ARTEMISIA
Even if I would like nothing more than to go to bed, I force down my dinner and act as if nothing were as I stroll through the garden of the palace with Cayden.
They need to see us together as much as possible, so I let the stress scroll off my stiff shoulders, and try to enjoy the time with my mate.
I don’t know how long I will be able to do that, anyhow.
Taking a deep breath, I get Cayden’s worried expression back on me.
“Are you feeling alright?”
“Oh, yes,” I say with a smile. “The dinner was delicious, was it?”
He chuckles, as he walks into me, wrapping his arm around my waist while he lets his other hand glide onto my arm to link his fingers with mine. “Oh, yes. It was.”
Leaning in, he kisses me slowly and is just about to deepen the kiss when we get interrupted by someone clearing her throat.
My blood boils as my eyes fall on Rachel, but my angry senses get distracted by the fact that suddenly, I can’t feel Cayden’s emotions anymore, making a knot form in my stomach.
What the hell?!
“Can we help you?” he asks, obviously annoyed.
But who would know?
“I just wanted to wish you good luck for tomorrow,” she says in a fake honeyed voice. “I heard you will need every bit you can get.”
Cayden doesn’t even get to growl as she grins at us and turns around to walk away.
‘That nasty bitch!’ Cassy growls, not managing to get my glare off Rachel’s back.
“What the hell was that?” Cayden grumbles, and I turn to him, gulping painfully.
He meets my gaze, and as I don’t have my walls up, he notices right away that something is troubling me. “What’s wrong?”
“Why did you lock me out?” I ask calmly, studying his face as he starts laughing strangely.
“What? I didn’t!”
I keep my eyes set on him, my sight changing into a look in the void as his traits start blurring.
“Did you go to her the night you disappeared?” I ask further, wanting to step away from him, but he tightens his grip around me, pulling me back close.
“You have to be insane to even think of asking me something like this! What did she tell you?”
“Yes or no, Cayden!”
“No!” he growls, inching closer. “Why should I even go looking for her if I have you waiting for me?”
I shake my head, not tearing my eyes from him as he keeps me captured with his gaze. “Why did you lock me out?”
“What?”
“The wall you built up as soon as you noticed her,” I explain, making him look at me confused.
“It’s because I didn’t want you to feel my troubled emotions. It’s not good for the baby,” he answers, making me gasp.
Lifting a finger into his face, I growl at him. “Don’t you fucking dare!”
“What?”
“You will lower the wall right away!” I say, punching his arm with my fist.
He groans, lowering the wall in his mind and I have to take a deep breath as his emotions hit me full force.
“Are you alright?” he asks me concerned, making me nod.
“Yes,” I answer, getting onto my tippy toes to hug him.
I feel all the emotions his ex triggered in him, which is the fear of me being hurt by her presence, his resentment about having wasted such much time with her when I was already waiting for him in a neighbour pack, his worry about our pups getting harmed by the effect she could have on me.
There is not one sign of hate in him as his thoughts are flooded only with me and our pups.
“I can’t wait to go home,” I whisper as I hug him tighter, and he sighs, wrapping his arms around me.
“Me too, my Love.”
***
“Are you ready to hear your verdict, Luna Blackwood?”
The judge takes another paper sheet from the even more massive piles, looking at me with a serious expression.
“Yes, Your Honor,” I say, and he nods, passing the sheet to the judge sitting on his left.
“But before, I want to ask Alpha Giorgio if he has made up his mind about what he told the court last time. Is there anything you want to rectify?” The judge asks, and Girogio shifts on his feet.
“Yes, we found out who was responsible for the kidnapping and death of Emma and Miranda Silvester. It was a poor soul with many mental problems. We are ready to give him over to the Blood Fang Pack for his trial and we are also ready to pay a compensation for personal suffering to the pack and the members of the Silvester family.”
The judge crosses his hands on his bench, sighing. “Finally, Alpha Giorgio. I wonder why that took you so long.”
“I’m sorry, Your Honour, we still had the hope that he was just in a delirium and it wasn’t true that he actually did it,” he tries to explain but before my guts can tell me that he is lying, Drake’s voice already thunders through my mind.
‘Liar, liar, pants on fire,’ he chuckles and I turn around to look at Cayden.
‘A scapegoat!’ I say through our mind-link and he nods.
I turn back around just in time to see the judge on the left stand up.
“Please stand,” the judge on the left says with a nasal voice, and everybody around us gets up, joining my brother and me, who are fidgeting in the stands.
Clearing his voice and starts reading while my heart starts to beat faster, risking suffocating me.
“Luna Artemisia, after careful consideration of the claims brought forward by your family and the counterarguments brought up by your mates, this court has come to the conclusion that your stay on Blood Fang territory is harmful to you and your pups and that you have been manipulated into accepting a mate bond which goes beyond the already many mates you have.”
Warriors move fast to help Hendrick who struggles to hold back my mates while my senses shut down, causing a constant ringing to take over.
“You will be staying on Royal grounds to await the delivery of your pups before your mark will be removed by one of our elders.” the judge continues, while my stomach turns, making me feel like I’m blacking out.
No!
“The future of our pups will be discussed in another sitting. Please abstain from making any unnecessary scenes.”
A strange feeling rises up from my legs, rippling through my body as Cayden’s heartbreak is nearly too much to bear.
I feel my breath hitching in my lungs, a searing lilac light flashing in front of my eyes before everything turns black.