ARINA'S MATE (Shifters of the Bulgarian Bloodline Book 2)

by Dalia Wright

  “Is that what you truly think?” Mary asked. She liked this man. He spoke his mind, and although it made her a little uncomfortable, it made her feel safe that he would not lie to her. She’d been lied to too much within the past weeks and she wouldn’t accept it happening to her anymore.

  “I think he will make no worse a husband than anyone else,” he said. “If that is what you’re asking.”

  “And he treats his knights kindly?”

  “No worse than any other duke treats them.” Mary tilted her head. She did not know much about this world yet but she knew hostility when she heard it. She stayed silent until Thorn looked at her.

  Her eyes locked on his bright green eyes. Despite the fact that his face was scared and his skin was rough she knew that at one point he had been beautiful.

  “You’ll have to forgive me, I do not know much about this world yet.”

  “It gets easier,” he said.

  “You speak like it is from personal experience.”

  “That’s because it is.”

  Mary paused, trying to decide if she should prod. It was not her place to ask for his life story, but right now all she wanted was to know she wasn’t alone.

  As if reading her mind Thorn gave a soft smile. “The knights bought me when I was still little. Just as a chore boy, but when they saw I had a bit of a gift for getting up after beatings,” he smirked. “well, they decided to keep me around.”

  Mary’s heart skipped a beat. “You… you were bought?”

  “Yes,” he shrugged, as if it didn’t matter- but the look on his face gave it away.

  “How do you think the duke got his new wife?” Mary raised an eyebrow.

  In the dark it was hard to make out his facial expression, even with the lights that were placed carefully all over the garden.

  Thorn stared at Mary with wide eyes. “You mean, you’re… a…”

  “Yes,” she looked away from him. “Well, kind of. I didn’t realize I’d been sold until someone came to pick me up, my fa-stepfather sold me without my knowledge. By then, I didn’t have much of a choice.”

  She could have refused, but she’d likely been killed right then and there for refusing her stepfather, not to mention she’d have a very angry duke to deal with, if she lived.

  Mary took a deep breath, trying to refocus herself. She knew that she was going to have to move on from what had happened to her today. She knew that her life depended on it.

  “It gets easier,” He whispered. “It’s hard for a long time, but it does get easier.”

  “Thank you.”

  “If you ever need to talk…”

  “Thank you.” But Mary didn’t want to talk. She didn’t have anything to say to anyone about what had happened today. What was she supposed to say? What were they supposed to say in return? That they were sorry? Sorry didn’t do anyone good.

  I’ll just keep going. She thought. God will keep me going. It might not mean much too some people, but it was what would keep Mary going. Mother will watch after me. She will keep me safe.

  “Thorn,” Henry’s voice cut through the night like a knife. “I see you’ve met my wife-to-be.”

  “I have sir,” Thorn straightened himself up, shoulder back, and at full attention.

  Mary looked towards her husband-to-be, but didn’t dare meet his gaze. He turned his attention to Mary.

  “Although Thorn may be rough on the outside he is one of my best men.”

  Mary turned to him. Henry was right, he did look rough on the outside, but there was more to him and she could tell that right away. She knew that just by the short conversation she’d had with him.

  “It is good to know that you have such capable knights.”

  “A capable night,” Henry nodded. “He would do anything for his crown, wouldn’t you, son?”

  “Of course, sir.”

  Henry’s smile widened as he stepped towards Mary. He held his hand out to her. “Come, we’ve much to discuss.”

  Mary bowed her head, giving her hand over to her future husband and standing.

  “It was a pleasure to meet you.” Thorn said.

  “Thank you for your kind words,” she gave him a soft smile, hoping that she had not gotten him in trouble for talking to him as she let Henry pull her away.

  “You will begin lessons next week,” he said out of the blue.

  “Lessons? Sir, I went to school until I was-”

  “Not schooling, lessons,” He cut her off. “Am I to assume that you know how to act like a Duchess?”

  “Oh.” Mary’s cheeks flushed. She hadn’t figured out why he had decided to buy her, or what part of his plan she fell into, but she did plan to.

  The man, quite frankly, was kind of rude. The way the servants avoided eye contact with him, the way they lowered their heads when he spoke. It was not hidden to Mary.

  He may be a fine Duke, but he was not a perfect man.

  “You’ll be sized as well. You will need new clothing,” he said.

  “Okay.”

  Mary wasn’t quite sure she was even supposed to say anything as he spoke, but she wanted to make sure he knew she was listening. They came to her room. He opened the door and stepped inside without a word.

  “Will your family be coming to the wedding?”

  “No,” Mary said, maybe a little too quickly.

  Henry stared at her. His head tilted to the left.

  “Your father is due his other half of the gold.”

  “Stepfather,” Mary corrected. Anger welled up inside her. She refused to allow that man to be called her father.

  “You do not think he will want to come see you, and collect the money himself?”

  “He has no use for me now, he will not bother to make the trek.” Mary knew it was true, she turned away from Henry so he couldn’t see just how hurt she was by it.

  She stared at the fireplace.

  Her heart did a backflip as she felt hands against her hips. Upon instinct she pulled away- at least tried to.

  Henry held her firmly in his hands.

  “The letters he sent me, hey said you were excited to come here. They said you could not wait any longer.”

  His voice was quiet, and for once softer than it had been since she’d first heard him speak.

  Mary didn’t struggle in his hold, but her heart raced.

  “He said you could not wait for our wedding night. That you wanted to be my wife.”

  I had no clue I was being forced into this marriage! Those letters said what a man would want to hear, so that he would buy Mary and she knew it- though she didn’t dare say it out loud.

  Mary wanted to scream it. She wanted to cry and pull away from the man who would soon be sharing her bed.

  He loosened his hold on her just enough to spin her around to face him. Mary gasped at just how close they were. Too close.

  Henry’s eyes burned into her as his lips lowered to hers. It was a soft kiss. Much softer than she would have expected from him.

  Mary’s heart raced. She went limp in his hold, knowing that she couldn’t retreat from him.

  Water stung the corner of her eyes as she squeezed them shut. Henry pulled away from her. He cleared his throat.

  When Mary opened her eyes he did not look at her.

  “You must be tired. I will leave you for the night.”

  Thorn’s cheeks flushed as he saw Henry leave the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

  Jealously tugged at him, although he knew it was stupid.

  Thorn turned on his heel, hoping the Duke would not notice him.

  “Thorn.” Crap. Apparently Thorn was not going to get that lucky.

  He was forced to turn and face the man who had just said his name. “Sir,” He gave a low bow.

  “Enough with the formalities,” Henry waved his hand in the air, dismissing the idea of it all together. “are you not enjoying the feast tonight?”

  Thorn gave Henry a soft smile. Although Thorn was, in many ways, a salve t
o the Duke he did not mind him, and in fact considered him to be a good man for the most part.

  “Truth be told, sir, I think I am getting too old for these things.”

  The young knights were eager for monthly dinners at the castle. There were young girls eager to hear about their adventures, good food, and enough ale for each man to drink to their fill. But Thorn was older than he’d admit to many people. The food was always satisfying, but the girls and the ale had long ago lost their appeal.

  Henry nodded. “I understand, knight.”

  “To be honest with you, I planned to just retire to my bed for the night.”

  “Actually,” Henry held out a hand. “I couldn’t help noticing my future wife took a liking to you back at dinner,” Thorn felt his cheeks turn hot. Would he be punished for the conversation they’d had? “As you may have guessed, you two have some things in common. I’d very much like Mary to feel at home, but it seems… she does not like me much yet. If you’re not too tired, could I ask that you speak to her? Perhaps you’d be able to relate to her, having known loss like she has.”

  Thorn’s mind raced. What was his Duke asking of him?!

  “If that is your wish, sir, then of course.”

  “Very good. I knew I could count on you,” Henry clapped him on the shoulder, and without another word walked away.

  Thorn stood there frozen. Had the Duke really asked him to comfort his wife-to-be?

  Chapter Three

  Mary’s head snapped towards the door as someone knocked against it. Slowly the door opened.

  “M’lday?” Thorn’s silky voice came from the other side of the door. “Are you decent?”

  “Y-yes,” Mary stammered.

  The door opened wide enough for Thorn to enter. Mary watched him as he stepped into the room and closed the door. Her heart skipped a beat. What was it he wanted from her?

  Can I not be left alone?

  Thorn looked at her carefully. “Are you okay?”

  His words shocked her. “I… I…” Mary stammered. She had no clue what she was supposed to say. Without realizing it she opened her mouth. “My mother died just over a moon ago, my stepfather sold me without my knowledge, I was picked up randomly four days ago by a man who wasn’t even the man I’m supposed to marry, and now that I’ve met the man I’m supposed to marry he scares me,” She paused taking a deep breath. And now you’re in my room and I have no idea what kind of man you are and no idea if anyone will come to my aid if I scream. But was a knight. He was supposed to act with chivalry, right? Would he though?

  Mary would not put all her faith in something a man was supposed to do.

  Thorn looked away from her, he made his way over to her bed and sat down.

  “I was 8 when they took me. My da had just passed away and my ma was sick. I begged them not to take me, my sister wasn’t old enough to take care of the house and my brother was still shitting himself,” He cleared his throat. “Uh, excuse the language. But the guards offered a good price for me, and my mamma said we had to take it to keep bread on the table. So I left.”

  Mary’s crossed over to him. She reached out and touched his hand. It must have caused him so much pain to leave his family.

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

  Thorn shrugged. “I have a family, they are here with me. These men have become my family. We’ve been to war together, we’ve blead and sweat and cried together. They have saved my life more times than I can count. Henry has saved me from a life where I’d already be dead. He’s allowed me to live, to have a purpose in this life and to teach the men out there how to do their jobs. I am grateful that he took me away, even though I miss my blood-family and even though I was just a kid. Even though I don’t know what happened to my ma, or my sister.”

  He reached out and took her hand in his.

  Mary hoped she could find peace in this home the way Thorn had, but she wasn’t so sure she could.

  “I’m scared,” she admitted.

  “So was I. I was scared for months, honestly.”

  “You were?”

  “Of course,” Thorn laughed softly. “We all were, even if some won’t admit it.”

  Mary felt a little better.

  She closed her eyes and let out a wide yawn. Suddenly sleep was the only thing on her mind. She felt her body begin to relax, willing her to go to sleep.

  She felt something warm against her head.

  Thump. Thump. Thump.

  Her brow furrowed, her eyes still shut. No, that wasn’t right. That wasn’t her heart beat. Oh no. Mary’s eyes snapped open. She had been resting her head on Thorn’s shoulder!

  Mary’s cheeks burned.

  “I’m so sorry.” Mary jumped to her feet, trying to put as much distance between them as she could without looking rude.

  “You must be tired,” A smile spread over his lips. He stood and closed the distance between her. He took her hand in his and dropped to one knee. “M’lday, my room is just down the hall, if you need anything I am at your service.”

  Mary stood there speechless.

  Thorn stood, their eyes locking. He didn’t let go of her hand, instead he pulled her towards him. Mary’s heart skipped a beat as his soft lips touched hers.

  Her heart jumped into her throat as she stared at the knight with wide eyes. Was this a dream? There was no way any of this was actually happening.

  The kiss only lasted a fraction of a second, then he pulled away from her and walked away without saying a word.

  She stared blankly after him as he closed the door behind himself.

  Thorn had known that his Duke had not meant to go around kissing his wife-to-be. Guilt twisted a large knot into his stomach as she stared down at his morning porridge.

  “Sir,” one of the young knights came over to him. “I was wondering, could I take a sick day?”

  Thorn glanced over the kids shoulder. He closed his eyes, silently wondering how stupid this generation was.

  “Next time, don’t let the girl come in with you,” he said, though he had every intention of allowing the kid to have his day off from training.

  He turned away from the kid and went back to his meal. Although he’d been a year and a half too old for the knights they’d made an acceptation for him, and that had meant he was older than the kids during the first couple of years, until he managed to catch up in training and convince the elders to allow him to join his own age group.

  “Looks like the future ruler has decided to join us,” someone muttered around him.

  Thorn had to control himself not to look up right away. He looked through his eyelashes at first, before lifting his head slowly. Her eyes locked on him, a smile spread over her lips. Lips he had kissed last night.

  Heat touched his cheeks.

  It wasn’t that she was the first woman he had kissed. She wasn’t even the first woman he’d kissed who was betrothed to another man. It was that she was the first woman he’d kissed who made his heart beat faster.

  Mary’s eyes locked on him for a fraction of a second, a smile spread over her lips as she turned away from him.

  Lips he had kissed last night. A kiss that felt like it was still being pressed against her. She took a deep breath.

  “Good morning,” Henry gave her an up and down. “Did you sleep well?”

  “Yes, thank you. Rest was much needed after the day I’d had.” She gave him a polite smile and looked at the table in front of her. She reached out for an apple. There was so much fruit. Some of which she had never seen before.

  “I’ve got an appointment today, in the city. You’re welcome to stay here if you’d like, though the men will still be here.”

  “I’d very much like to explore my new home, if that is alright with you?”

  A smile touched his lips. “It is nice to see you calling it a home.” He turned away from her and dug into the plate in front of him.

  Mary thought about the way he had touched her the night before. The way he had refused to let
her get away from him. I wonder if Thorn would allow me to break his hold. She was sure he would be strong enough to hold her in place if he wanted to, despite the fact that Mary was strong for a girl.

  She stole another glance at him. His head was down as he stared at his breakfast. Mary took a cue from him and looked down, mostly so she wouldn’t get caught staring at Thorn. She was sure Henry wouldn’t hit her in front of anyone, but she did not know what he would do when people were not looking. She had still not figured out what kind of man he was, and the fact that he had needed to buy a wife worried her.

  Chapter Four

  Mary was glad to have the day to herself. Henry would be gone for most of the day, if not the full day and some. Although she didn’t dare ask she was sure it was a norm based on how everyone was acting about it.

  With the warmth of the sun beating down on her Mary took the chance to explore the gardens. Although she’d been in them last night with Thorn there was much more to them than she realized. The castle was on acres of land by the looks of it, because she hadn’t seen anything that suggested otherwise.

  She made her way from the open fields towards the woods as soon as she realized they were there, and now here she was taking her first step into them. Back home there was not much open space. It was crowded and cramped- and there were no forests for miles away. This is home now. She reminded herself, and the feeling made her gut turn. She took a deep breath and forced a smile over her lips. No matter how bad it is at least I will have this. And that gave Mary comfort. She knew that God would not put her in a situation she could not handle, but she was not sure what that truly meant, she knew she could handle more than she would like to.

  Neeeeee.

  Mary’s brow furrowed. What is that nose? Mary turned just in time to see what had made the noise. She gasped, jumping out of the way as a horse came rushing towards her.

  Then she caught sight of the rider. Her heart skipped a beat as his green eyes locked don her. A smile spread over his lips, the scar on his cheek curving. The horse began to slow.

  “M’lady,” he greeted her. “are you well?”

  She stared at him. He wore no shirt. She had not realized how muscular he was last night, although it was clear he was a strong man she had not expected the definition to cover his entire body. And the small tattoo along his left shoulder had not been something she’d noticed before. Mary took a deep breath, forcing herself to look away from him.