FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AGO
Andrew Fox ran into his best friend’s heavily pregnant mate the moment he stepped through the back door early in the morning. He was coming from a night-long guard duty and was headed upstairs, where he hoped to get a few hours of sleep.
But he had a feeling his plan was about to be obliterated when Penelope’s eyes widened with excitement and she cut short her trip to the kitchen and approached him. “There you are, just in time for breakfast!”
His protests that he needed to lay down more than he needed a meal fell on deaf ears as she hooked her arm through his and led him towards the hall.
“Your timing is perfect,” she spoke on as they went, “there’s someone I would like to introduce to you.”
They came to the entrance of the hall then, and Andrew knew instantly who she referred to. Occupying the long table in the hall were his best friend Darius at the head, and the female he had thought much about the previous night.
“You haven’t met my sister yet, have you?” Penelope went on as she led him into the room. “She arrived the day before yesterday and is going to stay with us for a few weeks.”
“Actually, we’ve met,” he said, his gaze on the aforementioned female. Her eyes rose to his, and he felt a thrill as panic flashed in the hazel depths.
“Oh, have you?” Penelope’s attention turned to her sister. “Rose, you did not mention it.”
Andrew watched as Rose looked from him to her sister but said nothing. He understood her speechlessness very well. The previous night, she had told him in not so many words that he was to act as though they had never met.
“Yes,” he replied to Penelope’s query, “just the other night.”
Those hazel eyes were back on him, sharper this time round. He had no intention of revealing the nature of their meeting, but he enjoyed watching her worry over whether he would do it or not.
“Well, then, that’s very good. Rose, Andrew is our Beta and currently staying with us while he deals with an intrusion issue on our northern border.”
“An intrusion?” Rose asked, her attention turning back to her sister.
Penelope waved her hand in dismissal. “A small bother, nothing to worry about. Have a seat, Andrew. Breakfast will be served in a minute and you can have your rest.”
Rose stiffened when he walked down the table towards her side and came to a stop on the chair beside hers.
She gave him a gainly smile, for the benefit of their hosts. Only he could see the silent daggers directed at him. It made him even more motivated to sit right beside her and see how far he could get under her skin.
Conversation during breakfast revolved around the pack’s security for the most part. If Rose had anything to say about it, she kept her opinion to herself.
But then again, what had he expected? She had been raised a princess. High-born females like her didn’t concern themselves with the nitty gritty of the survival of the race.
Not that he had anything against her and her sister. Penelope was lovely, and a great blessing to Darius.
But then again, she had proven to everyone that she was royalty cut from a different cloth. Not only had she mated outside her family’s approval, but to a traitor’s descendant.
Rose, on the other hand… As far as he could tell, she was just another high-born werewolf who thought she was better than others.
He knew better. Behind that refined, sophisticated appearance was a female with base desires as any of them.
She had stood outside the barn and watched him take another female for minutes. He had caught her scent across the room, even with everything else that was going on. She had enjoyed watching him. But what did she do when he brought it up? Act like she was far above such behaviour.
It made him itch to knock her off her pedestal.
He knew that while she watched, she had imagined herself in the place of the female he had been fucking. How hard could it be to make her confess her depraved thoughts? Corrupt her into acting on them?
He ended up staying longer than he had intended, but he excused himself before his hosts were done with their meal.
Leaving the hall, he made his way to the staircase and headed upstairs. He was about to open the door to his room when the sound of rapid footsteps came from the stairs, and then she appeared.
He halted and waited as she hurried up to him like an avenging angel on a mission.
“What is it, my lady?” He didn’t mean for his tone to be obviously mocking, but it came out that way anyway.
She didn’t seem bothered. “You promised you’d not say anything about how we met.”
He tilted his head to the side. “Did I?”
She had indirectly threatened him into silence. He had humoured her. He couldn’t remember making any promises. He also hadn’t really said anything too revealing about how they met. As he had expected, she was so concerned with her reputation.
“What do you want?”
“What?”
“So that you can stay quiet about it.”
He folded his arms over his chest and leaned his shoulder against the wall. “Trying to buy my silence, Princess?”
She only glared at him.
He arched an eyebrow. “Sure you can afford it?”
“How much?”
He pushed away from the wall and stepped towards her. He was impressed when she didn’t take a step back. “How much do you think will make me forget the feeling of being violated?”
“What?” she sputtered, taken aback by his choice of words. “I didn’t”
“You spied on a private moment between me and my lover. It would have been okay if it was by accident, but you took your sweet time taking it in.”
Her cool facade was fast disappearing under a fiery shade. “I…I didn’t. It was by mistake, and I left right after I realised what I’d walked upon.”
It was too late to claim she hadn’t meant to spy. That’s what she should have said the previous night. Instead, she had inadvertently confessed to her peeping by requiring his silence.
“Tell you what,” he said, “you can buy it with the truth.”
“What do you mean?”
He bent his head low, until he could see the green and golden flecks in her eyes. “Did you enjoy the show?”
Her eyes flared. “I said”
“If you did nothing wrong, why are you so worried that I’ll tattle?”
“I don’t want to create misunderstandings.”
“Do noble ladies get special classes in telling lies?”
“You…” she trailed off and sucked in a deep breath. “Do whatever you want.”
She breezed past him and disappeared into a room further down the hallway.
A smile bloomed on his face. Surely, she would be back to bargain when she thought about the repercussions of word spreading about her ignoble behaviour.