Page 60 of The Wolf Prince's Mate

Dread washed over me, but I did my best to maintain a polite smile as the woman covered me in different ritual materials. I felt like a lamb being prepared for the slaughter, and the need to seek out the fastest escape route overwhelmed me.

This was not the way I imagined myself feeling on my wedding eve. Everything was the opposite and the repeated flashbacks of Griffin confessing his love for me was not helping my situation.

My wolf stirred at the thought of her mate. I had made an extra effort to put ample distance between us after the banquet. But it seemed every day I spent away from him intensified my growing feelings, and the moments that led up to my wedding worsened everything.

There was no doubting how much Griffin loved me anymore. He devoted his time to trying to show me and constantly risked destroying his reputation to prove it. I only wished he had been this way from the beginning. I wished he hadn’t needed five years of pain and betrayal to realize he loved me. I wish it hadn’t taken my walking into another man’s arms for him to see how much he needed me.

We all deserve the grace of a second chance. No one is perfect, my wolf whispered, but I couldn’t bring myself to do what she demanded of me. I have come so far, and backing out wasn’t an option. I had Lady Sheila and Ella counting on me, and I couldn’t betray all the work we’ve put in together to run into the arms of a man. Not now.

But you love him.It wasn’t a question. It was a statement, one I had spent years denying and running from until there was nowhere left to run.

By the time Lady Clark was done with the rituals, I felt as smooth and soft as a baby’s buttocks. I looked beautiful and glowed in a way I had never witnessed. Everything suddenly felt like a rope around my throat, and I found myself slipping into a panic attack.

“There’s still time for us to get out.”

“We have come so far. We cannot leave now.”

“Revenge is temporary. This will be our life forever.”

“Mary deserved so much more than her life being taken from her without justice.”

“Mary would want us to be happy.”

My head was almost splitting from the argument between my wolf and me. She was right. I would be damning myself, but Mary deserved better. I fought the urge to scream down the walls of my room, opting for a walk in the garden instead. Maybe the smell of trees and fresh air would help clear my head.

I ran into Ella on my way to the garden, and she informed me of Lady Sheila’s request to see me as soon as possible. We headed for our secret spot in the garden, where Lady Sheila revealed what I might face tomorrow.

By the time she was done revealing all she had discovered from her informant, I was filled with anticipation but was also nervous.

I don’t recall actively seeking out the library, but I found myself in it shortly after I left the garden, and I wasn’t alone.

Griffin stood at the other end. His back was hunched as he trailed the edges of the study table. I realized without a doubt what brought me to the library. The table.

“Mira?” His voice came out shaky, like he wasn’t sure I was really in the room with him. He was the last person I should be around in my current state.

But against common sense and reason, I took a few steps closer, noting his tired eyes and rumpled shirt. Griffin never wore rumpled clothes. There was also the acidic stench of liquor clinging to the air around him, and before I had the chance to guess, the wind swept through the library windows, and he staggered.

My heart broke into a million pieces at the sight before me, and I fought the urge to run into his arms and tell him I was his.

“I’m really sorry about everything, Mira. I should’ve been the mate the moon goddess intended me to be to you.”

I let out a dry laugh. How poetic of him to realize the wisdom of the moon goddess at the last minute.

“Why?” I finally found the courage to ask the one question that had permanently lodged itself in the back of my throat. I’ve wanted to know what made him hate her and the mating bond so much and why he was hell-bent on proving her wrong. I wanted to know what could make another treat their soulmate with so little regard.

He opened his mouth, and I found myself wishing I never asked. I tried to get him to stop talking. The story sounded too heartbreaking even for me, but he was determined to let it all out. Fate had shown him her cruelty at a very tender age, and he grew up with the desire to protect himself from the same thing that ruined his loved ones before him.

As I watched him, head in his hands, shoulders heavy, and shirt buttons improperly done, I couldn’t bring myself to fault him anymore. If anything, my heart broke for the little boy who had to watch the people who were supposed to be the model picture of love in his life tear each other apart. Even worse was being constantly told it was the will of the goddess.

As someone who was dealt a losing hand at life and constantly reminded it was the will of the goddess for me to be born an Omega, I understood how easy it was to get angry at her. So, when he dipped his head and captured my lips in a kiss, I made no attempt to push him away. I poured myself into it and gave back as much as he was giving, if not more.

“Mira,” he groaned into our kisses, angling my neck for better access.

I was hot all over. I felt like I was taking my first drink of water after being trapped in a desert for years. Caution yelled from the back of my head until its voice was muffled into faint whispers beneath my growing heartbeats and muffled moans.

Griffin’s lips left mine and descended to my neck, sucking and nibbling until I was a panting mess and clutching at him. He was everywhere: his lips, his hot breath, his hands cupping my breast and running between my thighs. It was all too much for me to take in.

His nibbles intensified, and something told me he was intentionally trying to leave a mark, but I couldn’t bring myself to stop him. In fact, I wanted him to leave a mark. Maybe that would help with my decision-making.

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