Bound By Legend

CHAPTER SIX: YOU PROVOKE HER

REVERIE POV

Grandmother Satori insisted I stay with her for a few days. Against my better judgment–or maybe even thanks to my solid judgment–I agreed. It’s time for her yearly checkup anyway. My steps were light as I went through the mental notes to chart before it was time to pass the records to her new physician for her future care.

My fingers danced across the cell notes app as I rounded the corner. The disgusting, peachy, fake-floral scent of Delilah and the harsh, citrusy orange scent of Kieran assaulted my senses before their hushed voices did. My steps slowed, more just because I wanted to avoid them both. I rolled my eyes, concealed my presence, and turned to walk the opposite direction until…

“She thinks she is so smart. With her tests. Her eagle-eye observation. She is so infuriatingly perfect. Ugh, I had to do something before she ruined everything at the hospital,” Delilah whined.

I froze.

Kieran laughed. “Well, I obviously knew that.”

I turned to look at my mate and his mistress in the courtyard.

She smirked and straddled him on the bench. “Did you know it might have been me that sent the leak out about that very event?”

Kieran ran his hands across her body possessively as they ground against one another. “Well, Mrs. Solvane, of course I knew that. I know everything. I had to clean up your little leak because it was so disorganized and almost made its way back to you. Do you have any idea how hard I had to work to fix that mess? Next time, come to me first.”

My body trembled. From rage? My fist clenched. My wolf bristled under the surface, and my bones threatened to transform; a crack signaled Kamari’s intent. I swallowed it down as I concealed my presence further.

Delilah let out a mischievous giggle. “You aren’t mad at me? What about your wife?”

“Reverie knows her place. She won’t cause trouble. She never does…” he teased her mouth with his.

“She’s been making a lot of trouble lately.” She muttered and pouted.

Kieran pulled her hair. “Because you provoke her. You keep testing me, Delilah. Reverie has only shown her teeth now because you won’t obey my orders.”

“I’m tired of waiting, Ki. It’s been seven years.”

“You chose my brother seven years ago. The irony is not lost on me that you are crawling back into my bed now. Do you think I am still a lovesick fool?”

Delilah glared at him and moved to get off his lap. “You are defending her. You want her don’t you?”

But he gripped her hips and pulled her back down. “I am the Alpha. Have I made her my Luna? Do you see me chasing after her? The crown is yours. It always has been. But we do this my way. Not yours. Not my mother’s. Not my sister’s. Reverie is useful. She does what she needs to, and never asks for more. You will do well to follow her example until I tell you otherwise.”

Delilah’s smile turned predatory. “Understood, Alpha. She needs to know her place is below mine.”

“Reverie knows exactly where she stands. Do not interfere.”

Anger boiled over inside of me. I had always known my marriage–despite being a fated match — was a farce, but to know there was literally less than nothing between us?

Reverie is useful.

Reverie knows her place.

She won’t cause trouble.

She never does.

Their words mocked me on repeat. Kieran, of all people, knew what I’d sacrificed for the Solvane Pack. Did he simply forget my strength altogether? Is that what I have become? Or had he never even truly looked at me and seen who I am?

The marriage between Kieran and I wasn’t just loveless. It was transactional, forced. This marriage was a prison, and I wasn’t just neglected. Grandmother Satori may have been the only one who accepted me in that pack; she’d brought me in with the promise of an eternal sanctuary.

Yet, at no fault of her own, what did I get instead? Transformed into a chess piece on a board in a game no one told me I was meant to play. I was just a pawn in Solvane Frost’s reindeer games.

No rules.

No explanations.

Just the weight of expectation endlessly suffocating.

The disgusting sound of flesh meeting flesh tore me from my thoughts, and I silently slipped away.

My mind was a mess as I entered Grandmother Satori’s room. She offered a sad smile.

“The decisions weigh heavily on you, child,” she noted.

“It isn’t the decision truly. That ship has sailed. It’s the aftermath. The logistics. Everything that happens in between.”

She waited patiently as I conducted her yearly exams and blood testing. “I never should’ve brought you here,” She said sadly.

I placed a hand on her arm. “Grandmother Satori. Don’t say that. Being in Solvane Frost is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.”

She shook her head. “You don’t have to lie to me.”

Grandmother Satori, of course, didn’t know about Rhiannon. The greatest gift she’d ever given me in life was my daughter, because she brought me to her pack. Had she never done that? Rhiannon would never exist, and I could never regret that.

“It isn’t a lie. I am eternally grateful to you, Grandmother Satori. You tried to give me a home. It isn’t your fault it didn’t work out.”

“You are far too good for Solvane Frost anyway. That much is clear.”

We laughed as I finished her exam.

“Well. Everything looks great. I will compile everything for your incoming physician to make sure everything is in order.”

“I know you will. Is there any way I can reimburse you for everything you’ve brought to us? I can give you a home on the outside border, away from everything. A home, your own vehicle. I have my own separate accounts I can sign over to you that Kieran can’t touch. He won’t let you go easily. I know that for sure.”

“Which is why we put the automatic dissolution clause in there.”

She nodded. “Yes. I know. I just can’t fathom the idea of you not being cared for. I have a friend in a neighboring pack who recently lost his mate. I think the two of you would pair nicely. He is a very successful artist; the two of you could help each other.”

“I appreciate the thought, Grandmother Satori; I truly do, but honestly? I don’t want to do this again. Ever again. I am ready to live for myself.” Plus, I need to protect Rhiannon. No one can find out she exists, especially not Kieran.

“I understand…”

“If you are worried about the press, I promise to keep it quiet. I don’t plan to take anything but my own personal belongings with me, and I don’t intend to make things difficult. I just want my life back.”

“Thank you for everything.” She smiled. “Come bid me farewell before you leave.”

I nodded. Yet, we both knew I wouldn’t.

I turned and walked out of the room. I needed to leave before emotions took over. With a heavy heart, I looked down at my phone to realize I had recorded the entire thing. The recorder from my earlier research had never been switched off.

Which meant, I’d been recording everything from the courtyard to the conversation with Grandmother Satori.

I looked up at the moon and smirked. Thank you, Moon Goddess.