Reign of Blood

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Alright Annaliese." Chronos laid her down at nightfall—still naked—his eyes on her alone. "Here's how it's going to be. I'm going to speak and you're going to listen. There will be no argument. For once in your life, you're going to take the instructions and follow them."

Her nerve had come back to her on their walk. He doubted things were going to be easy.

"That's not how things work, werewolf. You see, I'm the Queen, thereby—"

"I don't give a flying fuck if you're a Queen or a servant. I don't care. In saving your damned life, we made a deal. Or have you forgotten that already?"

Indignantly, she lifted her chin.

How could she?

When she'd been shivering in fear, he'd put his conditions out there. People in their world didn't break their word. Once a word was broken, no one would ever trust you. If you didn't have your word, you had nothing. No one would buy a thing you said. Not without a reason to trust. In fact, she was sure his brother Lorcan had figured that out the hard way.

Tonight, her will was in Chronos' hands.

A little, lusty part of her liked the sound of that.

The rest of her was infuriated.

"I haven't forgotten."

"I'll remind you of it anyway. When your power abandoned you and you stood there uselessly waiting for death, as your mate, as your man, I stepped up to save your pretty hind from my own brother."

"I don't have a m-"

"You do now."

His tone had her swallowing.

"Alright."

"But I didn't stop there, because like usual, you decided not to listen to me. You made me step up."

"Werewolf, your judgement on this matter is entirely unnecessary."

"Silence, Annaliese. Your saviour is talking. I told you to let me out. That way, I could protect you better. You decided not to listen."

"We've established this already."

"I told you to leave. Instead, you decided to goad my brother."

"You're painting me as the bad guy," She scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. He smirked when he saw how dutifully she kept her eyes on his. Because if they strayed... He knew she'd like what she saw. That wasn't the kind of weakness she needed to give herself right now. "As per usual, you forget that I'm only acting this way because of the crimes of your species. This time, specifically your brother. He stole Evette and has singlehandedly murdered more of my kind than any other enemy."

"I haven't forgotten anything Annaliese. But you're not acting like a Queen. You're acting like a petulant child. If I'm going to have to slap your hand when you reach for the cookie jar, then that's exactly what I'll do."

He searched her eyes from experience since he knew he'd find nothing in her face. Her eyes said she was getting riled up.

"How dare you," She snapped, rising from where he'd placed her on the bed. Angrily, she paced over to him. "I get it, Chronos. You helped me out of a tight spot. Thank you. I appreciate it. But I didn't ask you to. And you had no right to cancel my meetings. You're overstepping, so I will put you back in the kennel."

No, she wouldn't.

Annaliese wanted him here, whether she said that aloud or not. He could see it in those eyes of hers. She wouldn't sleep tonight without him here. She needed him to feel safe.