Bound by Duty

[14] Duty vs. Love

The tires screeched, the car speeding out of the driveway. Behind that car, about four or five other cars followed, all heading towards a single destination - the royal palace. Inside the car in the front, Danielle stared out of the window, still in some sort of a resigned daze.

If someone had asked her a day ago whether she would docilely walk out of the pack with a man, she would have called them mad. But she realised, unfortunately, that a lot could happen in a single day. Not even she, someone who took into account all possibilities, could have predicted something as absurd as being mated to the king of werewolves.

What was even more absurd was that she had not run when there was an opportunity. She had hesitated, she had stayed. This had puzzled her for quite some time before she concluded that it was her instincts and Lupa behaving bizarrely, ignoring the voice that said that maybe, just maybe, her yearning for companionship had acted up and her hopes had ignited the moment she could sense her mate.

Whatever the situation was, it wasn't her choice. It was all the moon goddess. At least, that's the way she chose to look at it. It was her fate. She could choose to fight it, but that long and unnecessarily hard struggle wasn't worth the kind of pseudo-freedom she would receive at the end.

Besides, he wasn't all that bad, the king.

She turned to look at his profile as he gazed straight ahead. There were no doubts in the looks department, but as much as good looks were desirable, she was looking for something more. She had seen how women fell all over him wherever he visited, and that was certainly not a point in his favour. She was a rather possessive wolf - no one should even dare to think about taking what was hers.

As she continued her contemplation, she could only see the positives of her newfound mate and the ever-hungry Lupa started to struggle to come to the fore. Influenced by her instincts, she stared at him boldly and openly.

"Do you like what you see?" Alex gave her a knowing look. She shrugged.

"I've seen better," she remarked. "But I have to admit that it's not bad."

"You youngsters these days are so flighty, one never knows what you're going to do next." He murmured. He leaned forward and stroked her hair, untangling her bun. Her brown locks tumbled down her shoulders, the curls framing her face. His breath hitched. "Goddess give me patience," he whispered.

Without waiting for him to move, she leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his full lips. He grabbed the back of her head gently and guided her to continue the kiss. His movements were very soft and patient. He took his time to slowly explore every single inch of her mouth. Inexperienced as she was, she turned passive, accepting all that he was ready to give. Occasionally, she flicked out her tongue, licking the corners of his mouth. He would shiver in delight at the contact.

By the end of it, they were both breathless. She tentatively put her head on his shoulders. He immediately put an arm around her, drawing her close. She snuggled into him comfortably, breathing in his sweet, delicious scent. A part of her brain was screaming at her to get away from him, that this was too early, that this didn't make sense. But she was too comfortable and the mate bond was too irresistible. She was too tired to fight it then. Maybe she would fight it another time.

As they lay across the seat, her thoughts drifted to another place, another man. Someone who she would give her life for, someone who had a permanent place in her heart. If she was standing by what he stood for, and if she was going through with what she stood for, then she would have to be very careful when handling the mating process.

With all the enigma that she was surrounded by, she was wearing masks all the time, everywhere. But the problem with masks was that she had to eventually take them off. At times like this, she knew better than to dive into despair and bouts of self-blame. She knew better than to ask, "Why me?" Because in her mind, it was very firmly embedded about whose side she was on and what she could give up to be there.

It was because of that that one of these days, she needed to learn how to say no. Mainly to Alex. Denying him of what was considered his 'right' might be a little cruel, but there was a greater plan, a larger scheme of things. Compared to that, her mating didn't feature in the top ten priorities in her life.

She imagined a life in which she could live with Alex by herself, without having these priorities. She shivered. The weather was quite warm.