The Immortal King

19: Hopefully.

I awoke to last night’s fog absent from my eyes. On account of it’s disappearance, my fresh brain did not think twice to question it. Instead, my mind replayed last night’s events over and over again.

We mated. 

My eyes remained glued to the ceiling as I attempted to grasp what it all meant. 

I should have probably been ecstatic that my pending rejection was no longer floating over me, but in the moment, I could not be. Oddly enough, there was a comfort in knowing what was to come before, but now... 

Where were we supposed to go from here?

Per usual, my thoughts drifted to Sebastien who, I assumed, was sleeping next to me. I say assume because I did not have enough courage to turn my head and look at him. 

Unlike the other times we’d woken up with one another, he was not touching nor holding me. He must have been pissed.  

Could I blame him though? The same night that he discovers that my ex attacked the palace and that I ‘could’ have possibly been apart of it was the same night we mated. 

Could he think I seduced him? Could he think last night was a trap? 

My brows furrowed in worry as I shifted uncomfortably in the direction of Sebastien. Maybe a little more sleep would help put my mind at ease. 

My breath hitched at the sight of his natural green orbs staring back at me. 

How long had he been awake? 

His head rested on his arms as he lay inches away from me on his stomach. His face was blank, but I could feel the mix of emotions oozing from him. So much so, I would have thought they were my own.

He was angry and confused, more so the latter. 

No words were spoken between us. 

The more I looked at him, the more flashbacks of last night plagued my thoughts. In the time that I had known him, I had never seen him as disheveled as I did last night. I could have only imagined the actions he took when he stormed out on his own because with me, they were very sporadic and unlike him.

The Sebastien I knew was orderly and proper, but last night, he was reckless and uncontrolled.

It was both frightening and arousing.

As it always did when thinking about Sebastien, my mind drifted to our passionate encounter. Suddenly, images of him on top of me popped into my head.

When the position between us got too intense, I averted my eyes and decided that this would be a good time to get out of bed. 

When I sat up to gather the sheet beneath the duvet to cover my naked body, I noticed the amount of dried blood which previously surrounded me.

A gasp escaped my lips toward the dried puddles trailing from my pillow to where my lower body lay. I then took the moment to peek at my own body and my eyes widened at the healing wounds and blood stains that covered me. 

A blush crept to my cheeks at the sight. I shot Sebastien a glance only to see that he was still staring at me, as if our bed did not resemble a crime scene. My eyes quickly left his as I awkwardly wrapped the sheet around me and walked to the bathroom.

During my travels, I could feel his eyes following me. The soreness of my body did the same with every step I took. 

When I got in front of the mirror above the grand sink, I unwrapped myself to see the damage. 

Another gasp left my lips as I examined my body.

Had I been murdered and brought back to life?

My hands trailed my body as I winced when it came in contact with my tender spots. On my inner thighs, I could see his hand prints and both sides of my hips held red wholes from where his claws dug into me. 

I blushed as the flashbacks from the previous night returned. As my hands continued upward, more red prints and claw marks ensued until I finally got to my neck. 

The bite mark began at the side of my neck and ended at the tip of my collar bone. Heat came over me as I grazed my fingers on top of the sore bloody slashes. 

Oh this is gonna scar, I groaned. Unfortunately, the mark was not healing at the same speed as the rest of my body. Maybe, because it was a more intentional attack than the others.

My brows furrowed as the mark grew irritated the more I touched it. Tiny droplets of blood exited the wound when I applied enough pressure around it.

On my left hung some wash towels. I grabbed one, wet it, and attempted to clean off the blood. It helped a little, but the mark was still mortifying to look at. In my opinion, it depreciated my good looks severely.

“That’s not going to do much”, I damn near screeched at the sound of Sebastien’s deep voice behind me. I must not have noticed him walking, or should I say, stalking in because I was so concentrated on the mark. 

I immediately turned around to a naked Sebastien staring back at me. My first instinct was to grab the sheet on the floor to cover my own so that he would not see my wounds. 

Sebastien’s brows furrowed in response and my eyes averted elsewhere so that we were no longer making eye contact. 

My eyes remained glued to my toes as Sebastien made his way over to me. I was not sure what I was so cautious about, but as he walked closer, I attempted to back away. Unfortunately, my ass cheeks were already pushing against the counter in no time. 

Sebastien came so close to me that I had to avert my eyes to his chest because looking down became less practical. 

“Here”, I could hear him biting into his flesh before he pushed his wrist against my lips, “It will help with the healing” 

As I hesitantly took his wrist into my mouth, Sebastien ran his fingertips along the mark causing me to wince. 

I would not have known if this was an act of pride or confusion, as I did not want to look at him.

“As the days go on, it will heal better”, He then backed away a step so that I could turn around and see for myself, “But for now, this will stop the bleeding”

I awkwardly turned around and though, still hideous, the blood hindered. 

“Will we have to do that everyday?”, I cringed at how softly my voice came out, like I was afraid of him. I don’t know why, but I suddenly felt so small under his gaze. It was similar to the feeling I held to please him when I was in heat. 

“No”, He answered before tugging at my sheet. 

My brows furrowed as I tightened the sheet around me and shook my head.

Sebastien tugged again, “Can I see? Did I hurt you?”

His tone sounded concerned which caused me to idiotically look into his green orbs. As I suspected, they held worry. Though I did not want to, I unwrapped the sheet from around me. Most of the “healing” wounds that were present before had actually healed, I assumed, because of his blood.

Still though, his handprints were all over me and the wholes from his claws were fading. 

I froze as Sebastien’s fingers trailed against the wholes and his prints.

“Were there more before?”, There was still space between us, but in the mirror, it looked as if he were right on top of me. Again.

I silently nodded as flashbacks assaulted my memory. 

“Sorry”, He whispered. I know I was supposed to take it as a sincere apology, but my body registered it as his breath against my ear. This sent tingles throughout my body. 

Another nod left me as his hand reached my mark and yet again grazed it. His eyes darkened a little.

“What does it mean?”, I spoke shakily. Hopefully a little education could get my mind off of the things I wanted him to do to me. I needed to change the subject before my n*****s got hard and things really got embarrassing. 

Sebastien averted his eyes from the mark to mine through the mirror before bending down to grab the sheet for me to engulf in again. He must have been having the same thoughts as I.

He then changed his position so that he was now next to me and not behind. A blush rose to my cheeks as he turned on the sink faucet and splashed himself with cold water.

Mates were only common among royalty and/or pack leadership so I was not really keen on what exactly a “mark” meant. 

“It means that we are going to have a really difficult time keeping our hands off of one another”, He spoke as he grabbed two wash towels, one for his face for now, and I assume the other for his upcoming shower.

“Seriously, Sebastien”, I attempted to be stern, but my voice was still soft causing me to cringe. “Or will I have to wait and be surprised like last time?”

Sebastien scoffed a chuckle at my sarcasm. He then leaned on the counter and looked at me through the mirror.

“Okay, well for you, it is going to make you more submissive”, He began as I toyed with the sheet, “Like before, you will have the strong urge to satisfy me all the time. It does not have to be just sexually either. You are going to probably get clingy, more prone to jealousy, and all that good stuff”

I rolled my eyes in disgust toward him. So in other words, I was going to become his groupie. 

Sebastien ignored my actions and continued, “Something else is that we can feel one another’s emotions, but only if they are strong. For example, if I am really angry with you, you would actually be able to feel my emotions surging through you”

“What about you?”, I inquired wondering how any of this meant for him, “You can just turn off your emotions. So how does marking me personally effect you?”

Sebastien stood and used his arm as support, “Well, I can’t really turn off my humanity for you anymore. Even if I were to do it to everyone else, you get to know how I’m really feeling”

His eyes narrowed before lowering his voice, “The mark makes me weak for you”

I tilted my head as Sebastien awkwardly shifted. As if the tone of our conversation had completely changed and he had realized something.

He then furrowed his brows and looked from the floor back to me.

“Which is why we will no longer be sharing a quarters”, Ugh, this again?

My brows furrowed in confusion. Before I could question anything, Sebastien was already speaking.

“Look Liz, I believe your story”, My slow brain had not yet processed what he was going on about, “But it would be stupid of me to turn a blind eye to the fact that he is your ex and he attacked the same kingdom you have continuously professed your hate toward up until awhile ago”

When I finally understood what he was insinuating, I realized that I could not even be shocked nor would it have been appropriate for me to be angry. I predicted it anyway. 

All I could do was prove to Sebastien that I had nothing to do with Eric. 

Though his eyes were in their green state, I sensed the change in his demeanor which caused that similar odd mix of fear and arousal I felt when I saw him so unhinged last night. 

Sebastien stood straight and cupped my cheek with both hands and lifted my face so that our eyes were glued to one another’s, “Before I am your mate, I am a King”

My heart pounded, “And if I have to kill my mate for the sake of my kingdom’s safety, I will” 

Tears brimmed my eyes as I nodded in understanding and he removed himself. 

“So, for now I think it is best that you stay in my mother’s old chambers until we have figured it out”, He spoke, as if un-phased. It was not Sebastien speaking, it was the King, someone I had not seen since I was kidn*pped for my return. 

“Another prison cell? Lovely”, I spoke sarcastically as I wiped away a stray tear, “I hope it’s prettier than this one”

“Before you awoke, I ordered the maids to prepare it for you. One of them are just outside my door...” He trailed ignoring my previous outburst and making his way toward the shower, “She will lead you there”

He then turned on the faucet and tested the temperature of the water, “See you tomorrow night”

So many things were occurring in the moment and it made it difficult for my brain to process.

“What’s tomorrow night?”, I inquired. 

“A royal gala”, He spoke before getting in the shower. After the attack? I don’t know why I was surprised. It would be very like the royals to party when their palace was literally on fire the night before.

As the shower ran, I did not bother to ask any more questions. Regardless of my displeasure for the idea, I was probably going to be forced to go anyway. As I awkwardly walked out of the chambers, my mind trailed to Sebastien’s threat. It did not matter how far along I thought we were in our relationship, I had always managed to get myself on his bad side with worsening consequences.

Before I exited his bedroom altogether, I exhausted my screams of agitation into the nearest pillow.

For my sake, I hoped that I would not have to get to the point of near death for me to learn that I needed to stop testing him.