Chapter 123

Violet’s POV

I had been greedy.

I could see how distraught Theo was, how deeply he had believed my false devastation. But as he set me down in my shower, I realized what I needed to do. I realized this might be the last minutes I had with him for an unknown amount of time.

So instead of comforting him like he was comforting me, instead of making sure he knew I was with him in this and everything for the rest of our lives, instead of gathering the information I needed from him and getting him up to speed on my plan like I should have, I melted into his touch.

I let the love stretch between us in the most tender shower of my life. I let him touch me, savoring every brush and caress to be replayed over the coming days and weeks and months that I hated to know would be devoid of him.

I pretended for too brief a time that our world wasn’t crumbling around us because even though I had a plan, I dreaded executing it. But I knew our time alone would be interrupted eventually, so I finally blurted out the truth I was avoiding.

“It’s time for me to return to Darkmoon – alone.”

His face shattered so violently that I thought he might pass out, and I immediately realized my mistake. How my words, spoken in panicked haste, had sounded to him out of context.

“No, no, no,” I squeezed him tighter, finally pulling my body out of the ruse I had played even on myself. Revealing my true feelings in my face, in my eyes, in the desperate way I clung to my husband. “I know she’s not your mate.”

Theodore’s breath hitched, his chin quivering as he searched my face, still not fully understanding – though the hope in his eyes was piercing.

So I kissed him. Passionately and tenderly, I pressed my lips to his, clutching the nape of his neck and his back in a relentless embrace. After a moment of confused hesitation from him, he deepened the kiss, hauling me up until my legs were wrapped around his waist.

“You believe me?” he pulled out of the kiss to whisper, his voice almost drowned out by the shower spray.

“Yes,” I nodded, “yes, my love, my husband, my mate, I believe you.”

His shoulders trembled once, twice, in desperate relief, and he inclined his forehead to rest affectionately on mine, hands never letting go of my thighs still wrapped around him.

I kissed his cheek, his forehead. In a quiet apology, I kissed every inch of his face I could get my lips on. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner, but we don’t have much time now; I need you to listen.”

Sensing the urgency in my tone, Theo set me down and turned off the shower. I followed him out of the shower and took the towel he offered me before using one to dry himself off. He nodded me onward.

“I know Eva is a false mate, and the High Priestess agrees.” At his quivered brow, I explained, “I called her from the hospital. We think this whole thing is being orchestrated by Owen.”

Theodore’s eyes darkened in disappointment, but he didn’t argue against the theory.

I toweled off my hair and my body as I continued. “If we were truly no longer mates, the forehead bands would have disappeared completely. If we can figure out how Owen has so effectively faked the mate bond between you and Eva, if we can find a way to prove it was him, then we can end his scheme and reveal his treachery to the country all at once.”

“Two birds, one stone,” Theo mused as he finished drying himself off and wrapped the towel around his waist.

I nodded. “But in order to figure out how he did it, we have to play along. He has to think we are convinced by the fake mate bond.”

Theo’s gaze became unfocused, and I knew he was replaying the scene from dinner. “So you faked your reaction,” he concluded, but then his brows bunched. “To the point of vomiting?”

I hesitated at that. “That was unintentional. I imagined losing you to make my response more believable, but I must have imagined it so vividly that my body tried to reject the image.”

I honestly still wasn’t completely sure what had happened there. But at my words, Theo’s face softened, and he approached to whisper in my ear as he hugged me. “It’s not a reality you’ll ever have to face.”

As I took one more greedy moment to savor the hug, I remembered from earlier what I wanted to ask him. “Why were you so quick to believe the mate bond was real?”

Theo stiffened, but I held him to me, reassuring him. “Whatever it is, it’s okay. The information could help us figure out how Owen is faking it.”

Still holding me, Theo’s muscles relaxed as he spoke over my head that I had tucked into him. “I feel… a pull of some sort toward Eva. It’s like a mate bond, but somehow all wrong.”

I held him tightly, tempted to lose myself in the embrace. But I knew our time was running short, so I kissed his chest as a thank you for the information, then pulled away to tie my towel around myself.

“To solidify our ruse, I must return to Darkmoon. It’s what I would do, now that my claim to the territory has been restored, if I had truly been rejected as your Luna.”

Theo’s face fell as he put together what I meant.

“We will fight this together,” I assured him, “but we have to be separated while we do.” Theo closed his eyes, backing away, clearly unhappy with this plan. “I’ll work to stabilize Darkmoon while secretly finding more answers about this fake mate bond.”

Theo was shaking his head when he opened his eyes, the look he gave me pleading for another solution. I hoped the returning look I gave conveyed just how painful it was for me that there wasn’t one.

“You’re talking about treason,” Theo whispered in distress. “Once Owen’s treachery is exposed, who will take the crown? You know I don’t want it.”

“I know,” I shrugged. “I don’t have all the answers.” But he kept going.

“And how will we keep in touch? We can’t possibly work together while separated with no help.”

I shook my head, my intuition screaming at me that our time was almost out. “Theo, I don’t have all the answers yet. For now, I just need to know that you will play along with me, and that you won’t tell anyone.”

I reached for him, terrified to admit that it would probably be our last touch for who knew how long. Theo hesitated, looking for all the world like he wanted to deny my request, but he caved, closing the gap between us to wrap around me once more.

I heaved at the contact, trying to gain another millimeter closer, squishing our bodies together even more, brushing my hands across every inch of his back to memorize the sensation of him. I breathed in his smell, ran my fingers through his hair. I kissed him, and he kissed me back.

It wasn’t enough time. It would never be enough time. I already knew I would spend the rest of my life with him, and even that wouldn’t be enough time.

Before he gave me the answers I needed, we heard my bedroom door slam open.

“Theodore?” The voice that filled the space had me clenching my teeth, and I promised myself this was the last time Eva would ever be in my room – in any territory.

My mate and I froze, naked except for our towels, entangled in every way that mattered, completely out of time.