Chapter 194

The next morning, though I wake without Caleb, I still feel as though I am in some kind of beautiful dream. The evidence of Caleb’s being here the night before remains all around me, and on me.

In the mirror, I spy several live bites running up and down the column of my throat. They continue over my collar bone and across my breasts.

Bruises of his fingerprints mar my hips and backside. My core feels pleasantly sore from the ferocity of his lovemaking.

Even after pulling on a high neck sweater, the moment I walk out of the bathroom, I can feel Bethany’s knowing gaze on my neck. My smile must be contagious, because her mood has also lifted today. A true friend, she shares in my happiness, even before she truly knows what happened.

Or maybe she does. Servants always seem to know everything.

I guess I did too, when I was one of them. The others always talked like we weren’t real people standing in the room. In the kitchens and servants quarters, we’d share all the gossip.

“I’m glad things worked out for you,” Bethany says. “I thought things might work out like this.”

“You did?”

She nods. “The King’s servants talked about how particularly gloomy he’s been the past few days. Apparently, he spent several hours the other night, sitting and staring at his wedding suit. He was likely in turmoil even then.”

I think back to how quiet he was the final time I talked to him before the incident occurred in the courtyard. I’d taken his silence for a rejection. In hindsight, I wonder if even then, he was thinking about backing out of the wedding.

My love for him seems to grow more and more each day.

Yet, as pleased as I am, I’m also filled with worry. Caleb’s decisions are not going to be without consequence. If anyone could have a sense for what might be to come, it’s the servants.

“Has anyone been talking about Annabelle? Did she leave? And what happens now?” I ask, posing question after question, unsure where to really start.

“Annabelle is packing,” Bethany says. “Well, her servants are packing. She’ll likely be gone by this afternoon. The servants and slaves are happy to see her go. You won’t be surprised to learn that she did not treat anyone very nicely.”

That doesn’t shock me, no. While Annabelle wears the façade of a nice person, the true self she sometimes reveals herself is selfish, spoiled, and not understanding or kind. Anyone who does not bend to her will is considered an enemy.

I can only imagine what she thinks of me now.

As she’s threatened me in the past, I’ll feel better with her gone.

“The problem, however,” Bethany continues, “Is her pack and those most friendly with them. There’s been some fallout.”

My worry increases. “What kind of fallout?”

“Some of the pack Alphas have disappeared from the palace.”

Just like Samuel. Gods, I hope, even angry, that they do not turn to the rebellion as he did.

“It’s also leaked that the King has plans to bring commoners into his court,” Bethany continues.

“Did the advisors say something?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” she says. “But nobles are voicing their dislike of the idea. Critics are suggesting that by allowing this, King Caleb is pushing the nobility to the rebellion now, just has he had previously pushed the commoners.”

That’s cause for concern, of course. Though, Caleb did assure me in the early morning hours that he would be able to handle this. I know him to be a competent king. I could only hope he would see this done.

And I will be by his side through it all, whatever he needs.

Later, I sneak down to the kitchen to see if I can snack on a few of the special pastries I am certain they prepared for the wedding. There has to be a lot of uneaten cookies and cakes. My stomach growls at the possibilities. And I know how talented the chefs and bakers are in the palace.

It would be an absolute shame for those things to go to waste.

Yet, before I can reach the kitchen, as I turn down one of the hallways, a pair of strong arms grip me around the waist and yank me into a darkened alcove.

A hand covers my mouth, keeping me from screaming.

An assassin? A kidnapper? A rebel?

If they think I will go down easily, they can guess again! I struggle, though my assailant’s hands are strong, his grip firm. Just as I’m about to jab my sharp elbow into his ribs, he speaks.

“Harper.”

That’s Caleb’s voice.

At once, I turn in his arms.

He grins as he looks down at me. Lifting his hand, he tugs lightly at the high neck of my sweater. He pulls it lightly down from my skin, revealing many of his marks. “Trying to hide my claim?”

My cheeks heat up. “No, I just…”

Before I can even begin to think of an excuse, his mouth covers mine and he kisses me senseless.

It takes me a long moment to recover my thoughts again.

He noses at the corner of my jaw, kissing lightly at the marks on my throat. I’m not a werewolf, I don’t have the healing factor that would require him to refresh these marks so quickly. The ones he made will be there for a good long while. Still, it seems as if he wants to admire them.

Caleb teased me last night in our lovemaking about how I wanted him to be mine alone. It seems that I am not the only one who feels the tug of possessiveness. But then, I suppose I already knew that about him.

Even so, it’s not like him to stop me in the hallway without reason. In the past, his jealous would cause him to act. All I was doing this time was sneaking to the kitchen for a pastry.

“What’s the occasion?” I ask him.

“Does there need to be one?” he asks, his words muffled against my skin.

“No, I suppose not…”

Lifting his head, he looks into my eyes. “If you need a reason for me wanting to kiss you on sight, I can give you one.”

“What is it?” I ask, brow rising.

“Because I can,” he says, and kisses me on the mouth once more.

Later, he leads me back toward my bedroom, where I have every anticipation that we are going to fall into bed again.

At least we would.

Except, when we see my door, we both stop.

“What is that?” I ask.

There’s something sticking into the wood of my door.

“Stay here,” he says, leaving me near the guards at his own door. As he approaches whatever it is that’s stuck to my door, he grabs what appears to be a handle and yanks a dagger out of the wood.

A note flutters down to the ground.

I come forward and scoop it off the ground.

Harper –

You were warned to leave Caleb alone, but you refused.

Soon, you will face the consequences of this action.

Your life will be forfeit.