Chapter 74 - Uncomfortable silences.

Samantha

“Samantha.” His voice floated through the door as he softly knocked. “Samantha, please. I don’t understand what is going on. Why won’t you at least just … Talk to me.” He sighed deeply, and I was about to open the door when I stopped. I couldn’t give him anything. If I opened the door now. If I looked into his eyes, I wouldn’t be able to reject him.

I didn’t want to reject him. I couldn’t imagine what people would say about me if I rejected our king! No, I needed him to reject me. I ripped open the door and looked right into his beautiful eyes. No, no! I had to stay strong. I wasn’t entirely sure how I was going to do this, but I had to. There was no way his mom would be happy with me as the next queen. This was the best for all of us. The king couldn’t be mated to a traitor’s granddaughter!

“So, what happens next?” I sighed deeply. I clamped my hands tightly together in front of my body as if it was the only thing I had to defend myself against our king!

“That depends on you.” He looked worried, and he had reason to be worried. If his mother didn’t want me, our people sure as hell weren’t going to accept it. “We can take this as slow as you need. Why don’t we start from the beginning?” He seemed so kind. I was still trying to figure out how I would convince the king that I wasn’t the right mate for him. The moon goddess made a huge mistake!

“Hi, I’m Adam.” He held out his hand and I hesitated for a moment.

“Hi, I’m Samantha.” I sighed, and he smiled as I took his hand and shook it.

“I think we need to take our walks in the castle grounds for the time being.” He looked in the direction of the door and window. Dozens of faces were staring right back at us!

“Yes, please.” My heart started to race a little and I sounded slightly out of breath. He smiled and took my hand. He looked at me for a moment before we left my parents' house. Everyone was there. Literally every single wolf was crowding around us, but his personal guard kept them at bay as we made our way to the castle gates.

Once we were through, the gates were closed and the crowd was left behind. I looked behind us and looked right into the disproving eyes of his mother. Our king was still holding onto my hand. We weren’t alone. I guessed we would never be completely alone. Unless … Nope! I wasn’t going to go there. I couldn’t allow myself to imagine us being intimate! The bond was doing it to me! The bond was making me wish for things I knew in my heart couldn’t happen.

“So, I know you still live with your parents. Do you have a job? What do you like to do in your spare time?” They were all normal questions. Under normal circumstances, they would probably even have made sense. I guess I was just being overly sensitive.

“I … I don’t have a job. People don’t really like appointing nobles. They prefer to give the jobs to people they believe need them. So, I have picked up the slack in our home after …” I hesitated, knowing the queen would probably hear me! “Afterward, we had to let some of our staff go.” I sighed deeply. I didn’t want to get into this yet, but it seemed the king wasn’t going to let it go.

“Why did you have to let your staff go?” He didn’t look happy. I was already in deep and drowning, so I could just as well dive deeper.

“My grandfather was one of the nobles who didn’t want the old king to be executed.” I waited to see if he said anything or if the queen would stop me. “Anyway, my family was punished for his sins.” I kept looking straight ahead. I couldn’t look at Adam and I sure as hell couldn’t look at Queen Arora. An awkward silence fell between us for a moment.

“I will send warriors to come and get you every day so that you and I can spend some time together. I wish I could do it myself, but you’ve seen the chaos that would ensue if I was the one who came to get you.” He looked apologetic and I hesitated. This was really uncomfortable.

“Thank you, your majesty.” I didn’t know what to say. This was all really uncomfortable.

Adam

I knew very well that my mother had gone a little overboard after my grandfather died. I just didn’t think she would let some of our people suffer! I had many … Many questions. They were all for my mother! I didn’t want to let go of Samantha, but it was clear that she needed time. She needed space to process everything.

“Would you like to go home?” I didn’t want her to go, but I had to speak to my parents. When Samantha nodded, I called a couple of my guards to escort her back home and to make sure that she stayed safe. I wasn’t sure if Samantha and her family had security and while things weren’t finalized between us, I wanted her to be protected. I would have preferred to have her right by my side, but from her body language, I could tell that she needed the space. I watched as the guards walked her through the gates, then I turned my attention on my mother.

“We need to talk!” I growled. It was scary to think that my mother cared so damn little! I understood what my grandfather did was wrong. He basically declared war on his own people, but she couldn’t punish generations for one person’s indiscretion! I stormed into the castle and poured myself a drink as soon as I walked into the library. I was furious! My mother was the reason why my mate was so damn skiddish!