Sins Among Royals

Indie and Wade continued on their way to the lake. It was still and quiet and felt as if water hung heavy in the air. Looking around the place there were no rain clouds and it wasn’t humid but Indie could feel it.

Sitting on the small dock with Wade, Indie let her feet hang over the side. She was short enough that her feet barely skimmed the cool surface below.

“So tell me more about where I’m going?” Indie pressed him for answers again.

“Master Noah should have informed you of where we are going and what it will be like.” His answer made Indie chuckle. He seemed certain of his answer.

“Noah hasn’t told me anything.” She admitted as she shook her head from side to side. “All he does is talk at me, he doesn’t actually say much that means anything.”

Little did the pair know they were being watched. At first he was angered by their casualness. How had Indie managed to befriend the brute so quickly?

After a while his anger dissipated and was soon replaced by curiosity.

He observed them quietly as they spoke. Indie seemed relaxed, she seemed to be enjoying herself and all the security guard did was talk. Was that the key to Noah and Indie getting to know each other? Talking?

All his young life Noah had the importance of the mate bond forced into his head by his peers, tutors and parents. He was taught that if there was a mate bond it would give him a wife who would never leave his side. He had never been taught how to treat a mate properly and though he had many examples around him none seemed truly happy.

His thoughts fluttered back to his sister Lori and her mate. Lori had always been the happy one, she had always been filled with joy and laughter and a sense of innocence that no one could match. She was unique and beautiful and when her life was snuffed out it affected everyone.

As Noah stood in the shadow of the building watching and observing his mate and one of his security team he found himself smiling.

“Of course she wouldn’t listen,” he shook his head and laughed. Indie had more spirit than anyone he had met in his life. If she didn’t want to do something she didn’t do it. It was plain and simple.

Part of him envied her for her carefree nature, another part of him envied her for the way she was brought up and how she was brought up and he found himself growing a new sense of appreciation for this woman that he was supposed to love and instead of seeing her as someone who might break his heart and leave him desolate he felt hope that she was the one that’d bring him peace.

“What are you doing?” Came a voice from beside him. “Why are you watching her?!” The impatience in the voice caught Noah off guard, “you should be watching me!”

Noah watched as Indie turned at the sound of the voice and he slipped back into oblivion with a warm smile pressed against his lips.

“What is it?” Wade questioned as he climbed to his feet and looked in the direction Indie stared.

She had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, like someone was watching her but she didn’t know who or what. She thought she’d heard a voice but when she turned and focused on the area there was nothing there.

“I thought I heard something,” she mumbled as she turned her attention back to the lake.

The stillness around them made for a clear day and Indie could almost see to the far side of the lake. She noticed Wade had become deathly quiet next to her and when she turned to glance at him again she noted the small smile that he didn’t want to fully release. The strain of him trying to keep it from spreading was obvious.

“What?” She asked curiously and somewhat annoyed.

Turning his head towards her gently Wade noticed the deep scowl on her face. She looked like a formidable opponent when she was annoyed. He couldn’t imagine what she’d be like when fully angered.

“The noise you heard was Master Noah,” it was entirely amusing to Wade.

“How do you know?” Indie countered with a huff.

“When you’ve been doing this for as long as I have your senses sharpen to a freakishly accurate point.” Wade remembered back to the day Noah and the security team saved him from Hunters. They were too late to save his beloved mate Hazel but they had saved him. He looked up to the security team, the enforcers back then and he wanted to aspire to be like them. “He was hiding behind that cluster of trees watching us.”

Indie was flabbergasted. How could he know any of that?

“I am not Master Noah’s personal guard for nothing.” Wade smiled proudly. He often took great pleasure in being great at what he did. With very few other pleasures in life he needed to focus his energy on something.

“Does he hate me?” Indie asked fiddling with her fingers suddenly. Her hands in her lap became the most interesting thing she’d seen all day.

Silence fell between them as Wade felt the sudden and intense emotions that filled Indie. Over the years he had learned to read people and Indie was like an open book. “He doesn’t hate you. It is impossible for true mates to hate each other,” he paused for a second, “or so I believe.” Everyone had seen a change in Noah and although it Was more erratic than before he seemed to be getting the hang of it. “I have known Master Noah since he was seventeen and the changes I’ve seen in him since meeting you may be small but they are a positive sign.”

“I would have hated knowing him back then I suppose?” Indie couldn’t help but laugh. She would have been oblivious to say the least.

“I imagine that you would have at least loathed him. He is used to being spoiled and used to being paid many compliments by his admirers. He is used to being the center of attention and fawned over so when he found you he wasn’t expecting what he found.” Wade seemed to have an intimate understanding of Noah which Indie knew would prove useful.

“And what was that?” Indie asked cautiously. She wasn’t too sure what she was expecting to hear but his words floored her.

“Honest, truthful, bold and a little bit unhinged. You challenge everything he is used to just by being yourself. You don’t fawn all over him, you don’t boost his already inflated ego, you don’t fit the norm of what he knows and is comfortable with and because of that you make him very uncomfortable.”

Wade’s words hurt Indie a little bit but she was glad to hear that it wasn’t her with the problem. It was Noah.

How was Indie supposed to get passed that?

“So how did Medea fool him then? Did she use magic and spells?” A sarcastic tone entered Indies voice, she couldn’t help it. Though Wade’s words were in no way insulting she took them to heart. “What does she have that makes it hard for him to want that with me?”

Indie was never great when it came to talking about her feelings. When she and Poppy were together it was always about Poppy and now that things had changed she was finding it hard to catch up.

“Understand that the subject of Medea will always be a sore topic for Master Noah. It shouldn’t be his excuse for treating you poorly but it explains a lot.” Wade sighed deeply. “Medea is the high born daughter of one of the families in the court and from a young age she was conditioned into behaving like a princess even though she wasn’t truly a member of the royal family.”

Indie sat and listened, all her energy went into keeping her mouth shut. The last thing g she wanted was to distract Wade from the story and stopping it before it really began.

“She was part of Master Noah’s very close group of friends and she liked to make herself known. As they grew older she and Master Noah formed a bond that many thought would lead them to being true mates and a they grew older it looked to be the truth.”

Wade paused a moment to suck in a deep breath as he continued telling his story. “At the coming of age ceremony for Master Noah he declared his love for Medea and for years they were quote happy. Then, a few months ago we had our new batch of recruits. Among them was her true mate. She hid it from everyone for as long as she could but one day in our quarters I interrupted them making plans to deceive Master Noah by Medea falling pregnant to him and using the child to their advantage.”

Indie had trouble with what she heard. How could anyone want to use a child for gain?

“Master Noah didn’t believe a word I said and so I had to lure the two of them to a place they felt comfortable revealing their secrets. It was a massive operation and eventually Master Noah heard it for himself and...well here we are now.” Wade frowned deeply. He hated what he had to do to get a confession from the pair and it made him feel uneasy. He didn’t like being deceitful.

“Wow,” Indie breathed as she took in everything she was just told. “So that’s why he’s having trouble letting me get near him.” It made sense why he hurt so much and it all seemed clear but Indie felt it was unfair on her to be treated so coldly.

“Would you like to know how I can tell he’s changed?” Wade asked quickly. Indie looked up at him expectantly. “If he was the same Master Noah he would have stormed over here yelling accusations but instead he returned to training with his nephew Timothy.”

And with that Indie was encouraged. She wondered how exactly Wade knew what Noah was doing but it didn’t last long as a small smile crept across her lips.