POV Luella
Hour later, I sank onto a stone bench beneath a flowering tree, finally allowing my composure to crack as I tried to process the complicated emotions he'd stirred up.
What is wrong with me? Why can't I stop thinking about what I saw?
His cruelty should have been simple to understand. Yet alongside the hatred, there was something else I didn't want to acknowledge.
I hate him. But I also can't stop looking for him in every room I enter.
"Running away to think about your many failures, little wolf?"
Kyrell appeared from the shadows with that cruel smirk. His scent hit me before I even saw him. My wolf perked up immediately.
Even now, even after what he did to me in the forest, my wolf responds to his presence.
"What do you want?" I asked wearily. "Haven't you tormented me enough for one day?"
"Tormented?" He moved closer, his black eyes glittering with amusement. "I prefer to think of it as educational."
"And what lessons are those?" I demanded, rising to face him. "How to be cruel? How to take pleasure in others' pain?"
"Now you're starting to understand," he replied, circling me slowly. "Though I think we both know there are other lessons you're more interested in learning."
He's talking about what I saw. Heat floods my cheeks at the memory.
"You're disgusting."
"Perhaps," he said, continuing to circle me. "But at least I'm honest about what I am. Can you say the same?"
What am I being dishonest about? The fact that I watched him? The fact that I was affected by it?
I couldn't take any more of his games. The fury that had been building exploded out of me.
"I'm tired of your relentless campaign against me!" I shouted. "Your petty sabotage, your public insults, the way you hunt me through forests for sport! What did I ever do to deserve this treatment?"
Kyrell listened with detached amusement, as if my breakdown was entertainment designed for his pleasure.
"You really want to know?"
"Yes!"
He studied my face with an intensity that made my skin crawl.
"My dear brother and I don't get along particularly well," he said finally. "And it's been quite entertaining watching you try so desperately to be his perfect little princess."
Perfect little princess? Is that really how he sees me?
"That has nothing to do with me," I protested.
He stepped closer. "I've noticed how you watch me during court functions. The way your eyes seek me out even when you're hanging on my brother's arm. Tell me, are you perhaps more interested in the wrong brother?"
He noticed. Of course he noticed. My wolf always turns toward him, and he's seen it.
"You're delusional."
He stepped even closer, close enough that I could feel the warmth from his body. "Should I test just how far I could push you before breaking my brother's newest toy?"
The threat made me step backward, but he followed.
He's hunting me again. Just like in the forest.
"Don't you dare touch me," I warned. "I belong to no one."
Instead of backing down, Kyrell closed the distance in one fluid motion. "Is that what you think?"
Before I could respond, he crushed his mouth to mine in a kiss that was more battle than affection.
His lips were firm and demanding, claiming mine with an intensity that stole my breath. Heat exploded through my body as his mouth moved against mine, not asking permission but taking what he wanted.
My wolf is purring. She likes this. She likes him.
This is wrong. I'm engaged to his brother. I have a mate bond with Tobias.
My hands should have pushed him away, but instead they fisted in his shirt, pulling him closer even as my mind screamed at me to stop. His free hand tangled in my hair, angling my head to deepen the kiss.
I can't breathe. I can't think. All I can do is feel.
My body came alive under his touch in ways it never had with Tobias. My wolf rolled over in submission to his dominance, completely betraying everything I thought I knew about myself.
Why does this feel more real than anything I've experienced with my supposed mate?
When rational thought finally returned, I bit down hard on his lower lip, tasting copper as I drew blood.
He broke the kiss but didn't release me, his hand remaining firm around my throat. Instead of showing pain, he slowly licked the blood from his mouth.
He's not afraid of me at all. If anything, he likes that I fought back.
"Vicious little wolf, aren't you?" he murmured. "I wonder... should I make you one of my girls? Would that finally get my brother's attention?"
One of his girls. The thought should disgust me.
The crude suggestion sent a shock through me, but before I could respond, approaching voices echoed through the garden.
"Luella? Are you out here?"
Tobias. Not when I can still taste Kyrell's blood in my mouth.
When I looked around frantically, Kyrell had already dissolved into shadows, leaving me alone and shaking as my fiancé appeared with several courtiers.
"There you are," Tobias said, hurrying toward me with concern. "Are you alright? You look flushed and troubled."
Can Tobias smell him on me? Can he sense what just happened?
"I'm fine," I managed. "Just needed some air after the feast."
"You're sure?" He touched my cheek gently. "You seem upset."
His touch is gentle and caring and everything a good mate should be. It should comfort me. Why doesn't it?
"Just tired," I lied, leaning into his touch. "The past few days have been too much."
"Of course," he said with understanding. "Come, let me escort you back to your chambers."
As he offered me his arm, I caught a glimpse of black eyes watching from the shadows.
He's still there. Still watching. My wolf can sense him.
Whatever game Kyrell was playing, I had just become a central piece on the board.
Do I even want to escape? What's wrong with me that part of me wants him to touch me again?
The mate bond with Tobias should be enough to quiet these thoughts. But as I walked back to the castle on my fiancé's arm, all I could think about was the taste of Kyrell's blood on my lips and the way my body had responded to his touch.
Something is fundamentally wrong with me.