Chapter 73

Chapter 73

"Are you sure that much sugar is healthy for an old man like you?" I giggled this time, almost snorting at the way his eyes seemed to narrow at my statement, but then he scoffed as he leaned closer to me, pushing some flyaway hairs from my face.

"You make fun of my age now, but you won't be when I take you to my bed."

I stopped laughing, my whole body flushing at the sensual edge of his words. He didn't move as he waited for my reaction, instead I took a bite of my food and let out a sigh.

"I didn't think you'd be able to cook." I changed the subject, his lips quivering slightly as he turned to his pancakes again.

"I have quite a bit of skill when it comes to the kitchen, probably not as much as you but you might be surprised at what I could cook up for you." He said lightly and I winced at my slightly judgmental tone.

"I only meant it because you are a royal wolf—a king, people like you tend to have other people cooking for them." He hummed, that was what I had spent most of my time doing in my old pack, cooking for the alpha and his family.

I was subconsciously leaning toward him, the urge to rest my head on his shoulder was almost unstoppable.

"I don't want to be an idle king, I like to be self-sufficient." Those were two separate statements but they said a lot about his values.

"That's admirable." He huffed, pulling my stool closer to him so that there was no more space left between us, he was feeling the gravitational pull between us too.

"It was the way I was brought up." He said simply and my heart stammered.

He hadn't brought up his childhood with me much or his parents and I waited in anticipation for him to say more, instead silence settled between us.

Our knives and forks hit against the ceramic until we were finished with our food and when we were done, Derrick pulled me to his lap.

This man really liked having me in his lap.

He held my chin with his hand, his thumb swiping at the syrup in the corners of my mouth, my heart thudding relentlessly as I tried to stay still against him.

"I need you to tell me what happened yesterday." He said finally, the dreaded conversation happening with no place for me to go. I nodded my head cautiously, my gaze moving away from his.

If I was going to lie, I couldn't look him in the eye and do it.

"I don't know how it happened," I murmured, my hand moving towards his chest as I tried to soothe his agitation with my touch. "I was running, I needed to get the rogues away from the children—I just, I wasn't fast enough or I think I tripped and then they were on top of me and I was waiting for you. I don't know how the tree fell, I was pinned under it too, I think that's how I might have broken my foot when I had dragged myself from under it, I tried my best to stop, I—

Derrick's hands pressed against either side of my face, pressing his forehead against mine to stop the agitated words that came out of my mouth. His eyes gleamed with rage and despair, but I couldn't prevent the misery from filling my heart as I looked at him.

He didn't even expect that I was lying, he trusted me completely and that's what made all of this so much worse.

"If you had my mark I could have gotten to you sooner, you know that right?"

If he had gotten there sooner he wouldn't have been cradling me in his lap like this, I would have been in a cell losing everything I ever cared for.

I nodded my head, feeling the guilt of what I was doing suffocating me.

"When the full moon comes," I murmured. "I will take your mark."

My heart was breaking as I said the words, as I felt his arms tighten around me.

When the full moon came I would already be gone, he wouldn't even have the chance to make me his. I had two days left with him, two days to hope that he would think of me like this forever and not as the witch blood wolf that had deceived him.

He tilted my head up and I saw the pure love in his gaze, there was so much of it.

"You are everything to me." His voice was heavy with emotion as I pressed my face to his chest, trying to keep a hold of the panic attack that was pulling at me.

His hand rubbed my back and we sat there in each other's arms for what seemed like hours.

"I have a question." I found myself saying, my voice croaky as he hummed in response.

"The wolf's bane, why did you have it with you?" His body stiffened as he let out a heavy sigh, cradling me closer to his chest.

"It's the most effective way to put down the rogues without killing them. They're mostly feral by the time we get to them, their ability to shift back to their human side is blocked even when I command them." He paused. "I'm trying to figure out what made them like this and I think it might be some sort of dark magic that is interfering with the will of their wolves." He sighed heavily, the burden of his words and the responsibility he had was crushing, but I was pulling myself away from him from the mention of that one word.

"Magic?" The rise in my heartbeat and my wide-eyed look must have made him think I was scared.

"You have nothing to worry about, you have my protection always." He said sincerely before he changed the subject. "What were you thinking of doing today?" I searched his gaze for a moment, wondering how I could circle back to the magic thing without seeming obvious, instead I shrugged my shoulders. I was going to have to bring it up again another time.

Maybe lying to him a little longer wasn't so bad, just so that I could wring more information out of him. Him thinking that the rogues were connected to some sort of magic couldn't be a coincidence now that I was here.

A bigger plan was at play and I was taking too long to piece it all together.

"I was actually thinking that I needed to go to the bakery today." I needed a place to think and I needed to make sure that Vera was alright, two things I couldn't do if I stayed here with him all day.