Page 34 of Shadows of Light
“Was it one of your lycan guards? Did you invite one of them into your room last night? Isthatwhy my brother was so pissed?”
Orin fired the questions at her as his hands fisted, and he leaned further over her. At first, she was too stunned to reply, but as that wore off, fury rose to replace it.
“Lycan’s only mark their mates; no casual fling would do such a thing,” Maverick said.
These words didn’t seem to sink in as Orin’s face remained thunderous. “He’s only been gone a couple of weeks, and you’ve already thrown Cole aside to bang someone else.Whodid you cheat on my brother with?”
Her teeth ground together as she slapped him so hard his head flew to the side and spittle shot out of his mouth. The sound of the slap lingered in the room as silence descended. Then, her dad, Brokk, Skog, and Varo jumped to their feet to join Maverick as he started around the table.
“Stay back!” Lexi shouted and pointed her finger at them. “This is betweenus.”
Orin’s nostrils flared, and his cheek was already turning red when his eyes returned to hers. He was taller, but she was more powerful.
“I’m only going to tell you this once, and you better listen carefully because I will set your ass on fire if you don’t; do you understand me?” she demanded.
Orin didn’t respond, and she hadn’t expected him to.
“Colecame here last night; I believed….” Lexi broke off as her sorrow swelled, but she wouldn’t give in to the emotion. “I believed he would stay. I was wrong. When I woke this morning, he was gone.”
The fact Orin had forced her to reveal what she’d started to consider a little humiliating in front ofeveryonemade her blood boil. Since first meeting Cole’s younger brother, she often contemplated murdering him, but none so much as now.
Some of the color drained from Orin’s face as she spoke, and she thought he might feel bad about what he’d said and done, but it was impossible for this asshole to feel bad about anything.
“Yourbrotherleft me. Twice, now. So, not that it’s any of your business, but if I decide to be with someone else, it willnotbe cheating.”
“He sacrificed himself foryou.”
So much for thinking this dickwad might be a little repentant. Lexi stepped into him, and to her amazement, Orin gave way a little as she poked him.
“He sacrificed himself forallof us, and I doubt you’ve been abstinent since then. And since you’re so eager to discuss my sex life, let’s also discuss yours. Have you slept with anyone in the past two weeks? Have you forsaken everything you enjoyed to honor Cole for his sacrifice?”
Orin didn’t respond, but when he went to grab her finger, fire sparked to life on the tip of it. Before, she always had to focus on love to get her fire to blaze to life, but she was getting better at calling on her powers.
Orin jerked his hand back when his skin sizzled. His face darkened again, but he wasn’t a fool; he had to know that Cole’s brother or not, she’d had enough of him and would torch him.
“Now, let me make this clear, if I decide to fuckallof Dragonia, you will havenosay in it. And it wouldnotbe cheating on your brother if he’s the one who’s decidednotto be withme.”
“He still wants to be with you,” Varo said.
Lexi didn’t tear her gaze away from Orin’s as she spoke. “We don’t know what Cole does and doesn’t want. We don’t know what he’s doing, where he’s been, or what’s going through his mind. He came to me last night and was gone again before I woke. Am I supposed to spend the rest of my life hoping for him to come back every couple of weeks? Is that really a life?”
Something changed in Orin’s face as it softened a little.
“I don’t want anyone else, there will neverbeanyone else for me, but no matter how much I love him, I can’t spend the rest of my life like that,” she continued.
Saying it out loud made the loneliness and heartbreak of possibly waiting centuries for him more real. She loved Cole with everything she was, but that life would destroy her.
“He sacrificed himself forus,but I won’t have pieces of him. I won’t repeatedly continue to put myself through that heartbreak over and over. And you”—she extinguished her fire before poking Orin’s chest again—“havenoright to judge me for my choices. I’m going to do everything I can to save Cole, I won’t ever give up on him, but if I can’t help him, I’ll also have to let him go.”
Orin glanced at her finger but was wise enough not to grab it again.
“And youwilltreat me with respect.” She stabbed her finger into his chest again. “You willnotstomp across a room while swearing at me. I’m no longer the girl you bullied into harboring refugees in my tunnels, and I’mnota kitten.
“I amyourqueen, and if you don’t start treating me with more respect, you won’t be welcome here. Do you understand?”
No one breathed as she and Orin glowered at each other. For a second, she didn’t think he would back down, and she’d have to toss his ass out of Dragonia.
Eventually, he raised his hands and stepped back. “Whatever you say, Your Highness.”
