Page 83 of Fated to the Warrior Wolf

“It’s related. Celeste was an arranged match. Her family is from Portugal. Her father is the Alpha of the only pack in the whole country and is very closely allied with my father. But it wasn’t always that way. There has been a treaty in place between the packs for over two hundred years that the eldestson of Pack España would wed the eldest daughter of Pack Belém. Things got tricky when my father was unable to have a son in a timely fashion. He and his fated mate had a daughter eventually, but they needed a son. Celeste had been waiting nearly a hundred fifty years for the promised son to marry.”

My wolf growled, my own chest rumbling with her vehement dislike of even him saying the other female’s name. “So that’s it? If you don’t marry her, you’re going to cause an international incident?”

He snorted. “Not… quite.”

“Wait, too many questions. You said, ‘his fated mate.’ Isn’t that your mom?”

“No, it’s not.”

The admission was quiet.Pained. And I could see why. His father hadcheatedonhis fated mate to get a son? Or had he mated after he was born? That timeline didn’t add up if the sister was older than him.

“Just to have a son?” I asked to confirm.

“Just for me,” he said with a dark chuckle. “She was the fifth woman in the pack who volunteered to spend her heat with him in hopes of getting pregnant with a son, and when she gave birth to me, she was awarded land and received a minor title.”

“Holy shit.” I slapped a hand over my mouth. “I’m sorry, that just all seems like some long-ago old-worldinsanity. His mate was just…okaywith this plan? How?”

“Not exactly. When her last heat was once again unproductive, he had her taken out of the country and kept under guard in a separate residence in France. After enough time apart, the bond weakened enough that his wolf was tempted by the scent of other females in heat.”

“Goddess, that’s awful.”

“He’s not a nice man.”

“No shit,” I mumbled, feeling a lot more empathetic for him. But not letting him off the hook. There were things youmight keep from a mate—birthday surprises, the fact that you did the laundry, hell, that you’d gone and gotten a spontaneous tattoo if you were feeling wild—but being engaged and royal weren’t two of them.

He sighed, raking a palm over the back of his close-cropped hair. It wasn’t fair that he was so damn attractive, even when I was mad at him. Even the scar on his cheek made him look rugged and dangerous in the best possible way.

My wolf snarled, not appreciating that train of thought.

“So, you have an older sister, a stepmother locked away in a tower, and an arranged marriage. Do you also have a magical sword or a talking horse, by chance? Just so we’ve got everything out on the table.”

He laughed at that, shooting me an incredulous look. “Nope, no talking horses or magic swords. Unless you count?—”

“No, I do not count your dick, you dirty bird.” I smacked him on the arm, the little bit of contact sending an unwelcomezingof lust through me.

“Can’t hurt to ask.”

I snorted at that, but then another question struck me as we wound our way into the forest. “If she’s been waiting all this time to mate with you, why were you allowed to run off to Alaska without bonding first? I also want to know how your father—who’s going to live to be a thousand—isn’t going to get found out for what he is in the modern day as a royal.”

“The treaty states that both the son and daughter have until age fifty to find a fated mate. If no fated mate—with both mate marks and a sealed bite—is present when I turn fifty, I’m expected to fly back to Spain and go through the bonding ceremony with Celeste. I have fifteen years left of freedom before my family obligations kick in and the engagement contract is enforceable.”

A lump rose in my throat. I didn’t even know why, other than the fact that he sounded so utterly glum about it all.

“So you weren’t cheating on her with me,” I said, needing the clarification more than I wanted to admit.

“No, Goddess!” He stopped in his tracks, turning to face me. “I’m not that kind of man, Leigh, I promise you. My father… He’s not a good person. I want nothing to do with his power hunger or the way he uses others to meet his own ends. Celeste and I have never evenreallykissed, and she knows I’m not interested in bonding with her. Unfortunately, though, she’s as stuck as I am, and after so many years… I don’t like her,not at all, but I understand why she’s the way she is. Sometimes.”

Damn. I did not want to be sympathetic to the haughty, unlikeable bitch. But she had to be over a hundred and fifty, stuck under her father’s roof and unable to move on until Gael either mated or turned fifty. I’d be pretty pissed in her shoes too.

I still didn’t like her, though.

Hell naw.

Instead of befriending Gael, she’d played right into the politics. And the fact that she hadanyclaim on my mate didn’t sit well with me. Something else he said struck me.

“Wait, rewind. What do you mean neverreallykissed? Spell that out for me.”

“It’s a long story and not one I’m in a hurry to relive.” His pained wince made me drop it, though one of these days, I was going to pry it out of him.

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