Chapter 37 Unraveling

Chapter 37 Unraveling
Varek

It didn't work, and she knows.

I see it in the faint spark at the corner of her mouth, the recognition in her gaze. She realizes my compulsion doesn’t touch her, yet she plays along. From the outside, she looks affected. As placid as she keeps her expression, as well-timed as her stillness is, it’s not real, and she knows that I can tell she's faking it. Her eyes go distant, but I can feel her resisting the urge to laugh in my face. 

She thinks it's hilarious, and to her it must be. For me, I've never been more on edge in my life. My blood is ice with fear, even as my cock threatens to batter its way out of my pants. I'm trapped between the two feelings and holding still, pretending to be calm, and thinking of the wisest move next. I’ve watched countless warriors bend under my compulsion, seen men, and women alike crumple. Alphas older than me have folded like paper. Ronan shifts uncomfortably in my periphery, and the command wasn't even for him. Lucian holds himself too still, and Liora has lost some shades of color in her face. My own father could not resist my command, and this girl, this dainty little princess, doesn't even flinch. 

Fiona is stronger than I expected, and she is definitely an alpha; there’s no other explanation for her resistance, but the knowledge that she's that strong of an alpha twists my gut into knots. My wolf practically fucking purrs, as embarrassing as that is, and the dream makes fucking sense. 

How could I expect her to react with anything but disapproval and irritation when I can't compel her? She's not my equal. I would never call her that. Resistant or not, she's still just a breeder fit to make me a lot of money so long as I keep this under wraps.

Realistically, I should have her killed in some accident, tell the suitors she jumped, and erase the threat she is to my control over Caldara, but it’s a waste, and my wolf is staunchly against it. He seems almost amused, like he knew it wouldn’t work. He must have sensed her power, which is why I felt hesitant to use my compulsion on her.

"Go," I say. "Liora, stay behind."

Fiona tilts her head, and a faint smirk curves her lips. She says nothing, turns, and leaves. She doesn’t gloat, doesn’t speak. That would’ve been easier to handle. Instead, she simply turns and leaves. 

Liora remains behind. The door closes, but I barely hear it. 

“Shit,” Ronan mutters. "I didn't think… was that really necessary?"

I grind my teeth. “You think I want to deal with another scene like earlier?”

Ronan shifts again, rubbing the back of his neck, but says nothing else. Lucian’s gaze flicks between me and Liora, but he says nothing. I shift in my chair, hands curling into fists, trying to keep my irritation down. As I lift my gaze to Liora, I find an expression I've never seen on her face before. Her brow furrows in concentration. I can feel the bond pulling and fraying a little more. She tilts her head, and I realize that she's starting to feel how threadbare the bond is. 

Fiona, just by existing in my castle, is wreaking havoc on everything, widening the cracks I hadn't even had a chance to find yet. I'm starting to regret taking her. I stare at Liora, but she doesn't look up at me. It doesn't feel like she's actually aware that I'm staring at her. She's distracted. 

“What have you and Fiona been talking about?” My voice comes out lower than I intend.

She cocks her eyebrow and lifts her gaze to mine. "Are you going to compel me to answer?"

"It's tempting."

She tilts her head and stares back at me. "Why are you asking me? I was certain Ronan's already relayed my response."

Ronan clears his throat. My nails dig into the carved armrests of my chair.

“Everything that happens in this castle is my business. I'm asking you because I want to hear it from you.”

“Nothing,” she says, pleasantly.

"Liora, don't test me."

"I wouldn't bother," Liora says, scoffing. “I know you've already ordered the guards to report regularly about everything. She knows it. Everyone does, so let's not pretend you really want to hear what we were talking about. You already know. What is that you actually want to ask?"

Lucian’s mouth twitches, but he schools it into a blank mask when I glance at him. Ronan mutters something under his breath and turns it into a cough when I growl.

Liora’s eyes gleam, sharp with something dangerously close to amusement. “You don’t like it, do you? That she's a lot harder to crack than you thought. That she rattles you." She smiles like the sun breaking through the clouds. I haven't seen her genuinely happy in years, and it's unnerving. "I take back all my protests, alpha. You really are wise. She’s the best thing to happen to Caldara in a long time.”

The words hit harder than a blade. My jaw locks, but before I can speak, Lucian asks. 

"The way you speak makes it seem like her words about your loyalty might have some truth to them."

Her smile drops to something cold and furious as she glares at him. Her eyes flash with anger. 

“Why don't you worry about where your own loyalties lie, Commander Lucian? Unlike some, I am blood-bound here.”

The silence that follows is brittle but settles on my chest like a mountain. Her fists are clenched at her sides. There is no lie in her voice, but there is something that sounds a lot like resentment in her words. 

Once, Liora would have said more than that. She would have declared her loyalty as a citizen, too. She would have said something about her faith in me as an alpha and a king. She would have said she respected me. The absence of any further explanation tells me that the threads of loyalty that had once wrapped around our blood bond are all gone in her mind, even though a few of them still linger in her heart.

How much longer would it last? The fear that it's a lot less time than I think is a knife in my gut, sawing through my insides. She’s starting to resent me and the bond we have, the way her sister did. I can feel her anger now more than I had the day she had to watch her sister ride off into marriage. That had been the first crack in our relationship, and it seems that a few conversations with Fiona have started to pry them open. 

“You’re dismissed.”

She hesitates only long enough to make sure I notice it, then turns on her heel and strides out. The door shuts behind her. Ronan watches the door for a long moment, his expression shadowed, troubled. It’s not his usual lazy smirk. I can feel his wariness and suspicion through our bond. Ronan glances at me, then back to the door, and his expression hardens a little. His eyes linger where she stood, and he works his jaw.

"Are you going after her?"

"No." He waves his hand, trying to be unbothered and failing. "She'll cool off. I'll get it out of her."

His confidence falls short. I chuckle. "I told you once she would get tired of you."

He makes a noncommittal sound, and there is doubt in his eyes. I have to wonder if their relationship has done more harm than good for my purposes. I didn't interfere when Ronan seduced her years ago, knowing that she was just one of many. I encouraged it even, playing at loosening the leash I had on her to let her feel like she was running wild enough that she wouldn't try leaving. It was just another way to wear her anger down. If she was tangled up with Ronan, trying to get a rise out of me for her childish sense of revenge, then she couldn't contemplate leaving. 

I thought Ronan had her pretty much locked down and on the hook the way he has several others, inside and outside the court, but the look on his face tells me I overestimated him.

I glance at Lucian. His gaze is on the door, contemplative. 

"Odd for you not to say something, Lucian."

He glances at me. "I think you should have been a bit more explicit in the command, but I can understand wanting to wait until you have a solid offer."

Ronan scoffs. "That's why you're both single."

"I don't plan to order her to sleep with anyone," I say. "How her future owner manages his affair with her is his own business."

"Owner?" Ronan asks. "I thought you planned to marry her off?"

"Whatever suits the bill at this point," I say. "After earlier, she doesn't deserve my leniency."

Ronan grimaces. I can tell he wants to say something, but he doesn't. Lucian looks approving, and I swallow past the bile burning at the back of my mouth as I try to put together a plan to push the alphas gathering into a bidding war for her.