Chapter 36

He looked so unaffected by everything, but what had she expected? He fed on chaos; got high on it.

Just like his father.

Her heart soured with distaste, as she ignored every other feeling the mate bond was trying to make her sense.

Zezi stepped forward to confront the King, but Gwen held her hand back with a kind of fear.

"This is why I wanted to tell you," her whispery voice was trembling, "about the b-bloodoath."

"What?" She asked, her gaze not shifting from the King.

It was only wise to never look away from one's adversary.

"O-one of the con...ditions agreed to---"

"Make it snappy."

"Immediately you open your eyes, Milady, you will lose the wolf's mark and bear the King's."

She froze.

So the King was here to... mark her?

"Lady Zezi," a voice snapped her out of it and that was when she noticed Doctor Bruce standing next to the King. He stepped closer to her, taking her by the hand and leading her to the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Terrified and miserable," she let out without a filter, taking her seat at the edge of the bed. Gewn had said the bloodoath couldn't be broken. Hoping that her family was alright and okay, she really wouldn't want to act out and put them in harm's way. If this was the cost, then she would gladly bear it.

"Hmmm, you seem perfect." He said when he was done with his quick check-up. "The King had done things his own way."

Done things his own way? Had he removed George's mark already?

Normally, no one could place a mark over another's except if that person was the real soulmate. Once that mark is placed, the first one fades away, and the present one stays. Forever.

That process would initially be very painful and her feelings for the King heightened that it already unbearably was.

Everything she was feeling for the King right now felt like the usual thing, except for these foreign emotions that seemed to overwhelm her, as well as his scent that filled up her lungs.

If she was carrying his mark though, she was supposed to be in a whole lot of pain. Why wasn't she in pain?

"I don't understand."

"You fell unconscious last night from the silver in your blood. You made the cut to this part right here," he gestured to a side of her neck and she ran her fingers over it instinctively. The possibility of death was high, so the King fed you with his blood."

Zezi gulped.

She had no memory of that but that explained the strange feelings she seemed to now possess.

"It was a small, quick, and effective move. Whatever I would have recommended wouldn't have done a better job; you would still be bedridden by now, at the least." He gave her a fatherly pat on her shoulder and she stilled.

For Doctor Bruce, her feelings were in between. She didn't like him because he was a vampire, but she didn't hate him either, yet she couldn't say her feelings were neutral. She could endure him but she hated any touch that wasn't strictly for medical purposes. Even though he had no bad intentions.

"I'm ready," she said.

She knew what they were here to do and Doctor Bruce was probably stalling it to give her time.

Hell no.

She wanted to get this over and done with already.

"Ready for what?" He offered with a smile, taking his hand off her shoulder and tucking it back in his lab coat.

She looked away from the Doctor, her cold gaze settling on the King, who was still standing by the door with his arms folded behind him.

"I made a blood oath, I'm ready for it. You may take my mark away and place yours."

"I--- didn't--- Your Majesty?"

Zezi frowned.

Wasn't that why they were here?

The next thing she knew, Gwen and Doctor Bruce stepped out, leaving her alone with him.

They must have been ordered to.

Zezi stood up immediately, feeling that sitting by the edge of her bed was too much of a vulnerable position.

She let out a silent breath with every move he took towards her, preparing herself.

"Are you certain you are alright?"

"I'll be better once I see my family, Your Majesty," she said with a distaste she really tried to hide but failed.

What did he care about how she felt?

"Family?" he tsked, finally standing in front of her. He tried to reach for her hair, but she sidestepped him, making his hand hang in the air for only a second, before he dropped it, looking unfazed by her action.

"You throw that word around carelessly. None of those pathetic wolves truly belong to you." He slipped a hand underneath her chin, holding up her chin so that she looked up at him, staring back into those black orbs like an abyss. "None is truly yours but I am."

She gulped, her heart racing faster before her eyes turned cold.

Her body was betraying her.

The tingles that crossed through her felt more intense than they usually would.

This must be because of his blood in her system.

Her hand shot up to her neck, over the mark that was burning like hot iron against her skin, as she gritted her teeth in pain.

She couldn't afford to give in to it and let him see how carrying George's mark was breaking her. She couldn't let him think that his mark on her would be some salvation instead of the cruel punishment it was. She didn't want him to think that she needed him.

Over her dead body.

But the pain was too much and she could feel George's mark fading away, leaving anguish to cross through her veins.

Nature was indeed fighting her for being so stubborn.

Her knees buckled underneath her, she would have hit the ground with a thud, but the arms that held her against its owner kept her from harm.

The warmth.

The relief.

She could live in these arms forever.

But she didn't want to.

She pulled away instantly, disappointed at how her body had felt, despite knowing that she only had fate to blame for all of this.

The whiff of her blood seeped into her nostrils. She was digging her nails into her palms once again to distract herself with pain, so she would stop herself from thinking even more about the King.

"Stop. Let me see that." He tried to reach for her but she snapped away.

Why was he being so touchy? Could this be because of his blood in her veins? Was it affecting him too?

Well, none of her business.

The only thing she was concerned about right now was her family!

"Zezi---"

What?! He was calling her by her name now?!

"Stop calling my name, your Majesty! Stop saying it like that. Like we are the two closest people in the world." She let out a shaky breath, afraid that her outburst might lead to a problem if she continued. "You are here to mark me, do it already. I'm so tired of this, I want to see my family."

Her eyes fell shut, and she tilted her neck to the side as she waited for the pain that would surely come.