Chapter 102: Chapter 102

~ NYSSA

Eric didn’t offer up any information regarding his call with Rowan, and I didn’t ask.

I sat in the car, legs pulled up to my chest as I stared out the window, trying to ignore the feel of his eyes boring holes into the back of my head.

He asked where I wanted to go before we got in, but I could barely form any words at that point. I had no idea where he was going but truthfully, I didn’t care, as long as it was far away from the palace and I didn’t have to see or talk about Rowan… the man who lied to me.

I scoffed.

The weight of my own stupidity was crushing. I could barely get a breath out of my lungs. I should have known he was lying to me. The signs were there for fucks sake. He never told me anything about himself unless I pushed and even then, he was very secretive.

“Are you going to tell me what happened or do you want us to keep driving around aimlessly?” Eric drawled, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I hadn’t even realized when he put the car in park.

We were on a quiet road with trees so high on each side of the road that I couldn’t see the sun.

I turned to Eric. “What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know, perhaps you can start by telling me why the hell you were crying? I risked my life in there to get you out. He could have killed me.”

“Thank you.”

“I didn’t say it so you could thank me,” he sighed deeply. “I’d have done it regardless. I like you, Nyssa, you’re chill. What happened?”

It took me a second to get the words out. “He killed my parents and he said nothing when he fucked me last night.”

“Oh fuck.” He slapped his hands over his mouth. “I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s okay,” I waved him off. “It is fucked. It’s bad enough that he killed them, but that he kept it from me?”

“Not to support him or anything, but what would have happened if he told you? You would have still reacted the same way. They’re your parents and no excuse he gives will be enough to justify it to you.”

I turned away from him, choosing instead to stare out at the trees.

Maybe he was right, but it didn’t matter because he hadn’t told me, and there was no justifiable reason.

“My parents were good people. They were the kind to take in rogues and rehabilitate them. My mother worked with the pack hospital and my father was a good man. There is nothing that could have warranted him torturing them, so to do that and try to have a relationship with me—”

“It’s not like he knew you were his mate when he killed them.”

I turned to him, chest burning with anger. “Are you really fucking defending him right now?”

He immediately held up his hands in surrender. “I’m not, I just… I think you should at least try to hear him out.”

“There is nothing I want to hear from him. I need space. This is too much. He was right in the beginning when he tried to keep me at arm’s length. Maybe we just are not compatible.”

Eric hummed, the disbelief clear in his tone.

I turned to him once more, brow raised as I waited for him to speak whatever was on his mind.

“He cares for you, you,” he said finally, sighing deeply. “I will not overstep by getting involved and I will not claim to know the King and how he thinks, but he cares. He would not call and threaten me unless he did.”

I’d be lying if I said a little piece of my heart did not flutter at that.

My chest grew warm at the thought of him caring for me, but there was a cold sinister voice at the back of my head that whispered doubts straight into my ears.

What if he is only doing it because I called him out?

What if this was all a ploy?

“I would like to go the rest of the day without talking about him please,” I said firmly. “I do not care where you take me. Just let it be anywhere but the palace.”

He nodded tightly. “As you wish.”

We spent the rest of the day in the town and surprisingly, I had fun.

Eric took me to some of his favorite places. We tried so many different foods and spoke to many different people that I didn’t even have the time to think about Rowan or his actions.

It wasn’t until the sun had set and I had returned to the car that the thoughts I fought so hard to suppress came rushing back. Eric did not speak as he drove back to the palace and as we grew closer, the urge to jump out of the moving car and run grew as well.

The palace was the last place I wanted to be, but I had nowhere else.

I should have learned from Henry, after he rejected me and I had nowhere else to go. I should have never let my entire life and livelihood be dependent on Rowan.

I was stupid.

The enormous palace seemed more like a prison than ornate building as Eric stopped in the courtyard,

“You can do this,” he whispered softly, reaching out to squeeze my shoulder. “If you want, I’ll be here tomorrow and we can take another drive.”

I swallowed thickly. “I’d like that, thanks.”

“Anytime,” he winked.

I shot him a small smile before dragging myself out of the car.

Save for the guards outside, the palace seemed empty. The maids had retired for the night leaving the halls bare and I managed to get up the stairs towards my bedroom in silence.

I stopped in front of the door: The Queen’s chambers.

I scoffed.

It made my stomach flutter before but now, it only brought a bitter taste to the back of my mouth.

Could I truly be the Queen of the man who ruined my family?

I turned to leave, intent on finding another place to sleep when a cool voice stopped me in my tracks. “You’re back.”

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