Love and Chaos Series
His Forbidden Mate Chapter 45

Third POV

Kailani lay in bed with her eyes fixed on the ceiling, thinking about everything that had happened in the last few hours. Edward came back to her because he wanted to be with her. He was hers and she was his and there was no running or changing that now. She loved him more than anything else in the world, and she knew he loved her. She saw it in his eyes a few times and, hearing him admit it last night, confirmed it.

She felt a little proud that he wanted to be with her, but also selfish because if he told the truth last night, it meant there was a war coming and the prince was choosing her over doing what was necessary for the survival of the people. Being a royal came at a high cost, putting the needs and safety of the people before yours. She had never known the prince to be selfish. Last night, she became his selfish choice.

Many questions lingered. His father, the Alpha of alphas, did not want her for his son. He had a better choice of a mate for Edward. A noble-born whose alliance would help the Crown a great deal.

The Alpha of alphas might be cold, but he was doing a noble thing. He was safeguarding his son's future and the future of the kingdom. What if he wasn't the bad guy? What if she was for taking the prince away?

She didn't take him away. He came to her. He's been coming to her. She didn't do anything. He believed she was his peace, and he was hers. Yet, she feared what their union would mean to the world.

They would be seen as two selfish people who cared only about themselves. There was a time when she didn't care about the labels, but now more than ever she did. She didn't want to be the reason behind the royal decline in the time of war, but she didn't know how to change how she felt.

"You're thinking too much!" Edward moaned out, and she turned around and found his dulled gaze on hers.

"I can't help it. I had no chance to think last night, not while you were under my care."

"Are you having a change of heart about what happened last night?"

She sighed, knowing the truth. "No, just thinking."

"Do you wish things happened differently?"

"Yes, and I hate myself for saying this, but I wish I was born into a royal home to provide you with all the allies you need in the coming war. Sadly, I wasn't born royal, and I have nothing to offer you but myself and my heart." "Well, I think that's more than enough." His hand came to rest on her back, exposed to his eyes.

"Don't try to make me feel better." she groaned and sat up.

"I'm not trying to, just saying the truth." He dragged his hand over her upper back down and towards her waist. "The moon goddess entwined our paths for reasons best known to her. I shouldn't have seen you running away from your captors when you were younger, but I did, and I met you. I shouldn't have met you again at the bar years later, but I did. I shouldn't have met you in the north when I went for a royal mission, but I did. I believe those were signs from the moon goddess that we were meant to be." by the time he finished speaking, he had somehow manoeuvred his hand to fit it under her so her bare butt cheeks sat on it.

"I do not believe in coincidence, there's always a reason for everything," he concluded, giving her butt a light squeeze.

She turned to him. "Before I stole from you and ran, I killed someone. That was why those men came for me he. The man I killed was the strongest beta and the second in command of the pack I belonged to then." "Why did you kill him?"

"He forced himself on me and when I saw the opportunity to get even, I did. Before I left the pack, I drove a silver dagger into his heart. I didn't feel better after that happened, but I felt not an ounce of remorse. He deserved it and if I had the chance to do it again, I would in a heartbeat. Those men were from the pack sent to search for me because there was a three hundred silver ransom on my head. They were there to collect and, as an omega, it was their duty to do whatever they pleased with me before taking me back to the alpha. I have told no one, not even Jane, it had been my cross to bear." she paused and bit her lip, "I don't try to think about what could have happened to me if you hadn't stepped in when you did. You've always been there to save me and sometimes I don't feel like I deserve it."

A tear ran down her face and here she was vulnerable to his eyes without any layer or fence to shield her. She wanted him to see her for who she was. He deserved to know that after everything.

"You deserve it, listen to me." he tilted her chin up. "Look at me. You deserve the best and more. What you didn't deserve was being sold into slavery as a child, having to run and save yourself. You didn't deserve to grow up without a father to guide you. You didn't deserve to lose your mother at birth and never know what she was like. What you went through at the hands of the beta was inhumane, and you didn't deserve that. I'm happy you went rogue. I am happy you killed the monster and I'm happy you survived. You deserve love and happiness and joy and to be able to write your own story in the sand of time. And it is a privilege to be beside you, Lady Kailani of the house Zaine. It doesn't matter if you weren't born into a noble home because you are already noble at heart. That's what I see, and that's why I can't let you go."

He leaned in and kissed her lips. Her lashes fluttered, and she kissed him back, wrapping her hands around his neck as he pulled her closer.

She was his, and he was hers, and together they burn like wildfire.