Page 35 of Come for Me
Outside of Ash’s former mate’s existence, I know nothing of his late mate—or how she died, for that matter. Over time, the loss of her weakened him, losing his edge. It only made sense for the royal council to suggest he step down upon Olivia receiving me as a mate.
Face-to-face with Ash, I can smell why the council has been so persistent in their efforts to form this union. Ash is dying. Ash didn’t put up a fight for his throne, as losing his mate was the only battle of importance. Nothing else was worth fighting for. Something I didn’t quite understand until I met Alaina.
When a werewolf loses their mate, we weaken and rapidly age. When a vampire loses his mate, they diminish into nothing over time, like a starving soul no longer receiving the nourishment from blood. Regardless of the species, once the heart recognizes the existence of a mate, marked or not, it can’t withstand its absence. Unless one chooses to mark or bond with another.
I used to think Ash was dumb not to, but now I understand why. I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else but Alaina, and I’ve just met her.
Ash proves me wrong he’s not as ignorant as I think by not hesitating to excuse himself the minute Olivia gives him permission, likely as annoyed with her.
Olivia’s eyes follow Ash’s exit. Satisfied with his distance from us, Olivia jumps into my arms, wrapping her cold legs around me, her arms slithering around my neck.
Reluctantly, I return her embrace.
Detesting her proximity, I consider dropping her, letting her fall on her bony ass but then remember, for many reasons, this is not someone I want to anger. With my mate here, I don’t want danger on our doorstep. If we can maintain civility, Olivia will still consider joining forces to cease the attacks, ensuring protection for my mate and our kingdom.
Despite my best efforts, my acting isn’t convincing enough.
“What’s wrong?” Olivia coos as she rubs my hair.
Nothing. You’re just annoying. And you’re not her.
“I found my fated mate.”
Olivia’s lips part, and she climbs off me while I exhale, my wolf able to breathe again without her near. She knows the contract clearly states my mate would nullify our marital agreement.
Black veins vanish as quick as they appear, and Olivia’s struggling to suppress her crazy, while I hope she still has skin in this game. If she knew about my powers, she wouldn’t bother putting in so much effort to hide her intentions.
Before she opens her mouth, trying to put up a front that she isn’t seething with jealousy, I see her intentions clearly. This woman isdelusional. She’s already telling herself that I’m disappointed our arrangement has ended. I need to set the record straight by letting her know Alaina is the only one for me, but if I still plan to create an alliance with her reign, I need to know to what lengths her emotions will impact her decisions.
Keep your enemies close . . .
“Well, this is unexpected. But I’m happy for you,” Olivia laughs, punching my arm harder than she meant to, showing me, yet again, the lack of control over her emotions.
Olivia would’ve made a terrible queen.
Despite her inability to regulate her emotions, I don’t pick up on any intentions to harm Alaina—yet. Potential threats like her, I would normally mitigate, but a war with the future vampire queen would divide our attention from ending the invasion.
I’ll have to keep an eye on her in case those intentions change.
I allow her to stay here at the castle while we mull over what our alliance can look without uniting our species through a mate and eternal bond.
Olivia agrees with her own motivation: winning me over. As irritating as her inability to accept defeat is, it’s better to have her here than to have her scheme against my kingdom from afar.
Chapter Eleven
Alaina
Olivia walks toward the castle with butlers trailing and carrying her bags. She’s not leaving.How could he do this to me? How could he humiliate me like this? How could he let her stay under the same roof?
His double standard has me boiling. If it were Caleb, Dax would be throwing a fit. Mate or not, I have no interest in being made into his foolish queen who keeps his mistress under the same roof.
He clearly doesn’t respect me.And with that, I grab my chiffon periwinkle sundress off the clothing rack. The fabric flows over my curves, settling right above my knees.
I’ve been wanting to know who I am my entire life, and I can’t believe some jerk who I met less than twenty-four hours ago had me thinking twice about abandoning it all.Dax wants me to belong to him, but he will never belong to me.
When Dax broke Caleb’s hand, he must’ve known Caleb never intended to let me go. Which meant Caleb might still want me.There’s still time to fix everything.
I throw on my sandals and head out the door, determined to finish what Caleb and I started.
