Chapter 10

Raven

“I have matters to deal with,” Neil said, striding over to the door. “Give her a tour of the castle. And don’t let her out of your sight.”

Before anyone could answer, he was gone.

I swirled my spoon around my bowl, toying with the stew inside. It was hearty and delicious, way better than I expected around here. But there was also a lot of it, and no matter how badly they wanted me to gain weight, I had to be careful.

So, with a small sigh, I pushed my bowl away.

Eric immediately pushed it back. “You haven’t finished.”

I frowned. “I’m full.”

“No you are not,” Eric said, shoving my spoon into my hand. “You are too skinny. Eat.”

“I’m a model back home,” I sneered as I pushed the bowl away again. “I’ll dye my hair and wear your clothes, but I can’t gain weight. I could lose my job.”

Both Eric and Ember raised their eyebrows at that.

“Models are people who wear pretty clothes and look nice for others, aren’t they?” Eric asked. He glanced at Castor, who nodded subtly, before he looked back at me. “If you want to look nice for others, then why would you be so thin?”

“It’s…” I hesitated, chewing the inside of my cheek. It wasn’t a simple thing to explain to people who didn’t understand our ways. Finally I said, “It’s a beauty standard.”

Eric huffed. “Beauty…” He shook his head. “Being too thin is not ‘beautiful’. It makes you look weak.”

“Sickly,” Ember added, to which Eric nodded.

“Females should have curves,” Eric said. “The female body is meant to reproduce. How can you produce a strong child if you are not strong yourself?”

I felt my chest burn at that. “Women aren’t just for having babies, you know,” I growled. “And besides, a woman can still have a perfectly healthy child even if she’s thin.”

Eric opened his mouth to say something else, but Castor held a hand up to stop him and turned to me. “Forgive them, Raven,” he said gently. “Your culture is so different from ours, and they don’t know much about it. It’s a lot to take in.”

“You,” I said, turning to the burly guard, “you seem to know a lot about Werewolf culture. I thought that the Lycans were isolationist. That our culture isn’t taught in school here.”

Castor nodded. “It isn’t. I only know what I know because I have been to your world.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Oh?”

“When you participate in battle, you learn much,” he said.

“Oh,” I repeated, lowering my gaze.

The reminder of the war between our countries opened fresh wounds that no Werewolf liked to think about. We had always been at odds with the Lycans, which meant that countless battles had been fought on our borders.

Thankfully, our military was strong, so Lycan forces rarely made it inland. But even from a young age, Werewolf children were taught about the battles in school—a little of their culture too, but mostly just the war.

That was the only reason why I knew what I knew about Lycan culture.

“Have… you all fought in battles?” I dared to ask.

The three guards exchanged looks before Castor replied, “Just me. And Prince Neil.”

I felt my face pale somewhat. I knew that all three of the princes participated in battles, but to hear it out loud… That my mate was one of the barbarians who killed on our borders…

“Neil is a ruthless fighter, but he does not kill lightly,” Castor said, noticing my tension. “He is a good person at heart, and he is very kind to those he genuinely cares for. I hope you can understand that.”

I wasn’t sure if I believed that. But my disbelief must have shown on my face because Eric piped up. “It’s true. Prince Neil cares deeply for all of us—he…” He paused, cheeks flushing slightly. “He once helped my family when we hit hard times. He didn’t have to, but he did.”

It was hard to reconcile that difference between the terrifying prince I’d seen on TV and the man they were talking about now.

But before I could say anything, Eric added curtly, “That’s why you do not deserve him. You’ll just drag him down sooner or later. He should have a strong and healthy mate, one who can provide what he needs. Not a skinny ‘model’ who won’t eat her stew.”

My lip curled in response, any previous understanding turning to annoyance. “Are you always this much of a jackass or do you just not like me?”

“I just don’t like you.”

“Well, I don’t like you either. And you’re one to talk about being too thin, you skinny little—”

“Hey, hey,” Castor said, rising from his chair. “It’s so nice outside. How about that tour?”

…

Castor and I spent the day touring the castle grounds after that. He showed me everything from the grand ballroom where the banquet was to be held to the sprawling gardens and we even rode horses to the little town comprised of tiny cobblestone houses beyond the castle walls.

“This is where the majority of the King’s subjects live,” Castor said as we rode into town—after a good amount of struggling to stay in the saddle on my part—that afternoon. “The market here is the best you can find. And there’s a good tavern, too.”

“Ooh,” I muttered, already thinking about a nice drink. “Can we go—”

“A noble such as yourself likely would not set foot in a tavern without a male companion,” Castor cut me off with a chuckle. “Although, perhaps we can convince Prince Neil to come out one night.”

Unbidden, my cheeks flushed at the thought. Maybe the memory of Neil’s lips on mine was a little too fresh to think about drinking with him.

The town was lovely, I had to admit. Maybe there was no pool and no drinks with little umbrellas in them, but Castor did buy me some kind of tea at the market that was sweet and creamy, which was honestly better than I was expecting.

After we made our rounds in town, the sun was already beginning to set, so we made our way back to the castle for dinner. I was practically force-fed another heaping portion of stew by Eric while Castor laughed and Ember watched silently, a goblet of red wine clutched in one hand like her life depended on it.

I didn’t see Neil again that day.

…

I was sleeping soundly when I felt it; the tug on the inside of my mind, followed by the sound of an all-too-familiar voice.

“Wake up.”

I didn’t need to wake up fully to know that it was Neil’s voice through our mate bond, which was exactly why I ignored it. There were no clocks here, but I knew that it was early, and my body was still sore from the crash and a day spent riding horses.

“Wake up, Raven.”

“No.”

“Raven…”

Groaning, I rolled over and pulled the covers over my head, as if that would keep his voice out of my skull. And it seemed to work, because he didn’t speak through the Mindlink again.

But then, just as I was about to drift back off, I felt something pinch my ear and pull.

“Ow-ow-ow!” I howled, clutching the side of my head as Neil pulled me up to my knees by my ear.

“I told you to get up,” he growled, not even caring that I had been sleeping fully nude.