CHAPTER 19: THREAT

Darek ignored me for the next few days, like I was just another experiment locked away for observation, while I wasn’t allowed to do anything except stay in my room. To the point where I even missed scrubbing the floors under the scrutiny of the Delta guards. The days blurred into each other.

I should have felt grateful for everything. Each day, the maids bathed me, and then dressed me in soft silks, and brought trays of food into my room. I refused to meet Darek for any meal after the tryst with Rhea. If she was still lounging in his arms ready to spit venom the moment she saw my face, I didn’t want to be there to see it.

But not everything was a luxury. Even though I was surrounded by warmth and comfort, it was still making me miserable. I was forbidden to leave the house without permission from Darek which he never gave. If I so much as looked out or lingered on the high balcony, I’d feel the eyes on me. Maids or guards or servants, always watching.

Other high-ranking Lycans frequented the place, coming in and out of Darek’s study. Valden included.

Every time I glimpsed even a shadow of him, it all came crashing back. My chest would clench until I thought I’d choke on the weight of all that heartbreak. And lies. He’d had tried to catch my attention multiple times but I ignored him. He had plenty of time to talk to me before we reached this point of progress in our relationship. Which was no progress. He had already thrown it away.

But today, right when I thought I’d lost him, he managed to corner me from the side and pull me from behind a pillar.

"Maeve," he called out, breathing hard like he’d just been running to catch up to me. His voice was low and urgent this time.

"Don’t, Valden," I backed away. "I don’t want to talk to you. I thought I made that very clear last time."

"Please," he begged. "Just give me a minute. Just one more chance to explain. I’ll leave after that and I won’t even try talking to you again."

"You had three years to explain. Even more, after I got here. All this time I had been waiting and praying and believing that you would come back to me. That you were probably out there suffering and no way to break free. You were my everything, Valden. Everything after the mist hit us. And when I finally got the opportunity to come to Parthenn, the first thing I thought about was you. But you...you just pretended not to know me."

"I know, I’m sorry," he whispered, his head falling.

I sighed.

"You have no idea what you’ve done to me. And sorry doesn’t fix that magically."

He stepped closer, desperation burning in his eyes now. "There are things you don’t understand. Things I can’t explain, not yet, that’s much bigger than what we can even imagine. There’s so much you don’t know about this world, about the mist, and about your powers."

My mouth parted in surprise.

"What do you know about my powers?"

"I can’t say anything about it right now. They’re always watching us and I had to pretend not to care about you. If I didn’t, if they suspected at all that I was on your side, they would kill us both."

"No, you’re lying." I shook my head. "What do you even mean by they?"

"I’m. Not. Lying," he said, clenching his jaw tight. "There are cameras everywhere. Cameras and listening devices. Heck, I’m not even sure if you don’t have one on you right now. It’s not safe here."

I was so confused.

What was he even talking about? Why would there be listening devices on me? I barely talk to anyone here.

"I put my name in for reassignment as a guard here," he added. "Maybe it’ll at least help me to be closer to you when things get even more dangerous."

"I don’t understand. What do you mean dangerous? How are things dangerous here?"

"Maeve," he clutched my arms with both hands. "I just need you to give me one more chance to make this right."

A storm was brewing in my head. All the memories of him, the way I used to love him, the way he used to make me feel good and safe, they all collided with the fire that burned in the back of my mind. The mate bond with Darek.

"Valden," I choked out, my voice breaking. "Darek is my mate."

Surprise, regret, confusion, and hurt, all of the emotions passed through his face like lightning.

"That’s why I’m here too," I continued. "And also because he needed to keep an eye on me."

"Wait, Maeve. So you’re mated with him now?" His eyes blazed with fury.

I shook my head no. "No, he hasn’t accepted me as his mate. In fact, he made it well known that he wasn’t interested in it. But...he hasn’t rejected me either."

Valden let out a small relieved breath but still looked troubled. "Darek is not who you think he is. The mate bond wouldn’t have mattered if he had rejected you as his mate, but until then, he’s dangerous. He might try to use the mate bond to control you. You’ll feel him more and crave him more and he will use that against you."

"What do you mean? If we are fated to be mates aren’t we supposed to be together? Isn’t he supposed to feel the same things that I feel for him too?"

Valden took a deep breath. "Yes, both of you will not be able to resist the bond easily, and you will have feelings for each other even before it gets stronger. You can’t reject him either because then he might just kill you faster. The mate bond is also the only thing keeping you safe right now."

"What should I do now then?"

"I don’t know. But I will find a way out of this."

This.

I didn’t even know what this is.

I took a step closer to him. "Don’t ever lie to me again, Valden."

His face relaxed as he whispered. "No, never again."

His hands moved and circled my waist and his cheeks pressed against my head, breath hot against my skin as my body molded against his, like it had been yearning, waiting to do it for so long.

I looked up at his face, his lips just inches apart. His eyes drifted to my lips and it took everything in me not to close the gap immediately. To let the rest of the world just fade away–

The familiar voice thundered from behind us, cold and furious. My stomach dropped as I realised who it belonged to.

"What is going on here?!"