Chapter 0054
Violet
And there it is.
It was almost disappointing how predictable it was. The suspicions and speculations that had been building at the back of my mind all snapped together like a portrait. This visit was never about Theodore.
It was about me. It had likely been about me from the moment that Theodore had decided to announce our engagement the way he had. If Owen was smart or at least cunning, he likely knew that Theodore was supposed to help me with Lucas. He might not know we had a contract, but getting me free of Lucas was required if I was going to be his luna.
He might not have anticipated Theodore picking me up to fulfill his idiot requirement for Shelter, but whoever Theodore had picked up to be his luna, would have been brought here for this very moment all the same.
The only question was why.
I looked over at Theodore whose expression was oddly guarded. I cocked an eyebrow at him. He must have seen the desire to tell him I told you in my eyes because he looked away quickly.
Owen continued on, his voice dripping with malice and arrogance. I didn’t look away from Theodore, waiting for him to face me, to own up to it, but he didn’t, and that gave me more questions than answers.
What was I missing in all this? Owen’s malice was obvious, but there was something else in Theodore’s reaction.
“This isn’t what we agreed on,” he said slowly.
“Agreed on?” Owen asked, his voice rough. “I am the alpha king. There is only what I command and what you will obey. There is no agreement if I say there isn’t one.”
Theodore grit his teeth, and I realized that he still thought this was about Shelter.
I held back a scoff, looking between Owen and Theodore. Owen’s insecurity about the throne wasn’t because of anything Theodore did or didn’t do. It was about what Owen couldn’t control. It was about his inferiority complex.
Owen would have never given up a chance to become alpha king. He also couldn’t have turned an insult into an asset. Theodore, for all of his arrogance, was a skilled and ambitious man. A good man, too. I swallowed. The Shelter Project was really the only thing he could hold over Theodore’s head, and now, Theodore’s decision to help me. Just when I thought I couldn’t lose any more respect for him as the alpha king.
Revolution never looked so appealing.
On the bright side, Owen was bluffing for the most part. He didn’t have the power to outright
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Chapter 0054
+25 BONUS
give Darkmoon to Lucas, not easily and not without consequences he couldn’t afford. But the hollow, almost haunted look on Theodore’s face, the way he gripped his silverware, gave me
pause.
Fear.
He was afraid, and that was not something I had anticipated. It bothered me. Arrogant, swaggering, even furious Theodore I could handle, but fearful?
I thought of my father. He told me that good men were trouble to anyone in power because they couldn’t be bought, and they could only be controlled by their own goodness. He told me to beware a good man who decides to stop being good.
Was Theodore seeing a time in the future where he would stop being good, or was there something else to that look? A large part of me didn’t want to find out. I placed my hand on his. His attention snapped to me, and our gazes met. His hand shook, but I pressed it still, trying to ground him and tell him that it would all be alright.
“We haven’t chosen the cake yet.” His eyes widened. The fear eased, and his hand relaxed a little. “We’ll be home soon.”
I looked at Owen.
“We make the stone glow, and we go back to Midnight. No protests, right? And the next time we see each other is at the wedding.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Perhaps.”
“Oh, are you going to put us up indefinitely?” I smiled. He flinched. Theodore’s hand twitched in mine. “Just imagine having us across the table every mealtime. I have a lot of uncomfortable questions to ask, and how long do you think before the people of Midnight start aksing questions? The Capital? Half the city saw us enter. I wonder what people will say
))
I beamed and looked off with a dreamy smile.
“Maybe they’ll wonder if we’re holding the ceremony at the temple the way my parents did, or
Owen flushed. “I have no need for you here after I’m certain of your bond.”
“That’s still not a guarantee.”
“I assure you, I will send you off as soon as possible.”
“Good, I still have to pick out flowers.” I gestured vaguely. “Shall we get on with this?”
