Arranged (46 page)

He had no choice but to tell her…everything. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He needed complete concentration. "When an heir to the throne comes of age, he begins to search for a mate. As royal blood, the council will only allow that mate to be a human, in order to continue the passing of pure power through the bloodline," he paused. "When you were a child, I found you in the woods…I knew you were the one."

Her eyes widened as she realized that what she probably thought was a childhood dream was in fact reality.

"I'm not sure how I knew, but the certainty was so strong. The council wanted to take you then, but I wouldn't allow it. I wanted to give you time to enjoy your life while you could…I would have let you stay longer, but you were running away…I was afraid I would lose you," he said gently. He was afraid to look at her, afraid to see the fear and distrust in her eyes.

"You…you kidnapped me to marry you?" she asked in a quivery voice. He could tell she was trying to act strong. Right now, not even Qwinn felt strong.

He should have told her from the beginning. There was no preparing him for how heart breaking this was going to be. "Because I wanted to be with you."

"And this whole time, you've been acting like someone who cares for me, as if I had a choice?"

He could hear the anger rising in her voice. "I wasn't sure how to tell you. When you first came, you were so scared…"

"So you continued to lie to me," she growled, "even after you promised no more lies?"

Qwinn finally stood, turning to find silent tears were streaming down her cheeks, but she didn't look like the vulnerable little girl he'd met that night in the cell after her capture.

"And you're telling me, you've stolen women before?" She snapped.

"We've never had a situation like this…I didn't want to scare you. If you fell in love with me, I thought I wouldn't ever have to tell you…"

Her eyes lit with fire. "I don't love you!"

He knew she was reacting out of anger, but her words speared right through his heart. "I thought the wedding would make more sense to you, if you felt comfortable with me. In the past…all the other brides were married the night they were taken."

"That's horrible! What gives you the right to take
anyone
? How could you just rip someone from their life and expect them to love you? How can I ever trust anything you say? I was running from an arranged marriage and you knew that, and still you lied. I don't even know who you really are. You disgust me!" she spat.

Qwinn balled his fists. He wasn't mad at her, he was mad at himself. "I have been truthful. Everything I've told you is truth…except the wedding."

"Which is the whole reason why I'm here, isn't it," she sneered. "What else have you lied to me about?"

"Nothing!" he exclaimed, feeling the need to grab her and force her to believe him.

Her features darkened. "What about Shea?"

His anger flared, he shouldn't have been surprised that Shea told her more than just why she was really here. "Shea doesn't mean anything to me. She has a hard time accepting the truth."

"How can I ever believe that? You were with her, and you 'forgot' to tell me. I'm just a pawn in this game. A prisoner to−"

"That's not true!"

"Then why do I have a guard?" she shot. He opened his mouth to answer, then shut it. "Why didn't you tell me you were a king when we first met? Why didn't you fully heal my leg when you could have? Why have you been hiding behind all the lies?" She finished with an angry tremor in her voice.

He could feel her anger and hurt coming off her in waves. There was nothing he could say; everything she accused him of was true. All the things he thought would be better to hide from her, caught up with him in the end. He felt his stomach turn with sickness. He was losing her.

"And after all of that," she spat. "You expect me to willingly marry you at the festival? Or will you just force me?"

He'd never seen this side of her before. It made him wish he could start over again, from day one. He was claimed to be the strongest king of the Vidarian people, yet here he was, cowed by a human woman.

"Get out," she said firmly, her eyes burning holes into the blankets on the bed.

"Alis−"

"Get out!" she yelled; now turning her molten emerald eyes onto him. There would be no more arguing with her. Perhaps if she cooled off, he could try again?

That was all he could hope to do. He nodded dejectedly and silently made his way to the door. As his hand hit the handle, he said, "I wasn't lying when I told you I love you, that you can be sure of. I just hope you can see that." And with that, he closed the door and it crushed his heart.

ALISON WATCHED HIM LEAVE THROUGH a tear filled blur. Her head was swimming from all the thoughts and hurts. She felt nauseous. How could he do this to her? She was so completely emotionally distraught that she wanted to scream in anger, but at the same time, bury herself deep under the blankets and never come out.

She had never been in love before and from the way she felt now, she knew he had killed something inside of her. Her chest felt as if he'd ripped out her heart and taken it with him.

Suddenly, she felt disgusting. She scrubbed a hand across her mouth; he had kissed Shea.

Tears came to her eyes again. She couldn't live like this. She had taken too many things for granted. She had never stopped being a prisoner. And she would remain a prisoner unless she did something about it. As a plan began to form, doubts began to yell.

She threw herself down on the bed and buried her head under the pillow. She had no choice; she had to run away…back to the surface.

QWINN HALTED HIS OU'TANI OUTSIDE of a stone house. His anger at Shea and the situation consumed him a few minutes after he left Alison's room. He needed to set Shea straight. He wanted to kill her for what she'd done. He hadn't been ready to tell Alison, and definitely not like that!

When he approached her door, it suddenly opened and Vin hurried out, almost barreling into Qwinn. He blinked in surprise to find the King there, then he saw the angry gleam in Qwinn's eyes and understanding came over him.

"She's in there," he motioned behind him toward the house, not even bothering to save his sister. "She's been gloating since she got home." With that, Vin continued past him, no doubt to go to the palace to see Adalia.

Qwinn watched him leave for a moment; perhaps he was wrong about Vin. Now, however, was not the time to ponder this.

He knocked loudly and Shea answered the door, still partially talking to someone behind her. When she turned to see Qwinn, a mixture of fear and excitement shone in her eyes. "Well hello," she purred. "And to what do I owe this honor?"

He could hear giggles coming from the room behind her and knew she'd been talking with her idiot followers who seemed to hang on her every word. Qwinn wanted to kill her, but he didn't want to do it in front of the town gossips. "Can I speak to you, alone," he said gently. He was smart enough to know that if he showed any anger, she wouldn't come with him.

"What do you need to talk to me about?" she asked, feigning innocence, not moving from her doorway.

Qwinn put a lid on his anger, which was about to explode on her. He swallowed his bile and grabbed her hand gently, kissing it. "About us. I've…realized some things."

Shea's eyes lit with a greedy light and she waved to the girls before closing the door and stepping closer to Qwinn so their bodies almost pressed together. "What have you realized?" she breathed.

"Not here. Let's talk somewhere else," he said, trying not to recoil from her poisonous touch.

She studied him for a moment, then smiled and headed to where his Ou'tani was hitched. She climbed on and he was loathe to climb on after her.

Once he was on, she snuggled back into him. His skin revolted and it took every ounce of will to keep from throwing her off him.

Before he had found out what kind of woman she was, he loved going riding with her. However, he would not be fooled again. It only seemed fitting to do their "talk" in their usual spot. It was well away from eyes and ears. She giggled excitedly as she realized where he was taking her. He rushed the Ou'tani, the less time he had to spend around her, the better.

When they arrived, Shea was beaming. Some sick part of Qwinn was going to enjoy tearing into her. He'd been waiting to do this for too long. When they had first broken up, he didn't want anything to do with her and so avoided all contact with her, but now there was no holding him back. It was almost as if a century had not passed since they'd parted. He felt all his emotions raw and fresh, plus the hate he felt towards her for Alison. If Shea wasn't so self-centered, she might have realized what a dangerous situation she was putting herself into.

As soon as he had hitched his animal, Shea looped her arm through his and sighed happily. "I always knew you'd come around," she chatted, not realizing his eyes were blazing with fire.

They cleared the long grass that was higher than his hip and she tugged him down into their usual hidden spot. He resisted her and she frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Let's talk," he growled.

She ignored his anger. "What is there to talk about? I forgive you for choosing that human at first. I'm glad to see you came to your senses. It's so obvious that she doesn't−"

"That human," Qwinn interrupted with a sneer, "is my future wife and
your
future Queen!"

Shea snapped her mouth shut and glared. "Excuse me?"

Qwinn unleashed the full force of his hate in his gaze and she gasped. The sound brought him a sick pleasure. "I heard what you told her today and I want to set a few things straight," he growled, taking a dangerous step forward.

Shea tried to stand her ground, but he could see that she was getting nervous. He stood at least a head taller than she did, and there was nowhere for her to run. "You and I were over the moment you decided position was more important than relationship and I will never, ever go back to you," he spat, taking another step into her face. "Secondly, Alison is more of a woman than you'll ever be, and I love her."

Shea swallowed hard as she stared into his angry eyes. "You can't mean that!"

"Is it such a surprise that there is someone who could love me for me," he snarled, it was not a question, but a statement.

"She will never be able to satisfy you the way I can," she said, trying to keep the shake out of her voice. With an immense step of bravery or stupidity, she suddenly pressed herself into him, her hands running over his chest.

He grabbed her wrists painfully and yanked her off him. She gasped in surprise and he was excited to finally see fear light her eyes. "Let go!"

"Don't ever touch me again! For that matter, don't ever speak to me or Alison ever again, or I will make you wish you were dead."

"She's human, Qwinn! She can never love you," she yelled desperately. "I love you!"

He'd had as much of her talking as he could stand. Red started winking into his vision and his anger pulsed through him like molten lava. He grabbed her throat and lifted her easily off the ground. Her eyes bulged in fear as she clawed at his hands.

"Listen," he whispered darkly as he brought her face closer, so she could feel his anger coming off him in waves. "If I ever find out you so much as said anything negative about my wife, I will hunt you down and kill you without a thought. If you tell anyone about our little…chat, I will banish you to the surface. I have eyes and ears everywhere, I will know every move you make and every word you say."

She gurgled as she struggled to breathe and Qwinn lifted a lip in disgust before throwing her away from him. She flew through the air, landing heavily on the long grass. He could hear her gasping and crying for air. He balled his hands at his side, he wanted to do more to hurt her, but knew he should get back to the palace, to try to figure out how to make Alison understand.

He began to walk away when he heard her sob his name. "You c-cannot leave…me here!"

He laughed darkly, "You should have thought of that before you came on a ride with me. Let me make this very clear, I never want to see you again." With not so much as a glance behind him, he left her, sobbing in the tall grass.

The more space Qwinn put between Shea and him, the more he calmed. Red had almost completely left his vision and he patted his Ou'tani and sighed. Before Alison, he'd exploded like that quite a few times, though not on Shea and not as physically violent. Seeing red was not new to him.

What was new was the fact that he was coming off his angry high so easily. Alison had changed him more than he'd realized.

He reached the palace and checked on his men, he had left so abruptly. His captain had undoubtedly taken over in his absence. It was just now that he realized how long he'd been gone.

His men were eating when he arrived, but seemed glad to have Qwinn back. Some hesitantly nodded at him while a few brave soldiers ignored his history of anger and clapped him on the back as he joined them in the dining hall. "We all have women problems," one said gruffly and others nodded in agreement.

Qwinn grabbed some food and sat amongst his men, listening politely as they shared stories of women they had been with. Despite their efforts, Qwinn knew their stories wouldn't match to his pain and drama with Alison.