10

Y ou’ve got to be fucking kidding me!

India stands in the entryway, her name-brand purse on the floor by her feet, and her arms crossed against her plastic chest. If looks could kill, I’d be so fucking dead, but so would she, because Roman looks like he might literally kill her right now.

“India. What. Are. You. Doing. Here?” Roman asks slowly.

“I...I…well, you didn’t call me after our talk,” she sputters before smirking at me.

My stomach bottoms out as the jealousy starts swimming through my veins. I struggle to remove myself from his body, but he squeezes me once. I look into his eyes and see a silent request to listen. I nod, but I still climb out of his arms to stand at his side.

It's now that I realize I’m standing here in nothing but one of Roman’s hockey shirts and a pair of fuzzy pink socks. I internally face palm myself, while on the outside I’m standing tall.

Her furious eyes bounce back and forth between Roman and I before she smirks, taps her fake nails on her still crossed arms, and speaks again, “Roman, darling, I came by to set up a meeting with the King to discuss our succession to the throne.”

She’s pleased by my sharp intake of breath, but it doesn’t last when her eyes move to Roman, and she doesn’t miss his body vibrating with barely controlled rage.

His arm pulls me even tighter to his side. I instinctively lay my hand over his heart and look up to smile at him, trying to calm him and his wolf. He looks down, and the rage visibly bleeds from his face.

“I’m here,” I whisper, patting my hand on his chest. He smiles that smile that takes my breath away, brings his other hand to stop my patting, and holds our hands to his heart.

With his smile still on his face, he turns his attention back to the seething woman standing before us as he says, “India, I specifically told you I would call you when we could speak. I was busy and unable to reach you yet. However, as you decided to barge into my home where you’re not welcome anymore, I suppose we can just do this now.”

His gaze grows distant for a short moment, and I know he just gave the men a heads up that this is happening now.

Nodding to himself, he continues, “I’m not marrying you, India.”

My jaw drops at his blunt declaration, and she begins to stomp towards us but only makes it two steps before a growl rips from Roman as he drops the real bomb.

“Leera is my mate.”

The fire that courses through my body as he claims me in front of her is very inappropriate, but I kind of love it.

India’s arms have dropped to her sides, and she’s panting. Now she’s the one barely hanging onto her anger, but he’s not done yet.

“The Goddess has returned my mate to me and given us another chance in this lifetime. I won’t be marrying you, and if that’s a dealbreaker with the King, I won’t be taking the throne. I don’t care.”

India is fuming, and I’m honestly surprised there isn’t literal steam coming from her ears and nose when she takes one more step towards us, pointing her finger at Roman and then me. “You know what? Fine! I don’t need you to be a queen. Keep the little bitch. You don’t get a second mate, so keep lying. You’ll regret it when you’re bored with her and come crawling back to me, and I’ll no longer need you.”

She’s only just gotten the words out of her mouth when Andrei walks through the door. He instantly takes on a lethally calm presence I’ve never felt before. With a murderous look on his face, he snatches her overpriced purse off the floor with one hand, using his other hand to gesture towards the door.

“It's time to go, India. Now,” Andrei growls.

She crosses her arms again, stomps her foot, and seems to plant herself where she stands. He takes a single step to close the final distance between them and levels her with a look that rivals Roman's anger.

“Last warning. Leave on your own will, or I will remove you from this house.”

She turns her head away from him, and I shit you not, she puts her nose up in the air.

He looks to Roman for approval, and when he confirms with a small nod, Andrei loosely grabs her by her wrist, still being careful not to harm or bruise her because he’s apparently a gentleman, to a fault. He lightly tugs her towards the door, offering her one more chance to leave on her own.

She continues to try and pull her arm back and stay in the townhouse. She begins kicking and seething, and Andrei has no choice but to drag her towards the door and literally throw her out because she still refuses to leave.

When the door finally slams shut, I know I shouldn’t be so happy about the scene that just unfolded in front of me, but I am, and I don’t care.

Roman finally claimed me as his mate to the queen of putrid, bitches! I startle when I feel what must be my wolf, and a small squeal escapes me.

Andrei is walking back towards us, and even he’s finally smiling.

Both men look at me at once with eyes full of happiness, and Roman explains, “We can feel your wolf. Can you feel her?”

“I just did! If I had to explain it, I’d say she was happy, like she…like she was prancing around, I think.”

Both men continue to beam at me until I snuggle back into Roman and meet his eyes. “That’s the first person outside of…us”—I wave my arms around between us and his men—“that you've told I was your mate.” I’m so happy I can’t stand it. It’s at that moment my body decides to remind me that I was just kidnapped and drugged for Goddess knows how long, and my knees give out.

Roman captures me quickly before I hit the floor, setting me back on my feet and holding me against him.

“That's enough excitement for you. You need to rest,” he mumbles into my neck as he nuzzles me and inhales a deep breath.

“It was totally worth it.” I release a happy sigh and look at Andrei and say, “Thanks for throwing out the trash.”

We all erupt into laughter for a moment before Serious Andrei makes a swift return. “What are we going to do about her? You know she’ll go straight to the advisor.”

Roman becomes serious while he thinks, all laughter forgotten. “We’ll figure it out. We always do. But it had to be done.”

I just nod, trying not to think about all the shit that’s going to hit the fan.

Roman speaks again, “Sweetheart, how about you grab your phone and we’ll go upstairs and sit under your twinkle lights, and I’ll call Benny to grab some dinner? What would you like to eat?”

“Oh, I'm starving. Can I have a big greasy cheeseburger with onion rings and a cookies and cream shake?”

Roman just looks at me like I hung the moon when he says, “I’d hand you the heart in my chest if you asked for it. I’ll have Benny get your food. Grab your phone.”

As soon as my phone is in my hands, he scoops me back up into his arms, and we head upstairs.