EMPIRE

9: Deceptions

"I have to go somewhere."

I even stuttered when I uttered the most unintelligible, unoriginal line on the planet. Worse, I'd said it to my Mate.

"I... I have to go s-somewhere."

A groan escapes my lips involuntarily as I slap my hand against my forehead, he probably thinks that I've got about as much brain power as a rotten potato. My eyes clinch shut as I replay the mortifying scene over and over in my head against my better judgement. My cheeks burn red as I stumble through the woods as quick as I can. Maybe if I reach the spot by the river bed, my spot by the river bed, I can calm down enough to draw out a reasonable solution for this.

Yes, that would be nice. Some good, reasonable logic to solve this damned puzzle. Maybe I can find a way to shut off this Mate bond link, my emotions keep being drawn forward and I suspect it's due to my Mate. He may not be doing it voluntarily but he's destroying my life set up of being able to conceal and ignore questionable and distracting emotions when they arise. Hence, my very emotional state of being.

It's embarrassing.

I can't decide on an emotion to represent my inner turmoil but the damned tears keep trying to make an appearance. No matter what I do, I can't fight them off. My vision's been blurry with unshed tears ever since I woke up from that little fainting spell. I inhale deeply, almost choking on my own spit.

When did everything go downhill?

My perfect life has been knocked completely out of order, I have no idea what the future holds for me or if I even have a future. This 'Roman Dreycov' is my Mate and I know nothing about him other than his terrifying reputation.

'Stop whining!'

The sharp voice of my Wolf startles me, it has been very quiet during this whole ordeal. My cheeks flush in slight mortification, I had been complaining like a child chucking a tantrum. I am the daughter of a Beta and leader of the Dark Warriors division which is one of the best divisions in the country. And yet, here I am whining and complaining about the situation instead of working to solve it.

'You are an idiot,' Wolf grumbles. 'An actual idiot.'

"Well what would you suggest I do?" I snap angrily, voicing my response out loud involuntarily.

'There is no equation to solve, no battle strategy and no plan. This is our Mate, return to him and allow yourself to be happy, you imbecile.'

My eyes widen in shock and slight betrayal, "This man is a monster by any standards! He may be my Mate but I have no doubt that he will not hesitate to kill me should I make a wrong move. Have you not heard of his reputation?" I exclaim exasperatedly, plopping myself down on the floor at my set destination.

'Get to know him, selfish woman! You know better than anyone to not judge a person based off of their reputation... Beta Bitch.'

I open my mouth to respond, before closing it awkwardly. As much as I hate to admit it, my very rude Wolf is correct. I shouldn't be judging him based off of his reputation. Roman hasn't done anything directly to hurt me yet, he's just intimidated me multiple times even to the extent to where I've passed out... Hmm, you win some you lose some.

I shudder at the thought of having to talk to him one on one and my stomach churns with discomfort. "I can't do it," I murmur, laying back to stare up at the clear sky.

'Why not?' Wolf's voice has softened considerably and my heart rate begins to calm itself. I inhale deeply and frown at the tears collecting in the corners of my eyes. Why won't they just go away?

"Because... Because I'm scared," I whisper ashamedly. "I'm scared of having a Mate, I'm scared of my own Mate and I'm scared of having to leave."

"You truly are a stupid girl," Wolf sighs, though her tone has no edge whatsoever. 'But, you are my stupid girl and therefore I must give you this knowledge that your Mate would never intentionally harm you. You will be treasured and cherished as a Mate should. Why else would he have left his pack and wandered across the country looking for you?'

"I'm not what he wanted though," I murmur, agitated that this one particular complaint is impacting me a little more than I'd like to admit.

"Not what who wanted?" A voice questions from behind me, the person emerging from the foliage. It takes everything in my entire being not to leap to my feet in surprise. I'm actually not impressed with my body's sudden desire to shed its training to remain emotionless in most situations.

After forcing my frame to remain still, I slowly stand upwards and roll my shoulders. Finally, after a couple of moments of silence I turn to face the voice whom I recognised almost immediately.

Talon's hazel gaze immediately seeks out contact and I clench my jaw slightly at the sight of him. He inhales and gives me a small smile that once upon a time might have commanded my heart to do flips. However, as I stare at my second-in-command, only one word flits across my mind. The simple accusation, although arriving and leaving fleetingly, still released poison into my heart.

Traitor.

His smile slowly drops into a neutral expression and he clears his throat awkwardly, that piercing gaze flickering to the water then back to face me. I hum underneath my breath, a long, low tone. The wildlife around us begin to quieten and there's an eerie silence throughout the surrounding forest. He grimaces and rubs a hand over his face frustratedly, when his hand finally falls back down to his side, his eyes are wide and desperate.

"Accalia, I had no choice," he whispers, although he might as well have yelled it into my ear. My face twitches in anger and I bare my teeth slowly. My most trusted comrade, the man I only realised recently I had developed feelings for... "had no choice." With his usual rebellious spirit I know that he wasn't speaking the whole truth and I couldn't care less, the result is still the same. Betrayal.

"Do you know what you've done?" The words are a slow and furious hiss from my lips, surprising even myself from the raw rage boiling beneath the sentence. Talon has enough sense to remain silent and his eyes drift to the floor for a few intense moments. My jaw is so tight that I'm sure the skin stretched over it has gone white with the pressure. "They dragged me to him. And you stood there and watched."

His eyes snap back up to my face, narrow and defensive. The same eyes that used to stare me down when we were children and had known I had cheated to find his hiding spot. "It was the Alpha's orders to let you be taken back to him," he responds, an edge to his voice that provokes a raised eyebrow on my behalf. "Why are you so against going to your own Alpha?"

I snarl in response, raising a hand to swipe at a stray branch aggressively. The tree limb snaps clean off and I glare at him. "It wasn't Alpha Aeyrgon they threw me to, Talon," I spit. His eyebrows furrow in confusion before widening with horror and realisation. His muscles coil together and his eyes blaze with a dangerous fire from within.

"Tell me you aren't," he pleads, chest heaving up and down with heavy breaths of anticipation.

Tell me you aren't his Mate.

I stalk towards him and stop inches away from his frame, I grip the collar of his shirt and forcefully yank his neck down so that his face is level with mine. "I am."

Talon pulls away suddenly and spins to hammer his fist into the thick tree behind him. The crack of the wood splitting echoes through the depressingly silent forest.

I swallow and a tick goes off in my jaw, a bad habit of mine whenever I find myself infuriated.

Talon's broad back faces me as it shakes with pure, unbridled rage. "I won't let him take you." The words resonate throughout my mind and my lip pulls up into a snarl.

"You already fucking did."

With that, I spin on my heel and walk away with absolutely no intention of looking back.