Masked Fate (Fated Love #3)

CHAPTER TWO

Soren

Seeing Pandora is always hard. Sometimes, just looking at her takes me back to a time I’d rather forget when I was at my weakest and brings me shame. I try to block it out and pretend it doesn’t affect me, but it’s difficult when she’s around.

And she always seems to be around.

She wasn’t in the Witch Kingdom during my time there, but I have no doubt she knew what was happening.

I try to ignore her as much as possible, but it’s fucking hard, especially when she haunts my dreams.

Her violet eyes are the same color as her mother’s but framed in thicker, darker lashes.

That’s where the similarities end, though. Pandora is petite, with jet-black hair that stops at her chin and full, pouty lips that have a slash of a scar going through them.

I can’t lie. She’s striking, beautiful even, but not really my type.

The previous Witch Queen was evil inside and out, and although everyone vouches for Pandora, I don’t trust her… one little bit.

The apple never falls far from the tree, right?

A smirk plays on my lips as I think about the pretty blonde fae I had in my bed this morning and the way I had tied her up to the hook in the ceiling above my bed, a gag in her mouth as I’d whipped her ass before fucking her from behind while wearing my favorite leather and bone black skull mask.

I have my kinks in the bedroom, and there is an endless line of females willing to cater to them.

I like control, a little bit of pain, and giving my partners a whole lot of pleasure.

Trust me, no one has left any bad reviews on my performances.

In fact, the females always try to come back for more.

What I don’t like are attachments.

So I fuck each female for one night only.

That’s all they get.

I’m waiting for my fated mate, and if I never find her, I’ll keep on enjoying my life as I have been—doing the fates’ work by pleasing the female population.

After seeing Rave and Astrid together, though, I want that. And when I find my mate, I’ll do whatever I need to make her happy.

Leaving the two queens behind, I head to the fighting ring and remove my swords before I lift my arm behind me to pull off my tunic.

“Finally made it.” Rave smirks, crossing his arms over his chest. His eyes stay on Sinda and Tor, two warriors from our army, who are sparring with swords.

Tilting my head to the side, I watch the warriors’ impressive footwork. “I was in a mood, and now I’m not. I needed that.”

“You always do,” he replies, amusement lacing his tone.

Before Astrid, Rave and I used to fuck women at the same time. He knew everything about what I liked in the bedroom, and we worked well as a team.

We still do but only out of the bedroom now.

Looking over at Astrid laughing at something Pandora said, I can’t help but add, “You know, if you ever change your mind about sharing her—”

“You must have a fucking death wish this morning,” Rave growls out, slapping the back of my head. The dark smoke that surges through the air is a threat I’ll definitely be heeding, no matter how easy he is to rile up.

Rave might be the Fae King, but he’s also my best friend.

Sometimes, I straddle a line there, but I always show him the respect he’s due as our ruler in public.

When it’s just us, though, all bets are off, and he’s still just my best-fucking-friend, the one who came with me to get my cock pierced and has shared more pussy with me than two males should see.

“Who am I up against first?” I ask, cracking my knuckles.

“Nico,” he replies, nodding to his brown-haired, blue-eyed brother, who is currently watching while his chosen mate, Sinda, fights with pride in his eyes. Nico’s fated mate died before he could bond with her, so it’s nice to see him happy again. “Zython wants to speak to Astrid.”

Zython is the Incubi King and Astrid’s father. She had only recently met him, but he betrayed her, making a deal to hand her over to some warlord named Declan. We know there’s more to the story, but we don’t know what it is yet.

“You think it’s safe for us to go to Chaos?” I ask, frowning. “Or are you going to allow him into Aravelle?”

A muscle works in his jaw. “I was thinking we could all meet on neutral ground somewhere. Astrid wants to hear what he has to say, but I don’t trust him. The incubi still want her.”

Astrid is the first succubus born in a century and is, therefore, much to Rave’s frustration, a hot commodity in our realm.

“Axe, Kai, and Bane won’t let anything happen to her,” I assure him, speaking of Astrid’s brothers. Well, Bane isn’t her brother. Bane is Zython’s ward, an exiled Demon Prince, who wants to fuck her, but that’s a whole different story.

“ I won’t let anything happen to her,” he states, shadows dancing across his irises.

Possessive bastard.

Nico nods to the now-empty ring, and I grin, slapping the king on the shoulder as I walk past him. A few of the fae who work in the castle stop to admire the view, and I can’t help but smirk as their eyes roam down my body.

“Hand-to-hand?” Nico asks, removing his belt.

I nod and get into a fighting stance. We start to circle each other, and Nico tries to hit out at me first, aiming for my face.

“Can’t let you hurt this pretty face just yet.” I smirk, and he chuckles, aiming for my liver this time. I move away just in time and hit him back in the jaw, pushing him off balance. Taking advantage, I quickly move in with some body kicks.

From the corner of my eye, I see Pandora move closer to the ring, Elios next to her. The youngest fae prince is smiling at her and reaches out to touch her nape. For some reason, it’s really fucking annoying—first August, and now Rave’s brother? Is she trying to get around the group or something?

Nico gets in one hard hit to my jaw, and I pull my gaze from the witch and back to my opponent. It’s not like I give a fuck what she does or whose cock she’s sucking.

We keep going round for round until I draw blood with a punch to his nose. Astrid steps into the ring next, looking around for an opponent, but no one will dare.

She scowls at Rave, who sighs and nods his head at Pandora. She’s going to spar with my queen? We’ve all put time and effort into training Astrid, especially Rave, and she’s a formidable opponent.

But since she became queen, no one wants to fight her out of respect.

That, and everyone is shit-scared of Rave, but he’s obviously allowing Pandora that honor.

Queen verse queen.

All we need is some fucking rain for the females to get wet and put on a good show. Pandora might set me on edge, but she does have a tight little body and a pair of tits I wouldn’t look away from.

Where’s that bastard, Bane, when you need him? His weather magic would really come in handy right now.

And thank fuck Rave can’t read my thoughts.

I’ve never seen the witch fight.

Can she even fight?

All I know is that Astrid is going to destroy her.