Zion

“I’m not a fan of those who would rather hide from their problems,” Zion greets as I roll my eyes. The cold wind blows against my skin, shivers running down my spine as Zion leans against the balcony railing next to me. He sets a bottle of whisky on the marble railing, passing me over a glass. “You’re the one who needs a drink here.”

“Yah, and I wonder why,” I snap, running my hands through my hair as I groan. “You know what, Zion,” I begin, my voice sharp. “It’s all because you got a little too involved in someone’s personal life.”

Zion opens the whisky, pouring me a glass as I let out a deep breath. Grabbing the glass, I take a sharp swing, wanting to just throw it all over his face. No doubt that silky Italian suit he wears would be ruined by his expensive whisky. “I was involved because it mattered.”

“That makes no sense,” I growl, feeling my wolf want to break free and claw him right in the face. “You make no damn sense.” I take another swing of the alcohol, turning around to my back against the railing as I meet those golden eyes that mimic the rich, yellow flakes of the sunrise. “So, tell me, before you say anything else...”

Zion raises an eyebrow as I take a step towards him, raising my hand as I trace his neck. “Who is your mate?” I ask, pulling his collar down, revealing the fading scar as Zion immediately pushes away, covering the mark back up. “Because the way you acted with Sebastian, I have every damn right to act as foolish as you did as I figure out who your mate was or even is.”

The night sky seems peaceful as the moonlight shines against the glass of the windows. “She is none of your concern.”

“She is every fucking concern!” I shout, throwing the expensive glass out to the lake, watching as it spirals down to the lake, ripples forming in the water. Zion’s eyes harden as I take ahold of the bottle, taking another drink. “I want my answers, the ones I’ve been waiting too long for.”

My arm is grabbed, pulling me right against him, chest to chest, not an inch left between as my eyes widen in shock and fear. Zion looks down at me, his eyes searching my face as I don’t know what is going on.

Lips.

That’s all I can think of as his arms wrap around my smaller body, pulling me even closer as my arms move on their own.

Hands.

Heat.

In seconds I’m pressed against the cold stone wall, held caged in by his arms as I let my fingers go through his locks. A moan escapes my lips as I can feel a smile against the King’s lips.

The King.

The man who has a mate.

The man who killed my mate.

Instantly, I shove away, getting any distance between us. Right away, I gain a growl of disapproval, the King taking my wrists as he pins them above my head. “You know we needed that, and more,” he snaps, his eyes black, mixed with anger and lust. “So, here we go, Sybil, I’ll give you some damn answers.”

Lips are back on mine as hands are on my hips, lifting me up. Right away, my legs wrap around his waist, my arms around his neck as the King walks with me back into my room. I still hate that he can freely just come into my room.

The soft feeling of silks under me let me know what it happening as the King breaks away. “She was someone I was not proud of.” I pull away, propping myself up on my elbows as I watch his jaw clench.

“Not proud of your mate? What was she? A peasant?” I ask, taking in a deep breath as the softness of my robe is pushed off of my shoulders. Earlier today the Senate was in session, for sixteen hours straight, only breaks for people on bathroom or lunch. For sure he’s tired and stressed with the whole matter. I did not attend at all, rather spending the day at the music room and library, being bored.

Zion smirks as he fingers trace my collarbone, cocking his head to the side. “She, Sybil, was one of the royal guards.” A female royal guard is something rare to come bye.

“She passed away in battle?” I ask, loosening up my hold upon his neck, wondering if he will need space.

Zion shakes his head, brushing a strand of my messy hair out of my face. His hands do more work, pushing off my robe the rest of the way as I’m left in my undergarments. “No, it was simple, my father hated the idea of us and he had her mate with one of his top warriors.”

“Then, since you are King, why don’t you get her back?” I ask, feeling uncomfortable as Zion talks of his mate, while he also takes off his dress shirt, revealing a tan and perfectly toned body. Does she still care for him, I bet so, it has to be. And here I am, in bed with a man who still has a mate out there. “You’d have your mate back.”

“People change, Sybil, I’m sure you know that,” Zion explains, looking back into my eyes as I wonder what will happen next. He rolls his shoulder back, letting me know he’s a bit uncomfortable. “She changed and so did I. Three years ago I went back to see her, to take her back; only that she was in love and mated to the man my father paired her with, four children, and completely different from the girl I fell for.”

“Does she love him?”

Anger and sadness, regret, yet also, happiness. All of those emotions shine through his eyes as I still lay under him. “She does.”

“So am I talking to a heartbroken King who wants me here just to-

“You are talking to a man who wants to cherish you and wants you here to be his.”

I laugh, shaking my head. “Such a helpless romantic,” I chuckle, only to be shut up.

Lips are back upon mine, his warmth spreading through me as the feelings come back. I never would have guessed I would be allowing Zion and myself to do this. “So you no longer love her?” I ask, adjusting myself on the bed as I feel my back arch as Zion leans his head against mine.

“I rejected her as she did to me. We were both happy.”

“You were not, you went there to get her back,” I express, cocking my head to the side as Zion’s lips are back upon mine, taking me further as my breasts are set free. “Zion?”

He looks up, meeting my gaze. If I was to go back to even Junior year, I never would have guessed that I would be even be next to the King, most of all kissing him as he has me pinned and half naked under him. “It took me a year to get over her and from the moment I saw you chase after that man who stole your purse, I knew I had a second chance.”

“Second mates do not exist,” I inform, grabbing Zion tightly as I flip us over, straddling his waist as I look down. “We both know this, at least, that we are not that.”

“I know,” Zion expresses, his eyes glancing lower than my eyes for a second as I scowl. My hands grasp his face, making sure his eyes meet mine as I get ready for his next words. “But humans fall in love without some stupid mate bond, and I believe that the human way is how we will-

“You’re assuming I love you,” I scoff. “After you kidnapped me, held me here, and killed my ex-mate.” Zion smirks, flipping us over as I find myself once again under him, my head against the silks once more. After all he has done, I’m beyond shocked as I’m here with him

Zion places his lips upon my neck, a simple bite placed on the crook of my neck. Right away I worry about him marking me, but night now, Penelope is right, how the sexual tension being settled would be good. “Human’s learn.”

Lips are back on mine as soon, clothes are gone and then, it happens, something I would never expect. “Why should I even believe you? I don’t even know if you killed my parents!”

His jaw clenches, his face stern as I await a response. “Believe me because I believe you.”

“Not enough,” I mumble.

I push Zion away, shaking my head as he raises an eyebrow. “I should not have sex with the man who just killed my mate...or even my damn parents.”

Grabbing what I have left of my pride, I get off of the bed, heading straight for the bathroom and locking the door. Right away, I turn to the shower, hoping in as I can hear Zion tapping on the door. No words are spoken as I sigh, hearing him leave the room as I relax. Sliding to the floor of the shower, I pull my knees in, letting the tears begin as I remember what just happened.

How could I let myself do that?

No, I’m not scared of sex, I’ve done it before. I’m scared of how my mind simply forgot all Zion has done and that he still expects me to be perfectly fine with everything. “Good riddance,” I mumble, my body completely wet now as I lean my head against the tiled wall.

For the next hour I sit on the counter, leaning against the mirror as I throw the bar of soap in the air, tossing it around. Swinging my legs back and forth, I debate what to do next. Even though my door has a lock on it, Zion has the key, but not the one to the bathroom. I hum to a simple tune, thinking what I almost did a bit over an hour ago. How could I let my guard down and forget common sense and simple facts.

Hell, he just let the blood of my mate pour over his throne as he just watched it happen as I cried.

I don’t even know if I should believe him one bit. All I know is that whoever that elf was, I either need to ignore all of her words or take all of it to heart.

Grabbing the towel from my body, I change into a pair of shorts and robe on top. I check my room for no sign of the King, happy to find what I want. Walking out to the balcony, I grab the bottle of whisky, taking another drink as I lean back upon the balcony, only, as I look over to the neighboring balcony, I spot him, right before the curtains of the balcony, watching me as I do to him.

Pushing off of the railing, I head back into the room, wanting to gain any distance, only to be taken back as Elijah stands with his arms folded behind his back in the middle. “Can I help you?” I ask, setting the bottle down on the fireplace. “Because it’s beginning to creep me out how people can just show up in this room.”

Elijah smiles with a cocky theme, taking a step closer to where I stand with my arms crossed. “Sorry about poor and dearest Sebastian.” Elijah takes in my appearance of a bird’s nest of wet hair, my attire not the most professional. “But I came here about a woman.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Keva.”

“Never heard of her,” I reply, motioning with my hands for him to leave.

“You’ve met her.”

The elf. The woman who warns me about who to trust, about what the war has to deal with my life, about how I have to leave soon. “The woman who disappears into gold dust.”

“I would describe her as an elf,” Elijah comments, holding out from behind his back a small, maroon, wooden box with a silver bow. “And also an elf who is either a friend or neutral individual.”

“How do you know her?” I ask, groaning. “I’m getting pretty annoyed with her.”

I take the box from Elijah as he basically presses it into my hands. Setting it down on the bed, I cross my arms. “Open it.”

“I will when you go,” I state, waiting for Elijah to leave. And he does, allowing me solitude as the door shuts. Turning back to the bed, I pull upon the ribbon, watching as it falls down, the wooden box simple without it. I open the box, only to raise an eyebrow at the piece within the box.

A simple pair of opal earnings, and underneath, something that confuses me yet surprises me. A dagger, a simple silver dagger with a engraved handle of leaves. Elf for sure. “To defend myself I bet,” I mutter to myself, sarcasm dripping my tone as I think of the sword used to slit Sebastian’s throat.

Whatever her end game is, I really want to know. But is she a friend of foe?

I set the box and items on the nightstand, getting into bed, under the sheets as the actions of only two hours ago flood my memory, my face flushing bright red. I just hope I never lose my mind like that again and forget common sense. Closing my eyes, I try and find peace as the darkness is all I can see.

The only thing I have left on my mind is that the Alphas put me in charge of contact with the rogues, that they made me the contact, the middle man. If I screw up, I only can guess a dreadful war, but if I get ahold of the rogues and they decide to help out, then I only wonder when I will be let free of my prison here.

As for Zion, as for his mate, I only pray that he is not using me as a rebound. And as for him on my parents death, if he ordered the death of my parents, I’ll actually put a use to Keva’s gift...and I’m not referring to the earnings.