Chapter 5

-Willow-

I had the most heavenly dream. While I had had some dirty dreams before, this was like nothing I had ever tried. I was pretty sure I had even come from the dream while some massive alpha had taken me on my bed. I had never seen an alpha so big, maybe except for the king.

He turned me and got me on all fours as he kept slamming into me over and over, growling how I was his and how good I was for letting him knot me. I knew only alphas did that to their true mates in hopes of impregnating them, but despite the pain from being sealed shut like that, it felt incredible when the pain was replaced with pleasure. I came every time he did it, and I began even craving him to knot me over and over.

The dream was truly like nothing I had ever tried before. Even as I slowly woke up, my body felt as if it had been used. I groaned, shifting slightly, only to feel a sharp pain between my legs. I opened my eyes, sitting up a little.

My room seemed like it was yesterday, but then I noticed something on my stomach. I reached out, grabbing what looked like a feather. Why was there a feather on me? I turned my head, seeing the feathers scattered all over the bed, almost like a trail, leading right to…

I screamed, pushing away from the stranger in my bed who seemed to carry my fiancé’s face, but the body type was all wrong, and Carter didn’t have a tattoo on his neck. I pushed so far away that I slipped off the edge of the bed and fell to the ground, landing on my ass. I groaned as my whole body was aching so badly, and the fall did nothing to relieve that pain.

“Willow?” a dark voice called before that stranger appeared again.

“What the fuck?” I whispered, shaking my head and clutching the sheets around me. “You’re not Carter!”

An almost painful expression appeared on his face, and it was so strange to see that, because except for the massive body and the tattoo of a wolf howling on his neck and chest, he looked exactly like Carter. That’s when it dawned on me who it could be.

“C-Cain?” I breathed, seeing him turn to me again. “What are you doing in my bed?”

“Listen…” Just then, the echo of hurrying steps sounded outside my room. I turned my head only for the doors to burst open, and in came Carter, looking completely devastated even before he put his eyes on us.

I realized he hadn’t even grabbed the handles. One of the doors leading to my room was already opened, so he didn’t have to do more than push. Someone must have seen or heard us, because the look on Carter’s face said it all.

“Carter,” I whispered, pushing up from the floor, but how could I ever explain this? How could I make him believe I was out of my mind? I could barely even remember what had happened. This wasn’t me! I didn’t do things like this! I was loyal, Goddess be damned!

Carter’s eyes shifted from me to his brother on my bed. Yet as I turned to look at Cain, I thought I would see more remorse. I thought there would be something in his eyes, but he was completely detached, the blanket resting low on his stomach, unable to hide, he was naked, and so was I.

“I should have known,” Carter growled. “You’re no different.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cain snarled back, their alpha voices speaking a little through them, making their words sound rougher.

Carter turned to me again. The tears were making it hard for me to even see him. “But I expected more from you. I thought you loved me.”

“Carter, please… I didn’t mean to…”

“What? Fuck him? Fuck my brother? What? Did you get us confused in the middle of the night?” he mocked.

Carter had never spoken to me like that, but now there was nothing but ice in his voice, and while I knew I deserved it, it felt so wrong.

“No, please, it’s not true!” I whispered. “I didn’t… it’s not…”

“Who would have thought Willow Michaelson was a whore?" Carter snarled at me before he stormed from the room.

His words cut deep, but it didn’t stop me from running to the door and shouting into the hallway.

“Carter!”

But he wasn’t stopping. I stumbled back, feeling my own world crumble before me. When I heard movement, I turned my head, seeing Cain grab his pants to put them on and simply stand up, looking so calm.

A rage like never before surged through me, and I stormed over to him, slamming my free hand against his chest. Of course, my strength was nothing compared to his, but it didn’t stop me from doing it to him again.

“What have you done?” I croaked out through the tears and anger. “What have you done?”

“Stop that!” he snarled, finding my shoving annoying.

“How could you do that?”

“I said stop!” he growled before he grabbed my wrist.

“Let me go! I hate you! Don’t touch me!” I yelled before he let out a dark growl and flipped us, so we ended up on the bed again with him on top of me. Strangely, as I felt his body press against mine, a sigh escaped my lips, and as he pushed himself against me, pressing what I knew was his semi-hard cock into me, I felt myself grow a little wet, which shocked me.

“I can touch, and I will,” he growled darkly, his eyes shining yellow. “Because do you feel that?”

I blinked fast, not truly understanding what was going on.

“We are mates, Willow,” he whispered, his face inches from mine as his tone grew dark and husky.

“W-What?”

“You’re probably still a little disoriented from the poison to notice, but your body knows. It knew last night, and you begged me to help you, so I did,” he breathed, his lips almost touching mine. I felt compelled to kiss him. My body was screaming for it, but I turned my head.

“N-No, it isn’t true,” I whispered as his lips descended on my neck instead, making me whimper and feel incredibly warm.

“But it is, and I simply claimed what was mine,” he stated, as if he hadn’t completely ruined my life the moment he did. However, my head was spinning, and I couldn’t figure out if I was angry or turned on. “Now you can let me fuck you one more time before hell comes raining down on us and we can forget for a moment how much in trouble we are, or we can get dressed and go meet the mob with raised heads. That’s up to you.”

He nibbed the skin on my neck and pressed himself against me, making me moan a little. I couldn’t stop it. Was he really speaking the truth? Were we mates? I felt so confused, and my wolf wasn’t responding to me. It seemed even she was still trying to recover, but I couldn’t deny Cain had the most powerful effect on me. I had never tried anything like it.

“What do you say, little mate?” he whispered. “I know what I am choosing.”

He bit the skin again before licking away the sting, but before I could choose, we heard footsteps again, and we knew time had run out. Cain pushed away from me just before a whole group of wolves stormed inside.

The king was barely dressed, and neither was his queen, as they were accompanied by fighters all pushing themselves into the room and making me feel even more humiliated. I only met the king’s gaze shortly before looking away, but it was enough to see what he thought of me.

“Cain. Office. NOW!” his father roared, and when I glanced up at Cain, he had one hand on one of the poles of the bed, looking as relaxed as ever, but I knew Cain, or at least his reputation. How many council members’ daughters had he not ruined? I knew he hadn’t taken them with force, but he had used his tricks on them, and they had ended up sleeping with him.

He was completely uncontrollable, and even now he seems to take no accountability. But of course, this was expected behavior from him, but what about me? What wouldn’t people think? Cain left my room without another word, and I buried my face in my hand and began crying, not sure what was going to happen now.

***

When I had finally pulled myself together and both Cain and I had gotten dressed, we ended up sitting in front of his father. Carter stood on the sidelines, and their mother stood behind their father. Carter was still wearing his clothes from yesterday and couldn’t even look at us, while his parents were dressed in their morning attire, not having gotten the chance to get ready yet.

Only Cain and I were wearing normal clothes. However, while I was trembling and the tears were threatening to spill, Cain looked eager to simply go again. He didn’t look afraid, just impatient. His leg was bouncing up and down, and I simply couldn’t understand how he could take this so nonchalantly. Did he not understand what he had cost me? What would now happen to him as well? How could he treat this as if we hadn’t created a whole scandal?

“I had truly hoped you had changed your ways, son,” the king began, his anger so clear that it filled the room and made it hard to breathe, but that was the power of an alpha.

“Yes, I know what you think of me, which is why you’re so quick to jump to conclusions,” Cain spat.

“Oh, how else should I interpret this morning? You in bed with your brother’s fiancé,” the king pointed out, gesturing to me, and I slid further down my seat, unable to look at anyone, but I felt their burning gaze.

“Why don’t you try to ask me first?” Cain snarled, and I was shocked at how coldly he could speak to his father, who was not a small alpha. But then again, Cain wasn’t either.

“Ask you?” his father asked incredulously.

“Yes, ask me.”

“What am I supposed to ask?” he questioned.

“Why I did what I did,” Cain suggested.

“I know why you did it,” his father snapped.

“No, you don’t. So ask,” Cain challenged.

His father said nothing, but then Carter jumped forward, his anger clear too.

“Fine, you want us to ask. Sure, brother, I will ask it then. How the fuck could you do this to me?” he asked, and I could see out of the corner of my eye the way Carter was wildly gesturing to himself while he looked ready to kill Cain. Cain simply turned his head slowly, looking at Carter as if he saw no problem with what he had done.

“Because Willow doesn’t belong to you,” Cain stated, making me shrink even more. My wolf had still not come out, affected by whatever had happened to me, and I feared what he was going to say next.

“Excuse me?” Carter asked in disbelief, not understanding a thing.

“Willow doesn’t belong to you. Last night I learned we were mates—true mates,” Cain revealed, and I felt the room shift right away. It turned so quiet, and I grabbed my shirt tightly, afraid of what was going to happen now. “I have changed, Dad, whether you believe me or not, but I am sure you can’t fault an alpha for claiming what belongs to him.”

More quietness, and I was too scared to look at the king to even figure out what he was thinking, but then he called out to me,“Willow…”

I pressed my eyes together before I slowly opened them and slid them higher, seeing the king watching me with such an angry look in his eyes.

“Yes, Your Majesty?” I whispered.

“Tell me the truth. Is what Cain saying correct? Are you true mates?” he asked.

I swallowed hard. I knew I couldn’t lie to an alpha, but as I glanced at Cain, while I felt an unexplainable force almost drawing me to him, my wolf was still quiet. How long was she going to keep this truth from me?

However, I was reminded of something. In my dream—or what I thought was my dream—the alpha had knotted me, which is only possible between true mates. It was the proof I needed right now, wasn’t it? Despite my heart still beating for Carter, I slowly turned to the king and nodded.

“I need words, Willow.”

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty. We are…” I whispered before looking down.

The king let out an exasperated sigh, clearly seeing how complicated this made things. However, none of us could ignore true mates went above everything, and Cain had already claimed me. There was no way out of this. I glanced at Carter, who stood completely frozen, looking at Cain, who was focused on their father now. It was clear the revelation shocked him to the core as well.

“By the Goddess,” the king groaned.

“She still slept with him before the ceremony!” the queen suddenly joined in.

“So?” Cain asked. “If we are true mates, how am I not supposed to touch her?”

I gasped a little as Cain stated this.

“I understand you, Cain, but Willow is different,” his mother replied.

“Fine, then let me rephrase. If we are true mates, how is she not supposed to give herself to me?” Cain asked, making my cheeks heat so much it hurt. “True mates move fast. Everyone knows that.”

“There are traditions to follow, and now that you're in the run for the throne, it’s different!” his mother exclaimed.

“He is what?”

“What?”

Carter and I both exclaimed our confusion from the queen’s revelation, but Cain just sighed, leaning his head back and shaking it.

“I’m not in the run for anything. I told Father yesterday I wasn’t interested,” Cain revealed.

“Yes, but now things truly are different,” the king said.

“How so?” Carter asked. “If he doesn’t want the crown, then why should he have it?”

“Cain has changed. This is a council decision, and while I can pass on Cain’s words, there are more to consider now,” the king pointed out.

“What?” Carter asked.

The king gestured to me, and I looked at the king, shocked.

“Me?”

“You’re not from some insignificant family. Is your father not the council’s head speaker?” he asked.

“H-He is…” I stammered.

“And now you bound yourself to Cain. Do you understand that, despite how it happened, Cain is now considered an even more desirable candidate?” the king asked.

“I don’t see how,” Cain joined in. “I just claimed what was mine.”

“Yes, and by doing so, you have also possibly impregnated her, meaning Willow could possibly be carrying the next heir after you, Cain, while Carter now stands without a mate or heir.” The king laid it all out in front of us, and the more he spoke, the more concerned both Cain, Carter, and I grew. Cain no longer carried that unconcerned vibe, and I saw him glance at me before turning to his father.

“Then we won’t tell the council.”

"It's a bit hard to hide what happened to your brother’s mate. I can’t really say she just disappeared!” the king exclaimed angrily.

“No, tell her the engagement was broken.”

“And for what reason? Huh? Besides, if you succeed in getting Willow pregnant, then in a few months we can’t exactly hide what is going on with her,” his father countered.

Shit, Cain could have succeeded last night. That was the advantage of being an alpha. He could trigger a possible pregnancy before my heat. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Where was my wolf when I needed her?

“If we leave now, no one has to know,” Cain suggested.

“Yes, because you would leave her somewhere in nowhere? Even if you took her with you, others would see the changes and the fact that she follows you everywhere. We can’t hide her. We can’t stop what is possibly happening inside her, and if you haven’t noticed, son, this is a castle filled with people. If it hasn’t gotten to the pack members yet, I can promise you the servants already know. Who do you think informed Carter of you two?” the king pointed out, making it very clear we weren’t just trapped. We were royally screwed.

Cain went deep into thought, clearly trying to find a way out of this, which confused me a lot. He stated so plainly that we were mates, he even suggested we continued what happened last night this morning, but now he seemed to want to almost run from me. Why was that?

"It seems like you’re getting mated tomorrow instead of your brother, and then you’re staying,” his father said.

“WHAT?” both Carter and Cain exclaimed, but the king was not focused on either of them. He was looking at me with a dark look, conveying how I was the one who had brought this upon them all.