His Selected Mate

Chapter 44

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for your patience and now, without further ado, this week's chapter.

Enjoy!

---- ---- ----

It had been a few hours since I found Maxon in the king's office. He'd been asleep for most of that time.

About an hour into his rest, I had to pry myself from his side to go find my maids. I didn't want them to worry about me and wonder where I was. When I found them, I asked them to bring me some water and deliver my meals to me since I wasn't going to leave Maxon's side. They didn't question me. I could see that they understood or at least suspected what was going on. Part of me wanted to get Marlee to see if she could help with healing his wounds but I had a feeling that Maxon wanted to keep this private.

He didn't even tell me I said to myself. Was he ever going to say something to me? I imagine once you two were married he would have said something. But why wait that long? He could have told me. At any time, he could have shared this with me. America it's not about you-

I know it's not Tempest. What I'm trying to get at is that he's my mate and I'm his. He could have shared this burden with me. I let out a sigh. That aside, however, the king... Tempest let out a growl when I mentioned him. I know, I know. I just can't believe that those uncomfortable feelings about the king were because he... hurt Maxon.

I looked over at Maxon on the bed. How long do you think this has been happening to him? It's hard to say. Some of those scars look old. I hated the thought of that. Maxon was only nineteen. For those to look old, he must have been thirteen or fourteen. Who would do this to a child? Who could have willingly looked at their child and been okay with that?

Those same thoughts have been running through my mind all day. I needed to think about something else. It was doing me no good to let my mind run around in circles.

Maxon shifted and let out a groan. I stood up from the chair I had been sitting in and walked to his side. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around. Our eyes locked and something passed through his eyes; he looked away.

"Could I have some water?" he whispered. I immediately went to his nightstand to pour a glass of water from the pitcher my maids had left. I walked back to his side and kneeled down. Gently, I tilted his head up so he could drink easily. He finished the glass so I put his head back on the pillow. I sat the glass on his nightstand and turned back to him.

Neither of us knew what to say to the other. I wanted to ask every question under the sun but I knew he wouldn't answer them. This was something incredibly personal and clearly, he wasn't eager to talk about it. A whimper slipped from my throat. "Please say something Maxon."

He looked up at me then. He let out a sigh. "I don't know what to say. I knew I'd have to come up with something to say to my future wife but there's no point in that now. You know the truth. I'm sorry you had to see that America." I shook my head.

"That doesn't matter to me Maxon. My biggest concern was that I wasn't going to be able to stop the bleeding in time. Goddess, there was so much blood and I was scared I wasn't going to be able to bandage your back in time." I felt tears slip down my face. Maxon tried to reach his hand up to wipe them away. I saw him flinch so I quickly and gently pushed his arm back down to his side. I wiped away the tears. "I'm okay," I said. But the more I thought about everything that had happened... "Why does he do that Maxon? How can he hurt you like that?"

He looked away from me. I reached over and turned his head so he would look at me. "You don't get to look away. I just had to go through the biggest scare of my life and I want some answers." He let out a sigh. "I don't know why he does it. I think it's to put me in my place under the guise that he's trying to teach me a lesson."