Fake Mate of the Enemy Shifter (Red Oak Shifters #2)

17. Grey

Chapter seventeen

Grey

A s chaos breaks out in the throne room over the forest curse and the mystery of Cassia’s origin, I can’t help but feel compelled to go after her.

I don’t blame her for running. Her entire perception of her life has been thrown out the window, and she probably feels like a stranger to herself. I can’t begin to imagine how that feels.

All my life, I’ve been brutally aware of who I am and where I come from. I would be lost without that knowledge.

I reach down and grab the pot with the sapling, taking a few moments to inspect it. I can feel its typical magic radiating off it, but there’s something else there too. Something unfamiliar.

Before anyone can stop me, I slip away and hurry out of the throne room’s doors, my eyes darting left and right down the hallway. Something tells me she didn’t just run to her room and lock herself inside. She would want to get away as far as she can.

A thought pops into my mind, one that may be incredibly wrong, but it’s the best guess I have. Turning on my heel, I head out of the castle, picking up my pace as the hills loom ahead. She escaped to there once before.

Why not again?

The only person who ever found her the first time was me.

As I venture farther from the castle, I listen closely, sharpening my hearing until grass rustling and quick breathing come into focus. I speed up my pace and soon find her lying on the same slope as before, her hand resting on her chest as she stares up at the blue sky.

“You’ll need a new hiding place if you don’t want to be found,” I tell her as I approach.

Cassia continues staring up at the sky, not moving as I come closer. “I don’t mind being found by you.”

A faint glow of warmth ignites in my chest as I sit down in the grass next to her, a sigh drifting from me. “I’m sorry, Cassia.”

Cassia finally looks over at me, her lips turning down into a frown. “Why?”

I should probably ask myself the same question. Why did I come all the way out here to comfort her? Especially now that I know she has bad blood running through her veins.

Maybe because she can’t help her lineage like I can’t help mine. None of us can. Am I really in the position to judge her for that?

“You were blindsided by a heavy truth,” I tell her. “And your powers are gone. I can’t imagine what that feels like.”

Cassia’s eyes gleam before she tears them away from me. “It’s terrible. I feel so cold and empty. And weak! Like I can’t even defend myself if something bad happens.”

I glance down at the sapling in my hand before setting the pot off to the side. Something tells me that I should probably keep it close. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I wouldn’t have thought that before today,” Cassia admits. “You didn’t seem to hate me during the ceremony. Why?”

Everything she is asking are questions I should also ask myself. It’s hard to find good answers, though. My heart and my mind keep shooting in unpredictable directions, and I’m just following whatever feeling is strongest.

“I’ve come to realize you’re not a bad person,” I say, prompting her to sit up and turn to me.

“But you heard them. I come from some unknown bad witches. Their blood runs through my veins,” Cassia replies as a look of shame shadows her face. “Now, I’m cursed.”

I reach out and take her hand, feeling that same unmistakable tugging sensation toward her. It feels right to comfort her. To hold her like this. “You can’t help your bloodline. Just like I can’t help mine. You’re your own person.”

Cassia holds my gaze, her face gradually softening. She gives me a weak smile. “Want to trade?”

A light chuckle breaks from me as I give her hand a squeeze. “We need to figure out what you’re trading with first.”

Cassia’s smile lingers on her face. “We?”

I shrug as I move a few inches closer to her. “Well, we are married. Somewhat. So, I’ll help you.”

Our ceremony was interrupted, but we’re married enough in Morgana’s and Lucian’s eyes. That’s the only thing that matters.

“Curious?” Cassia asks.

Well, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t. Her parents could be anyone , and there have been quite a few bad witches in this region over the years.

“A little. Who they are wouldn’t change the fact that I think you’re a good person stuck in a bad situation,” I tell her.

“Bad situation,” Cassia murmurs with a dry laugh. “That’s an understatement.”

“Morgana was hurting you at dinner, wasn’t she?” I ask as my face turns more serious.

Cassia doesn’t say anything for a moment as she gazes out at the field of wispy grass in front of us. She breathes in deeply before finally nodding. “It’s not the last time or the worst thing she’s done to me.”

I shake my head in disbelief. No matter how much someone in my kingdom irritates me, I could never hurt them like that. Ever.

My duty is to protect them. Why are Morgana’s responsibilities different? Why does she feel the need to punish instead of lead?

“Don’t get worked up about it. It’s how she is,” Cassia tells me, her shoulders slumping a little. “She likes to remind people how powerful she is. How she can hurt them without uttering a single word.”

“It’s wrong,” I say. “She shouldn’t hurt her own.”

Cassia pulls her knees closer to her chest, resting her hands on top of them. “She doesn’t care. She’s going to push me around and control me until the day I die. Maybe that’s what I deserve.”

I frown and turn to her, my hands cupping her face to drag her gaze to mine. No more looking away. No more hiding her eyes. Not when she says things like that. “Why would you think you deserve that?”

At first, her eyes widen at the sudden touch, but she relaxes in my hold and sighs. “I’m not brave enough to defy them. If I was stronger, I could break free, but I’m too scared to change anything. That’s on me.”

“That’s a terrible reason.”

Cassia blinks at me, a faint laugh breaking from her. “What?”

I let one hand fall, while the other slides around to the back of her neck under her hair. Our gazes don’t break. “You shouldn’t punish yourself for being scared. Morgana is the stuff of nightmares, and Lucian props her up. I don’t blame you or anyone for being scared of them.”

Cassia searches my eyes for a few seconds, her expression becoming wary. “I want to trust you.”

I give her a perplexed look. “You can. Are you afraid I’m going to go running to Morgana and Lucian?”

Cassia shakes her head. “I’m afraid you’re going to change your mind about me when I tell you this.”

My stomach tenses with nervousness, but I nod, encouraging her to spill whatever is on her mind. I would rather find out from her lips than any other way.

“For a while now… I’ve been feeling strange,” Cassia admits. “Mostly when my emotions are heightened, but especially when I’m angry.”

“Strange how?” I ask her.

My wolf blood makes me experience heightened feelings, but from all I know about her and all that I’ve sensed, she doesn’t seem like another hybrid. She must be having a different experience, which makes me wary.

I’ve always felt that there’s something different about her, but is it a good thing or has it always been her bad blood calling out to me?

Cassia shrugs a little, looking uncertain. She glances around us, making sure that we’re alone before turning back to me. “Like… there’s darkness inside of me. And fire. It’s intense and destructive, and it’s like it tries to take over me.”

I frown in concern. That doesn’t sound great at all, but it’s not completely surprising given what she found out today. There is darkness running through her veins, but the fire part is odd. “Have you given into it?”

Cassia immediately shakes her head, looking bewildered that I even asked. “No, I always try to stop it. I don’t want to feel that way! It’s… frightening.”

I rest my hand on her knee, giving it a light, comforting squeeze. “I know. You’re doing the right thing by fighting it. We need to figure out where it’s coming from.”

Cassia sighs as she lowers her eyes to the ground in front of her. “Well, I guess that’s the one good thing about losing my powers. That’s gone too.”

Figuring out how to get her powers back is going to be a whole other obstacle. I don’t owe her anything – My help. My kindness. My time.

But I want to give them all to her because I don’t see a manipulative, evil person anymore. I see someone who is doing her best to be good, but the world is against her. If I was in the same position, I would want someone to help me break free.

In return, maybe she can help me take down her leaders so that her clan and mine can be free once more.

Truly free.

“We’ll figure it all out,” I tell her.

Cassia raises an eyebrow at me. “You think so?”

I meet her eyes and nod. “We’ll make things right.”

Her face lights up with hope. “That’s all I want.”

I’m sure quite a few of the other Moonveil witches would agree, but it’ll be a process to find them among the loyalists. That’s a job that I don’t think I’ll be able to do alone.

“I need you to do me a favor, though.”

“What?” Cassia asks as she tilts her head at me.

I lean closer to her as a gentle breeze whips around us, making the grass sway in a graceful dance. “Stop seeing yourself as an evil person. You’re not your leaders, and you’re not your parents either.”

Cassia’s face softens as we gaze at each other, finding peace in our little slice of isolation. If only things were as peaceful at the castle as they are here in the hills. I suppose their difference is what makes the hills so special, though.

There are memories out here that I certainly won’t forget, including this moment right now as I realize that I may have a really good ally by my side. An ally that I’m relieved to have because it was torture hating her for betraying me.

Now that those heavy, harsh feelings are gone, I once again face a desire that I’ve felt for her since we met. A warmth in my chest. The rapid beating of my heart. Heat on my skin.

It all floods back, and I can’t stop my eyes from lowering to her lips. The way her fingers curl around the grass in anticipation just makes me want to kiss her even more.

Unable to resist the pull, I start to lean forward, my eyes meeting hers.

But my mind suddenly lights up with a vision that strikes me like a bolt of lightning. A symbol glows in my mind. A fire sigil that burns red.

I draw back from her with a shaky exhale, blinking my eyes rapidly as the symbol fades from my mind. “What the hell?”

Cassia’s eyes grow wide. “What happened? Did I do something?”

I shake my head, knowing she didn’t do that on purpose. But something did happen. “I saw some sort of fire sigil when our eyes met.”

Cassia leans back, reeling from my words. “I wonder if it is related to the destructive, angry fire I feel sometimes, or my blood.”

“Probably. What else could it be?” I reply as I drag my fingers through my hair, my heart continuing to race. “I’ve never had a vision like that before. I’ll see things in my dreams, but this was different.”

A wary look forms on her face as she turns away from me. “What if it’s a warning? Maybe you should stay away from me.”

If it’s a warning, it didn’t do a good job of scaring me off. It’ll take way more than a vision to send me running.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I tell her before laying down on the slope of the hill, my arms folding behind my head as the sun shines high in the sky. The heat of its rays almost feels like a blanket of warmth, and if things weren’t so intense, I could probably take a nap out here.

Cassia’s brow creases in worry, but I don’t miss the small smile that crosses her lips as she lays down next to me. “Thank you, Grey.”

She doesn’t need to thank me, but I suspect she feels more alone in this than she truly is. Truly, I think we can garner more support than we think possible, but every move we make has to be calculated.

We have to somehow outsmart the manipulators, get her powers back, and save my kingdom. While not getting caught or killed in the process.

“We’ll figure everything out.”

We have to.