Chapter 31: LUCIEN

I felt a sense of rising panic for her before I was able tamp it down again. At least we've already met so it won't be a complete surprise when I show up again. She already knows who I am; that I'm her fated mate, so there will be no surprise there either. And I can overcome her fear if I have to.

I won't appear to her as the cardinal again, that game is dead. But for the next forty-eight hours I have to keep an eye on her, be near her or I'll lose my ever-loving mind. No problem, I can watch her from afar while the sun is up but it's not going to be easy.

After all I'd tried to do, in the end she was the one to change her fate. As my balls calmed down I limped into the bathroom for another frozen shower, wondering why everything seemed stacked against us. Why all that could possibly go wrong, suddenly was. A cacophony of fucked up shit. Now even the water was too much against my skin. Fuck this!

I calmed myself as I turned off the water with the thought that I