Ring, Ring

*Rowan*

It’s late afternoon when the phone finally rings. The light is illuminated. It’s the call I’ve been waiting for. For fuck’s sake, the bastard waited long enough!
“What?” I bark, knowing I need to be nicer but don’t want to be. If they’re calling to say anything other than my sister is on her way home right now, I’m going to be pissed.
“Tomorrow morning,” Somon’s deep voice states. “Ten. At the border bridge. Bring my daughter.”
He hangs up.
I’m flabbergasted. He has to be agreeing to the trade. That’s the only thing it could possibly mean.
“Tomorrow?” I repeat to no one. “But… fuck!” That means Hezzlie is going to be here tonight, too, and what Dean said last night about the full moon, even though I’ve been trying to deny it all day, is true. She’s going to be calling for me in a few hours, and I am not prepared.
I can’t help but adjust my dick through my pants. It’s already growing hard just thinking about her. Images from her last night flood my mind. The way she begged, the way she pulled her pants down and flashed me, the way she soaked through her pajamas in anticipation of what I did to her.
And, boy, did I do things to her.
I pounded that tight little pussy. I drove my long cock so deep inside of her, she’s probably walking funny today. I gave her every inch of what she was longing for and then some.
But I can’t do that again tonight. There’s no fucking way I can do that again when she’s leaving.
Tomorrow morning at 10:00.
I need to tell my team. I need to get Mara’s room ready and let Dr. Bolton and Dean know. I’ll need my warriors on high alert in case Solomon tries to do something underhanded. I can’t trust him enough to think that he won’t try to get away with both his daughter and my sister. So… we’ll have to be prepared for a fight and hope that it doesn’t come.
Before I alert anyone else, I decide to do something I hardly ever do. I take a deep breath and push up from my chair, leaving the solace of my office and heading out to the hallways.
The house is quiet most days. We’ve let most of the staff go–mostly because I didn’t trust anyone after the last attack. It’s not as if we are hosting elaborate parties or balls any more. We no longer have nobles or other visitors staying in our home. So the need for an extensive staff isn’t an issue.
I only pass one maid as I head to the far stairwell and go down to the third story. I haven’t been in these hallways for years. I pass Mara’s room, then the one that used to be mine, before turning the corner and slowing slightly, memories flooding over me.
All of our family rooms were on this level before, but I moved upstairs after the attack. The memories of trying to get to my parents that night after I’d been awoken by a stranger in my room, a large wolf with black fur who used his claws to rip me apart while I slept, flood my mind. I’d dragged myself down the hallway, clutching my gut to keep my innards from spilling out. I’d found my father dead in his bed. HIs throat had been torn out. Thankfully, Mother was in her own separate room that night, and I’d scared off the would-be assassin trying to get in her door.
I’d cried over my father’s body and then heard my sister’s screams.
I’d collapsed on the stairs, unable to get to her, losing so much blood James said I should’ve died.
It was spite that kept me from doing so.
I knock on my mother’s door, and her head maid, Daniella, opens the door. She gives a little curtsey and ushers me in.
Mother sits by the window, but even though the lacy drapes let in a column of light, the room still seems dark and drabby. The other fabrics are thick and a dark blue color that seems to soak in the brightness. The heavy furniture doesn’t help either. She refuses to turn on a light, and if anyone does, well, they are quickly chastised.
She doesn’t turn her head when I walk in. It’s no surprise that she’s wearing a black gown. She’s been in mourning for my father since the moment she heard of his death. Now, she stares out the window at the castle in the distance, praying to the Goddess that her daughter will be home soon.
“Please, send me my little girl,” she murmurs. Her voice is hoarse, a cracked whisper. Her pale skin looks more wrinkled than it did the last time I visited, which was, admittedly, too long ago. “Please, send me my little girl.”
“Mother?” I stand next to her chair and wait.
“Please, send me my little girl,” she says without turning her head.
I sigh and drop down to the floor next to her on one knee. I place my hand on hers. Her flesh is cold and dry. “Mother?”
“Please, send me my little girl.”
“She’ll be home tomorrow,” I tell her, hoping it’s enough to bring her out of her stupor.
She doesn’t waiver. “Please, send me my little girl.”
“I will,” I promise her. It’s not the first time I’ve said those words, but this time, I’m confident. “You’ll see her tomorrow, Mother.”
Slowly, she turns her head to look at me, her blue eyes nearly translucent. I half expect her to smile or say my name. Instead, she just stares at me for a few seconds like she can’t see me at all. Then, her head ratchets around again with a crack. “Please, send me my little girl.”
Realizing I shouldn’t have come, I stand and look around the room. Daniella stands off to the side, her hands folded, as she waits for me to go. Clearing my throat, I approach her. “How has she been?”
“Like this, Your Majesty,” she says with a bow. “Always like this.”
“Is she eating?” I assumed that’s what she would say, but I thought I should ask.
“With assistance, I can get a few bites down her a few times a day. Mostly porridge. Dr. Bolton is still using the tube in the evening.”
The feeding tube. Of course. It’s the only way she’s still alive.
I nod. “Very well. Let me know if there are any changes.” I turn to go, but she reaches out and touches my sleeve. I turn back, my eyebrows raised.
“Is it true, Sir?” Daniella asks. “Will the princess be here tomorrow?”
I can’t be angry that she overheard me when I was just across the room. I nod. “That is the plan.”
A relieved smile spreads across her face. “Hopefully, that will bring Her Majesty out of this.”
I manage a small smile, though I’m not sure. “Hopefully,” I agree. “Thank you for all you do for her, Daniella. Your loyalty and service to the crown doesn’t go unnoticed.”
With that, I turn and head back to the area of the castle that is more comfortable to me.
I go back to my office and use the mind-link to coordinate our plans for tomorrow. Before I know it, the sun is setting. My work is never done, so I stay in my office–until…
“Rowan?”
I hear Hezzlie’s call and sit straight up in my chair. All the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, and my dick begins to twitch.
“Rowan? Please, Rowan. Come to me! Come fuck me, my mate!”
I drop my head. How the hell am I going to get out of this? I’m fucked–literally.