Page 121 of Flameborne: Fury
Whore.It was a word that had been used against Bren. Weaponized against her precious heart, and the Queen threw it around like salt to a meal. I hated it, but it only affirmed Bren had been right in her concerns about the assumptions people would make. Even the Queen herself.
“Then you understand my hesitation on Bren’s behalf?”
She gave me a look like I wasn’t playing fair, but then she nodded. “I do. And in light of that, I won’t share her secret unless she proves unworthy of the trust.” She tipped her head and gave me a measuring gaze. “Is she worthy of the trust, Donavyn?”
“Do you think I’d withhold this from Alexi if she wasn’t? I only agreed to it for her benefit because I’m confident she’ll prove her worth and in the wake of that, the declaration will change nothing.”
Diaan’s lips thinned. “Delay as little as possible. Alexi trusts and respects you, but he doesn’t take kindly to being kept in the dark, no matter the consequences. And his retribution, if he finds out to his detriment, will be swift and powerful. Are you sure you’re willing to risk that for her?”
I was offended by the disbelief in her tone. “Of course!” I growled.
Her expression was truly confused and surprised. “But, why?”
It was my turn to be stunned. But luckily, the answer for Diaan was precisely the same as I’d given Bren when she asked.
“Because she’s mine.”
Bren whimpered and clung to me. For a time we were thrown back into that tumult, the crashing wave of emotion—and Bren’s fear, affirmed by the Queen’s comments of what her husband would think, was galvanized. But I whispered to her. Reminded her. Pleaded with her.
“She lashed out at you because sheknewI’d chosen you. That you were the one I wanted,” I whispered to her, fingers curled into her hair and holding her to me. “Anything she said was cruelty. Her pride at being rejected. It didn’t come from me, Bren.”
“I know,” she whispered back, nodding, but still clinging tightly. “But in the moment—”
I pulled back far enough to meet her eyes, holding her head so she couldn’t turn away. “I’ll speak to her. I’ll speak to both of them. If she’s going to lie like that, I can’t trust her to keep this from him. And I don’t want her twisting my words—or yours—to him. I have to tell him, Bren. I’ll ask him to keep it quiet. We’ll ask for that protection from the Furyknights until you’ve proven yourself. But I won’t let thembelittleyou. I don’t care who the fuck they are.”
She stared at me with fear in her eyes. I felt the conflict churning in her—fear against love.
I shook my head. “Don’t fear this. It’s the truth. The truth is never the wrong thing to speak, or do. You’re mine, Bren. I’ll never be ashamed of that, or deny it.”
She blinked and bit her lip, a wave of gratitude washing over the other emotions boiling in her. Her eyes welled, but tears didn’t spill. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Then thank God that I do.”
She shook her head in disbelief.“Thank you,”she breathed.
I sighed. “Bren, I’m not—”
“I’m not only thanking you for the Queen. It’s for the rest as well. For not seeing everything that’s happened as a blight on me.”
I wanted to groan and held her tighter. “Bren, you are so much more than that day. Or this one.”
“And that’s why I’m thanking you. You didn’t just love me through it. You’re willing to forgive it.”
A burst of anger at those bastards—and the Queen—met a chilling calm in my chest. But I knew there would be time to address the true villains here. Right now, it was my mate who needed me. And she didn’t need my blind rage.
I took her hand and twined our fingers, resting them on my thigh.
“You have nothing to be forgiven for,” I said quietly. “Not the Queen’s dishonest words, not that bastard who put you in that situation—”
“I don’t want to bring him into this,” she said quickly, but she didn’t turn from me. Didn’t remove her hand. She simply spoke the truth. Her mind skittered away from him—but not before I remembered the name she’d forgotten to obscure:Talon.
But my mate babbled, crying happy tears. I yanked my attention back to her, but I reeled.
“…I’m happy, Donavyn. This is incredible. When you saw all that, felt it all, lived it with me and still looked at me with love in your eyes… God, ithealedsomething in me.” She let go of my hand, pushed up, off my lap, to kneel facing me, and she smiled like the world was right.
I blinked and swallowed, stunned speechless, trying to pull myself together at the same time love rushed into the bond and I embraced it.
“Me too,” I managed gruffly because my joy in her fought the sheer rage that wanted me to roar out of here like a dragon Primarch and take that fuckerdown.I took her hand again, clenching my teeth, focusing on the warm rush between us, rather than the cold rage I yearned to unleash. “I want you to promise me that if you’re ever afraid, or you meet someone who hurt you, oranything…you tell me.”
