CHAPTER 4: ISADORA

It wasn’t until later that evening that I realized exactly what had happened.

After Elias left, I seemed to be in some sort of haze. Penny checked on me and made sure I was fine before finally letting me out of the hospital wing.

There was a car with a guard that drove me out of the hospital, and the entire ride felt like a fever dream. It wasn’t until we arrived at the palace that everything finally began to settle in my subconscious.

I’d just agreed to mate with the king. The most revered and feared man in our world. He was the most powerful man on the planet, and I had a sex tape out there.

Fuck.

I was led to a room where I stayed for the next two days.

The room was almost twice the size of my old room and a maid dropped food for me outside my door three times a day, but she never tried to interact with me. I left the room occasionally, but never went far.

The one person I wanted to see was Elias, and he hadn’t reached out to me yet.

It was after two days that I finally got my first visitor.

There was a knock on my door at two. I’d expected it to be the maid with my lunch, but when I opened the door, I was met with an unfamiliar face.

“Hi there.”

The girl in front of me wore a long floral dress that trailed behind her. Her hair hung down her shoulders in curls and her eyes were a kaleidoscope of colors. From one angle, it looked green, from another, it was brown.

“I’m Erina, Elias’ cousin,” she smiled softly as she walked into the room. “What’s your name?”

I hesitated for a moment. “Isadora.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. You’re very beautiful. It’s no wonder he’s kept you hidden. I’ve been asking to see you since the moment he said he found his mate.”

My brows furrowed. “You know about us?”

“Of course I do. I would’ve come to you sooner if he wasn’t so annoying about leaving you alone.” She walked over to the dresser and leaned against it. “If he even knew I was here, He’d lose his shit.”

“Is he violent?”

She snorted. “He’s a teddy bear. But enough about him, tell me about you. He wouldn’t tell me a thing.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

I was confused by the girl in front of me. She spoke to me like she’d known me for years. I’d have thought she’d be suspicious of me, but no, she seemed perfectly at ease. She wasn’t armed, she was barely even looking at me.

It was very out of character for a stranger, and for a lycan.

I’d never met one up close, but I heard they’re the most guarded species. They never let people in—ever.

“You’re not a threat to me,” she said suddenly and my brows furrowed. “Sorry, you’re very expressive. You were looking at me weird, like you were trying to figure me out. I’m not armed because you’re not a threat.”

“Right,” my cheeks burned. “You’d beat me in a fight.”

“Yes, but that’s not why I said what I said.” She moved closer to me. “You’re Elias’ mate and we hold the mating bond to a very high degree. You’re not a threat to me because as long as you’re his mate, you’re practically one of us. I trust you.”

“I’m a stranger.”

She shrugged. “I don’t make the rules. That’s just how it is.”

I had a ton of questions and she seemed like the perfect person to answer them.

I was just about to ask when I felt him.

I wasn’t sure how, it was as if my body was in tune with his. I felt the moment the air shifted, smelled his scent, and I knew he was at the door.

“I should’ve known you’d be here,” he drawled.

Erina only smiled. “I thought I’d keep her company seeing as you’d abandoned her for two days.”

She pushed off the desk.

“It was nice meeting you, Isadora. Let’s do this again, shall we?”

“Isa.” She paused. “You can call me Isa.”

She gave me a small nod before breezing out the door.

The moment she was gone, the air seemed to get tighter.

I tugged on the neckline of the shirt I was wearing, but it didn’t help.

Elias’ presence was overwhelming, and it didn’t help that my wolf was fawning over him and trying to urge me to look at him.

“I didn’t abandon you,” he began softly and I slowly lifted my eyes to his.

He was just as breathtaking as the last time I saw him. He seemed to command the entire room. When he walked closer to me, I could’ve sworn my heart stopped beating for a fraction of a second.

I wasn’t supposed to react this way.

Whatever we had, whatever our relationship was, it was an arrangement. It was born out of a mutual desire for blood. I had no business feeling goosebumps at his proximity. I’d only be digging a much deeper hole for myself.

“It doesn’t matter if you did,” I murmured in response to his earlier statement. “You’re not my babysitter.”

His jaw clenched for the fraction of a second. “Right.”

He stepped further into the room, until he was directly in front of me. I had to crane my neck to look at him.

“I wanted to give you time,” he explained.

“Time for what?”

“To change your mind. I shouldn’t have come to you with that offer right after you woke up. If you want to back out.”

“I don’t.”

The past two days had only solidified my blood lust and need for revenge. All I could think about was watching the life leave Ethan’s eyes. All I could dream about was getting my vengeance on him and Terrence. I wanted to watch them suffer.

Elias’ lips curled up in a cruel smile, almost as if he could read my thoughts. “Good. We will announce our mating soon.”

I swallowed.

I’d avoided thinking about that part.

“What would that entail exactly?” I asked slowly. “Us being mates?”

My cheeks were pink with mortification but it only seemed to amuse the man in front of me.

“I don’t know what you mean, Isadora.”

I didn’t think it was possible for my face to get brighter. “Would we be mates in word alone?”

“Is that what you want?”

“Just answer the question.”

He stepped even closer, until our chests were almost brushing. His hand found my chin like he did when we were in the hospital, tipping my head up until I was staring straight at him.

“If you’re asking if I want to fuck you, the answer is yes.”

His words were crude, and I should have felt embarrassed or insulted, but I didn’t, I felt nothing but a heady feeling of pride and arousal at his words.

“But, you’re not ready.”

He let go of me and stepped back.

It took me a second to realize what had happened and as soon as the arousal faded, the embarrassment hit. How could I allow myself to lose control like that? Especially after everything?

“There is no reason to be embarrassed, Isadora.” I ignored him. “I was the one who found you in the water. The image is burned in my head. I remember what you wore.”

Oh. Fuck.

As if things couldn’t get worse.

“I don’t know what happened to you, but I can assume.”

“You should go,” I mumbled, turning away from him. I couldn’t bear to relive that moment, not with him.

He didn’t fight, he just sighed. “Whenever you’re ready to tell me, find me.”