I shouldn't have said that, but in my defense, I didn't think he would care enough to steal a horse from my father's stable and storm to Gamma Frostclaw's home.
Now, I look so stupid trying to explain why there was an angry ass ten feet tall fully turned Lycan trashing their home, bellowing Theron's name with fury.
"Have you any idea how many men it took to put him down? He almost killed my son. Surely, this is not a funny matter, princess," Gamma Frostclaw growls when my lips keep twitching.
It is not his words that I find hilarious. It is the sight of Rune baring his teeth at the guards escorting him back, in a pair of trousers that are four times his size. The shift must have ripped his clothes.
The lot of them look like they prefer to be anywhere else but beside him. They keep a safe distance from him, walking several feet behind him. If he so much as stops moving, they take more steps backward. Their eyes are filled with horror and a few of them have torn armor.
Just what happened over there?
Rune approaches, his pale hair cascading down his obscenely perfect chest, and my smile falters as I hear wistful sighs behind me. I furrow my brow and turn, only to find the maids staring, ogling him, devouring him with their eyes. They might as well have stripped him naked.
However, Rune doesn't seem to notice them. His eyes are fixed on me as he strides across the room, growling so viciously that Boris steps in front of me, as if he could shield me from Rune. It's a laughable attempt, really. Everyone in here knows that not even a million guards could stop the lycan prince from getting to me if he wanted to, and I’m pretty sure the only reason Theron isn’t dead is because Rune must have stopped himself and shifted back.
My gaze flickers over his form as he approaches. His movements are more fluid, at ease. He released Hekate because he thought I was being intimate with someone else.
I’m not sure what to feel about that, but I won’t dwell on it. Thinking about it gives it importance.
"Thank you for escorting my son-in-law back home, Gamma. My apologies for the... situation," Father says, his gaze fixed on the space between Rune and me. He's on edge, like everyone else, but he doesn't intervene. Instead, he holds up a black scroll, and the eerie energy radiating off of it announces its presence. The treaty.
I straighten as Father says, “The terms have been revised. My daughter will sign it now.”
I want to refuse, but Rune shoves Boris aside and seizes my wrist, pulling me forward.
“Hey! Let go,” I grit, attempting to pull away, but his grip is unyielding. He doesn't release me until we stand before Father, who hands him the scroll.
“Father, I don’t want to!”
“This surpasses your wants or desires, Astrid. We've given you time to recover, but while you wallow in self-pity, people are dying. People you could save.” Father's voice is stern, and when his blue eyes firmly meet mine, I know I won't be spending the night here.
A lump forms in my throat, and I grunt in frustration as Rune forces my thumb out and leans down, gently biting it. The bite stings, and the sensation of his tongue flicking over the wound sends butterflies fluttering in my stomach.
I sigh breathily, but it leaves my throat as a moan, and I turn beet red when I notice everyone’s watching--my parents, the council, the guard and maids.
Could this get any more embarrassing?
He slowly sucks on my finger, withdrawing it from his warm mouth, leaving me with a warm sensation all over. Dirty thoughts fill my mind, and I'm too preoccupied with maintaining a composed expression to realize what he's doing until he presses my blood stained thumb against the scroll, sealing it.
The scroll moves. . .or shudders for a lack of better word. I know that treaties are usually ‘Goddess Ordained Scrolls’, but seeing it float from Rune’s grasp and disappear into thin air is creepy as fuck.
My gaze returns to Rune as he cocks his head arrogantly at my father. "I will be taking her now. Have the priestess prepare the portal for travel."
He doesn’t wait for my father’s response before pulling me out of the throne room with him. I follow, having no fight left in me. What use is it anyway? I’ll still end up in Lycanthia.
So much for saying I won’t go back.
Rather than heading to my room, he leads me to the opposite end of the hall where the guest room is located. He drags me into his room and slams the door shut.
“Don’t. Move.” He orders, words menacing and his green eyes are like chips of ice.
I bite my cheek, searching for a suitable retort, but none come to mind. Rune's nostrils flare, and he regards me with disdain before striding towards his closet, forcefully flinging the door open. Clothes fly out—shirts, jackets, pants—until he retrieves a towel and slams the door shut.
The doorframe rattles, causing me to flinch, and he pays me no attention as he walks into the bathroom.
"Why am I even here?!" I call out after him, and the only response I receive is the resounding slam of the door.
Sighing, I close my eyes and lean back against the door as the shower starts. Why is he angry? After everything that has happened, he has no right to be. I should be the one seething, slamming doors. I shouldn't care about his emotions, and I certainly shouldn't feel guilty for keeping the truth from him.
The other option is not what I need. If I’m ever going to tell him that I’m pregnant, it would only be when I am sure he wants it. I can’t even predict if that is ever going to happen. Rune is a mystery I don’t think I will ever be able to solve. Just when I think I understand what he is thinking, he surprises me.
I think of what father said a few minutes ago. I wonder if refusing to go back to help makes me selfish. I never really thought about it in the past month. That people would die. People who couldn’t fight or fend for themselves against the Void and the men behind it.
And I am to face the Void for them, get Hekate to forgive them all, because that is all I am good for. A tool to stop this war. That father could make this decision without seeking my consent hurts, and though, Boris could be right about his intentions, it doesn’t make it feel any better.
It seems as though I'm all alone, with no one on my side.
The bathroom door creaks open, and Rune steps out, his wet hair tousled and a towel loosely wrapped around his waist. I quickly avert my gaze as he approaches his dresser and unties the towel, allowing it to drop.
Why does he keep doing that? Because he knows how good he looks naked? Arrogant bastard.
The sound of clothes brushing against his skin fills the room, and I begin humming to myself to drown it out.
Once Rune is fully dressed, he closes the distance between us, and I raise my eyes to meet his. “Scared that I might run and escape?”
“You can’t. I will find you. It doesn’t matter where you run.”
“Why?” I whisper, eyes stinging. “To save your people?”
He blinks. “Yes.”
“Do I really mean nothing else to you? All I am good for is to appeal to him? All I am good for is to be used?”
I despise the tremor in my voice. I hate that I sound needy and desperate, but I need to hear this once more, to confirm that keeping our child from him isn't a mistake.
"Your role in this is important," he says, his gaze frigid.
“Is that all I will ever be to you? A means to an end?”
A muscle twitches in his jaw. “I never would have taken you to the altar, had I been in my right mind, and you know this. Do not make this any more difficult for yourself.”
My vision blurs with tears that I refuse to let fall. "Why then did you go after Theron?”
“I didn't. My Lycan did. I couldn't care less if you took a mutt to your bed. Do as you wish, Astrid. I don't care. My presence here is solely for the sake of my people, and after the threat of the Void is gone, I will have the priestess find a way to annul the marriage and lessen the impact of the bond. Until then, you will stay with me, as my mate, and help in every way you can, because they are not just my people. They are yours as well. At least, until the marriage is annuled.”
My lips quiver. "You lied to my father."
He shrugs. “I will say whatever I need to get what I want. You will be treated fairly and accorded the respect befitting the mate of the future Lycan King, both at home and at school. And when the darkness hanging over our realms is gone, I will escort you back here, unmarried and unmated, free to bed and mate whoever. Surely, that is more than enough.”
I want to scream. I want to cry. But I've had an entire month to do all those things. Rather than anger and pain, I just feel fatigue, and I find myself saying, "Alright."
Rune looks surprised, and his brows narrow. "Alright?"
"Yeah. I'll meet you with my things," I say quietly before exiting his room.
I bite the inside of my cheek as I walk to my room, steps heavy. Hopefully, all this will over before I start to show, because I will not spend the rest of my life tied to Rune because of our child. I deserve better.
Maybe after this, I can start over.
Just...maybe.