Chapter 86
Gradel
Iris pulled her hand slightly from my body and for some unknown reason, my heart skipped a beat in fear. She stared at me with those soulful orbs. Brown to blue, and then she stood up.
"You're quite a confident young man, Elda. What makes you think I'm going to accept you so quickly? Who knows, you might kill me too?" She insinuated.
"I can't kill the woman I love and it doesn't matter if you are his mate. You're the only woman I want to be with and mind you, if you don't come with me, Gradel will still die, painfully, of course, and you'll still end up with me," He smirked, leering at me.
He was playing a game and I wished that Iris would understand that, but seeing how her feet were already darting toward him, I could only hope that she wouldn't fall for his fake promises.
"He can't die, Elda. He's got the Alpha blood running through his veins," She defended me.
Elda nodded, the stupid confident smirk still plastered on his face while I tried to suppress the wince that almost escaped my throat. The pain from the burning sensation was increasing by the minute and I realized that my wolf was also getting weak.
Was this what my father and Dalian had to face?
I was probably still alive because of my genes but I had to get treated if I was to survive this. And quickly too.
"He can die, Iris, as long as he's not immortal and the reason why he isn't unconscious yet is because I injected a little potion of the poison into him. Every day for the next thirty days, he'll get a jab of the poisonous syringe unless he bows to me,"
She rubbed her chin, squinting her eyes. "I see. I'll be your Luna then. Like you said, I can't be with a man who's about to die in thirty days, after all, his people tried to kill me and you were the one who defended me. You saved my life when the man whom I was entrusted into his care cast me aside. I owe you that much," She spoke with a lackadaisical tone, flipping her long brown hair to the side.
My heart plummeted and it felt like a band was playing inside my head. What did I just hear?
I tried to stand up by my feet couldn't support my actions so I crawled toward her. "W-What... What are you doing, Iris?" I grunted.
She shrugged and wrapped her arms around Elda. "Shifting grounds... That's what we all do to survive, right?" She giggled.
I shook my head vehemently to keep the growing dizziness away. "But we are mates and we are supposed to be together. Why are you leaving me now that I need you the most?"
A bitter scoff left her lips and folded her arms.
"Well, I don't need to remind you of what you did. You left me first, I'm just returning the favor,"
Her harsh words were worse than the poison circulating inside of me and I never believed that she could betray me after everything we had been through. I thought we had found love, but a traitor is always a traitor.
Elda crouched before me, pinching my chin painfully but I gave off no reaction. My silence and rebellious attitude were already grating on his nerves and there was nothing I enjoyed more than seeing him lose his cool.
"You can still save yourself and bow to me before the thirty-day grace elapses," He forced through gritted teeth.
"Never," I reiterated. "You'd have to kill me first, besides, I have nothing to lose,"
He pushed my chin roughly and pulled Iris to himself, planting a kiss on her forehead. I watched them, my heart shattering further as she let him trail his fingers on her body.
She squirmed and let out a giggle. "Are we going to do this here?" She mused.
"Let's head to my room, shall we?" He replied and scooped her into his arms. Then he spared me a glance. "You'll be taken to the cell where the servants will feed you once a day. Only one visitor is allowed in a day, that's the least I can do for you, Prince Gradel..." He sneered and chuckled, leaving the sitting room.
Not long after he left, two of his men grabbed my arms and dragged me toward the cell, my body sliding along the rough floor.
It was shameful, but I kept my head high even when my eyes were fighting a battle between staying awake and giving in to sleep.
And as we neared the cell, I understood how it felt to be disgraced and put in a cell all because of the sin of my father.
*******
IRIS
"You smell of honey and lavender," Elda gushed, his lips all over my body after dropping me roughly on the bed.
Gradel would never do that, I thought.
His swiftness in preparing a different room and moving his things into it amused me, but then, he had been planning this for a long time.
I sunk my teeth into my lower lip and shut my eyes tightly while trying so hard not to push him away. My body cringed at his touch and I just wanted to disappear into a hole so he wouldn't see me, but that wouldn't suffice and my plans would be scuttled before they even turned into reality.
"Thank you..." I forced a moan and rolled my eyes.
He worked on the buttons of my shirt and instinctively, my hands clutched my breasts. He arched his brows with a quizzical look and quickly I ran my fingers through his hair.
"Oh, Elda, haven't you heard that the patient dog eats the fattest bone?" I drawled.
"Yes and what does that have to do with what we are doing?" He sounded frustrated and that couldn't happen.
We had to be on good terms all the time but I hoped that I wouldn't have to sacrifice my body to do that.
"There's something called delayed gratification, honey. You shouldn't be in a hurry to take what's yours. I belong to you so why hurry?" I wiggled my brows to buttress my point.
"You're right," He agreed and a knock sounded on the door.
"What is it?" He answered in a bored tone.
"The people you asked to gather at the courtroom are waiting." The man announced and Elda stood up immediately.
"I guess I have to leave now, but I'll see you later in the night. Have a nice day, my love," He blew me a kiss and let himself out through the door.
My body shuddered involuntarily as I held onto one of the pillows. I didn't think it through when I agreed to be his Luna, but at that point, I had to do anything to save Gradel.
But seeing what happened now, I shouldn't have denied him like that. Without being told, I knew that I was watched and any wrong move would make Elda suspect me.
What should I do?