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Healer Rhea's POV

Rhea had been well versed in the realm of diplomacy, yet upon sitting with the current King in nothing more than her blandest dress, boots, and a cane at her feet...She felt underwhelming unprepared.
Not to mention her hair must look like an absolute bird's nest given the state of how all of that had gone down.

Her head had been bowed forward while her hands had locked at her center in her lap, there truly was no winning this battle. Yet when she picked up her gaze through her lashes, only to find a male that was for certain not a Kingly figure.

Romulus had his head tilted to the side as his eyes lingered about her figure, interest clearly in place—Though it slowly flickered from his natural eyes to that of his wolf. Blackened orbs had soon taken over, causing her heart to race as she tried to remind herself that this was someone she knew.

Someone she knew once upon a time, and she truly did not want the attention of his wolf if he was starting to grow a thirst for revenge with blood.

"Rom?" She whispered, and that had alerted him with ease. He couldn't remember the last time someone had called him by his nickname. Not since...Since the female right before him had been teasing him.

The King had pushed forward, leaning close to her cheek, and breathed her in—Not worthy enough to imprint her scent from the base of her neck. No, he had nuzzled her cheek before kissing it politely.
Remembering that she was human, after all.

"You saved my life all that time ago, and I plan to do the same, my Queen. We'll be traveling to a nearby inn to rest." His words had done nothing to comfort her, as she still seemed as startled as when stepped off the carriage for the first time. "We'll talk about all things. Rest assured, I know you must have your questions." She nodded, still realizing that there were far too many ears to give them the proper privacy, yet she shivered in distaste and worry.

Perhaps his kindness would be found in explaining her execution outright for her to prepare.
She could handle that, couldn't she?

Yet when she did shiver, Romulus did not hesitate to unhook his cloak and swing it over one of her shoulders and buckle it for her. Rhea had mumbled a quick word of appreciation, but with him sitting in such close proximity, memories started to flow into her mind.

Things she hadn't thought of in years.

She had lifted her head and closed her eyes, it seemed rather forced and unnatural for a human to manage, but both Romulus and his beast had been pleased to see the female speak wolven.

When her eyes opened once again, she smiled back to her dragger. And Romulus plucked it up from beside their feet and offered it once again. "It's a beautiful piece." He wished for her to speak again, but Rhea had remained silent, her eyes continued to bounce and every direction.

Not to mention her small frame was knocked with each damned pebble they drove over.

She truly did not know what to do, nothing she could have planned, nowhere did this fit in her life plan—To get caught.
And how?!

Perhaps she could dig a bit, or seek out more information. It did not matter that he claimed that they would speak in private, she needed to know now. And she needed to fill the space where the only noise was the tinkering of the carriage wheels and their breathing.

"What is going to happen when we reach the inn?" She questioned, and Romulus held his breath, not wanting to miss her voice and question.

"I will be meeting with two young males that I wish to join my group of council-men sometime in the future, I have a rather extreme idea that I want to bring up with them. More so getting an opinion and giving them a warning. But please bear in mind, we can exert other options." She truly didn't expect to hear him be so evasive to her demise, but Rhea was rather grateful to the point of not being straightforward.

Kindness, he promised kindness.

She needed to hold onto that sort. Even if there had been a pinch to her heart to see this young wolf was so lost to the politics and posh lifestyle. Making her rather sad—Which is rather disappointing for him, given that fear had turned into sadness in a flash.

"And what are you proposing, Alpha King?" His beast nearly released a snarl, hearing the rather damning use of such a prestigious title he's fought over. Romulus truly did not want her to be formal, no, he wanted to go back to the nickname they had called each other in their final days together.

Or was it too unrealistic to ask for?

"Just that. Proposing. I wish for you to become my mate." Her eyes had grown wide in an instant, and the poor female had choked on her breath—Leaving her to bring her hand towards the cloak's buckle to try and pull it forward.

But it wasn't a physical restraint on her lungs, no, goddess no.

What?!
Rhea knew well enough what he was getting at, what being claimed as a mate would mean and do to the course of it all. Yet when Romulus had looked upon his words, he growled off to the side as his excitement had gotten the better of him.

"My apologies, my wife. I want you to become my wife, Amory." She didn't need confirmation, not when she heard the declaration of something so serious as a mate.

Wolves did not fool around with the title. But his rephrasing the proposal had caused her to laugh, truly, things couldn't have taken a twistier turn.

"Why in the good heavens would you want to marry me?" She laughed out a sob, but it truly had been an honest question, but that didn't stop her from nearly accepting the entirety of defeat.
"I believe the question here is, why wouldn't I?... You showed me true kindness when I needed it the most." Rhea felt her stomach clench at the admission to the truth.

He was thankful, that much was clear, but there was an underlining reasoning of it all that she crossed her hands over her chest and frowned. "Oh grand, you pity me?" His silence spoke loud enough, and so he had lost the right to gaze as she looked away.

Rhea was much too prideful to accept it.

"You are working as a Healer when your efforts could be used elsewhere."

"My efforts? I've been dragged through the dirt to be shoved into the very carriage that my parents used for their reign. Yet you find the will to ask to be wed? Aren't there neighboring packs to the Kingdom with an Alpha's daughter that would be a better pick to marry—To mate with?" The male had taken an inhale, trying to remind himself that Amory was used to marriage alliances and not what it meant for a wolf.

For a wolf, it was considered immoral, against the codes of their deity. So he could say, with an honest heart of hearts, that he and his beast saw no other female than Amory for the position of his chosen mate.
Though his council was prepared to throw all of their beliefs in place for another female to take the throne beside his. So perhaps he could use Amory's thought process to his advantage.

It felt strange, that her scent alone was calming—Though it was an upgrade given that the first time he had caught her was in the mixture of blood and fear.

"You are a child of circumstance." That had earned him a set of narrowed eyes and a firm frown. "Repeating my words from our youth will not settle this. What do you possibly plan with this mating marriage?" Romulus didn't want to spend their time traveling getting through the details, but since he was already here, why stop?

"To combine our people as one in the Kingdom. To build laws that involve both. There are Rogue packs that believe that humans are still the weaker kind." Now that earned him a true laugh, one that traveled throughout the carriage.
The beautiful sound had perked his ears and issued a small grin on Romulus.

Until he realized that she was laughing at what he said.

"Believe me, I've met them first hand." She claimed, returning her gaze to catch sight of the lowering sun over the horizon.

"If you hadn't run from my guards, then we could have had this conversation earlier."

"Oh? Then you wouldn't come to know the truth about the Rogues and their deemed King. And there was no way for me to know your intentions, Romulus. I assumed someone would come after me, but after..." He nodded and reached into his inner jacket to grab a flask. It had already managed to be lacking half from what he could remember from the few sips had taken prior to the arrival in Red Moon.

"If you do not want a mate, then perhaps you would like to become an advisor...Continue your path of healing, make the rules retaining to the territory and such." He offered up the flask and Rhea rolled her eyes, knowing she wasn't meant to be taking such a risk of drinking some sort of unknown alcoholic drink with the tonic, but she truly needed some aid.
"I much preferred when you were a small boy."

"The one that hid behind your skirts as your guards threatened to take my head to my father? Yes, I was much easier to handle then." He claimed, watching her take a hefty sip without much of a reaction, making his nose twitch.
But Rhea was too used to fowl and bitter-tasting things.

This was the finer side of it all.

With Romulus starting to relax, Rhea had taken the moment to take in his figure properly, almost for the first time. And she smiled absentmindedly that he is very much a man now.

"I take it you grew into your wolf?"

"Careful, my beast will pounce if he hears you." He tested, paired with a playful smirk, but it was clear with an easily spotted flicker of her pupils that the beast in question was here regardless. "This is the same pup who came into my bedroom because the thunderstorm echoes differently in a castle?" Rhea said with her own smile, and he didn't hesitate to take heed of her playfulness.

"It still holds its echo." Ah, now that truly warmed her heart, to hear that there were still some similarities going around in her home.

But as the cloak had fallen a bit, it gave Romulus another look at the burns lingering at her neck and arm. "Your burns...My guards said that they were—"

"Brutal?" She asks, taking the rest of the cloak and her dress to part to give Romulus the full view. "It's phantom pains, but some days it's hard to move and it feels as if my skin will tear." He nods, all before making a rather destructive offer.

"I can promise you, King. If there was a cure, I would have found it already. I've tried a great deal of tricks and methods. It's no use." Romulus could see defeat with ease, but a second opinion was always beneficial. Though now was not the time to bring it forward.

Yet when he took the moment, his wolf was the one to offer it. Humans wouldn't be too privy to the truth of a mate bond, or the blessings it comes with. Even with her being a different kind, the healing properties should, hopefully, bring her some peace or relief.

Though he did not want to promise something if it wasn't true, so he withheld it.

"I am happy you escaped, my Queen." Rhea shook her head instantly, passing back the flask and sighing. Not liking her title as much.
"I was Queen for all of two hours, perhaps three. That doesn't give you any reason for you to keep calling me—"

"It was the title you were born to have. The blood in your veins is the very one that ruled the Kingdom I now reside in. No matter how much time has passed." He offered, but then huffed. This felt rather repetitive, though he should have planned for this.

"There are some members of the court and council that want to eradicate human rights entirely. To enslave them or bring them close to it. It is your kindest and your pleading words when you allowed me my freedom that have stopped this from happening. My father was very thankful for it and remained loyal, as have I. So I offer you your choice in a mating—Marriage to rectify the situation." It was damning to think that just in the hours prior that she was destroying herself over a male and losing the idea of love.

What the hell was she meant to decipher all of this?

"It's marriage or death, isn't it?" Now that had earned a vocal snarl, one that was redirected off to the side as it wasn't intentional to her words.

"I cannot protect you as much as I wish when you've deemed an advisor. If you take my mark, my blood, my soul...They cannot even think to harm you. As that would be going against my laws." A small gasp had escaped her, as such an offer felt beautiful to her.
To escape the moments of looking over her shoulder and worrying about who might find out the truth.

The idea of safety was so damn wonderful that she was nearly blindsided by the reminisce of fear that she's experienced as a royal—Once upon a time.

"Why? Why me? I'm sure you have plenty of she-wolves who would adore—" Now that constituted a growl in her direction, a sign of disagreement if there ever was one. But it was the only way to stop her questioning.
"I don't want she-wolves, I want my delicate little Queen. The one who tended to her garden every morning without fail, even in the midst of an impending stampede of wolves. Who kept her temper and cool when speaking with my father's generals...Why wouldn't I want the strangest human in the land as my mate?" There that word was again, and Rhea wondered if Romulus was true about his intentions.

Not only a marriage but creating a mate bond with one another. Yet she truly didn't think or realize how much her actions had caught his attention, and so she nods.

"I cannot accept anything under duress. Though my accepting to it all, on the condition that you will keep your word in record of my people?" Ah, how it pleased him to hear how well she referred to the humans.

How easily she sunk back into place. So he nodded and allowed his smile to continue further. Yet there was still he felt that the question had been left unfinished as he nodded and continued to probe her. "And?"

"And you explain the mating process to a simple-minded spinster like myself." 

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Date: 06/15/23

Time: 3:33

Words: 2590

Author's Note:

So Romulus' intentions are known and Rhea is taking the time to think of the matter. 

After all, it's been a long day.

Next chapter coming up!