"Rakon, get the hell over here!" I did not care that I sounded desperate as I mindlinked my best friend. Nor did I care that I felt like the coward he''d defended me from. I needed him now. To keep me from that regrettable path of mistakes he''d spoken of because I sure as hell did not trust any part of me right now to aplish that all by myself.


    I did not even like Draxuin, but that bitter poisonous nt had never smelled so sweet and so alluring as it did now. I was bathed in it the moment the doors to Myrna''s chambers swung open, making me and my wolf almost howl in jubtion. It took me biting down on my lips to keep even the smallest of sounds from escaping as the strange rumblings made by Cerus became a reality right in front of my eyes.


    It was not that I had not believed the man, or maybe, perhaps, I hadn''t as everything caught me off guard. Mimicking the bond was not what this was. If not for Cerus''s words, I would have been casting a confused look towards the heavens wondering if the moon goddess had just made a mistake by gifting me with another mate.


    "My love... I had hoped that you woulde by today." Myrna, dressed in nothing but a flimsy gown that hid nothing from my eyes sat up on her bed and smiled. The most seductive splitting of her lips that made everything in me want to devour every inch of her. I was not unfamiliar with her body, but as she swayed seductively,ing my way, it was as if I was beholding her for the very first time. "Do you like what you see?" She stopped and let her gown drop to the floor. Not that that changed anything, but the action, the illusion of her undressing right before my eyes was the hottest invitation to indulge in the sinful view of her nakedness. And what a view it was!


    Blood pulsed, desire raged, my wolf groaned, itching to im the false mate that stood before us.


    A false mate... That should have snapped me out of the false allure, but then she spun around, unting her wless skin, her long hair following the action too, making me wish to touch. I wished to explore every inch of her. I had never done anything of the sort each time I imed Myrna. Not even on the night we wedded. But now...now I wished to start by iming her lips all the way to tasting her very essence. Devouring her until she begged and screamed my name over and over again.


    "She''ll have you go to the depths of hell to search for forgiveness if you hurt her this time around."


    Sh... I blinked, Rakon''s words turning all the heat I felt at the moment into anger as they snapped me back to the reason that had made me march into my chosen mate''s chambers in the first ce. "What did you do?!" I growled. Innocence shed across her face. "Do?"


    "Do not y coy with me Myrna!" I growled, earning myself a mischievious grin from my chosen mate. She seemed to have out grown her pleas for me to bed her and give her a child. I should have known that the distance she had given me only spelled something much worse. A plot meant to trap me.


    Unrepentant, she batted her eyes at me. "And what exactly does his highness think I did?" Myrna resumed her walk towards me, giving nothing of her transgressions away and that only served to anger me even more.


    She was toying with me. This back and forth would just not do, I decided. "What is the meaning of this?!" I bared my neck and exposed the mark just as I stopped her from cing her hand on me. If only I could stop her scent from threatening to overwhelm me too. "It is a thing of beauty, wouldn''t you say?" She smiled sweetly at her handiwork before her face scrunched up. "Though, I was not entirely convinced on where to ce it, but now..." A dramatic sigh escaped her lips. "Now...seeing you wear it like this, I am certain that I chose right. It is perfect."


    "Do you think this a joke?" Her carefree attitude only angered me even more.


    "It most certainly is not, your majesty. Not when it brings you right to me. To my bed. It''s a shame that its not the real thing, but it will have to do until you mark me and I you." She stopped all attempts to lure me and walked back to where she''d dropped her gown. I would have been d about that if only it didn''t speak of my loss to her this time around. While she stood so close to me, tingles had erupted. The desire to have her reignited and almost made the little control I had left slip. I hated how easily that happened even with the knowledge that this was nothing but a spell cast on me.


    I did not understand why she''d given up and walked away either. She''did her snare and I had walked right into it. So then why was she giving up so easily? I frowned.


    "I''m a patient maiden when ites to what I desire, Elian." She peeked over her shoulder as she put her gown back on. It was as if she''d read my mind and understood the confusion that swirled in there. Her demeanour, so sure and her words both a warning and a promise.


    What did she desire, if not to have me in her bed? I could only watch as I sought to understand her. Up until now, she''d only yed the damsel in distress to get my attention. Something had changed. Something that had made the person Rakon had warned me about to rise to the surface. I was ying catch up, but I was determined to uncover what that was. I had an inkling of what or better yet, who that was. If my chosen mate''s refusal to even reference the person in our encounter was anything to go by. "Anything else, your majesty?" "See you at dinner?"


    Surprise shed in her eyes but she masked it just as quickly with a smile. "You wish to dine with me?" This would make it the only time I invited her to share a meal with me. "If you would do me the honours."


    "I''d be honored, my king."


    I marvelled at how easily she epted and all the enthusiasm that came with it. "See you tonight then." I turned to leave, tearing myself away from the pull of her presence. "Dinner? What the hell do you think you are doing?!" Rakon red the moment I stepped outside. "Aren''t you supposed to be running the other way?" "Be a coward you mean?" I arched a brow at my best friend.


    "You know what I mean." Rakon sighed audibly. "Besides, I would understand if you chose the cowardly route, if that would serve any purpose at all." "Would knowing that I have no intentions of dinning alone with her help with your distress?"


    Rakon stopped and shot me a confused look. "What exactly are you nning?"


    "Testing a theory." Cerus''s words had proved to be true so far, but I needed to be sure that that extended to everything else.