Chapter 21

Caleb leaned back, laughing at Lucas’s words. “Your mate? You don’t have the right to call Ruby your anything.”

Lucas growled, breathing heavily. My body was still warm from Caleb’s touches, but the look on Lucas’s face made my skin go cold. “The mate bond between us would say otherwise, brother. You’ve been playing at being fiancees for long enough, I think it’s time she comes back to the castle with me.”

Lucas took a threatening step towards me, making me scramble back from him. Caleb leapt between us, looking Lucas in the eye with a death glare. “You shouldn’t have broken onto my property, and you definitely shouldn’t be threatening my woman.”

I thought Lucas was going to burst, and instead he threw his fist towards Caleb’s face. I gasped, but Caleb ducked out of the way just in time, hitting back at Lucas’s chest. Lucas stumbled backwards, coughing slightly into his hands. “I’m the future king,” he said, sounding dazed.

“Not yet,” Caleb said, “Right now, you’re just the nuisance who broke into my home.”

Lucas’s gaze shot back up to Caleb, and he attacked again, kicking wildly. Caleb blocked the blows, and ducked as Lucas went straight for his face.

“Stop it!” I screamed, but the two men didn’t seem to hear me, they were too invested in their fight.

I thought they might kill each other, but I realized Caleb wasn’t on the offensive, he was barely defending himself. He jumped out of the way when Lucas lunged, he was too fast for his younger brother. Caleb isn’t trying to hurt Lucas, he just wants to tire him out.

I was stunned by the thought, but before long it became clear that the tactic was working. Lucas wheezed as he continued to throw punches, and finally he collapsed onto his knees, panting at Caleb’s feet.

“Are you done?” Caleb asked, amused at seeing his younger brother on the ground.

“You have no idea what you’ve done,” Lucas seethed. “You won’t get away with stealing my mate.”

Caleb cocked his head, “I haven’t stolen anything. She came to me willingly. Whatever mate bond promise the moon goddess formed for you was destroyed when you betrayed it. She owes you nothing.”

Lucas glared at me, and I shrank further back into the blankets. “You are going to regret trusting him,” he said in a low voice as he rose from the floor.

“There’s nothing Caleb could do that would be worse than what you have already done,” I said, lifting my chin to appear less scared. “I don’t care who you think you are, Lucas, but you lost. Now get out of here.”

He looked between us and raised his hand at me like he meant to strike, but Caleb caught him by the neck before the blow could land. Lucas choked as Caleb lifted him off his feet, making horrible gurgling sounds.

“You just won’t learn, will you?” Caleb said, “You can’t take what isn’t yours.”

Lucas clawed at his brother’s hands, trying to get Caleb to release him. He dropped with thud.

“Maybe I just have to show you.”

I looked up as Caleb walked to me, gently taking my head in his hands. We locked eyes, and I realized what he meant to do.

He tilted my neck and brushed away my hair, exposing the soft flesh at the base of my throat. His eyes glowed bronze in the low light, and his face changed, like the man I knew was morphing with something else. Something more animal.

He bit me, sunk deep with his teeth until my skin broke, letting a single droplet of blood trickle down between my breasts. Caleb was marking me.

My entire body tingled, and I felt an unbearable heat in my stomach. I almost cried out, but then the sensation faded, and I was once again held quietly in Caleb’s arms.

“What the fuck was that?” Lucas said, his anger reaching a boiling point.

“A lesson,” Caleb responded, letting go of me. “It seems like you need to be taught what’s yours and what isn’t. Hopefully this finally gets it through your head,” he bent down and forced Lucas’s gaze upward, “she belongs to me.”

Lucas pushed his brother away and stood, stomping towards the door. He looked back and laughed darkly, “This will only make it worse for you in the future.”

Caleb sneered back, “A small price to pay.”

Lucas left, slamming the door behind him. I finally released the tension I’d been holding throughout the confrontation.

My hand wandered over my neck and felt the sore bite mark there. I traced the shape of it with my fingers. Caleb marked me as his?

He had already touched me in much more intimate places, but this was something different, it was something sacred. I felt a twinge in my heart, knowing he had used the mark just to get back at Lucas in the heat of their fight.

Even though our entire charade of being engaged was so we could prevent Lucas from taking the throne, it didn’t sting any less to know that I was being used.

“Well, that was a little more excitement than I was expecting for this evening.” Caleb said, kicking at the broken glass on the floor. “I’ll have someone come here to clean this up in the morning.”

“I want to go to sleep.” I said, drawing the blankets more tightly around my body. I was still wearing nothing below my waist.

Caleb looked at me quizzically, and bent down with his fingers outstretched. He brushed my hair away, and I turned my head, looking down at the floor. “I’d like to be alone for the rest of the night.”

He stilled, and pulled his hands away, seemingly aware of the tension suddenly between us.

“You must be exhausted.” He said.

“You too,” I said, and climbed off the couch, stepping gingerly to avoid the shards of glass.

I walked into my bedroom and closed the door, turning on the shower to let the steam fill the room. The hot water was comforting, but I still felt drained. I washed my hair and my face, before putting on a set of pajamas.

It took me ages to fall asleep that night, I couldn’t stop replaying the events of the evening. Lucas and Caleb’s fight, the explosive pleasure of Caleb’s hands…

I shook the thought away as I laid my head down on the pillow and turned off the light. This is a contractual agreement between us to achieve our own goals. I had to remember exactly what role we each played in the other’s lives.

If I wanted to be sure that Lucas would never make it to the throne of the Lycan Kingdom, if I wanted to be sure that my family and friends would never be killed at Lucas’s hand, I had to find a way to work with Caleb.