Chapter 211

Violet’s POV

The rest of Dahlia and Kincaid’s wedding turned into an impromptu meeting of the Alphas. Theo and I kept using the bride and groom as an excuse to delay the serious discussions that would need to be had, especially as a few soldiers carefully carted Owen’s body away. We kept saying we didn’t want to take away from the wedding more than we already had, even though we knew our Betas didn’t mind.

The reality was we selfishly just wanted time to ourselves.

In the end, the Alphas decided to meet in the formal debate hall at the royal palace in three days, which was barely enough time for everyone to return home, pack a bag, and get to the palace. Half of the guests left after that decision was made to get started on the journey.

Those who stayed were served the promised dinner, though the tone of the celebration changed significantly. There was still music and people still danced, but when people made eye contact you could tell that some of them were not only celebrating two Betas they barely knew or the reunion of family and friends who had been exiled from their packs, but also the death of an oppressive ruler. No one dared say it out loud, but it was unmistakable on everyone’s faces.

The nobles who stayed were either not loyal to Owen or had been reunited with a loved one from the settlement and wanted as much time with them as possible. Despite the festivities, there was also an apprehension in the air as people wondered what would happen next, who our next ruler would be, and if they would be worse than Owen.

Even though some guests were clearly prepared to party well into the morning, Dahlia and Kincaid ended the event at midnight. I was grateful for it, not only so I could finally process what had been accomplished today, but so I could finally, finally be alone with Theo.

It had been a gift after the music started back up to be able to dance with him. To sit next to him at dinner and to hold his hand for the rest of the night. But I wanted him behind a closed and firmly locked door.

After staying behind to help clean up and sending everyone off, followed by the longest carriage ride of my life back to Midnight Castle, it was after two in the morning when I let Theo carry me through the front door as if we were the newlyweds, then up the stairs and into our room that I had been away from for too long.

Theo gently deposited me on the comforter of our bed, but before I lied back on it, I paused, glancing at the large bed. “Eva didn’t…?”

“Not once,” Theo replied firmly and quickly, like the idea of Eva in our bed repulsed him as thoroughly as it did me.

Then Theo fulfilled every promise that he’d been whispering into my mind for the past weeks. I wasn’t even mad when he ripped my dress beyond repair. And I certainly felt a lot more confident about my changing body after he ravaged it so tenderly.

The next morning, I padded down to the kitchen in nothing but Theo’s button-up. Most of his house staff took Sundays off, Eva was in prison, Dahlia was somewhere with Kincaid, and Eva’s friends who were really Owen’s spies though at the least one of them was now clearly loyal to Theo were most probably anywhere but here after their employer had died.

Theo’s scent filled my sensitive nostrils, even over the smell of the coffee I was brewing. The feel of his hands followed as he wrapped himself around me from behind. “You look better in my shirt than I do,” he groaned into my ear, nipping the lobe.

“And you sound better in person than in my head,” I replied, turning around to kiss my mate and husband. After all we had been through, I would never take for granted the simple pleasure of kissing him in the kitchen we shared.

Theo pulled away just enough to look over my shoulder, though the rest of him was still pressed up firmly against me. “You’re brewing coffee.”

“You’re observant.”

He glared at me, and I grinned. “You can’t drink coffee.” He glanced pointedly at my stomach.

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing the coffee is for you then,” I replied then kissed my husband again.

While I was at it, I reached within myself, probing in his direction, testing our mate bond once more. It was distinctly different from the magical mind-to-mind connection, deeper, rooted within my very soul.

And still in tatters.

We had been testing it separately and together all night after Owen’s death, hoping that killing the caster of the spell would undo the fake mate bond. But it hadn’t. Which left us with only one possibility that we knew of.

Killing Eva.

Though even that wasn’t guaranteed to revive our natural mate bond.

Theo seemed to feel my prodding of our mate bond, even through the fragments of its current state. He deepened our kiss, pulling me even closer as if promising that we would be reunited in every way.

He ran his fingers down my side, beyond the hem of his shift, coasting along my bare leg. Reaching behind me, he pulled my thigh up along his own until I was wrapping my calf around his ass. His other hand reached for the button of his shirt at my sternum, undoing it one-handed.

I leaned into him with an approving, hungry moan. I had missed him, missed this, missed us.

“Oh, shit! Alpha, sorry!”

Theo and I broke apart, our heads swinging to the kitchen entrance where Dahlia was shielding her eyes.

“Dahlia?” Theo asked in surprise, and I quickly rebuttoned the shirt I was wearing in addition to several buttons I hadn’t done up originally.

“Yep! I’ll just head to my office.”

She turned around but stopped when Theo said, “Why aren’t you on your honeymoon?”

“With all due respect, Alpha—”

“Dahlia,” I interrupted, heading behind the kitchen island to cover my bare legs from her view. “You can uncover your eyes. I’m decent… enough.”

She slowly turned around, lowering her hand as Theo gave me a once over. “Glad to hear you consider this decent,” he teased, and I swatted him on the shoulder.

When we returned our gazes to Dahlia, she had tears in her eyes. “Sorry,” she laughed, blinking the tears back, “it’s just really fucking good to see you two back together finally.”

My jaw dropped. I wasn’t sure I had ever heard Dahlia swear before.

She shook her head and straightened her shoulders. “As I was saying, Kincaid and I can have a honeymoon anytime. But with all due respect, Alpha, the king is dead.”

She looked Theo dead in the eye as she said, “I wouldn’t miss whatever comes next for the world.”

Theo inhaled deeply, nodding once. “Your loyalty means more to me than you’ll ever know, Dahlia. Please think about how I could possibly repay you.”

She looked between the two of us. “How about you two get a ruler in charge who will actually take care of our country, and we’ll call it even?” She smiled broadly, and we couldn’t help but smile back.

“I’m afraid that’s easier said than done,” I said just as the doorbell rang.

So much for a morning alone with my mate.