spitting his plumage out of my mouth in punishment. “Every other day isn’t enough for you?”

“Pfft, when I was with the featherglass, we thought that it’d been a slow week if it wasn’t daily.”

“Did you laugh in the face of death too?”

“Winked.” Daire smirks. “Sometimes, I kissed Death, the fae of the Mound. She’s a scary arsehole but beautiful enough to lure you to the afterlife.”

“Are you making her up?” I narrow my eyes. “Also, no more kissing fae who will take you away from me.”

“No more kissing anyone but you, love. But sometimes…” I don’t like how Daire’s gaze slides from me. It becomes far away like I have already lost him. Panic shoots through me. I wind my legs around Daire, as if I can hold onto him forever. “…We don’t get to choose when it’s our time. I’ll fight to stay with you as long as I can, I promise. I thought that I could see the whole board, however, and it turns out that I’m not as in control as I thought I was.”