Page 43 of Dark & Dreadful Brutes

He scowled. “Of course it occurred to me.”

“But you didn’t do it!”

“I had no idea when I was looking for you that you’d be my fated mate—or that I’d find myself attracted to you. This situation is difficult for me too, Lae. I’m being hunted by one of the very few beings in this world who stand a chance of killing me, and if I die, there’s a good chance my kingdom dies with me.” His words were low, his chest rumbly and unhappy. “It’s not just my life on the line here.”

I… hadn’t considered that. “Why would your kingdom die? If you would just talk to me, we wouldn’t be having this issue.” I gestured between us, swimming in a tiny but deep bathing pool, fully dressed.

Or at least, as fully dressed as it got when you were a fae.

“It’s complicated.”

I scowled, pushing out of his arms so I could tread water myself. My back brushed the stone edge of the small bathing pool. “Get out of my room if you’re not going to speak to me like I’m your equal.”

He growled at me, “You drive me insane, woman.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

Ravv shoved his curls out of his eyes. “It’s not a short story.”

“Look at me. I have nothing but time.”

“There was a cult that slaughtered mated pairs a few centuries ago. They were afraid of the power mated couples possessed. My mother and father were the queen and king of Loire at that point—and they were fated, so they were one of the first targets. They narrowly dodged multiple attempts on their life before deciding to go underground, literally.”

My eyebrows lifted. “The underground city you found?”

“Yes. They ran from battle like cowards—one of the worst shames a fae can take on their shoulders. They left my twin sister and I to determine who would rule, but Ria had already joined the cult.”

“Your sister tried to kill your parents?”

“Yes. Outside of the cult, our people wouldn’t follow her. Most unmated fae didn’t despise mates, they just hadn’t found anyone they wished to spend their eternity with.”

“So you took over.”

“Yes. At twenty-years-old.”

Damn.

I was twenty-three, and I couldn’t imagine ruling over anyone. I could barely keep my own shit together.

Then again, I’d spent much of my life in a cellar, battling my own flames unsuccessfully.

“What did your sister do?”

“Built her own damn army of those who despise mated pairs and set her mind to find the hidden half of our kingdom.”

“Did she find them?”

“It took a few decades, but she did. Then, our civil war began.”

“Your civil war?”

“Yes. My army has been fighting to keep the damned Vuuths and Jirevs from taking over our kingdom, while my sister and her group of bastards have been at war with the mated city beneath our land. Even now while I’m here, they fight. The cult’s numbers are dwindling, but they’ll war until the bitter end.”

“Then who are all the people here?” I gestured toward the hallway. The guy I’d kissed had been single, but his friend had a life partner, so they couldn’t have been anti-mate.

“The warriors who care more about survival than a squabble about mating bonds.” Ravv’s shoulder blades hit the back of the bathing pool, and he pulled himself out. My eyes followed the swell of his biceps as he moved. “If they discover what we are to each other, there’s a damn good chance my warriors will be forced to take sides. And if they take sides, the civil war will escalate, instead of continually shrinking.”

“And which side would you choose?” I asked him.

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