Rafaela
Turning the ring on my finger, I had the urge to pull it off and fling it out the window. I’d locked myself up in my new quarters to avoid the ridiculous parade of women bidding for the position of Gil’s possible second mate. Hordes of young women from all over the country had been invited to jostle their goods in front of him in hopes of getting the position. Pathetic.
It was all a huge waste of time, except Gil didn’t know that just yet.
Regardless, his betrayal stung like a fresh cut down the middle of my soul.
“Alec?” I called out.
“Yes, m’lady?”
“You don’t have to call me that anymore. Call me Ella. I like that better.” I smiled as he emerged from the living room. He was always respectful and insisted on sleeping on the couch when we spent the nights talking until the early hours of dawn when we couldn’t fight sleep any longer. I admired his restraint, but he wouldn’t need it much longer.
That night I planned to sever my bond with my mate and Alpha. If done properly, I would be able to oust Gil and take the ArcKnight throne. I had a right to it as much as he did since he’d betrayed me so. I was betting he hadn’t realized I would take it so badly. He expected me to stay placated and allow him to sire an heir with another woman, who would take my place at his side as queen and leave me as a secondary wife to the Alpha of our pack, discarded like yesterday’s garbage.
Not this queen. I was more than prepared to offer a challenge for the throne. No one had challenged an Alpha in over a century. It was time to spice things up again.
“Very well, my love,” Alec said, pulling me into his arms. The warmth of his body spread over mine, sending sparks all across my skin. He smelled amazing; an enticing woodsy cologne lingered on him and threw my senses into overdrive. I’d never let myself get too close to him before, he was that tempting. Primal, even.
“Do you think we’ll win?” I asked. My trepidations made me hesitate. Somehow things were never certain in my life. I’d never felt the comfort of a secure path from the time I was a child and had been brought to the palace. My memory failed me for the years before that. I was far too young to remember, but moving here had been life changing for my entire family, and I wasn’t about to lose it all because a man wanted to have everything without me. He wasn’t the only one in need, and I was more than happy to show him so.
“I’m your champion. Tomorrow is a day of history in the making. It’s been done before, but never like this. Gil is an excellent fighter, but the centuries of taking the throne by inheritance has left us with weaker leaders. I’ve kept my mouth shut about it for too long and watched the disintegration of the kingdom accelerate in his hands. I’m honored to accept the challenge of changing things for the better. For us and for the kingdom.”
My lips upturned into a smile. The confidence he exuded was enough to swat my doubts away. Gil had never been so sure of himself like Alec. Though I loved Gil, and probably always would in some form or another, his betrayal was unforgivable.
“Thank you, Alec. I can’t think of anyone who is more suited for this than you are.”
He bent down, kissing my lips, softly at first then harder and more urgently. We hungered for each other, and it was more than we could stand to break apart, breathing hard and full of insatiable longing. I never wanted to let go, and it was obvious he didn’t either. If we got through the next few days alive, life would be sweet indeed.
“Alec?”
“Yes?”
“Are you scared?”
I rubbed my face on his chest, breathing in his heavenly scent and listening to his breathing while his heart beat in my ears. Something about him calmed me. Even when I was younger, he’d always been a strong, steady presence. At my father’s side, he’d led the MarkTier army as he did now, even though he was younger than many of the soldiers he commanded. It made no difference to me that he’d been the highest-ranking officer through my teenage years. I’d always had a thing for him, especially since he always had my back and had stirred my inner emotions more than once.
“Do you mean am I scared of fighting Gil?” he asked.
I nodded.
“No, I’m not scared. I always knew I would have to face him one day.” He winked. I wished I could feel as calm about this situation as he did. I wasn’t the one going into the ring to risk my life.
His uncanny intuition always surprised me. He kept it to himself, which had served him well. I wondered what Gil would have done if he’d discovered Alec was gifted with telepathy. Alec had never told him, and it was information he’d withheld for a good reason. I’d long suspected he had some sort of telepathic ability, but until recently he had not used it with me. I loved hearing his voice in my head. It would be our secret bond until the day we died.
“How could you know that?”
He led me to the sofa where we both sat. Facing me, he cupped my cheeks and stared intently into my eyes. “I’ve loved you since the moment we met. You were but a young girl, and I was a young man, but your father respected me, and I admired his leadership. I remember after one trying day when I felt beaten and ridiculed by the soldiers with more experience, I visited your family’s quarters. Your father had summoned me there to assess my abilities as a leader. I was twenty and already a hardened soldier so you can imagine my surprise when, while I waited, I felt a small, warm hand slip into mine.
“You were there. Only five years old but full of the wisdom that comes from an old soul. I could read your thoughts, and they were calm and soothing as you smiled up at me and squeezed my fingers. You were a cute kid, and in all my turmoil, you gave me a sense of relief and calm.
“Your incessant inner chatter was, at first, confusing as we waited there silently. You held a small tulip in one hand, freshly plucked from the gardens your mother kept. Dirt streaked your skin and dirtied your knees, but you looked more like a princess than any other girl your age.
“Then, right before your father summoned me, you handed me the tulip and spoke to me for the first time ever. ‘Don’t worry,’ you said. ‘My father likes you. He’s going to congratulate you, not scold you. If you were in trouble, you’d never be allowed to come here.’
“Impressed with your mature wisdom, I took the flower. Then you walked away, and I felt an ocean of relief wash over me. You’d given me what I needed. Something that I already knew but didn’t believe. It was the reassurance that I was an able soldier and somehow special, not just a drone. It was because of the flower you handed me with that innocent smile and the knowledge of a thousand years swimming behind those eyes.
“You were right. Everything you said came true. Your father congratulated me and gave me a promotion that would change the direction of my military career. He took me under his wing. He was a military leader himself and had inserted himself into the MarkTier structure easily. When your family invited me there that day, I became part of it and was treated better than my own blood had treated me. I’ll never forget his kindness. And….”
He paused, taking my hands in his and tracing the lines of my palms. It sent shivers up my arms and down my spine. Every touch was more than I could ever ask for, full of unspoken courage and love. “And as I got to know you and your sister, I knew there was only one place I belonged.”
He flicked his eyes back up to mine. They were filled with an intensity I’d never seen in man, ever. “It was always you, Ella. You chose me a long time ago with a tulip. You chose and branded me for you. I will love you forever, until the day you die. Even if you had never been mine and remained with Gil, nothing would change how I feel. I’d never betray you. I’d kill any man who hurts you, for I am yours. Always.”
His words penetrated deep into my mind, touching a place I feared to tread. All these years he’d given me everything and would stick with me to the end. I knew I’d made the right decision immediately, and the smile stretching across my face couldn’t get any wider.
“I knew too,” I said, “but I fought i
t. I wish I hadn’t, and I’m sorry you had to wait so long.”
“Don’t ever be sorry. Things happen the way they should. Never doubt it.”
Inhaling deeply, I relaxed into his embrace. “Thank you. For everything. I never have thanked you for all you’ve done for me.”
“You’ve thanked me every day. I heard it in your whispers. In your dreams.” He rubbed his cheek softly against mine.
I beamed and took in his handsome face. I reached up and traced the outline of his lips with my fingers, feeling the heat of his skin beneath them. We were pressed together, with just a sliver of cloth between us. That night, we would confront Gil and petition the council to sever our bond. That night, Alec and I would forge a new bond with one another. And this bond would last forever.
Then the real fight would begin.
Chapter Thirty