Page 53 of Forsaken Royals

She buried her face in my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her. We stayed that way for several beats, just soaking each other in. Finally, she looked up at me, a touch of hope in her eyes again.

“It feels like there’s so much out of my control, but being here is settling me,” she said. “It’s a lot. With Tommy and my parents…”

“I get it. Itisa lot.” I gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“I want to forget for now.”

I smirked, letting my hands wander around her back and ass as I buried my face in her neck. “I can help you forget.”

But then, our stomachs growled in quick succession, and we both laughed.

“We can always do that later. Macaroni and cheese will be a good distraction.” She went over to fill a pot with water. “Can you boil it for me?”

Once she had it filled and on the stove, I waved a hand over it to get it boiling. She turned on the burner to keep it going and dumped the macaroni into it.

“I’m excited about the macaroni, but I kind of wish you were cooking something I could light on fire.” I conjured a ball of fire the size of a marble and wove it between my fingers.

She snorted, turning back to the counter. “Were you that kid that enjoyed burning stuff when you came into your powers?”

“Yep. And when I found out I was a demon shifter, it was even more intense.”

“I bet.” She unwrapped some cheese and started grating it. “I knew a lot of kids like that. But they ended up in prison pretty fast.”

“If I wasn’t from a Royal family, I would have been right there with them. I got away with a lot of shit.” I extinguished the fire I was playing with. “But at some point, it was a little much. Then I just learned how to get away with stuff.”

Arden’s smile grew. “I wonder how we would have felt about each other if we’d met as teenagers. I was always getting into trouble, too. I started off with little jobs, like stealing stuff for families that had fallen on hard times or whatever. And that eventually led to working with the Forsaken Lunars.”

“I really doubt you were as bad as I was.” I snorted. “You weren’t a spoiled little asshole who hadn’t had life kick you in the ass yet. As much as I hated it when my mother walked out on us, or when I was stuck with my stepmother after my father died, I grew from the opportunities. Became less selfish. But it took events of that magnitude to push me in that direction. You, on the other hand, were independent and got there on your own. “

Arden hadn’t had a family or stability. She hadn’t had any money or anyone to lean on growing up. Yet she had survived and hadn’t let that shit get to her.

“Well.” She shrugged. “That’s just how it is.”

“How are you just shrugging at that?” I asked.

“At what? Not being spoiled? Or being an asshole teenager?”

“Any of it. You managed all of it alone. That’s pretty fucking incredible.” I swallowed. “I struggled, even though I wasn’t completely alone. But people left me in the past. It’s still something I struggle with, being abandoned.”

I hadn’t admitted that aloud to anyone before, but Arden was one of the few I trusted with this part of myself. She pulled me into a hug again, the tightness in my chest loosening.

“I’ll never leave,” she said, looking right into my eyes.

Something clicked deep inside of me, in a part of myself I didn’t know existed. Arden and I were meant to be, more than just lovers. She was my mate. Even though I didn’t know it was there moments ago, it expanded through my entire being. I’d never been so sure about anything in my life. She was mine and always would be. She was a part of my soul.

Priests had driven the idea that fated mates were a gift from the Mystic into my brain since I was a child. I’d sat in the temples during their ceremonies, thinking their sermons were bullshit. But now, all of their words weren’t enough to describe the rush of emotions going through me. They were hollow in comparison to the real thing, almost comically so. Were there even words that fit this feeling?

How was I so lucky? Some never even found love, and I’d found something beyond that. I already had more than enough—an entire kingdom. But now I had her, and she was worth more than all of that. She was my entire reason for existing now. I already knew I’d kill for her without much prompting, but now I’d raze an entire city if it meant keeping her safe. No questions asked.

My feelings were overwhelming enough, but I also felt Arden’s elation. She was so overwhelmed that she couldn’t speak.

Her eyes widened. “You feel that, too?”

“Yeah.” I grinned, pulling her into a kiss. I thought kissing her before was unreal, but kissing her as my mate was indescribable. Every nerve I had buzzed, like an electrical current ran through me.

Arden broke the kiss, wrapping herself around me again. I held her, resting my chin on top of her head.

“‘I love you’ doesn’t really describe it,” she said. “But I still love Flint and Lex.”

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