The Royal Pain

Chapter Four:

I laughed nervously and scrambled to come up with an excuse. Now was not the time to let Nathan know about my little problem. 

"Don't you remember?" I asked, begging my mind to remember the last time I'd been fatally injured during a complication with a band of rogues. "That time when I came back and my ankle was literally hanging off my leg. Good thing I've got wolf healing," I added as I cringed at the memory.

Nathan seemed to become calmer, yet his stance did not relax. In fact, he looked pained. 

"I want you to resign as my family's guard," he whispered, deflating. 

I walked over to him and reassuringly put my hand on his arm. "You know I can't do that," I said softly. 

I wanted, needed, to feel something, so I tightened my hand on his arm, but still I felt nothing. Once again, tears brimmed in my eyes. "I'm so sorry," I said to him in a rough voice. 

Nathan drew me into him for a hug, and he rubbed my back soothingly. "What for?" he asked.

I opened my mouth but slammed it shut once it registered that I was actually about to tell him. I weighed up the advantages of telling him, but then that would only give him hope that he fix whatever had been done to me. And, if it was unfixable, which I was certain of, that would only cause Nathan more heart ache. 

I didn't want to be his cause for pain. But, I didn't want to utter the words that would break the bond forever. "I think you should chose another mate," I whispered into his chest. 

Nathan stiffened and pulled away, holding onto my shoulders so that his dazzling green eyes could stare into my watery grey ones. "Did what I say in the hospital mean nothing to you? I'm in love with you, Aisling. I don't want anybody else. Even if I did, you know how easy it would be for me to do that. Isn't the fact that I haven't rejected you enough to show you that?"

His face scrunched up as he uttered the taboo word. Rejecting your mate was something that the werewolf world didn't take lightly. However, no one would question it if a Royal were to reject their mate. 

I knew that this was hurting us both, and I felt the onslaught of tears coming, I had to get rid of him. I refused to be weak whilst he was still here.

"You should leave," I said. My eyes were downcast so I didn't see his face, or his reaction as he pushed past me and stormed up the stairs. I managed to drag myself over to the wall, but then I slumped against it and I couldn't help the cascade of tears that poured out of my eyes. 

***

I didn't know how long I sat there, crying and begging for a release, but I was broken out of my reverie by shouting voices. 

I wiped away my tears and threw on a plain white jacket, zipping it up as I went, before I rushed out of the basement, towards the raised voices. 

"I forbid her to go!" Nathan was yelling. 

"It's her choice, son." 

I threw myself into the King's office before I had a chance to think about the consequences. The King sat in his chair behind his sleek black desk. This office had been my sanctuary many times; the King was like a second father to me. 

A fire was lit and the golden couches glinted from the flames. I stalked towards where Nathan was standing facing his father. The were no windows in the room, for fear of someone being able to hear from outside the house. 

Crucial business happened in this room. 

Pack rules, rogue plans and most importantly death sentences. 

The King was growing older, it would not be long until he asked Nathan to take his rightful place on the throne. The desk at which the King sat was littered with an array of papers. The silver Dell laptop was powered off, and its lid was down. The black phone that was plugged in at the wall behind the King flashed red; he had a voicemail. 

The King's face was covered in wrinkles and worry lines. The grey hair upon his head was thin and he looked weary, almost ill. The pallor of his skin was too pale for a man of good health. As I took in his black pin suit that screamed sophistication, I worried for the future of my King. 

"Sir," I said respectively, whilst bowing my head. 

The King chuckled. "My dear, how many time must I tell you to call me Anthony!" 

"Maybe just once more," I joked back. 

Nathan growled and slammed his hands on the desk, frightening me and making the King jump back in surprise. The King raised his eyebrows at his son, who shrank back. 

"Now, will you let Ash speak for herself!" Nathan nodded silently, but I could tell he was still fuming. "My dear, there is a rogue problem in the east. They are growing large, and nearby packs are too scared to attack. I've been asked to dispatch as many soldiers as I can spare. I am asking if you would be willing to lead a group of ten to deal with this little...complication." 

I nodded my head eagerly. This was the escape I needed to clear my head. I would throw myself into battle, taking vengeance on the filthy creatures; make them pay for the distress that they had caused.

"No!" Nathan roared. "You're not going anywhere, and that's final!" I had never seen Nathan angry before, but then, I'd never seen him anything but silent. 

I felt aggravated that Nathan was telling me I couldn't go and protect the people I loved. I felt the blood rush through my body, and I suddenly felt light-headed. "Why are you trying to stop me from going? You've never had a problem with me going before!" I seethed back. 

Nathan growled and his father chuckled, like he knew some dark secret that he was not allowed to tell me. I looked at Nathan expectantly. 

I understood that we were mates now, and he probably didn't want me to get hurt and risk his own sanity, knowing that I could be injured and there was nothing that he could do to prevent my death. 

Then, I felt vexed that it was only after we'd found out we were mates that he even bothered to care that I was going at all. He'd said he'd been in love with me from day one, so why had had he hung back all the times I'd been out on missions before? Especially ones much more dangerous than this. 

Nathan couldn't stop trembling, and his fangs were at a precarious risk of elongating.

"Because," he said in a menacingly low voice. "Before, I was always there to protect you."

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You can't use facts or reality to reason with people who have been conditioned to believe that the lie is the truth and the truth is the lie. 

-Anon.

  (Edited)