The Shadow Twin

Chapter 4 - First standoff

I open the door to my room and heard the shower getting turned off. Hoping and kind of expecting it was Sheila I made my way to the door, while trying to remove the bowtie I was still wearing. I opened the bathroom door, and a naked Leigh was standing on the other side of it trying to hide her body behind a towel. My wolf growled and took over for a split second. I closed the door, not completely in control of my own body. He wanted to Mark her right here, right now. To show the world that she belonged to us and nobody else. His intense desire for this human made me snap and I walked up to her.

“In case you didn’t get it the first time. There is only one woman in my life and there will always only be her by my side. You mean nothing to me. I can’t have you moved to another room, so I will have MY room made into, to separate rooms, so I don’t have to have you any closer to my, than necessary.” I hissed at her while my wolfs desire for her made my blood boil.

“Excuse me? What gave you the idea that you could talk to me this way?” She stepped closer to me and mirrored my stance, challenging me. I lost my temper once again, grabbing hold of her shoulders and pushing her up against the tiles on the wall behind her. I heard the air leaving her lungs, but I didn’t care. Well, my wolf did, and he was howling at me. Extremely angry with my treatment of her. But no one gets away with challenging me like that.

“I can talk to you how ever I see fit… And I’m not sleeping in the same bed as you.” I fought to keep my wolf under control, by letting go of her and taking a step back. She breath in harshly and then glared at me.

“Thank god for that, cause I don’t want you near me.” She was angry, which just pissed me of more and I smashed her up against the tiles one more time. I heard the small cracks when her back hit the tiles again and my wolf howled in pain. His behavior was fueling my own.

“Why agree to the marriage if you already had a woman in your life?” She struggled against my grip, not that she had a chance against my strength. Her spirit was strong though, she stood up to me without a hint of fear. Something that made my heart flutter and heat started to raise, where I was touching her. I instantly let go of her and she crashed to the floor scraping her knees.

“I don’t owe the likes of you an explanation.” I took another step away from her, struggling with the control as the blood started to pile underneath her knees. s**t, I hurt her. I didn’t mean to, but I did… f**k it, she deserved it, I told myself or I tried to convince myself of that. I shouldn’t care about this human. Her body heat started to raise, and which made my wolf crazy. His desire for her came back and I clenched my jaw tight, while looking away from her. This was torture. Why the f**k was my wolf lusting for this poor excuse of a woman, when we already had a Mate? Then someone knocked on the door.

“Come in.” I called before thinking about the scene that the person was walking into.

“Sire.” The maid looked around the room, taking in Leigh sitting on the floor with blood surrounding her and myself just standing there, not doing anything. The maid looked down at the floor tiles with red flustered cheeks.

“The King and Queen is asking for you… They want you to come to his study and that it’s urgent.” The maid looked up at me for a second, with a hint of sympathy in her eyes and I rushed towards the door. The maid got out of my way seconds before I would have hit her. I just couldn’t stay in that room any longer.

“Get that cleaned up before I come back.” I hissed at the maid, who bowed and nodded her head. The hatred for Leigh came rushing back even stronger than before. Now the maid thought I was a wife beater. f*****g Leigh and her life ruining ways.

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I didn’t care for knocking at the door to my dads’ study. I just walked right in, and my parents looked up and then smiled when they saw me. I didn’t smile back though.

“What is it this time?” I hissed at them, and they gave me a disapproving glare.

“That’s no way to talk to your parents, boy.” My dad hissed back but stopped when my mother put a hand on his arm.

“I know the marriage was quite the surprise Kayden and we are sorry for springing it on you like that. We really tried to find a way out of it, but Empress Aimil just wasn’t having it. She wanted princess Leigh to marry the heir and not one of the heir’s brothers. We are sorry that this is going to come between you and Sheila, a Mate is everything we know that… With that said you also have a duty to your future kingdom, and this is just one of those sacrifices you have to make. Your dad faced a lot within the first years after he took the throne. It’s just something that follows the crown.” She gave me an apologizing smile and I slummed down in the nearest chair with a sigh. I was exhausted. This Leigh business was draining.

“I get it, I really do, but it still sucks.” My comment made my dad laugh and my mom giggled softly. I really did get it, but I was having a hard time dealing with it, which made me act like a brat.

“We know son but trust me it’s going to work out in the end and if Sheila really loves you, she will come around. Your mom did.” My dad looked at my mom lovingly and she smirked back, which made my dad chuckle. I wished that I had that with Sheila. It might still happen; I mean our love was still so new. We had known each other for years, we weren’t actually friends during does years, but I still knew of her existence. I snapped out of my daydreaming and focused back on my parents. This was not the time to think about the many hours Sheila and I had already lost.

“Why did you call me here? It can’t be to tell me your sorry.” They looked at each other and my dad sighed, while griping my moms’ hand. She gave him a small smile and then looked back at me.

“Your sister has been planning a welcoming party for Princess Leigh the past week and we greenlit it this morning, before telling you about the marriage.” I was about to protest but was stopped by my dad’s low growl. My mom looked appreciating at him and then looked back at me.

“We thought a party would be too much for Princess Leigh this close after the marriage, which is why we didn’t agree right away. But we realized that the princess is new to our kingdom. She knows nobody and this could be a way for her to get to know a few people. And it’s a way for our closest allies and friends to get to know her. So, we greenlit the party, which will commence in a couple of hours.” When I didn’t say anything, they both looked at me with suspicion and they were right to do that, because I exploded.

“You got to be f*****g kidding me! What the f**k is it with you two and last-minute announcements! We have two Rouges on our territory, and you want to throw a f*****g party!” With that I marched out of the study. I was beyond furious at my parents and this whole marriage thing. I was so done. So what if I was acting like a child? I had a right to be furious and I was going to stay that way, till I felt like cooling off.