Chapter 21

Chapter 21
Natalie 

Cautiously I nudged the door open just enough to slip through, keeping my eyes downcast. "Your honey cakes, Alpha. The cook sends her compliments and hopes they please you."

Leo lounged on a plush chaise before the fire, one leg draped casually over the side. He was bare chested, giving me an unfortunate view of his finely sculpted muscles beneath smooth tanned skin. 

A few shapely female servants attended him, stoking the blaze and pouring wine. Clearly I had interrupted intimate plans.

Leo waved the servants off with a command to wait in his bedchamber, leaving us alone. 

What's going on? Why did he send them off?

My heart beat restlessly, as my unease deepened as he rose with fluid grace and approached. I dug my nails into my palms, willing myself statue-still.

"Well now, this is a pleasant surprise." Leo's voice held warm amusement as he plucked a sticky cake and popped it into his mouth. "Delicious. But not half as sweet as the lovely server - Natalia, isn't it?" 

Of course he remembered my name. I risked a brief nod, clenching the tray until my knuckles whitened. "Yes, Alpha."

"What a coincidence to find you attending me again so soon. Clear evidence we are fated to...get to know each other." He grinned playfully and selected another cake, holding it up to my lips. "Here. You must sample one."

I recoiled instinctively. The thought of taking sensual offerings from his fingers threatened to choke me with panicked bile. But refusing an Alpha's direct wish was equally dangerous.

At my hesitation, Leo's eyes narrowed, a hint of steel entering his voice. "Come now, just a small taste. Don't be shy." He tapped the sticky cake insistently against my clenched lips. 

Heart pounding, I reluctantly parted my lips and accepted the morsel onto my tongue. The sweetness turned to ash in my mouth, but I forced myself to swallow instead of spit it back in his smug face as I desperately craved.

Leo watched my throat convulse as the cake went down, golden eyes gleaming. "There, that wasn't so difficult. Now, was that truly worth all the fuss?" Without waiting for a reply, he plucked a fresh honey cake.

"Your turn to feed me. Only fair, since I shared it with you." He leaned casually against the mantle, expectant gaze fixed on me. "Go on."

Every molecule of my being recoiled at the command even as my legs moved automatically forward. With tremendous effort, I kept my hands from shaking as I raised the cake to Leo's parted lips. His eyes never left mine, probing, assessing. My skin crawled hotly wherever his breath grazed.

At the first brush of his mouth against my fingers, I jerked back reflexively. But not before his tongue flicked out to deliberately caress my knuckles in a lewd parody of a kiss. Revulsion scorched through me.

Leo observed me keenly, head cocked. "You don't care for this game? Pity. Most girls would consider it an honor to be hand-fed by royalty." He sighed in exaggerated disappointment. "But it doesn't matter. I won't force the issue."

I nearly slumped in relief as he waved dismissive permission for me to go. Balance wavering, I managed a clumsy bow before turning to flee these opulent chambers with their smothering air of menace.

Leo's amused voice trailed after me. "Until next time, fair Natalia."

I did not trust myself to make any reply. Safely back in the bustling kitchens once more, I scrubbed my hand with lye soap until the skin stung and peeled, desperate to be rid of any lingering trace of Leo's forced intimacy. 

But the memories could not be banished so easily. His invasion had left me unsettled to my very core, palms sweating with distress whenever I recalled those full lips grazing my skin. It was a visceral unease I could neither explain nor combat.

That night I lay long awake staring into darkness, Leo's golden eyes dancing mockingly in my mind no matter how I tried to banish them. His apparent geniality hid something darker, utterly self-serving. I did not understand this wolf at all, and that lack of comprehension left me vulnerable.

Beside me Mary slept the untroubled sleep of the righteous. I envied her solace. When finally I slipped into restless dreams, they held only shapeless shadows that melted and morphed into cruel smiles and grasping hands.

Over the following days, fear of another summons kept me jumping at every unexpected sound or barked order from the guards. But Leo did not reappear, likely distracted by some new amusement. My shoulders slowly unclenched. 

Soon enough life settled back into its predictable miserable rhythms and I allowed myself to hope I had seen the last of the disturbing second Prince. Surely other passions held his interest; I was merely a passing novelty soon forgotten.

But such optimism proved short-lived. Scarcely a fortnight passed before the cook was shouting herself hoarse again over a grand banquet to be held that evening.

My stomach knotted with dread even before she added darkly that Alpha Leo had made a particular request for me alone to attend and serve him throughout the long meal. There would be no escape this time.

My feet felt encased in lead that evening as I followed the guard to the Great Hall where raucous voices and clinking plates resonated.

Lingering outside the doors, I rubbed my sweat-slick palms surreptitiously on my tunic, heart pounding against my ribs like a frantic bird's. I could face pain and deprivation impassively, but this acute discomfort in my own skin unmanned me entirely. 

Drawing a deep breath, I schooled my features into neutrality and stepped quickly inside before fear could paralyze me entirely. Dozens of long, crowded trestle tables spanned the cavernous room, loud with drunken conversation and laughter. 

Somehow my gaze unerringly found Leo's golden one among the sea of faces. He lifted a beckoning hand, hungry eyes brightening. Reluctantly I went to him, a marked lamb to the slaughter.

"Natalia! Just in time, I'm famished," Leo exclaimed cheerfully, as though my presence at his side nightly were the most natural thing imaginable. He shifted minutely closer on the bench, blatantly inhaling my scent. "You smell divine, darling. New perfume?"

"No, Alpha is just a change of clothes." I kept my reply brief, eyes fixed straight ahead like a soldier on review. Anything to avoid the intensity of his gaze boring into my side profile.

Leo chuckled. "No need to be shy. We're going to be intimate friends now." To my dismay he grasped my wrist loosely in one large hand, drawing me down to sit beside him on the bench. I froze, pulse racing. 

His inner circle of guards and advisors eyed this break in decorum curiously but made no comment.

Seemingly oblivious to my distress, Leo reached across me to snag a leg of mutton, deliberately brushing my breast with his muscular forearm. My nostrils flared at the mortifying contact, but I dared not pull away or shove him off as I itched to. I could only endure, muscles rigid as stone.

Leo carved slices of the tender meat with his dagger, spearing one on the tip and bringing it teasingly to my lips. "Open up, my pet. You need some meat on those bones." Eyes glinting, he pushed the morsel into my tightly clenched mouth and across my tongue before I could jerk back. "Good girl. No need to waste a bite."

So it went as the banquet progressed. Leo hand fed me choice bits and made me drink heady wine, murmuring teasing praise all the while as though I were some prized hound performing clever tricks for his amusement. Each bite I was forced to accept made fury and shame burn hotter in my chest.

But even worse was the humiliation of his casual touches - fingers trailing my nape, grasping my thigh, tucking stray locks of hair behind my ear. 

Everything seemed designed to maximize my acute discomfort at his nearness. And through it all his penetrating gaze never left my face, avidly monitoring my reactions. My chest squeezed tight as a maiden in a corset.

What's this type of torture?

The copious wine I had been plied with brought a brittle buzzing tension to my limbs. I wanted to crawl out of my very skin, to scream and claw bloody furrows down this smug wolf's face. Anything to make him cease touching me so intimately. I had never felt so powerless.

Only years of conditioning enabled me to remain outwardly passive under his assault. But inside I seethed, fury burning in my chest like a gut full of acid. If this went on I would surely lose my tenuous grip on calm despite the risk.

When his exploratory fingers slid up my inner thigh for the hundredth time that night, something at last snapped in me. With a low snarl I seized the carafe of wine and upended the contents deliberately in his lap.

For a heartbeat the air froze. Leo's packmates gaped in shocked silence as crimson wine dripped from his fine trousers and cloak. Then a chorus of outraged shouts went up.

Leo held up a hand, expression unreadable as he slowly stood, wine pooling at his feet. The din quieted. For a long breathless moment we simply stared at each other.

Shit now I'm domed!