Free Web NovelChapter 21: A Brilliant Plan.
Some of the candle lights blew out in the tent, making it a little bit dark. Arianna kicked the idea away immediately.
She wasn’t in love, so why would her stupid mind even think about it? Falling in love and getting trapped here was never the plan.
"I will try to light the candles," his voice broke through, shaking her out of her thoughts. She was surprised to hear him offer that. The men in the West would have ordered her to do it, or better yet, called for a maid. But here he was, willing to do it himself.
"I can do it, or let me get a maid," Arianna offered, turning to go, but he stopped her right in her tracks.
"There is no need. It’s a small thing," Kane told her. He walked over to where the lamps were, picked up one whose flame was still burning, and used it to light the rest one after the other. "Why bother my queen with it?"
Arianna couldn’t control the burning blush on her cheeks, immediately looking down. As soon as he looked away, she smiled shamelessly and watched him. He was trying to be a gentleman, and she wondered just how far he would go.
"Ragnar didn’t tell me he was leaving for the West. The news was flying around, and I happened to stumble on it," Arianna told him. She didn’t want him to think she was trying to dodge the question. "I wanted to stop him from going. My first thought was to come to you and persuade you, but it seemed I wouldn’t be able to change your mind, so I tried to use my own tactics. But it was useless."
"Why?" Kane set the lamp back down after he was done. He turned and faced her, his expression entirely blank. It scared her a little, as she had no idea what was going on in his mind. However, she tried hard to control her body language, now fully aware that he could easily read her through it. "Why stop him?"
"The whole tribe will gossip," she pressed on. "They’ll show me no respect because their king didn’t take my word for the truth. You doubted everything I said."
"I don’t completely trust the reason why you would want to leave everything behind and marry a man every other woman avoids," Kane began, shaking his head. "It makes no sense, Princess. Do you really blame me for my curiosity?"
"So you think I am a spy?" Arianna let out a painful chuckle. Kane merely watched her, shaking his head. It surprised her that he didn’t instantly agree. "Do you think I was sent to kill you?"
Kane chuckled, closing the distance between them until he was looking down at her. Meeting the intense, beautiful gaze of his blue eyes almost shattered her composure.
"Then what?" she demanded, tightening her lips and crossing her arms over her chest, refusing to back down.
Kane found the defiant behavior entirely amusing.
"I know you wouldn’t want me dead. Right, my tutor?"
Tutor. Arianna recalled the events of last night and resisted the urge to slap herself. She instinctively took a step back. "Let’s not forget, you tried to kill me yesterday."
"Really?" He chuckled again, his eyes locking onto hers. "If I wanted you dead, little one, do you truly think you would still be breathing?"
A icy shiver ran down her spine. The sudden darkness in his voice said it all, and the reality of her situation settled heavily in her chest.
Kane was right. It would be entirely too easy to make her disappear in a kingdom where everyone was a werewolf except for her and Maria.
"But you kept quiet when we were..." She stopped, the words catching in her throat. Arianna swallowed hard, forcing herself to look him in the eye.
"When we were what, little one?" Kane asked, his voice laced with amusement. He knew exactly what she was trying to say but he wanted to hear her admit it. She certainly hadn’t been this shy last night.
She tilted her head, struggling to find the words. "W-when we were in bed. If your son hadn’t interrupted us, we would have... I would have been—"
He moved with terrifying, primal speed, closing the gap between them before she could even blink. His lips slammed into hers, instantly silencing the room. A cool breeze swept into the tent from the outside world, but neither of them felt it.
Arianna didn’t push him away. She knew she was supposed to—she should have—but instead, she leaned into him, silently cursing her own weakness. But what harm could it do to just enjoy it?
His lips tasted like sweet honey, a intoxicating, one-in-a-million kiss that made her feel alive in a way Ethan never had. And right now, that realization alone was enough to make her surrender.
******
Ethan couldn’t control the rage flushing through him. He had been pacing back and forth in his tent ever since he heard that his father had entered Arianna’s quarters. The two of them together... He hated to even picture it.
He knew the marriage was fake, a sham designed specifically to spite and humiliate him.
"I never knew Arianna would go to this extreme to make a point," he muttered angrily, keeping his voice dangerously low.
Selena lay on the bed, having patiently waited for him to join her. She sighed, rubbing her forehead.
It seemed they were never going to truly rid their relationship of Arianna, even though the girl was now married to another man. "That bitch has gotten bold. I think you should just tell your father the truth."
Ethan sucked his teeth in frustration. He didn’t understand why it was so difficult for her to grasp a point he had already made a dozen times. "And you think I would still be alive after telling him the truth?" He glared at her. "My father would kill me for lying to him. He doesn’t play games when it comes to what belongs to him."
"So why didn’t you speak up yesterday?" Selena pressed, sitting up.
"Because I didn’t treat Arianna right, remember? If she had told her side of the story, my punishment wouldn’t be any different from death."
"We should have killed her the eve of her birthday," Selena hissed. "But you insisted on waiting for her to marry you first."
"Because if she had, I would have become next in line for the Western throne," Ethan snapped back. "It doesn’t look like my father is dying anytime soon, and I want to start ruling now—not when I’m an old man."
"We would have killed her, and the king would have named you next in line since he has no other children or close relatives," Selena reminded him, rolling onto her side and rolling her eyes. "I told you that from the beginning, but you never listened because you thought I was bluffing. And now? Now that bitch had the nerve to kick me out of her tent."
Ethan couldn’t control his laugh. A sharp chuckle escaped him, instantly making her furious. "I’m sorry, but Arianna kicked you out? That sounds like a lie. You always know exactly how to put her in her place."
"It’s not funny, Ethan," Selena snapped. "The bitch has grown claws. Trust me, if you don’t do something about it now, we’re going to regret it."
Ethan nodded, though deep down, the thought of Arianna being bossy and defiant completely turned him on. He secretly loved this new side of her. The only thing he truly hated was the fact that she was currently in his father’s bed.
"So what’s your plan?" Ethan asked, masking his thoughts. "But it has to be anything except killing her."
Selena’s brows furrowed deeply. "Whose side are you on?"
"Yours, of course," he lied smoothly. "It’s just that my father won’t let her out of his sight. We can’t try anything of that sort... for now."
He wasn’t being entirely honest with her, but he didn’t care. Getting Arianna back under his thumb and away from his father was the only thing he wanted right now.
"You better not have any other ideas, Ethan," Selena warned, holding his gaze. She already had a brilliant plan forming in her mind; she just needed to make sure he was man enough to execute it.
