My Mate Can't be a Bird! (I swear I'm not into that kind of stuff)

8: So Many Things that I Wish You Knew

A/N: Warning for a very slight mention of self harm in the last sentence.

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Rowan

He punched her.

Or at least he tried to. But all of a sudden, there was a tug at his navel, and his arm veered right and crashed into the stone wall, dragging him along, until he'd practically crushed himself into the wall with only Aelin in-between.

The bond.

Rowan snarled, pushing away, and glared at the blonde mortal masquerading as his mate.

"S-sorry," Aelin stammered. Her Ashryver eyes were wide with surprise, her back still pressed against the wall.

Rowan slammed his palms on either side of her head, trapping the Princess once more. Her eyes drifted slightly to his lips, just for the briefest moment, and Rowan snarled again.

"Listen girl," he growled, "I know perfectly well what you've planned. Give up now, because it will never work!"

Aelin gave a low growl of her own, and then stood on her toes, eyes blazing. "Don't tell me what I can or cannot do," she said, her voice shaking with quiet rage, "the fate of a kingdom depends on this."

Then the Princess ducked under his arm threw open the door to her room. She threw an angry glare at him and muttered, almost too quietly for him to hear, "Go fuck yourself, bastard."

The door slammed shut.

Rowan stood there for a moment, flabbergasted. Did Aelin just confess her crime? It seemed a little too easy, but the girl had already proven to be a bit of a brat.

Whatever happened, it was a little difficult to seduce someone after admitting it in such a spectacular outburst. She hated him now; he'd conveniently mention Fenrys's youth and beauty in her presence, and after she failed her mission, she'd probably get him as her husband. Another kingdom under Maeve's thumb, but a win for both of the brats too.

So he went back through the fortress to Maeve's office. Perhaps after the report of Aelin's actions, Maeve would release him from the next two weeks of torture. The anniversary of Lyria's death was tomorrow, and he really could not wait to spend it somewhere far away from the impostor.

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Calaena

Calaena could not sleep the whole night. She was constantly dragged between bouts of hollowness and increasing anger, then guilt.

She wished it was easy to hate Rowan. But there was only an intense dislike, and guilt eating Calaena away at the foul thing she'd said to him. She tossed and turned violently in the tiny bed, wishing, hoping that this training would be over soon. She'd put forth a measly bit of effort to get closer to Rowan, but clearly, for whatever reason, he wasn't interested in her as a mate, friend, or acquaintance.

And underneath all the emptiness inside her, anger had simmered quietly throughout those weeks of travel, too weak against the lifelessness in her soul to come to the surface. Until tonight, when it burst like fireworks.

Rowan should have punched her. She deserved it, and more.

And when she felt herself falling off the bed, she didn't bother stopping it.

The impact of the cold stone floor on her shoulder felt good.

A/N: Short chapter I know but there was no other way to make it bigger. There's almost 630 reads on this story whaaat? O.o thank you! 💖

Btw I fixed the ending and someone is going to die :D Killing characters you're writing about is so much fun hehehe.

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