Changing Fate: A Werewolf Romance, page 36
I was turned on for sure, but I hid it well with an eye roll. “Get off of me, you horny bastard. The only thing you’ll be eating tonight is whatever the chefs cooked. Now let’s go, I’m starving.”
He kissed my cheek softly, rolling off of me. “You’re always starving,” he added once he stood up.
“Maybe you just don’t feed me enough,” I countered.
“How do you figure that? You get three preplanned meals a day; plus, you can have the chefs make whatever you want at any time of the day or night. You have twenty-four-hour access to any kind of food you can think of. How could that possibly not be enough?” he asked, deadpan.
For once, I had no response. He had me there.
“Shut up,” I muttered immaturely, not wanting to admit defeat.
He looked amused but otherwise dropped it. He threaded our fingers together and walked us down to the dining room. We were right on time; everyone was already there. Just like this morning, another place setting and chair had been added next to his, so I took the seat next to Tyler while he took the seat next to his brother.
Everyone except for my sister bowed to us as soon as we walked in. It made me uncomfortable, especially seeing my brother and best friend partake in it. As much as I enjoyed undermining Finnian, I didn’t want to do it in front of his people. My people were fine, but I didn’t want to embarrass him. I made a mental note to talk to him about it later.
“Hey, guys,” I greeted everyone rather awkwardly.
“Good evening, my queen,” Niki replied. She had an accomplished smile on her face, like she was finally getting her way after an extended period of being told no.
“Please, Niki. Don’t call me that. It’s weird,” I asked while grimacing.
“A good queen accepts her title with pride,” Emiliya added, sneering slightly at her subtle dig.
“I don’t see it that way, Emiliya. I think it’s a sign of a humble queen.”
“It is Royal Beta Female Emiliya, Miss Keating,” she hissed her entire title.
“Fine, then it’s Queen Kendall to you, Royal Beta Female,” I returned her hostility.
Kieran shot her a nasty glare before turning his attention to me. “Please ignore her, Your Highness. I speak for both of us when I say we are thrilled that you are my brother’s mate. You’re a strong she-wolf, and you’ll be an amazing queen. Please accept my sincerest apologies for my mate’s behavior and my heartfelt congratulations. I am elated that you are not only my queen but also my sister-in-law. Welcome to the family, Kendall.”
“Thank you, Kieran,” I replied to him sincerely, feeling touched at his kind words. “Your acceptance means a lot to me. I look forward to getting to know you better.”
“I look forward to that as well.” He shot me a small grin, which was a first that I had seen from him. Emiliya had turned her glare to him. He tried his best to ignore it, but I could see his eyes darting to hers nervously.
The waiters brought out salads and filled our glasses. They seemed nervous that they were in Finnian’s presence, so it took a little longer than normal. I thanked them before they left.
“I do have one question, if I may?” Kieran spoke to me again once they were gone and once Emiliya had turned away from him.
“Sure,” I answered before I took a bite of my salad.
“You’ve been here well over a month. Why is it just being announced that you two are mates?”
Finnian’s leg was touching mine under the table, and I felt him tense slightly at his question, although his face didn’t show it.
“I wasn’t ready for a mate,” I lied skillfully. “I asked him to give me some time to adjust before we told anyone. I’m sorry for asking him to lie to you and everyone else.”
“If it helps, I didn’t know until last night either,” Matt added.
I gave him a weak, thankful smile. He returned it with a wink.
“Don’t worry. I’m not upset. I understand that discovering you are the queen can be quite the adjustment.”
I nodded at him thankfully and continued eating.
“So, Kendall, have you thought about when your coronation may take place?” Niki inquired a few minutes later.
I looked between her and Finnian. “I’m not sure. We haven’t really talked about it yet,” I answered, sounding uncertain.
“Soon,” Finnian added.
I shot him a questioning look, wanting him to expand on his comment, but he didn’t. We didn’t speak of it again, instead making small talk the remainder of dinner. Everyone acted normal around me after a while, and the conversation went a lot smoother.
After dinner, Finnian and I walked back upstairs. He started loosening his tie as soon as he shut the door behind us. He tugged it off completely and bent down to start a fire. I plopped down on the bed and watched him.
“Coronation?” I asked after he finished and was standing again. He turned to face me.
“What about it?”
“You said soon. How soon? And what exactly is it? Like, I know to humans it’s crowning a king or queen, but what is it to werewolves? Do you even have a crown?”
“Soon is soon, within the next month. It’s just a ceremony. There aren’t any crowns involved but I suppose I could get you one if you want. It takes place outside, in the Coronation Arena. You’ll enter from the tunnels in front of all the alphas. They will bow to you and pledge their loyalty to serve and protect you. You will make a pledge to them as their queen. That’s about it.”
“No crown necessary,” I whispered lowly and gulped nervously.
He was walking towards me slowly, like a predator stalking its prey. He had this look in his eyes, like he wanted to devour me. I scooted back on the bed, trying to put space between us. He didn’t let me get far.
He leaned down and slowly crawled over my body until his face hovered right over mine. He was so close that his nose brushed against mine. His body was pressed firmly against me, only being held up enough so he didn’t crush me.
I held my breath for a while but finally released in a whoosh when my lungs started burning. Nervousness and desire crawled through me, flooding my veins and lighting them on fire. His eyes burned into mine, showing more emotion than I had ever seen.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, brushing back a loose strand of hair from my forehead.
I suddenly felt vulnerable. More vulnerable than I ever had in my life. I didn’t push him off, I didn’t move closer. I just laid there, watching his every move.
“You’re scared.” He pulled back just slightly, but not by much. “You don’t have to be. I know I’m far from a perfect mate. I know I’ve treated you horribly. But if there is one thing you need to know, it’s how much I care about you; how important you are to me. You’re everything. Please, don’t be scared of me, Kendall. I will never hurt you again.”
I couldn’t stop the tears that sprang to my eyes at the conviction, the promise, in his tone. I realized then how well he knew me. He knew that I was scared, and even the exact reason why. He may not know every single detail about me, like my likes and dislikes, but he knew me. He knew me past the superficial level. He knew my heart and my soul. He intertwined himself around both.
“I know these are just words, but I will spend every day proving how true they are.” With that, he brushed away my fallen tears with his calloused thumb, pressed a sweet lingering kiss to my forehead, and lifted himself off of me.
“I’m going to take a shower.”
I nodded absentmindedly. He walked away, leaving me alone with my thoughts. My thoughts that were telling me that he was slowly chipping away the ice around my heart.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“I’m surprised he’s even letting you train still,” Selena gave me her unwanted opinion as we traipsed through the woods.
We usually ran in our wolf forms to the training field, but we decided to walk this morning after breakfast. The weather was nicer than it had been in weeks. Rain clouds were nowhere in sight, leaving us with a beautiful view of a clear blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds. A slight warm front had blown through the night before, leaving the air chilly but tolerable.
It was warm enough that we only needed a light jacket over our workout clothes. It would likely be the last remnants of warmth before the cold fingers of winter grasped the royal territory.
“Mind your own business,” I commanded.
What she said was true, much to my annoyance. Finnian had bickered all afternoon the day before and all morning as well. We had a few nice days, just spending time together, but as soon as I informed him I would be returning to training, he flipped out.
I honestly had no clue what his problem was. Training was a good thing. I would have a much better chance of defending myself against my possible future killer if I were properly trained.
But he didn’t see it that way. He saw it as an opportunity for me to get hurt, which was unnecessary because apparently he could and would defend me.
It was crap, and I had no problem telling him that. I finally had to put my foot down this morning and tell him I was going no matter what he said. He finally relented, but informed me that he would be watching closely since, apparently, he had cameras out there that had been watching me the whole time.
I was completely unaware of them.
Finnian and I were doing decidedly better after only a few days, but we were still discovering each other’s boundaries. One thing he had been respectful of was my need for space. He touched me a little, but never tried to kiss me or push it further than cuddling. I was grateful for that.
“No can do, baby sister. Your life is like a soap opera; I can’t look away.”
I elbowed her in the gut. “First off, I’m literally a year younger than you. I don’t think that constitutes me as your ‘baby sister.’ ” I made air quotes at her term of endearment. “And second, you’ve had your fair share of drama in your life.”
“Yes, and you’ve made that drama your business, so we’re even.”
I rolled my eyes but didn’t comment, changing the subject instead. “So, you have any plans for tonight?”
“Tyler and I are having dinner with Matt and Kat,” she told me.
I gaped at her. “Wow, really? Thanks for the invite.”
“Sorry, I didn’t think about it. We planned it as a double date before you and Finnian went public. You two should totally come. We’ll triple. We’re going bowling after dinner.”
“Gee, how can I turn down such a heartfelt invitation?” I said sarcastically.
“Don’t be such a titty baby. You know we want you there. I just forgot. I forgot that we were even going until last night. Kat too. You know how busy she’s been with Niki lately. Tyler and Matt were the only ones who remembered.”
“Shouldn’t that be reversed?”
“That’s sexist, Kendall. Now, are you going or what?” she asked demandingly.
“Why not? King Finnian should get out at least once every decade.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I love how much it pisses him off, but are you ever going to call him Finnian?” she asked, probing me for answers.
I shrugged. “Eventually. I like pissing him off too.” I grinned at her.
“Then by all means, keep it up,” she commented just as the training field came into view.
Before we could say anything else, we had the attention of the entire training field. Everyone bent down on one knee and bowed their heads. Simultaneously, everyone spoke loud and proud, “All hail Queen Kendall.”
“This is like the part in the Spongebob movie where everyone starts chanting ‘All hail Plankton.’ ” Selena leaned over, murmuring softly in my ear.
I was shocked silent, so I didn’t respond to her. I felt touched that I had the support of the Royal Army behind me. Before I could say anything, Harrison came to the forefront of the men, standing about five feet in front of me. He kneeled as well, mimicking the other’s positions.
“My queen, on behalf of the Royal Army, I would like to pledge our loyalty and protection to you. Any one of us would be proud to die protecting you.”
“Thank you, Harrison. That means so much to me,” I choked out. “I want to thank all of you. I promise to be the best queen I can be and to advocate for every one of you. I cherish your loyalty, and I promise to always return it in full.”
At the end of my little speech, they repeated their first phrase, then went back to normal.
“You gave us all quite the surprise, my queen,” Harrison told me as we walked over to our usual mat.
“No, none of that nonsense. You’re my trainer, my mentor, and my friend. It’s just Kendall,” I lectured him sternly, which earned me a smile and a nod.
“My quee—” Nathan started once we were in hearing distance.
“You too, Red.”
“Whatever you say.” He smirked and held his hands up in submission.
“Good. I don’t want to be treated any differently.”
“Alright. I think I can do that. You ready to get your ass handed to you?” He grinned at me, humor lighting his eyes.
“Oh, yeah. He can definitely do that.” Selena chuckled from behind me.
“Let’s do it.” I began stretching quickly to loosen up.
“Actually, we’ll be doing things a little differently today,” Harrison said from behind us.
I nodded and turned to give him my attention as I continued to stretch.
“You’ve mastered pinning your opponent. Now you need to learn how to execute the kill.”
I shot him a look of horror.
“No, you won’t be killing Nathan or Selena.” He chuckled. “You just have to get a hand on their throat. The fastest and easiest way to kill your opponent in a fight is to strike there. It’s the easiest to access and the quickest way to end things. Always go for the throat if possible.
“What you’ll start practicing today is getting your hand on your opponent’s throat. You have to hold on long enough that, in a real life situation, you would be able to elongate your claws, bury them into their flesh, and pull it out. I’ll be the judge of what is considered long enough.”
Selena and I nodded in understanding. Nathan didn’t, since he apparently already knew what we were going to do.
Harrison made us wear special gloves so that our claws couldn’t poke through. None of us would intentionally try to kill each other, but if we got angry enough—which was always a possibility for werewolves when training—they may come out subconsciously. That could end badly, so it was best to take precautions.
Selena and I went first. Nathan seemed hesitant to fight me. My guess was it had less to do with me as an opponent and more to do with the fact that he was now aware of who my mate was. Finnian would be watching, and if Nathan did something he didn’t like, it could get ugly. I wouldn’t let him do anything of course, but to Nathan, he seemed to not want to take that chance.
“Ready?” Harrison asked once we were in position.
We both nodded.
“Go.”
We lunged at each other.
***
“I’m just saying, a throat punch was a low blow. Like, I know we were aiming for the throats and all, but did you really have to punch me there?” I whined and rubbed my sore neck.
I felt especially beat up after today’s training. Selena and I never took it easy on each other, but today was even worse. I had a feeling it was because of Niki’s vision. Selena was probably trying to get me in the best fighting shape she could, and that meant that she came at me with everything she had so I could get better.
“Like Harrison said, your real-life opponents will throw low blows. You have to be ready for them.”
I rolled my eyes. That was fine and dandy, but my throat still hurt like a b*tch, causing my voice to sound far raspier than normal.
“Whatever. I’ll be sure to return the favor tomorrow.”
“I’m sure you will.”
“I’ll meet you guys downstairs at seven. I need to take a shower and actually tell King Finnian we’re going out.”
“Good luck with that.” She snickered.
“Thanks, I’m sure I’ll need it.”
With that, we parted ways. I went to go search for Finnian. I found him right where I left him that morning; his private office. It was the same office he had been in when Niki showed him her vision.
He used to allow other Royals and some staff up on the sixth floor, but apparently, after seeing that vision, he had made the entire floor off limits to anyone—period. No one knew why except for Niki and now me.
He couldn’t trust anyone, so he distanced himself from everyone he cared about, kept them at arm’s length. Close enough to watch, but far enough so he couldn’t be blindsided.
He was on the phone when I walked in, seemingly talking to an alpha. I plopped down on the chair across from his desk and waited for him to finish. He shot me a small smile in acknowledgement, which I returned with a similar smile and a short wave.
“Okay, thanks Rylan. I appreciate it. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.”
With that, he hung up the phone and gave me his full attention.
“You going somewhere?” I asked him.
“Rylan managed to capture one of the higher ups of the rebellion. We’re going there in a few weeks so I can question him,” he explained.
“We?”
“Yes, we. There is no way in hell I’m leaving you here without my protection. Not when I’ll be four hours away,” he growled out.
“Okay,” I agreed.
His stern look softened. “Okay? I was expecting more of a fight.” He leaned back in his chair, eyeing me suspiciously.
“I trust you. Besides, hopefully my lack of fighting you over that will make my next statement go smoother.”
“And what would that be? It wouldn’t happen to have to do with the double date you agreed to without consulting me?” He raised a mocking eyebrow.
“Triple date, actually,” I corrected, not bothering to ask how he heard my conversation with Selena from a mile away. “And it’ll be fun.”
