Chapter 19: +Chapter 19+

Mari could feel nothing but dread at the thought of being a witch. She didn’t understand… she was supposed to be a werewolf, she had always been a werewolf. *You didn’t just turn into a witch on your twenty-first birthday… or did you?*

*She didn’t know.*

She knew absolutely nothing about witches but that didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t had a single clue that she had been a witch until a few hours ago, she was an enemy of the entire West Continent and it was legal for her to be killed.

Mari focused on the ceiling noticing immediately that it wasn’t the high ceilings of her prison/room with extravagant chandeliers hanging down but instead, it was a low dark ceiling. She should probably be scared but at this point, she was just happy to be alive.

At this point, Kade rose from his seat, worry creasing his brow when all Marion did after rousing was stare blankly at the ceiling. His movement caught her attention, making him freeze in place when she settled her hazel eyes on him.

Maybe Kade was seeing things but Marion’s eyes seemed to have caught aflame, her eyes were always fascinating but now the hazel of her eyes was more a melted gold that still held all of its heat, it was like a veil had been taken off her eyes.

“Good morning, Your Highness,” Mari said with a straight face, looking up at the North King.

Her greeting caught him off guard more than anything else she could have said. Hell, she could have straight-up screamed at him and he would have taken it in stride. He just didn’t expect her to be so composed after the events of last night but perhaps he could work with this.

Kade strode forward, the witch sitting up at the same time and he found that his steps faltered just the tiniest bit when the sheets fell off her body to reveal that she was in his clothes.

“Good morning, how do you feel?” He tried to ask politely to ease her further but it just came off clinical.

“Are you going to kill me now?” She said instead, her blazing hazel eyes never leaving his face.

Kade had a feeling that he was going to be losing some skin if he answered wrongly, “No.” He said quietly, taking another step forward.

Mari didn’t know what came over her to ask that question - was she trying to offend the King on purpose? *‘Eager to die much?’*

She leaned back when he stepped into her personal space; it didn’t help that she was sitting on the bed and he was standing above her because he looked huge in comparison to her, it made her gulp. Her bravado shattered when King Kade leaned forward and she scrambled backward with a small squeal.

Kade reached out and cupped her jaw in a hand, his tan skin almost dark against her pale one. He couldn’t be gentle because it wasn’t in his nature but something about the way those hazel eyes looked up at him made him want to try.

That was out of the question however, he was dealing with a witch. She might be half werewolf but she was still dangerous and if he showed any weakness to a species powerful enough to create and control fire, he would just be putting his people in jeopardy.

Mari winced at how tight King Kade’s grip on her face was, she didn’t dare to move, scared that he would crush her jaw if she so much as breathed wrong. His hand was so big and although his grip was already painful, she knew that he was still very much holding back.

“Your survival is in your hands, Marion…”

Mari blinked dumbly up at him, that was the first time he had said her name. Well, most of the time, he didn’t even deign to address her, however, she wasn’t expecting to be instantly addicted to the way his raspy voice called her name. *‘She must have a death wish or something’*

“…you just have to do as I say and you’ll live.”

Mari managed to refocus her attention in time to make out what King Kade was saying, her pulse spiking in fear at his words because she knew he meant it. She managed to force herself to nod, her movement restricted due to his harsh grip.

Kade had to force himself not to caress the soft cool skin underneath the pads of his fingers, it was harder than it should be. “I don’t need to mention that if you try to escape, it’ll bring instant death.” He said tightly, “I’m not as forgiving as Lucien.”

That was a load of bull and Kade knew it, when it came down to cruelty, Lucien definitely had him beat. While he would shoot the witch in the head if it were up to him to kill her, Lucien would drag the torture out and make her beg for death but Marion didn’t know that.

Mari nodded again, her hands clenched into fists on her lap. She sucked in a deep breath when King Kade let her go and stepped away, like he being in her personal space was enough to suck out all of the oxygen from her lungs.

“You’ll eat breakfast with me and then I’ll inform you of what you’ll be doing.” He said absently, going back to being distant like he couldn’t stand to be in the presence of a witch too long.

Mari watched King Kade leave, a strange emotion settling over her. It felt like she was split in two, like the werewolf half of her was disgusted at her witch half. If she were a full werewolf King Kade would have treated her like she was a rabid animal with some contagious disease.

She sighed heavily after staring at her closed door for several minutes too long. She threw the sheets off completely and glanced down at herself in confusion, she was wearing the oddest combination of clothes.

Also, where was this room? Had they moved her to a different room where it would be completely impossible to escape? Where was King Lucien? He was usually the one addressing her, his absence gave her a bit of whiplash.

The room was done in shades of soft grey, it was soothing in a sad way, a sharp contrast from her previous all-pink room.