Rosalind’s POV
That was just one moment.
I wasn’t attracted to River.
At least I didn’t think that I was.
But after we had that moment, I couldn’t help but be aware of him.
Sparring with him had been abysmal as I kept flinching away from any contact and thinking way too much before even throwing a punch.
Returning to the palace was all I thought of until River held me transporting me back and I felt sparks all over.
It was a residual from doing magic.
That was why I was being so sensitive. That was definitely why my heart raced as he smiled at me bidding me farewell.
“See you.”
I waved, unable to speak.
Things didn’t get better as I returned to the Palace because before I could sleep very long, I was woken up by one of my attendants.
“Princess Rosalind?”
I turned unwilling to wake up just yet.
“Princess Rosalind?”
“What?” I grumbled into my pillow.
The attendant was silent, making me take a peek at her.
“What?!”
“Your ladies are waiting in the drawing room to attend to you.”
What ladies? My head spun and I couldn’t comprehend what she was saying. What the hell was a drawing room?
“Huh?”
“Your aunts-in-law are also in attendance. They asked me to fetch you.”
I had inlaws? What on earth was going on?
Last I knew, Killian and Cillian’s parents were dead and they had been raised by their aunts that oh. My aunts-in-law.
Fuck.
I sat upright and suddenly awake. They had raised my princes so technically, I had kept my mother-in-law waiting.
Perfect. Just perfect.
“Get clothes out for me and call in the dressers,” I said as I raced out of my bed.
Usually, I didn’t take advantage of my position as a royal like this. Mostly because I felt uncomfortable with people dressing me up and making elaborate hairstyles on my head that made me feel exceedingly stupid but these were unique circumstances.
Circumstances where I was meeting my inlaws for the first time. I had to leave a good impression. I didn’t know the appropriate clothes to wear or anything so I would take all the help I could get.
I took a quick shower and when I got out, my attendants were waiting.
They dressed me up in a black and gold dress that seemed too elegant for merely going to sit with some ladies in a drawing room but I let them do their thing.
My hair was styled and curled into perfection that seemed so effortless that I marveled at it.
“You are a sight for sore eyes.”
I looked away from the floor-length mirror to see Killian enter my room and the people who had been dressing me up filed out with a casual wave of his hand.
Killian’s hazel eyes darkened with heat as he looked at me. It would seem like he loved seeing me in his colors.
“Killian”
Before I could ask him why his aunts were here, his fingers were buried in my hair as he pulled me into a punishing kiss that had my core liquifying as I pressed up against him.
He ended the kiss but his hands stayed on me, his eyes on mine as he traced the edges of my lips with his thumb.
I could barely find my voice. “I thought I scared you off.”
Killian seemed confused. “Scared me off?”
My cheeks burned. The drool thing had come to my mind without much thought.
I met his eyes. “You left before I woke up. Did you dislike cuddling with me so much?”
Something hardened in Killian’s features. “You seem to have me confused for my brother, Rosalind.”
His words hurt me even though they shouldn’t have. This was Killian, the person whose soft side was more cutting than a new blade.
His fingers in my hair tightened slightly making my head fall back so that he could drop open-mouthed kisses on my neck.
“I don’t do soft, my dear princess.” His voice dripped with richness even as he bit my neck making a moan escape me because I loved it when he was rough with me as much as I did when Cillian was gentle with me.
“But you don’t want that do you?” Killian whispered into my ear. “You are whore who wants it hard, dirty, messy and however I will have you, yes?”
Unbidden, the image of me sucking on him the last time we were together came to me. How he had fucked my mouth as though to punish me for picking Cillian over him and my nipples pebbled under my dress.
Killian palmed my breasts through my dress making a soft gasp escape me.
I wanted him so badly already just with a kiss and a string of hurtful words. That alone showed how broken I was.
“Killian,” His name came out as a moan. “Your aunts”
Before I could finish, he had already let me go, his gaze serious while I planted trying to suck in some air. It was as though I had been the only one affected by our proximity.
Why did it seem as though he was trying to overcompensate for the softness that he had shown me that night?
Could that also be the reason he hadn’t come to see me sooner?
Killian looked at me expectantly.
“What about her?”
Rosalind, focus and stop staring at his lips for the sake of the Goddess.
“Any idea why she wants to see me?”
He looked immediately disturbed. “Aunt Lilly wants to see you?”
“Well, not just her,” I admitted. “Your other aunt and some ladies will be there as well.”
Killian looked deep in thought for a moment then he cupped my cheek and met my gaze evenly.
“You must not show her any weakness, Rosalind.”
Okay. That wasn’t cryptic or scary at all.
As I entered the drawing room, my makeup and hair touched up, I realized that I had forgotten to ask the most important thing.
What she looked like.
It would be safe to pay my greetings to both aunts but if I paid my greetings to the one who had raised Cillian first then Aunt Lilly would definitely take offense.
The women seated stood save for two and I was surprised to see Adeline among the ones standing.
Great. As though this evening wasn’t anxiety-inducing enough, I would have that bitch in here watching everything waiting for me to fuck up.
The two women seated had to be my in-laws and they looked older than me at most a decade, which was impressive even for wolves with our slowed aging process.
One looked like a carbon copy of Cillian and Killian with hazel eyes that seemed to stare me down and deem me unworthy before a word even left my lips, her long hair a dark brown with a few almost deliberate strands of gray entwined between them.
The other seemed bored with a shock of black hair that was cropped to her chin combined with her small stature making her appear even more childlike than her pixie-like features made her.
Both of them held that air of seriousness that royals seemed cloaked with and while I was placing my good on the first one being Aunty Lilly, I didn’t want to take my chances.
“Good day, Aunts.”
There, that could not be used against me.
The first one seemed amused. “Come let me look at you.”
Killian had said to not let her push me around but surely he didn’t mean to outrightly disrespect her?
I walked towards her and instead of her to stand and ‘look at me’, she remained seated, her eyes straight ahead.
What the hell? In front of her, a pillow lay on the ground.
Did she expect me to kneel to her?
Everyone watched on with placid expressions and I wasn’t sure if this was normal or if this was her toying with the omega who knew nothing about palace etiquette
“Come on, hop to it, I have other things to attend to.” The woman I was certain was Aunt Lilly said.
I looked from her to the pillow and I made my decision.
“It is nice meeting you, Aunt.”
I turned away from her and took a seat opposite them on the throne-like chair I had to assume was mine.
The entire room fell silent and frozen, the ladies still on their feet as though I had done something unheard of by refusing to kneel to her.
Aunt Lilly smiled but I got the distinct feeling that she would never forget this -what she no doubt perceived as an insult- then she made a gesture and the standing ladies sat.
“I wish I could say the feeling was mutual, love,” She looked down at me from her straight perfect nose. “But no matter the finery one dorns on a mutt, it’s still just a mutt with expensive clothes on.”
My cheeks burned at the thinly veiled insult and the barely concealed humor on the faces of the ladies present to attend to me.
None more than Adeline who smirked at me with that air of superiority that all but screamed that no matter what I did, I would never compare to nobility.
“Lilly,” Aunt Celia said dryly. “We are in the presence of non-royalty, do try to tone it down.”
Aunt Lilly’s gaze left me and fixed on Aunt Celia with so much hate that I was left astounded.
“There is only one royalty in this room, Celia and it isn’t you. When I speak, don’t you dare interrupt. Know your place.”
Well, that escalated quickly.
Aunt Celia didn’t look bothered as though this insult was not a new one to hear from Aunt Lilly.
“Unfortunately, having royal blood isn’t enough to call oneself royalty as evidenced by your lack of etiquette. Even someone like me knows that.”
This was getting way out of hand but I didn’t know how to handle this. It was my drawing room but I didn’t know what I was supposed to do to stop the argument but I seriously doubted it was to watch both of them get at each other.
I clapped my hands once drawing everyone’s attention trying to channel Estella who had to be one of the smallest people I knew who still commanded respect.
“Attendants please escort the ladies out, I would like to have a conversation with my aunts.”
I couldn’t tell who I had shocked more. The ladies or my aunts-in-law.
Adeline’s smile vanished replaced by a menancing glare that I couldn’t have given two fucks about.
I could see the reluctance on their Dave’s to follow the commands of an omega they felt unit to be their princess but with the attendants moving to stand behind them, there was no way to refuse me without showing outright disrespect that could be punishable.
They filed out leaving me alone with the aunties.
Maybe with the ladies gone, they would be more themselves and not be so vicious.
“You are unworthy to become Killian’s mate, the only thing women like you are suited for would be to warm his bed for a night or two.”
What?!