************
Az
He should despise her, for rejecting and neglecting their bond. For not giving it a chance to thrive before killing it. He should leave her there, like everyone else. She deserved it. She was cruel. He’d seen good in his life, and Moira had none of that in her.
But when she screamed for help, watching her father die, he’d felt her pain as genuine as it had been when she’d thought Kier dead. And even now, hours after her sentence, she sat outside in the courtyard still, staring at her father’s body. She was cold, but he knew she could barely feel it as she rocked back and forth, whispering to herself.
“What will you do?” Mikkel asked, and Az only stared from the window, swirling the wine goblet in his hand.
He turned his back on her and shrugged. “Nothing.”
But it was a lie and Mikkel knew it too as he smiled knowingly. Mikkel knew too much, Az told himself half an hour later as he descended the stairs with a cloak in one hand and food in the other. She’d likely reject both again and end up making him feel like a fool, but his wolf, Rylan, would never let him live it down if he let their mate freeze to death outside.
“Az?”
He froze, cussing his luck, and as he turned to greet the princess, he hid both things he carried behind him. It didn’t matter, though. Her eyes seem to catch everything. She skirted around him and he turned with her. “What are you hiding?” she mused.
“Nothing,” Az managed, stepping out of her reach and her nose crinkled the way it usually did when she was trying to discern something. He had to distract her. He knew she wouldn’t stop him from seeing Moira, but the last thing he wanted was her doubting where his loyalties laid, because whether or not she believed it, she’d come to be a figure in his life he wasn’t willing to part with. “You’ve been having fun without me.”
She scoffed, crossing her arms. “I’ll be sure to invite you next time. How would you like broken bones for lunch on our first date together?” She batted her eyelashes prettily, circles pushing into her cheeks as she smiled and though, it made Az want to laugh, he made a sour face.
Jessamine laughed, but her nostrils flared and her smile faltered as she glanced behind him to the door. “You’re going to see her…”
Az stared pointedly at the ground. “I don’t know. Fuck, if I know what I’m doing right now.”
A stormy expression flickered in the princess’s eyes, but it was gone the next second. “You should go, before she leaves. Whatever you’re comfortable with, Az. Banished or not, she’s your mate and it is absolutely fine to be worried for her.”
“You don’t mind?”
“I’m merely worried for you, Az. I’ve known her for longer and there’s nothing she excels better at than using people. I’d hate to see you hurt again. But I do understand why you have to do this.” Her fingers rubbed the length of his arm in an affectionate manner she rarely ever expressed. “Don’t stay out in the cold too long, and be careful.”
Az nodded, and his lips tipped in a lop-sided grin. “Forget me, why are you sneaking around?”
Her cheeks flushed. “I…uh…needed some air and…”
The wind blew her scent in his nose and Az nearly dropped the things he was holding. It was carnal. Sex and anger and if he breathed deep enough, he could pick up Kier’s scent off her too. Only, he didn’t want to breathe or have that image in his head. Still, he grinned mischievously. “You ran from your bedroom?”
Her face turned positively red, confirming his train of thoughts. “Not…particularly.”
“Oh?”
She looked like if he uttered another word, she would gut him, but he did. “He nearly lost you today. It’s a normal reaction. It more reassurance for his wolf that you’re alright and to protect you. You know that, yes? I am quite surprised he even let you out of his sight.”
Jessamine started off in the opposite direction. “I’m not talking about my sex life with you. You wouldn’t know anything about it anyway.”
Az scowled and called after her, “This is why you have no friends.”
Her only response was a giggle, and Az turned, heading to face his problem. He was nervous, more so than he had ever been in his life, but it was always that way around her. Not even meeting King Hunter for the first time after training for years to be a part of his guard had gotten him this…agitated.
He draped the cloak over her and crouched, lowering the plate of food to the ground in front of her. As expected, she pushed it aside, nearly spilling its contents and Az began to wonder when his life became so difficult. The cloak, though, she gripped around her tightly, and her teeth clattered as she whispered, “T-thank you.”
It was the first time she didn’t dismiss him. For Az, it was more than enough for a foolish kind of hope to blossom.
She raised her gaze to his, and he noted that for the first time, yet again, she really looked at him. Her eyes rose to his hair, trailing the lines of his face, his nose, his lips. But they lingered on his eyes, like she found them strange. But she soon blinked, the darkness around her aura deepening. “You have come to mock me.”
He wished, but Az didn’t respond to that. “Where will you go?”
Moira peered at the castle behind him with longing and hate and fear. “I…don’t know.” Her voice was hoarse from so much screaming and her lips chapped. And Az knew he shouldn’t offer, but the words were already tumbling from his lips before he could help himself.
“You could head across the seas. Start over—”
“I will not mingle with lowly humans.” Her voice was stern and the demeaning authority in it made him flinch. But it did nothing to dissuade him.
“You do not have many choices left, Moira. You’ve been banished from Neredia, and I can assure you that your attempt on the princess’s life would earn you an arrow to your head if you ever set foot in Dawn. And except you wish to be torn apart by Atticus’s men, you have but two places to go. Ashbourne. Or across the seas. And we all know how receptive the humans in Ashbourne are to our kind.”
Yes. They’d throw stones or cut them open to see what them so different.
Her gaze flicked to his again, and there was less resistance this time. “You’ve been there before. Across. You’ve…traveled on those ships.” It was more a statement than a question.
Az nodded. “Weres and humans live together. It isn’t exactly harmonious…more or less a symbiotic relationship, but it is home to every. I have a few contacts…” Fuck, he really shouldn’t be doing any of this. Offering help to someone who didn’t deserve it, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop talking.
“Why are you helping me?” she asked after a moment.
“Because no one else will,” Az replied easily. “You may not accept the bond, Moira, but it exists. And as your mate, it’s my duty to try and protect you.”
Her expression turned icy. “I don’t need you or your help, and you are nothing to me.”
It hurt him deeply, but he was used to her words already. Used to her rejection. He straightened. “I’ll get your things and bring you to the docks. Wait here.”
She said nothing to him, and he took that as her grudging acceptance. He returned to her chambers, grabbing a few things he thought she might need. It was already being cleared out by the maids, but they didn’t question him as he hovered here and there, tossing things in the bag.
But when he returned with her things and a week’s worth of supplies that would aid her journey, she was gone. He tried to find her, follow her scent and tracks, but she’d hidden them. The message was clear as day. She didn’t want him and that would never change.