Chapter 121: Who am I supposed to like??

Cassian stared at her.

So, this was what it had all been about. She wasn’t after power or after Della because she was simply a rotblood that she felt needed to be eradicated, she was doing this hoping it would bring a semblance of her father’s attention to the woman she was becoming, to look at her and just see...her.

All those schemes. All that blood. Simply because she wanted one man’s eyes to settle on her without searching for the daughter she could never become.

And somehow, that was almost pathetic.

Beatrice was still laughing.

She never stopped laughing out that broken, breathless sound that rattled through her ruined throat as she hung from his grasp, blood staining her teeth.

Cassian’s red eyes slowly travelled over her face, then something changed. The rage remained, but beneath it came something Beatrice had never expected to see directed at her.

Pity.

The moment she saw that look, her laughter faltered, then it stopped completely.

Her bloodshot eyes widened. She hated that look!

Anything but that!

Her face twisted, fury replacing the strange amusement that had possessed her moments ago. She was about to say something that would probably earn her another claw and another tormenting moment when Cassian suddenly released his hold around her neck completely.

Beatrice dropped hard, hitting the earth with a broken gasp. She rolled several feet before coming to a stop, coughing violently as both hands flew to her throat.

She coughed out blood. She coughed out rage. And soon, she started to cough out another one of those shrieking laughs.

She finally looked up to see Cassian, only to catch his massive ash wolf leaving already.

And she laughed again.

Once she was done laughing and rolling and coughing, she lay down on the bare floor staring up at the night sky. It was such a beautiful night, and there were hundreds of stars shooting across the sky.

Or maybe it was the ones still in her head.

"Sigh," She spread her arms and legs out, "I married well,"

.

.

.

Selene tapped her feet restlessly against the forest ground. She was leaning on a tree, arms crossed and very impatiently waiting for someone to return.

"What’s taking him so long? He should be done with her by now!" She seethed under her breath, tapping her feet even faster than before.

She looked down at the change of clothes she’d taken from his chambers a while ago and thought about ripping them apart. She might just do so if he’s not here in the next ten minutes!

Finally, she heard the sound of paws running in her direction, and she straightened up from the tree.

Cassian stopped right in front of her, and Selene found herself pressing harder against the tree.

His wolf looked terrifying, as always.

Where Cassian was easy-going, teasing, and almost annoyingly humorous, his wolf was pure predatory terror with a body built like a living weapon, shoulders towering above most wolves, and muscles rippling beneath thick, battle-scarred fur.

His eyes burned a deep, blood-red, devoid of the warmth and mischief Cassian carried in his human form. His muzzle was broad, his canines unnaturally long, and it radiated a suffocating sense of violence.

She watched as he slowly changed back to his human form, till he stood naked before her.

It was not the first time she had seen him naked. Wolves see each other naked all the time. It was part of their nature, and nothing was embarrassing about it.

But Selene’s face suddenly turned bright red as her eyes dragged over his ripping muscles, stopping at the organ between his legs.

She quickly cleared her throat, "Here," She looked away and extended his clothes to him, "Wear something,"

He took it from her, and she kept her eyes away till he was fully dressed. Once all that sinful masculinity was hidden behind his clothes, she let out an exhale and looked at him again.

And she tried really hard not to imagine him naked again.

It was impossible!

"Please tell me you’ve warned that bitch to get the hell out of my way," Selene started grumpily, "Or better still, you’ve killed her,"

"She’s not dead," Cassian said, not even glancing at her.

"Then what did you do to her?"

"Nothing,"

"Are you kidding me?" Selene took a step forward, "You were supposed to—"

"Then Nightveil would bear the consequences if I did," He cut her off sharply, "Moreover, that woman’s remaining sanity is hanging on by a thread, and she’s chewing through the thread herself."

"What does that mean?!"

"It means she’s more dangerous than I thought she was," He fired back, making Selene gasp.

"So what do we do about her? Now that Della is out of her way, I’m the only thing left for her to conquer!"

"She’ll eventually destroy herself," Cassian said, recalling her eerie laughter.

"How?"

"By her own actions. Moreover, even if someone were to kill her, there’s someone out there more eligible for that other than you, Selene,"

"Please, tell me you’re not referring to the Rotblood again,"

"Yes, I am,"

"Ugh!" Selene rolled her eyes, "She was only lucky once! Just once! Wherever she summoned that wolf from, it’s gone back there. Rot-bloods don’t have wolves! If she did, hundreds wouldn’t have tramped on her so easily,"

"Speaking about that," His eyes darkened, "What were you doing at the marketplace today? What were you doing in the crowd? Did you also...?"

"I merely came to watch," Selene admitted, "I mean, I still have the strangulation marks around my neck. I hate that girl to pieces. And I found delight watching her being trampled upon. What is so wrong with that?"

Selene was suddenly knocked back against the tree, with Cassian’s hand wrapped around her throat, shutting her up.

"Stop acting like you’re the victim when you brought it upon yourself!"

"I’m not the problem here! Della is! She’s the one who tried to blow up people at a wedding! She’s merely suffering for what she did!" Selene hurled back at him, her breathing heavy and unsteady, "And then there’s you! She’s using whatever charms to pull you and Malachi in. She’s—"

His grip tightened.

"You cannot be drawn to someone like that, Cassian. You cannot like her, or feel sorry for her!"

His eyes dropped to her lips for just one second, but this time she didn’t miss it. Probably because he was this close, probably because there was no Malachi in her head right now, and because now that she was also drawn to him, every move he made caught her attention. When he spoke again, his voice had become deeper, "Then, who am I supposed to like?"