I had never sweated this much in my whole entire life. It was still morning. The sun had yet to unleash its fury, but sweat trickled over my skin. Just as it would if I was banished to soak up the fury in its rays once it did.


    I could me it on theyers uponyers of very expensive clothing thatyered my simple frame, but I couldn''t. Even if their worth would equal to years and years worth of food a simple family in the forgotten vige would need to survive. A fact that had me loathing the idea of being clothed in such fine apparel just for breakfast.


    The reason for my difort had a more hot reasonable exnation. Eyes stared at me with the glow of the hot golden sun. A golden gaze so intense it threatened to turn the little drips of sweat into streams overflowing from head to toe, making a mess of the impossibly perfect look Astryn and a couple of other maids had achieved on me. And the little audience present only served to worsen my difort.


    Liira, looking every bit as the queen I had no idea she was, was beaming at me, approval glistening in her eyes. But even when I had no doubt she held nothing against me, I still felt ashamed at how I had repayed her kindness by running away. Would this be an awkward moment to offer my apologies? I focused all my attention on her even as I used the moment to escape my mate''s intense gaze.


    A faint growl followed my action and I held on tightly to my gown, hoping to hide my own reaction to his protests. My wolf, it seemed, did not care to be subtle about how much she enjoyed being our mate''s centre of attention.


    "Your maj-" I paused not knowing the right way to address the king''s grandmother. His grandmother. I was still trying to wrap my head around that. While I dressed, Astryn had gone on and on about the fond bond between my mate and Liira. And the more she had spoken, the more I had began to realize how much I had misjudged him. How much I had misjudged his intentions.


    When we got to the pce from Dovah, I thought he had simply tossed me away in that empty forgotten part of the pce, far enough to keep my presence from bringing his queen difort, but now... Discovering that he''d actually tucked me away with one of the most important people in his life and in the safest ce I could be in the pce had softened a part of me towards him. That and thefort he''d granted me earlier. My belly fluttered at the mere thought and something blossomed in my heart. "Forgive me for repaying your kindness with my, uh, foolish act of running away." I gave Liira an awkward bow, but she simply waved me away dismissively.


    "Every one is allowed a few stupid decisions during their lifetime. Besides, nothing was going to keep you here unless you wished to stay." She came closer and took hold of my shoulders. "Whatever happens, you are always wee here."


    My heart squeezed and my eyes prickled at her words. "Thank you." I rasped, eyes failing to hold back the tears. Twice. This would make it the second time a stranger had opened their home to me. I couldn''t help think about my own family that had been quick to abandon me for a life of luxury. It was true that I had a piece of Liira growing inside of me, but like with Gol, I had no reason to think there was more to her words than she was letting on. And if ever I had any doubts, her warm embrace that now engulfed me chased them all away.


    "No more tears now." Liira patted my cheeks, while her smileforted my insides. "I will see youter. And do enjoy your meal. If nothing is to your liking, feel free to say so." I nodded as I lost thefort of one embrace only tond in another. A stronger one that held me both tightly and gently at the same time. He''d given me no chance to choose or to protest, but with his scent totally engulfing me now, protesting was thest thing on my mind even as my difort eased.


    "You look absolutely amazing." My wolf purred at hispliment and me? Well, I melted into his embrace, choosing to have the moment too. My eptance earned me an appreciative growl from him. Mine... His chest rumbled with his deration and it sent my wolf howling in my head and me for whatever strange reason seeking the spot were I was to make such a deration physically clear.


    His neck was hidden under the cover of his cloak and with trembling hands, I reached for the note that held it together. I felt him freeze and I almost did too, but I was like one possessed as I undid the note impatiently seeking that part of his skin. "Sh?" His voice trembled with need even as a questioning look settled on his facial features. I had no answer to give, only a desire to sniff that part of him that drove my every action.


    "I..." The cloak fell and I buried my face in the crook of his neck, finding instantfort there in. He purred at the contact and I found myself being lifted as pleasurable growls rumbled in his chest. I liked it, more than I should have. And when we settled on some kind of a seat, excitement bubbled when he ced me on hisps striding him. I marvelled at how I felt no ounce of shame at the indecent position. It was so unlike me and I wondered if perhaps the tea I had been consuming while getting dressed had beenced with something. Oh perhaps it was just the fate of the bond existing between us.


    Whatever the reason was this morning, I was an unwilling party to fight any of it. Breakfast forgotten, I wished to indulge in the sinfulness of it all, but I was in for a disappointment, however. With his hands caressing the small of my back through theyers of fine apparel and his lips inches from mine, my mate suddenly froze before pulling back away from me in a swift motion that left me surprised. If I expected either one of us to pull away, it certainly wasn''t him.


    His chest heaved as he looked up. "Not that I don''t want this, but perhaps we should slow down."


    Slow down? I met his gaze with annoyance rather than hurt. Was he rejecting me and my advances? My advances? Had I been- His conflicting look pierced something in me and I rushed to abandoning my position on hisps, but he kept me rooted on the spot. "Please...will you just...listen?" He let out a shaky, needy breath. Desiring me was not the problem, I noted and it calmed some of that annoyance. Together with the war I noted raging in his eyes. Him and his wolf wished for this, but for some strange reason he was fighting it and now I wished to know why.


    His gaze went to the door, as if to make sure no one would be listening. I wished he hadn''t, however, because then he exposed something to my eyes while at it that pierced my heart. He''d been marked!


    A growl tore through me as I inspected it, my eyes refusing to look away. Right were I was meant to ce my precious mark on my mate, sat two prints of lips in a crimson colour that I instantly loathed. It wasn''t a wolf''s mark but a mark regardless and it angered me to no end. Did they belong to Myrna? I wished to rip the mark out of his skin and her along with it.


    "What is it?"


    "You''ve been with her." I hissed, sounding every bit like a jealous possessive mate while pain and anger wed at my chest. Was that the reason he was asking to slow down? He didn''t wish to cheat on her...with me! Did he care for her feelings too? Did he care for her?


    Realization shed in his eyes and if only he hadn''t reached up to cover his neck almost instantly, perhaps I wouldn''t have flown out of his embrace and almost endangering our child when I tripped and fell while escaping him. "Sh? damn it!" It had taken him a moment to wrap his head around what was happening and I used the opportunity to rush for the door. Once I slipped past it, Gol and Rakon stood at attention.


    "Mydy?"


    "Keep him away from me!" Were I got the courage to bark orders from, I had not idea, but Gol, Rakon and a few guards posted outside the door to the garden stood up straighter and acknowledged them still. All with a short bow that I had no moment to acknowledge as I broke out in a sprint down the hall, my hands at my sides lifting my gown and aiding my escape.


    He wouldn''t even deny it. My hands clutched the fine material of my garments tighter as the thought burned through my head. In my heart of hearts I knew he would choose her still. He was hers. They were wedded after all. I knew my life at the pce would by no means include him, but seeing the evidence and reality of it thrust me into an unacknowledged desire that had been hidden deep in my soul.


    My eyes stung as I now marched down the hall not caring were I was headed as long as it was far from him. Sounds of heavy growling apanied me, but I did not bother to look back at what he was doing to those I had charged to keep him from following. "Sh!" His voice rang out of the wing almost bringing me to a stop. Pain, anger and rageced it, but I chose not to stop for either and kept going.


    She''d kissed and left her mark on him! Somehow I could not move past that and the more I thought of it the more annoyance bubbled within me just as easily as I had felt the pleasure of burying my face in the crook of his neck.


    The sight of the doors I had walked through the time I had escaped came into view and I practically ran towards them, hell bent on putting as much distance between me and my mate. I needed to calm down. Needed to find myself a distraction as thinking of him and my sister only annoyed me even more. And with Gol whom I expected woulde after me, I knew I could afford to be distracted. That was until I bumped into something, or rather someone. A bitter someone with a fairly familiar voice too. "Are you are so blind you could not see your queening?!"


    Myrna? My first instinct was to scan my surroundings wondering if I had strayed too far from Liira''s side of the pce and ended up intruding where I shouldn''t have. When I noticed the familiar doors once I looked back, I knew I hadn''t which begged a more urgent question. What was she doing here? Searching for him, perhaps? The thought morphed my annoyance into raging anger in a sh and I struggled to keep from growling.


    "Apologize to your queen!" A maiden''s voice demanded and I did agree that an apology was the right and honourable thing to do. I had been the one to bump into her after all, but fate had chosen a wrong moment to reunite me with my wretched sister. Not that there was ever going to be a right one.