Kier
"No."
The man tips his head back and laughs. "An odd choice, considering how dire the situation is. Do not think for a second that my King cares for this treaty. Or peace. Your father murdered peace, and you have continued in his stead."
My jaw ticks. "Your King had my lands attacked. Four maidens, daughters of Alphas died in that charge. Yet, I held back." I lean back in my seat. "If I wished to play games like, burn the castle, I would have sent more men, and your King wouldn't be alive to send this message. So, no. I did not send rogues to Dawn. Perhaps, I should've sent an army right after I buried my dead."
Darrock falls silent. "The rogue gave your name."
I recall the dungeons, and the rogue I'd killed. His warm blood running down my hands, staining my sleeves. "And the prisoner gave me your King's name."
The emissary slices his head left, his forehead creasing. "If I am to believe you, someone is trying to start a war between our kingdoms." A pause in which his lips tug down. "Surely, Atticus isn't that brave."
Knowing the man who used to be my father's Beta, I'd say he was, but I'm not in the mood to converse with this man. My fists keep clenching and unclenching, and I know I need to shift tonight. To get rid of this tension.
"If that would be all. I'll have my Gamma take you on a tour tomorrow--"
"Give me Violet instead."
I tense. "Excuse me?"
He leans forward, clasping his hands on my desk. "You don't know who she is, do you?" When I don't dignify his words with a response, he leans back in my chair like he owns in, irking the fuck out of me. Do all Dawn citizens have this same air of arrogance? I can swear Jessamine gives off the same vibe sometimes.
"I tell you what," he continues, red eyes narrowing. "Give her to me and I'll tell you what you wish to know. One night is all."
There's rage. Only rage and varying shades of red in my vision. Power hums in my veins, drawing closer to the surface and I reel it in. "You overstep."
His lips curve into a cruel smile. "Protective, are we? Interesting. I sense no mating bond between you two. You can tell me, man-to-man. You want to fuck her, or have you already?"
It takes years of control to keep me seated, and double that to fix a mask in place. "Forget my patronage. You get the fuck out of my lands by first light."
He raises his hands in surrender, laughing. "That's no way to treat an emissary. Right now, the only thing that'll keep your lands from being decimated is how I choose to construct my findings to the king." He stands, stretching to his feet. “I leave for Dawn in two days. I look forward to a tour of your kingdom, Alpha.”
I sag in my chair when he leaves, letting my claws jut out and rip the sheets in front of me. I grip the edge, exhaling hard and fast.
Need out, Zephyr rasps.
My gaze shifts to the window, and I stumble out of the chair, my movements almost drunken. Someone knocks on the door and my head whips back at the familiar scent of roses. “I’m busy, Moira,” I whisper, claws breaking on the windowsill and regenerating.
“It can’t wait,” she says. “Father said to bring this to you.”
Right. The result of the unanimous agreement to ready the troops for war and reconduct the Selection without an Omega participating. I’m not in the fucking mood for this, but I force a leash on Zephyr, knowing I’ll suffer it by morning. “Come in.”
I’m seated once more behind my desk when Moira walks in, her hair styled to fall over one shoulder and…that’s a lot of neck. And cleavage. My gaze falls and I note that her breasts seem fuller than normal in that corset, her hips wider. I’m hard, and not because of Moira is in a night robe. I’ve been hard since this afternoon, bordering between pain and discomfort.
Seeing a female’s body again after a tasking meeting plunges me back in that state, and I can’t tell what I want. To fuck, to shift, or to run.
Heels click on marble as she approaches, swaying her hips as she toys with a scroll in her hands. “Retired for the night?” she asks, bending over a little and I hold my breath against her scent. Maybe if I pretend she smells like Jessamine, I just might get any form of release from this unbearable ache.
I take the scroll and flinch when her fingers brush against mine. Too soft, too smooth. Untried. Too fucking delicate. She’s not Jessamine. “Retired is hardly the word.” Angling my head at the scroll, I add, “Thank you.”
But she doesn’t leave. I watch her approach, and pull off her outer robe. She bites her bottom lip nervously. “I hear you’re into…more brazen women.” She sits on the edge of my desk, in the same exact spot Jessamine had taken weeks ago, and the golden flecks in her eyes catch in the light as she lean in, reaching for my hand.
I pull back, my chair collapsing behind me. “I’ll ignore and forgive your misconduct if you leave right now, Lady Moira.”
I’m not into brazen women. Hell, I don’t even like overconfident women. They’re particularly hard to tame. But Jessamine, I don’t know what it is about that woman, and it has nothing to do with the possibility of us being mates. She exists, and I’m attracted. It’s really that simple. Yet, it’s too complex to put in words.
Moira’s mouth tightens. “I don’t understand you, Kier. You single me out of every contender. You give me flowers. You insinuate that my father will be your next advisor—the position proper only for the King’s father-in-law, or your Luna. You look at me like you want me and now that I’m here, you act like I irritate you.” She takes one step in my direction. “You went riding with her today. I asked you to come with me this morning, and you turned me down in front of everyone. What makes her so special? Am I not beautiful enough?”
“You are—”
Moira lunges, kissing me in the same exact moment her palm closes around my dick. I stiffen, lust eroding my senses. Fuck. I need…Jessamine.
My fingers slide around her neck, my heart pounding hard. Push her away, or not…
The door to my study opens, and Jessamine clears her throat. Moira rips away from me and I glance at the door, noticing the servants behind Jessamine who hold different trays of food. I look at Jessamine last, out of fear of what I might find in those eyes. I expect anger, betrayal, or mistrust, but Jessamine looks very amused. “Bad timing?”
“No—”
“Yes,” Moira cuts in, baring her teeth at Jessamine. “We’re occupied.”
Jessamine smiles sweetly. “Too bad. The Alpha and I have plans.” Her fair brow arches and I see a flash of annoyance in them that makes my blood heat. “Not so?”
I swallow, raking my hands through my hair. “Yes.”
Moira stares at me, disbelief and churning hate burning in her gaze. She snatches her fallen robe and flees from my study, her shoulder knocking hard into Jessamine’s. I take a step forward, needing to ask if she’s fine, but I think better of it when she pins me with a cold stare. “Invite. Me. In.”
Gods above, I’m fucking nervous. I clasp my trembling hands behind my back and raise my chin. “Enter.”
She does, lifting her dress. The servants arrange tray after tray of food on the long table used for council meetings but I don’t complain. Not when Jessamine is eying me like she’s a second a way from ripping my dick off.
“Thank you,” she says softly and shuts the door behind the maids.
We’re alone. Jessamine’s fingers press flat against the door and she asks so softly, that I might have missed it if I wasn’t watching and paying attention so intently. “What were you doing?”
I don’t respond. Guilt builds, but I crush it. I owe her no explanation, the same way she owes me none. “What are you doing here?” I counter.
She turns, and my breath seizes at the sight of her unrestrained, damp hair, cascading over her breasts and ending just below her hips. I can’t even begin to express what it is about her hair and eyes that push me right into the ‘I-need-to-fuck-her-now’ mode. Remaining by my desk and not touching her is unraveling the leash on Zephyr and pushing me to the brink of insanity.
This woman is going to be the death of me, and she knows it.
She lifts her chin and I don’t miss the way her eyes flick to my mouth and back to my eyes, like she’s been caught doing something she shouldn’t. “I did agree to have dinner with you, didn’t I?”
A gentle breeze lifts her scent to my nostrils and my skin tightens. “I’m going to need you to walk out that door, right now, Jessamine or consequences be damned, I will take you tonight.”
Heat flickers in her eyes and the insinuation makes my knees buckle. She wants me. Foot rooted in place and breaths slow, I wait for her response, the very air between us tense and explosive. The woman watches me, her fingers inching for the doorknob.
Then they fall away and I run for her, slamming us both into the door. Something cracks—the door and my restraint—and Jessamine gasps as my lips crash into hers.