Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
At least he’d already know the details when I sat down with him. I wouldn’t have to try to recount all I’d heard and was having a hard time coming to grips with.
“What about my freedom?” I asked.
“What about it?” Nyfain, now finished with the dinner, leaned back and put his hand on his stomach. “Gods I’m full.”
Finley scoffed. “You’re a pig, is what you are.” I couldn’t help laughing. This wasn’t at all the sort of regal behavior I’d been expecting. I appreciated it.
“I don’t mind being punished,” I said. “I’m okay with being whipped or whatever else you need to do. But eventually, once the situation with Granny is resolved, I would like my freedom. I don’t want to be trapped again. I don’t want the borders of my home to be closed to me. If I want to travel, I would like that option.”
“You devised your own punishment,” Finley told me. “Well, you and Cecil. Hadriel is pissed that the dick clothes helped you. As far as the people are concerned, you are making amends by working for free to try to help them. The word is spreading fast about your visits. It was a genius story you told throughout the villages, and when you deliver the product by hand, speaking with people about it and walking them through it, it will be further evidence of your atonement. After what I’ve seen and how hard you’ve worked to right any past wrongs, I’m content.”
“But as you know,” Nyfain said, “until we know Granny’s intentions, you are not safe. You need training, you need to integrate into the pack, and you need to sort out your life. You’re not out of the woods yet. But once you are, then yes, you can come and go as you please. As any of us can.”
A silent moment passed between us.
“You have a lot to think about,” Finley finally said.
“I need to choose a path,” I said, alluding to our conversation the other night.
“Exactly.”
“Do you have any questions about the kingdom?” Nyfain asked. “Any questions for us?”
I didn’t. My questions were all for Weston.
Chapter 33
Aurelia
Weston sat in his little garden, the doors opened behind him and the emberflies drifting in the night sky. He didn’t look up when I came out, staring at nothing.
I pulled a chair around and positioned it right in front of him so that he had no choice but to look at me. When he did, his eyes were shuttered, his demeanor closed down.
“You need to make a choice,” I told him, leaning back, suddenly exhausted.
Quietly, coolly, he said, “It isn’t me who got the offers.”
Emotion flared within me. “Like I said, you need to make a choice. Are you on my side, or are you on the royals’ side? Because if you are on my side, it is you who got the offers. We both did, because we are mates. To me, being mates means we are a family, and I don’t make decisions that will affect my family without consulting the other members of my family. If you are on the side of the royals, though, the way you have been up until and including this moment, then I need to decide if I can tolerate being left out and having information withheld from me by someone I love for the rest of my life.”
I knew I was coming on a little strong, but I needed to make a point—one he couldn’t avoid.
He didn’t speak, watching me silently.
“You didn’t claim me because you didn’t want to send me away with your permanent mark, right?” I asked, my heart suddenly very heavy. “You didn’t want to make it harder for me to find someone else.”
It was hard to even say that last bit.
Through the bond I felt the pain pierce him, evidence he felt as hurt by that thought as I did. “I didn’t claim you because I didn’t want to trap you. I didn’t want you to think you’d have to stay here with me. Or stay with me, period. You made it clear that you needed space to decide what you wanted for your future. If or when I claim you, it will be as an alpha claims his mate: in front of the pack, publicly, a statement. It will unify us all, you and me and them. You didn’t seem ready for that before, and now you have other offers to consider. I won’t join us all only to rip you or us away from each other, from them. It’s not fair to anyone. In this, my wolf agrees. I don’t have all the answers, Aurelia, but I’m trying to navigate this complicated situation as best I can.”
I sagged against the chair. “It’s complicated because you are trying to navigate both our lives without any input from me. Talk to me, Weston. Include me. Stop locking me out.”