Chapter 15
-DAX-
She wouldn’t stop when he said no. As much as he’d wanted to let her have her way, it wasn’t right. His father had raised him better than that. Even if he currently thought his son had tried to kill him.
He was being honorable for the first time in his selfish life, and it wasn’t going the way he thought. Wouldn’t Bea WANT to be released? His mind was reeling at the thought that she would WANT to stay and serve him. Dealing with the everyday feedings and embarrassing underwear changes, and that was just the tip of the iceberg.
Yet here she was, tears pouring down her face as she sniffled into her sleeve, begging him to keep her as a wife. Seeing her tears gutted him. It shouldn’t. He’s a prince, future Alpha. Why should a slave girl crying affect him? Other women had proposed to him, and most of them had cried too when he’d said no, but none of their tears touched his heart. Why did hers?
Of all the proposals he’d received in the past, this was the first that truly moved him.
Who knew a proposal could look so… He couldn’t finish his thought because she abruptly stood, grabbed the serving tray and bowl, and left the room. Leaving him dumbfounded.
He had tracked her as best he could with his eyes before the strain became too much and he lay back in exhaustion.
Will she really leave? He chastised himself once again. Maybe he should have lied and allowed her to stay as protection from David. Dax had overheard David call Bea foul, yet in his mind, the insidious little man was fouler than Bea would ever be. He’d thought Dax to be brain–addled just as Bea had, and spoke freely in front of him when he thought no one else heard.
Dax was very well aware of the Wolfsbane in the porridge. David had been bought. Although he never mentioned the name of his purchaser, Dax could assume who it was, and he felt his assumption was spot on.
He remembered the covetous eyes of Rebecca and her son when they’d come to see him. Just so they could gloat over his current state. Smirking and laughing. How he hated the way Alec simpered and pouted like a spoiled child as his mother hovered over Dax’s immovable form.
They didn’t leave until Alec reminded his mother that they had a beggar waiting in the carriage. It sickened him. Dax knew of the hunting games they played with the poor people of his father’s kingdom.
Apparently, she was paying David to kill him slowly and keep him paralyzed until the time was right to add just a bit more of the nasty little plant to his porridge and off him once and for all. This would allow Alec to take the birthright that was rightfully Dax’s.
Normally, his Wolf would intervene, and he’d transform, ridding himself of the poison, healing his wounds, and devouring his enemies, but something happened when he’d fallen from the balcony, and his Wolf had been silent
ever since.
He thought he’d felt him come forward earlier with Bea, but then nothing happened, and he assumed he’d imagined it.
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Chapter 15
Why did she leave? Her absence was prominent in the silent room.
“Can’t I share your home with you?” Her words echoed around his mind, and his heart sent a bang throughout his body. Like his blood had turned into lightning and was charging through his veins.
Home? He’d known Castles and Estates. He’d become accustomed to servants and revelry. Every night was a play date with his desires, and he’d wanted for nothing. But… Had he ever WANTED a home? Her question troubled him greatly.
He didn’t like thinking that there were things a slave would know, and he wouldn’t. Yet, had his parents ever given him a true home? Luna. His mother. She’d given him a home. She’d given the entire world a home inside her heart. What would she think, now that he wasn’t sure he’d ever really had a home to begin with, or now that he had a wife and he’d made her cry on the second day?
“… prove my ability as your mate?” Her silky voice slid across his memory like silk on a lover’s body, and once again, he thought he’d felt his Wolf come forward, but he didn’t shift. Nothing happened. Just more silence in what was hardly any better than an empty room.
