Chapter 13

CAESER

The silence in the room is suffocating. And I'm aware I'm partly to blame.

Gazes dart towards me anxiously, at the furious scowl on my face. My eyes are lasered intently on Amber's hands, watching as they work to stitch the wounds that had opened up around her stomach. How the hell did that happen??

No one had come in!

Except Marina.

I'd had the guards lead her down to the cells for questioning. At present, my Elders and lieutenants stand around nervously, waiting for me to say something.

I finally do. "Go to the computer rooms, tell Aston to submit the entire feed for today and everyone who've come in and gone out sent to the cell as w--"

"Alpha," Amber says quietly. "I'm afraid that won't be necessary."

Alarm flares. "What do you mean?"

She looks around the room pointedly. She clears her throat. "This requires a bit of privacy."

Without taking my eyes from her, I order, "Out. Everyone."

They hurry out instantly.

Alone now, she says, "Did you... Had you both engaged in any intimate affair today or the night before?"

"We haven't had sex if that's what you're asking, and I need to know why you're asking these questions."

"Okay, if not sex, what did you both do? Did you...touch her or kiss h--"

"We kissed. Before I left to work this morning."

Her eyes dim and another wave of alarm rips through me. "Is there any problem?" I ask lowly.

"You've... You've just compromised a mate bond. And she was punished accordingly for it."

My brain scrambles wildly to make sense of what she's saying. "Punished? Why would she be punished for another wolf's disloyalty unless..." The rest of my words trail off.

Amber's painfully understanding eyes meet mine. "Unless she's the werewolf that compromised the bond."

A wave of shock courses through me, causing me to stagger. I grip the object nearest to me. A chair. Slowly, I lower myself into a sitting position. "She has a mate?" I breathe.

"Yes, she does." At length, she says, "I'm sorry..."

It all suddenly seems laughable. "Just when I'm starting to trust her, I discover this?"

Amber's eyes turn stern. "You can't do that to her. It seems like she wasn't also aware of the mate bond. No one would want to risk the goddess's anger this way."

"I thought we'd been getting closer. She should have told me."

"It's not as easy as you think. Rejection is a difficult thing to go through, and an even more difficult thing to talk about."

"Doesn't she trust me?" I ask.

"Alpha, It's not about you. It's about her. Just be patient with her. Whenever she feels like it or is comfortable enough to speak on it, I promise you she'll open up to you."

I think about her words deeply, watching as she continues to work on Bella's abdomen. The wounds are red and garish and it disturbs me greatly to think about the degree of pain she'd gone through.

"Will she be fine?" I ask, giving a voice to my fears.

"Yes, Alpha. Give it a few days, she'll be back on her feet."

"And... Does this mean I can't kiss her anymore, touch her?" The thought has my throat drying. I realize I can't comprehend a life without the feel of her lips on mine.

"I... There's a lot about mate bonds even we werewolves don't fully understand. I'd just... Not engage in anything intimate for a while."

When night rolls in, I still sit unmoving on the chair, watching the slow rise and fall of Bella's chest.

When a sound escapes her, I'm immediately alert. "Bella?" I croak, clearing my throat when my voice comes out rough.

Her eyes move behind her eyelids for a while, then her eyes open. Groggily, she looks around, before her gaze finally rests on me. "What...happened," she rasps, trying to lift herself on her elbows. When she winces from pain, she gives up, lying back down again.

"You were punished by the goddess," I explain. "For breaking your mate bond."

She swallows thickly, eyes darting away. "Caeser..."

"You didn't tell me you were mated."

Broken blue eyes meet mine. "I'm sorry, I wanted--"

"Bella, it's fine. I'm not going to try and hold it against you. You had your reasons, I just want to know what they are."

She fiddles with the hem of the blanket for a few seconds. "I thought... I thought he rejected me."

"There was no love lost between you both then?"

"None. He despised me, and I can't say I felt any different. I just... I didn't know he was going to retain the bond."

Something ugly dawns. "I think this has something to do with the treaty between our pack and Blood Moon."

Confusion briefly lights her gaze before realization sparks in her eyes. "They must have planned this together. Him and my brother. Maybe I was involved far more than I thought." Her thoughts turn inward. "I knew something was odd with Dylan asking me to clean the reception again that day. I'd cleaned it the previous day for god's sakes. Maybe it's why he didn't fully reject me, cause I was all part of some bigger plan." A bitter laugh. "It's all I am then. A pawn."

Her tone causes my heart to tighten. "Bella. You're more than that, you must not think otherwise. Any man who could reject you shouldn't be bestowed that title to begin with."

Her cheeks flush. Looking away, she says, "Didn't tell me you were a poet."

Even through the cloying weight in the air, I still laugh. "Only where you're concerned. I can be anything for you, Bella."

But never her mate.

Just like that, the brief lightness in the air is sucked out. My wolf roars, pain and and anger slipping through the bond. She's our mate!

I calm myself, managing through herculean efforts to tamp down my burning emotions. "Bella. Who was your mate?" Is, a dark part of me corrects. He hasn't fully rejected her yet.

When pure fear dances through her eyes, my canines throb. "Who was he Bella?" I grit slowly.