Page 28 of A Crown of Fates

Theo makes himself comfortable in one of the two chairs across from my bed. I take the other one, purposely sitting with extra force so I can slide the seat another couple of inches away from him.

“Did something happen?” I ask, doing my best to ignore the breathiness of my voice. Gods, where is this attraction coming from? The unfolding desire doesn’t fill the void where I expect there to be a connection if we’re truly mates, but still, I can’t help wondering if maybe I just have no idea what I should be expecting.

He nods slowly, his lips curling into a smirk that both infuriates and draws me in. “You moved children into my castle without my permission and threw mashed potatoes at me. Did you think we weren’t going to talk about two of the best things you’ve done since arriving?”

“Excuse me, but you told…” My defenses go up so strongly the moment he says “without my permission” that it takes an extra few seconds to comprehend the latter part of what he’s said. “Oh.”

“Yes.Oh.” His knowing grin has my stomach churning with butterflies. “So, what else did you do today that I should know about?”

“Jerome didn’t tell you?” I expected that he’d be keeping Theo in the loop.

He shakes his head. “I wanted to hear from you directly. Jerome advises me on my role as king, not my role as mate.”

My wolf surges to the surface so unexpectedly that I nearly lose control over my form. In those few seconds that her awareness is in charge, the connection that Theo has been so certain we share bleeds into me. At least I think it does.

A kaleidoscope of want, desire, and a sense of home consume me. Each emotion washes over me, cleansing my soul and preparing it for something that surpasses words. For a heartbeat, everything falls away. There’s no castle, no politics, no regrets—just Theo and me, our souls entwining in a dance of longing and need. And I feel him—truly feel him—for the first time. The weight of his pain, the depth of his fear, but also the flickering hope that’s fought so long to be free.

Yet, just as I start to process the deeper parts of him and before I can even breathe him in, the link I thought was forming breaks like glass.

It feels as though shards of him have been left behind, but the drive to heal him, to be the light in his life that he deserves isnowhere to be found. In its place is a desolation worse than any I’ve experienced in all my other lifetimes, made of raw edges and emptiness.

“Estee,” Theo whispers, kneeling in front of me, cupping my cheeks as he uses his thumbs to brush away tears I didn’t know were falling. “I’m so sorry.”

“Why is this happening?” I need to understand. To know what could possibly keep that kind of happiness away from two people who just might actually be meant for each other. And then I need to destroy it.

He flinches, closing his eyes as if my words are knives against his skin. “It’s complicated,” he murmurs, his voice a plea for mercy.

“Then, uncomplicate it.” I lean into his touch, searching his eyes for any shred of truth. “Because I won’t stick around just to have a future dangled in front of me then ripped away. I can’t live like that, Theo. I can handle a lot, but not this. I deserve better than that. I deserve the truth.”

His heart beats so frantically that I can hear the rapid thumping clear as day.

“Whatever it is, just tell me,” I plead with him.

Theo’s shoulders slump, his eyes pinching shut as if every breath pains him. He stands and turns away from me, his back rigid as he walks to the window overlooking the castle’s gardens. The moonlight casts silver streaks through his dark hair, and for a moment, I can almost see the man behind the crown—the man who’s lived with a darkness no one else understands.

“I never should’ve been king,” he says so quietly that I almost don’t hear him. “I don’t belong here, and the things I’ve done to stay?” He shakes his head, still hanging in despair. “You’ll never forgive me, Estee.”

The pain in his voice keeps me in my chair. I’m afraid to go to him, of what he may admit. Maybe I don’t want to know.

Yet, if there’s any chance for any of this to be real, for Theo to be my mate, there can’t be any secrets. Not even ones that could ruin us.

“Try me,” I say patiently.

Slowly, he turns to face me, and when our eyes meet, it’s like staring into a storm—fierce and chaotic, with a darkness ready to consume everything in its path. I don’t flinch away. I hold his gaze, unyielding, demanding that he let me see the truth, no matter how ugly it might be.

“I killed King Airik,” he finally says, each word heavy with a bleakness that fills the room like smoke. “I killed him and took his crown when it wasn’t mine to take.”

For a moment, I don’t breathe. I can’t. The world goes still around me, the air freezing in my lungs. I hear his words—feel the weight of them settle in my bones—but my mind fights accepting them as truth. This was exactly what I didn’t want to hear, the one thing I might not be able to forgive.

My mate is a murderer.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

THEO

Estee’s eyes are sharp—clear and searing in their demand. They pin me down like a blade, cutting through every defense I’ve clung to for so long. There’s nowhere to hide, no corner dark enough to bury what I’ve done, and the guilt of my secrets claws at me, threatening to spill out in a wild torrent. Her body trembles and she pulses with an intensity likely built from her need to hear my truth. I know that if I don’t lay everything bare, I’ll lose her. I might anyway, but at least I’ll have done everything I could to keep her.

“Why did you kill him?” Her voice is rough, like gravel scraping against glass, filled with confusion and the unmistakable sting of betrayal. She wants to know, but she doesn’t know what she’s asking for.

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