Chapter 445
Rafe takes a deep breath after he swallows another gulp of whiskey, looking around at his family and friends who are mingling around the room on Ella’s little drink break. God, but he was grateful for that. Every time Maryam opens her mouth he’s terrified and his wolf is thrilled – just trying to balance the two conflicting states takes absolutely every ounce of his energy. He can hardly pay attention to anything else.
He glances down at his glass, thinking that the whiskey certainly is helping, the fuzz in his mind likewise keeping his wolf fuzzy. But he can’t stay drunk his entire damn life. His eyes stray – as they keep doing – to where Maryam is standing with her father, chatting casually with Cora.
“You good?” Jackson asks, stepping close, sipping at his own glass of whiskey, half a sandwich in his hand.
Rafe smirks, looking between Jackson and the food. “How much do you have to eat?” he asks, laughing a little. “To get back to where you were, weight-wise?”
“Way more than this,” Jackson murmurs, taking another big bite of the sandwich and seeming to swallow it whole. Rafe laughs. “But seriously, are you good?” Jackson repeats, his brows knitting together just slightly as he looks Rafe up and down.
Rafe frowns. “I’m fine. What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the fact that Jesse and Ariel scampered out of here a little bit ago to talk about how weird you’re being,” Jackson murmurs, finishing his sandwich in one more big bite.
Rafe’s mouth falls open and then he snaps his head to the side, his eyes flashing around the room to see…god, to see everyone looking at him a bit askance. His mom quickly draws her gaze away, looking up at the ceiling, pretending she wasn’t just staring worriedly at him. She smacks Dominic on the arm and he, too, stops staring at his son a moment later.
“Oh my god,” Rafe breathes, returning his attention to the big Alpha next to him. “Does…does everyone think I’m being weird!?”
“Yes,” Jackson replies, completely casual, scanning the room for another tray of sandwiches. “But only because you’re being weird so…it’s not really their fault.”
Rafe groans and grabs Jackson by the wrist, hauling him towards the closest door, which just happens to be the entrance to his parents’ bedroom.
“Where are we going!?” Jackson gasps. “Rafe, the food is in here –“
Rafe just snarls, pissed at himself for thinking he could handle this. He pulls Jackson inside and then slams the door behind him. “What did you notice!?” he barks out, leaning close to Jackson and baring his teeth. “Did – did she notice!?”
God, he’s been such a fool – if Maryam –
If Maryam was like everyone else and noticed that he was being weird… God, she already hates him, how much worse is it going to be if he’s also acting like a complete jackass all night?
“Who!?” Jackson asks, freaked out, taking a step back and guarding his glass of whiskey like Rafe might knock it out of his hand.
“Mary –“ Rafe nearly shouts but then he catches himself, standing up straight, realizing that Jackson…
Jackson doesn’t know what’s going on beyond the fact that Rafe was acting strange. Or at least he didn’t know. Rafe groans as he realizes his mistake.
“Maryam?” Jackson asks, looking at Rafe with wide eyes. “This is about Maryam? That…that human girl? Dr. Hank’s daughter!?”
Rafe clenches his teeth, his mind whirling for some sort of excuse, but god – his mind is just too fuzzy – he should have gone easier on the drinks –
“Are you like…” Jackson turns his head and laughs a little. “Are you into her, Rafe?”
Rafe doesn’t say anything, looking away.
“Rafe,” Jackson says, pity in his voice as he reaches out to put a hand on the prince’s shoulder. “You should…rethink that. She’s really pretty, but as a human she is very delicate – I’m a little worried you would like…kill her, if you –“
“Would you shut up?” Rafe snarls, whipping his head back to glare at Jacks. “Of course I wouldn’t hurt her – I would never hurt her – she’s –“
Jackson goes still, staring at Rafe, realizing that the Prince’s language is a great deal like that he uses to talk about Ariel. And the way that Rafe is acting…god, when his wolf had first smelled Ariel in the academy? He had been just as erratic and frantic.
“No way,” Jackson breathes, shaking his head, his eyes moving down to Rafe’s chest, where his wolf lives. “There’s…there’s no way –“
“Jacks,” Rafe groans, leaning into his friend’s hand a little bit. “Please, don’t tell anyone, I’m so confused – I have no idea what’s going on –“
“No way,” Jackson whispers again, fascinated. “I mean, Rafe, are you sure? It – it’s not possible –“
“Are you sure?” Rafe growls, snapping his eyes up to meet Jackson’s. “If I tried to tell you that Ariel wasn’t yours, what would you say?”
Jackson rankles at even the hypothetical. But still, he pushes. “She doesn’t even have a wolf, Rafe. How can there…how can there be a bond?”
“I don’t know,” Rafe growls, closing his eyes and shaking his head. “But…my wolf is sure. And he’s been flipping out – it’s so fucking annoying – he’s so excited every time she opens her mouth to say anything and he keeps urging me to do all this stupid stuff –“
“Yup,” Jackson says, laughing a little and squeezing Rafe’s shoulder. “That’s…that’s a mate, all right.”
“You went through this?” Rafe asks, his eyes opening with a bit of hope.
“Oh my god,” Jackson says, nodding eagerly. “The insane shit my wolf told me to do when we figured out it was Ariel, not Ari. He wanted me to rip off -” but Jackson cuts his words off abruptly, standing straighter, clearing his throat, remembering that this is Ariel’s brother he’s talking to. “It was intense, yes.”
Rafe opens his mouth to ask another question but he’s interrupted by a hysterical, disbelieving laugh from across the room. Both Rafe and Jackson spin their heads towards the closet, where there’s suddenly a figure standing there, silhouetted against the light.
“You’ve got to be kidding here,” Mark breathes, fascinated and delighted. “Are you – are you serious, Rafe!? Maryam is your mate!?”
“Mark!” Rafe barks out, his head clearing slightly in his panic. “Get your ass over here!”
“No way!” Mark laughs, taking it all as a joke – as he always does. Rafe snarls as Mark begins to stride for the door to the living room, his face lit with a wicked glee. Inwardly Rafe’s wolf howls in desperation – because Mark – he’s so fucking immature, and he’s the worst secret keeper in the family, one little nudge from Ariel and Mark will tell her everything –
“I’m serious, Mark!” Rafe snaps, striding for his little brother, grabbing for his arm. “You have to keep this to yourself! This is serious –“
“I have to go find Ariel!” Mark snaps back, laughing and pulling his arm out of Rafe’s reach. “She’s going to die – this is going to be so great –“
Rafe snarls, true violence in his tone now as his heart begins to pound. He snatches again for his brother, whiskey sloshing out of his glass and all over the floor.
“Mark!”
“If you think I’m keeping this to myself, you’re insane! It’s way too fucking good, even the idea that you –“
The door to the living room creeks open –
“Boys?” Ella calls, soft, curious.
“Could be mated!” Mark continues, loud, laughing, not noticing his mother standing in the open door. “To fucking Maryam! That she would be our future Queen!”
Rafe and Ella go still.
Jackson groans, ducking his head into his hand.
Beyond Ella, every single person gathered for the party in the room beyond goes still too.
Except for Ariel and Jesse, who burst through the door that opens to the rest of the palace, gasping for air.
“Rafe!” Jesse calls, desperate, but then he and the Princess go still when they realize that everyone else at the party has frozen in shock.
“Oh, shit,” Mark whispers, going pale as his mother looks at him with wide eyes, disappointment all over her face.
Silence rings out in the room for three long, desperate heartbeats.
And then a single hissed word breaks through the air.
“What?”
Slowly, everyone turns to where Maryam stands, livid at father’s side, her hands clenched into fists.
“What did you just say?”
Her voice is a growl, low and vicious enough to match any Alpha.
