Page 44 of Masked Fate

But I’m not going to lie—being taken care of sounds nice.

Not making decisions all the time sounds like a fucking holiday.

As the oldest child, a queen, and a leader, having a man take charge and be in control is all kinds of appealing.

Soren wanting me is all I’ve ever dreamed of.

But I can’t just forget all that has transpired between us.

“Is being here hard for you?” I blurt out the question. “Why did you go with Rave to case the castle the other day and come here now? It must bring back bad memories for you.”

“I never thought I’d come back here,” he admits, his throat working hard as he swallows. “But she’s dead. And this isyourkingdom now. I’m here for you. I can’t keep living in the past.”

My eyes widen slightly at his words. Whatever happened in that dungeon had a hold on Soren, so for him to say something like that is huge.

With a deep sigh, he rests his forehead against mine. “I wish you had told me the truth, little witch. I would change so many things that have happened between us. I wish I could fucking change it all.”

“You weren’t ready then,” I whisper.

I saw the look in his eyes at the time. He was a shell of the warrior he once was. My mother took a piece of him. If he found out back then he was tied to me, I don’t know how he would have handled it.

“Not your choice to make.” He growls, lifting his face and tucking my hair behind my ear. “We’ve wasted so much time—”

“You hated me, Soren,” I remind him, frowning. “You ignored me for years, and then you started being cruel to me.”

His gray eyes flash with pain. “And what were you doing? You knew you were mine. You knew! And you still fucked August, knowing you belong to me. You knowingly gave him what wasmine. You still let Salem eatmy fucking pussy. Yeah, I was an asshole, but I didn’t know what we were to each other.You. Did.”

My stomach knots. “I had to see you with woman after woman, knowing you were my mate. You’ve slept with hundreds of females, but you’re pissed I had sex with one fucking person?”

“You knew you weremine. I didn’t!” he snaps.

I know we aren’t going to get anywhere with this right now.

We are hurting too much.

“Yeah, you didn’t know.” I nod, putting my hands on his hard chest to push him away, needing space. He doesn’t budge. “You treated me like shit because you wanted to make me pay for something my mother did, something I didn’t know she was doing. And I let you do that because I felt guilty that it was my own mother who hurt you. I tried to make up for the trauma I didn’t even inflict by letting you treat me less than I deserved. I thought I was doing the right thing, Soren. I thought I was protecting you. Freeing you.”

He rears back like I’ve slapped him. “Pandora—”

I put my hand up in the air, stopping him. “No, I’m done talking about this. Let’s go back to Aravelle.”

His eyes work over my face. “We’renotdone talking about this.”

Ignoring him, I zip away without another word.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Soren

Women have always come easy for me.

I’m a warrior and an attractive, dominant male. I’m always in control, and they are always happy to give me whatever the fuck it is I want just to have a taste of what it’s like to be mine.

I’m known to be charming. I’m also known to have a bit of a temper.

Yet, as I sit opposite my mate in the dining hall, my charm seems to be failing me. And I can’t exactly let my temper win out, either, so instead of dragging her into my room and telling her to get on her knees so I can teach her a lesson for ignoring me all night, I sit here miserably, drinking beer.

I tried to make up for the trauma I didn’t even inflict by letting you treat me less than I deserved.Her words play over and over in my head. She’s right. I took it out on her, told her she had bad blood because of her mother, and held that against her when she had been nothing but nice.

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