After making me physically attractive, with all those painful brushing, ornaments, and beautification, I am ushered into a garden. Something that I didn't expect because it was already seven in the evening. I am about to comment about the bad planning when I am ushered into a small hut instead.
Entering the threshold, the door opens up to a round table with two chairs surrounded by vines and flowers. On the ceiling hangs a small chandelier that is connected to a wooden roof. I look around. The walls, ceilings, and floor are all covered in grass, vines, and flowers. It seems like we are in a garden instead of a wooden house.
Seth is sitting in the center, and as I approach him, he stands up to meet me. I raise my brow at him. It's only me who is forced to wear something seductive. He, on the other hand, is wearing his normal open chest robes giving me a glimpse of his muscular chest and torso. There is also an embroidered green sash that's tied around his waist and placed over one shoulder.
He looks at me with open delight and admiration that I can't help but scowl at the way I am being appraised. I hear the servants retreating and closing the door before Seth offers his hand to me.
"You look captivating on Orttenburg's…" he rakes my body again before saying, "... provocative clothes."
"Provocative?!" I ask.
"Yes, our dancers wear those clothes."
I groan. "Are they expecting me to dance for you?"
"That would be nice to watch. Is there any dance you know of?"
I roll my eyes at him and he grins. Then he pulls me to the table where there are wine, meat, and vegetables.
Once seated, I comment, "Why am I the only one being dressed up for this?"
His eyes widen. "I am dressed up. You don't see me as a dashing King?"
I place my hand on my chin and look at him. "It's your normal clothes. Robes."
"But I look best in these. Young women blush every time they see my chest. You don't think I am attractive wearing these clothes?" he asks.
I sigh and lean on the chair. I reach for my fork and place the meat into my mouth. He just watches me as if he is waiting for an answer.
Swallowing the food, I ask, "What is this, Seth? What are you expecting from me?"
"I want to build a bond with you."
"With me? Not to my King?"
"I want to seduce you away from King Theo," he admits, grinning. "And from my lessons, spending time with a young woman is a classic example towards that goal."
"What goal? To get rid of Theo's personal guard?"
"For you to like me enough to marry me."
"I don't want to marry a King."
"Oh," he mutters and leans on his chair. "Is that why you are currently King Theo's personal guard? Instead of being his concubine or his Queen?"
I purse my lips. "For Theo, I am not good enough to be his concubine or his Queen."
"He hasn't touched you?"
I blush. "I was his lover, without the title though."
He pauses and scrutinizes me. He takes his glass of wine and sips it. After putting it down, he asks, "He doesn't know you are the werewolves' Alpha Queen?"
I look away and take a sip of my wine. "He doesn't need to know."
Seth grins. "Too bad for him. I think my servant women will have a great time dressing you up until you allow me to take you to my bed."
I frown. "You are not allowed to do that."
"Said by who? By you? Or by your King?"
I groan. "You don't even love me, so let this be the first and last time you invite me."
"I like you enough to make love to you. My people will love it. Want to surprise them and make love tonight?"
I wince. "Stop that."
He laughs. "Just kidding. Darius will kill me if I touch you during our first dinner."
Theo might kill him too. Instead, I ask, "I thought you were taught how to care for women? You seem not to know that women don't like to be touched on the first romantic dinner."
A look of amusement appears on his face. "Let me correct what my servant women told you. I was taught how to pleasure women. The activities before that are not taught to me. They expected that I don't need to woo any women, given my position."
"And so, this is your way of wooing me?"
"Yes. We have less time though. But I will visit you in Pitchford once you leave."
I frown at that. "We are not going to leave in another five days."
Seth reaches for my hand and places a quick kiss on it. "King Theo wants to leave soon. Probably a way to keep you away from me."
I take my hand from him. I don't care about leaving early, but what annoys me is that, soon, I will be sharing the room with both Theo and Princess Kissa. If that is the case, I will spend most of my time outside the room, listening to their cries of pleasure.
"As tattletale as Darius is with you, did he already tell you about my ability?" Seth asks.
I nod. "He said you can read minds."
"Human minds. I can't read yours and Darius'"
"So?"
"I would like to try guessing what you are thinking based on your expressions."
"Go ahead then," I challenge and place my arms across my chest.
"You are worried about King Theo and my sister, Kissa."
I clench my jaws at the same time that he smiles. I empty the glass of wine and pour another. I am about to drink from my glass again when he stops me.
"Let me give you some advice, a strategy, to stop yourself from feeling down about it."
"I don't need your advice!" He says that he can't read werewolves' minds and yet, he guessed correctly what I am thinking about!
"You can find a man who can patch up your broken heart," he explains anyway, even if I refused. "That way, you can forget a little about your pain."
I snort. "And let me guess, I should let you do it."
He laughs again. "If you want me to do it, I will gladly do it for the Alpha Queen. You deserve it."
"I deserve nothing!" I growl at him, which makes him stop.
"Is that King Theo's strategy to keep you?" he asks, frowning. Before I can respond, he adds, "To make you feel less of yourself, so that you'll think as if you are lucky to have a King yearning for you?"
"That's not it," I say, but I already lost my appetite.
He leans towards me and says, "You know I can read Theo's minds. He can screen some of them, but when I met you, his mind is screaming. He wants to keep you. He's on the boundary of obsession. While I am asking for you, his mind is racing about the things he will do to keep you-all cunning and not-so-good ways. His mind is dark, Kaiya. When he caught my sister who is swooning over him, he even thought of using my sister to hurt you so that you will crawl back into his arms."
"And all this time, you act as if you know nothing about us," I hiss.
A haughty grin appears on his face. "I always want to act oblivious. It makes my enemy bring down their guard against me."
"You are as cunning as him."
"But I am not obsessive, and overly jealous."
I glare at him. It takes a long time until finally, he shrugs his shoulders. "Kaiya, I want you not only because you are the Alpha Queen and you have all this knowledge that you have forgotten. I want you because you are a werewolf, the exact reason why King Theo can't make you his concubine or Queen."
"Why is that? You are also a King. A royalty."
"Because I read human minds, but not those of werewolves. The incessant internal voices of humans make me crazy. That is why I am always alone and was called an introvert. That small area in the library? That's something that Kissa created for me. It's to drown out the voices. But with you and Darius, I feel relaxed."
He takes my hand in his and kisses the back of it. "Our relationship might not evolve into that of romantic love, but I am certain that you are perfect for me as my partner, Kaiya. As perfect as Darius is, as my guard."
"Too bad for your servants. They seem to make it their purpose in life for you to bed women."
"I can bed you," he says instantly. "It's the humans I can't bed. Because I can read their minds, lovemaking is not as enjoyable with them. There are no surprises, no mystery, no anticipation, no-"
I raise my hand to stop him. "Stop, Seth. We should change the subject. This topic is not something I enjoy."
As if taking the cue, he changes the topic and asks, "The oldest of my servants, Eshe, she made a scene while grooming you, didn't she?"
"Not only her. Your young servant women are crying and telling me to do my best."
Seth laughs. "Ha! They didn't know that it should be me who needed to try my best to seduce you to come to my side. You can wear rags and I still would offer you the position of the Queen."
"Of course, you don't mean that."
"I'm serious about it. In fact, even if you bare yourself in front of me without all these expensive garments, I will still offer you the position."
"Now, you are just going to the bawdy side of things. You won't fool a woman to bare themselves to you."
"Nothing will be lost if I try though," he says and laughs heartily. And I can't help but laugh with him too.