The Rejected Wolf Princess

Debt

Evie’s POV

As soon as Ty takes the first step to follow me, Father rounds on him. “Your services won’t be needed for this, Tyler.”

So they weren’t here together. Ty was here for me, and Father showed up.

I glance back at Ty, but he isn’t looking at me. He’s watching my father with a stony expression. “All due respect, Your Majesty, but the vow I took to protect your daughter rendered my services always needed. I will, of course, be happy to stand out of earshot outside the royal solar.”

Did he just refuse an order from the king?

He’s so brave. So stupid, but so brave.

I want him so badly. Can’t Father just leave so I can drag him into my room and let him have his way with me the way Brooks had his way with Marisa? The thought of him pounding into me like that, touching me, making me cry out…

“Fine,” Father grunts, snapping me back to reality. “Out of earshot.”

Ty won’t be out of earshot; I know that. Rather than irritating me, though, the knowledge fills me with warmth and comfort. I want him to listen in. I want him to hear every conversation I have from now on. I want him to never leave my side.

We clamber down the hall and into the east wing, where the royal solar is, in silence. I glance back at Ty half a dozen times as we walk, but he never meets my gaze.

Why isn’t he meeting my gaze? Surely he doesn’t expect me to take the advice he gave before I went to bed and lie about this, right? Surely he was just saying it out of, I don’t know… a sense of obligation?

I scan the royal solar for Mother when we step inside, but I don’t see her. She’s probably back in the bedroom, sleeping. Good. I got enough out of her the other day.

“Tell me, then,” Father says, closing the door behind him with a final glare in Ty’s direction. “Is it Tristan?”

“No.”

His face morphs instantly, the same way Mother’s did the other day. He’s devastated, though, where she was angry. That’s something, isn’t it?

“Who is it?” he asks, though his tone suggests that he very much dreads the answer.

I part my lips to answer him, but something inside me stops me.

Lie, Evie.

It’s her—my wolf. Why is she telling me to lie about this? Was she not the one who told me not to lie?

You must protect Ty. The time to announce your feelings to the world will come.

But he’s listening, I remind her. If I lie, he might think—

He knows, Evie. He knows.

I take a deep breath, then set my jaw and tell my father, “I haven’t met him yet. He isn’t a Crescent wolf. I saw his face in my dreams last night, but it wasn’t a face I recognized.”

Father holds my gaze for a moment, then sighs with relief, apparently buying the lie. “Good. That’s good. It will be much easier for you to lie about Tristan that way.”

I groan. “Not you, too. It’s against the law, Father. It’s blasphemy.”

“I know, sweetheart, and I’m sorry. But you have to understand—the rules for commonfolk don’t apply to people like us. You are a princess, and your obligation is to your family and your kingdom.”

“But why is it so important to my family and my kingdom that I marry Tristan?” I demand. “He’s just a Gibbous. We’re the Crescents.”

He sighs, running a hand through his long, thinning gray hair. “We owe the Gibbouses a lot of money.”

They’re not your closest allies; they’re your richest allies.

Did Ty know about this debt when he said those words to me?

“It’s just money,” I say, shaking my head. “We’ll increase taxes. We’ll sell off jewels. We’ll—”

“I could quadruple taxes and sell off all of Crescent City, and I still wouldn’t be able to pay them half the money I owe them, Evie.”

I can hardly believe my ears. How is this possible? The Crescents have only been in power for twenty years. How could we have gone so far into debt in such a short period of time?

“The betrothal was the repayment,” Father continues. “Without the marriage, I am in default. I won’t be able to pay my men—my soldiers—my guards. It will put the entire monarchy at risk.”

“But our men are Crescent guards,” I stammer. “Surely they wouldn’t betray us over money?”

His eyes are dark and far away. “It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve seen it happen.”

Is he suggesting that he bribed the Red guards to turn against their own Alpha and king twenty years ago—or, at least, that Grandfather Collum did?

“You must marry Tristan, Evie,” he tells me, taking my hands in his. “If you don’t, you will doom us all.”

- - - - -

When I step back out of my father’s solar, I find Ty on the other side of the door, waiting for me.

He still isn’t looking at me.

I walk in silence next to him for several seconds—long enough for us to get safely out of earshot of my father. Once we are, I ask him softly, “Did you know?”

There are a thousand ways he could interpret my question, but he picks the correct one. If that isn’t a sign that we’re meant to be together, I don’t know what is. “Some—not all. I assumed that your family's debt to the Gibbouses was the reason your parents were pushing so hard for the marriage, but I certainly didn’t know the extent of it.”

How is he speaking so casually when it’s our lives we’re talking about—our love?

It’s enough to make me feel crazy.

I glance carefully around. We’ve made it to the stairwell, and we’re on the halfway platform, safely out of sight of the nearest guards. I come to a stop and turn to face him fully.

“Evie.” He still isn’t looking at me. “We need to get you back to your room.”

“No.” I cross my arms. “Not until you look at me.”

The muscles in his jaw tighten, and it seems to take a whole lot of will power, but finally he forces himself to look back at me.

Pure, surging electricity flows through us the second our eyes meet. I’m sure it’s not just me. It can’t just be me. Right?

“You know I lied,” I whisper. “You know who it is.”

He shakes his head. He doesn’t look away from me, though. “Don’t say it, Evie.”

I take a step closer to him. The electricity only intensifies. I can feel every hair on my body standing on end. “You feel it, too,” I murmur. “I know you do.”

For another second—maybe even two—he holds my gaze. The longing, love, and desperation in his eyes mirrors my own, and I’m sure that he’s going to grab me and kiss me and save me from this torture.

But then he looks away from me and says, “You’re wrong.”

Pain. Stabbing, aching, miserable pain shoots through me as sharply as the electricity did only seconds ago.

“What?” I whisper.

“You’re not my true mate, Evie. She’s a wolf from my pack—one of the ones who went into exile after the uprising.”

Tears spring to my eyes, and my hand flies to my mouth. I can hear my wolf in my head, trying to convince me that he’s lying, that he’s just trying to protect me, but I don’t believe her. Why would he lie about this? Why would he deny his feelings? Why would he want to hurt me?

“You need to reject me,” he says. “Reject me as your true mate, and you stand a chance of getting Tristan as your second-chance mate. Even if he isn’t, at least you’ll know that the person your wolf chose isn’t someone you have to spend so much time with.”

Ignore that request, my wolf tells me. Obviously.

I have no intention of rejecting Ty, but I’m still not remotely sure what to make of all this. He wants me to reject him so that I can keep spending every waking moment with him? He wants to remain my bodyguard, even given all that’s happening?

“I’m not rejecting you, Ty. If you’re so certain your true mate is off in another kingdom, why don’t you reject me?”

He stiffens so sharply, I’m inclined to believe my wolf’s assertion that he’s lying.

“It hurts the rejected party more than it hurts the rejector,” he says. “Especially if the rejector never felt the pull of the mating bond in the first place. I’m your protector, Evie. I can’t cause you pain.”

I manage a dry, choked, angry laugh at that. “Too late,” I tell him, wiping my eyes and straightening. “You already have.”