Chapter Thirteen

Celina

My eyes feel so heavy, and my body feels like it is being weighed down by wet cement. Every part of me is on fire, and not in the good way. My face is uncomfortable, and I feel like there is something taped to it. My wolf is tired, but it doesn’t appear to be from the Wolfsbane. I sense she’s okay though. Maybe a run would strengthen her. I’ll get on that as soon as I can figure out how to open my eyes.

My fingers twitch when I try to move my arm. I want whatever is on my face off. Unless it’s keeping this pain from getting worse. I squeeze my eyes shut, remembering why I feel this pain. Stupid lycan. Who has that much Wolfsbane inside them? An asshole, that’s who.

An image of a golden lycan marking me springs forward in my mind, making my eyes snap open. My eyes open to see the most alluring set of topaz eyes; stopping my breath. They’re paired with a face that has to belong to a god. His perfectly sculpted lips are slightly parted, highlighting his strong cheekbones. His Grecian nose is highlighted by his tanned skin. I want to wrap my fingers in his dark golden curls and pull him closer to me.

My wolf shifts her attention to what I see in interest; her entire being beginning to calm in her exhausted state. There is a smile in her eyes when she looks at him. “Mate,” she tells me, yawning before putting her head down and closing her eyes.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” I demand from her, but she’s already comatose. He can’t be our mate. I killed our mate.

I blink, unsure of what I just heard from Mara. You only ever get one mate. Right? I mean this man is the definition of gorgeous, but that doesn’t make him my mate. No, I remember vividly tearing my mate’s throat out. There is no chance that the moon goddess would reward me for that. That’s why I have this stupid curse. Every single man I love is met with a gruesome fate; or become clinically insane if you count Declan.

“Celina,” he asks; making my stomach flip, “are you doing okay?”

This confuses me. I was feeling pain just moments ago. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still there. It’s just dull now. I glance around and see a clear wall and white ceiling, with a monitor next to my head. When did I get here? I try to ask him, but when my eyes land on him, my mind is completely focused on how amazing his eyes are.

He touches my cheek; his hand completely overlapping it. My body automatically leans into it; surprising me. No, bad body. He’s a stranger. “Do you remember what happened? Do you remember me?”

My brow furrows, trying to remember this man. Everything is still a little foggy. He smirks, finding something amusing. My eyes widen when I remember. “Christopher,” I say, my voice breaking and hoarse.

His eyes slightly squint as he smiles. “That’s right. Do you remember what happened?”

I grimace, feeling that acidic burn still in my body, “Wolfsbane.”

“Do you remember anything else?”

It hits me just then. I recoil, the image assaulting me. The silver lycan mere inches from my neck moments before the golden one bit me. Then I heard the chimes. “Did-Were you the one that bit my wolf?”

He gives me a sympathetic look. “My beast marked her. I haven’t marked you in your human form yet.”

This confuses me even more. “Why?” Did he only mark me because someone else wanted to, and he was in the moment?

He pushes the hair from my face. “You’re my mate Celina.”

My face twists while I try to make sense of this. “No, you can’t be. I killed my mate. You only get one.”

His eyes and jaw tighten; as if he’s holding back something. His eyes soften a second later and he squeezes my hand, “Not this time.”

That doesn’t sound right. “No, I’m pretty sure that’s how it works.” I try to sit up, making him sit on my bed. I shake my head, trying to clear it. “Multiple mates only apply to identical sets.”

He stiffens, his body going tense. My mind may be suffering from Wolfsbane poisoning, but that still doesn’t undo years of being forced to learn everything about werewolves and lycans.

I watch his guarded eyes. “Do you have a twin brother?”

Before he can open his mouth, I hear my door slam open. I look around, realizing I’m in a critical care room. How bad did that lycan hurt me? “Get away from my daughter.” Father roars, a deep growl easily heard in his throat. I glance over to see Zeke and Xander flanking him.

“What is the meaning of this,” Dr. Benson demands, coming into the room from her office.

“You,” Father yells, ignoring Benson, and pointing directly at Christopher. “Why didn’t your father tell me that your brother was the one that killed my beta, and that he was the one that attacked Celina?”

What? I turn my attention to Christopher. He looks like a deer caught in headlights. He leans away from my glare while still not looking away from me. He opens his mouth and then closes it once again. He looks frustrated and lets out a hard breath. “Danny was my twin brother.”

“Your brother was my mate?” I demand from him; horror easily heard in my voice. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

He becomes visibly more irritated as his eyes flash nearly black. Again, he addresses only me. “Danny ran away after he challenged my father and lost. We never knew what happened to him, until the day I came here.”

I can see his beast’s blackened eyes, which have aroused Mara. She weakly takes over to see what is going on for herself. She doesn’t like how much distress I am in. She turns my head as she examines the scene before turning her attention back to Christopher. She locks eyes with him while I try to stop it. She overpowers me easily because of the Wolfsbane and telepathically marks his wolf before retreating into my head.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I scream at her.

“Mate,” she tells me, giving me a pointed look while yawning. “Rajin claimed me, so I claimed him.”

“Excuse me,” I demand from her, “are you saying you accept him?”

“Yes. Now accept the human so you can properly heal.”

“No!” I protest while I look at her like she’s insane.

“He marked you, and I’m not rejecting Rajin.”

“Rajin marked you. No one marked me,” I argue; completely thrown by her. What the hell happened to killing any being that tried to mark us?

“Rajin is my equal in strength. Christopher not so much.”

“Oh, so you want me to accept a weaker being?”

“When his beast is Rajin, yes.”

“Oh calm your heat,” I snap at her; annoyed as hell about her change in position.

“Celina, I said reject him,” Father snaps, reclaiming my attention.

Christopher is holding his breath while he’s staring at me. Or I should say Rajin; I can tell that by his black eyes. His claws are clenched and he’s trying extremely hard to restrain himself.

“I can’t,” I answer unwillingly; anger rolling through me.

“Why the hell not?” My father roars, forcing myself and my wolf to growl a warning.

I keep my angered stare locked on Christopher and his beast. “My wolf just marked Rajin.”

“That doesn’t mean a damn thing,” Zeke snaps; a hard tint heard in his tone. “Reject that deplorable creature Cel. He shared a womb with the damned creature that killed my father.” Christopher growls while I feel my dad’s firm grasp on my shoulder.

“He lied to you Celina,” Dad tells me, his tone firm.

“I have a feeling he couldn’t tell me the truth, even if he wanted to.” I give him a hard stare while both of them smirk. I hate that. “Besides, I respect Mara too much to reject her choice. However, I’m not saying I’m accepting his human half.”

Rajin growls while I glower back. “Get lost beast,” I growl at him; pushing as much of my aura as I can at him. I’m still pretty damn weak, but it’s worth a shot.

He gives me an amused smirk before retreating into Christopher. That snarky, arrogant, opportunistic jackass.

“I know. Isn’t he cute,” Mara sighs wistfully.

“Oh go back to sleep,” I snap at her. She just had to mark that…beast.

I look at my father, no longer considering Christopher a threat since his beast has now retreated. “Dad, you know as well as I do. If Exzecial had told you that his son tried to mark me, and killed Beta Logan, you’d become overly paranoid and think Exzecial is causing a coup.” It’s not that far of a stretch. Dad always goes straight to extreme scenarios when my safety is involved. It took me two years to ditch my bodyguards at college, which Declan ruined in my last year of college. At least I got one year of freedom.

Dad’s face reddens. “What else am I supposed to think?”

“Did you ask them what the real story was? Because the prince just told us,” I say; jerking my thumb toward Christopher.

“And how do you know he’s not lying?”

“Because I’m the one that deranged beast bit into.” I absentmindedly touch my neck. “Believe me when I say, he wasn’t in his right mind.”

Dad’s grip tightens on my shoulder. “That doesn’t comfort me, Celina.”

“It still doesn’t change the fact that I ripped out that beast’s throat, so justice has already been served.” I cock my head as I think of it; trying to avoid an all-out war with the lycans. That’s not going to end well. “Besides, Exzecial could argue he has grounds to declare war since I killed his son.”

“Celina,” Father warns, “you’re still not helping.”

“I am by avoiding a war,” I tell him; astonished he’s too blinded by his anger to see that will be the outcome result.

“Then how are you going to deal with that mongrel for a mate?”

“By being a big girl,” I tell him sarcastically with a little too much enthusiasm. “Either way, it’s my problem to deal with. Not yours or the Beast Council.”

“Celina,” Dad warns while Zeke and Christopher glare at one another, and Xander just looks amused.

“Either let it go, or kindly get out,” I tell him through gritted teeth; my once dulled pain has now tripled, and I’m painfully aware of it.

“Celina,” Dad starts before he’s abruptly cut off by the sound of my monitor going off.

“No she’s right,” Dr. Benson says, inserting herself into the conversation. “Her fever is spiking, so you all need to leave.”

I give her a confused look while she stares everyone down as they file out one by one. “Well, that was convenient.”

“Hardly,” she says, holding up a remote; her finger pressed on a button. She lets go of it, silencing the monitor as she smirks. “They were pissing me off. Go back to sleep princess, I’ll check on you in the morning.”