[Iris POV]
I froze, not expecting him to notice anything different about me. It almost sounded like he was concerned for my well-being.
Was it because of the mate bond?
But that was impossible. He didn't even know it was me. And after working in the kitchen, my actual scent was covered by the smell of smoke and grease. He shouldn't be able to sniff me out.
I touched my neck and felt my necklace still hidden underneath the fabric of my shirt. Thank goodness. If he recognized this necklace from last night, I wouldn't know how to explain myself.
"I'm not feeling well," I said instead.
It wasn't a lie; finding out that my half-brother and fated mate were the same person would make anyone sick. I had several vivid dreams of him making good on his promise of giving me an unforgettable time before my mind remembered he was my half-brother, and disgust overwhelmed me.
All my dreams ended with my death.
Now, when Caius looked at me, I was torn between memorizing every expression on his face and looking away and hoping he never laid eyes on me again. The mate bond compelled me to hold his gaze.
Concern flitted through his eyes, so brief I might have imagined it, before his expression transformed into a disdainful sneer.
"Then you shouldn't be working in the kitchens." Caius cast a scathing look at the food I prepared.
He took it and threw the contents on the floor, and I flinched at the sensation of hot food spilling on my legs.
"I'm not eating what you made. Clean that up and scram."
"Yes, sir," I said, bending down to clear the fallen food.
What a waste of a perfectly good meal. If I knew this was going to happen, I would have snatched a few bites for myself.
Busy cleaning on my knees, I failed to see how Caius's eyes darkened and the way his fists had clenched, fingernails digging crescents into his palms. A ruddy red crawled up his cheeks, and he had to tear his eyes away from my figure.
"Son, don't waste your time with her," Alpha Rufus scolded, giving me a dismissive glance, like I was nothing more than a speck of dirt on his leather shoes. "You have more important things to concern yourself with, such as finding your fated mate."
Once again, I froze, my hand squeezing a potato chunk so hard that it was mashed in my palm. The alpha already knew about this, which meant that in no time at all, the pack would be looking out for her. I watched Caius from the corner of my eye, wondering if he would spot a sudden resemblance between the mysterious woman he met last night and me.
Caius noticed my stare and said mockingly. "Heard that, you useless omega? That's one more thing you lack. I pity whoever is your fated mate. Since I'm in a good mood, you can just go. I don't want to see you."
His attitude was nothing new. Yet I still felt the twinge of hurt buried in my heart, like a splinter had been stuck inside, drawing blood. He didn't recognize me, and the bond didn't make him treat me any better than usual. The version of him I had enjoyed was a mere mirage, and like all mirages, it only served to lure the desperate to their deaths.
I had to bury the few short hours of love and devotion I received from him deep into the recesses of my mind, never to be seen again.
I wanted to be loved, but it was impossible for Caius to love me with our current identities. If anyone else knew, I would be killed without hesitation. Without his rejection, I would live the rest of my life without a second chance mate, but at least I would live.
Living was the most important. My mother wanted me to live long and live well, so I would.
I turned and walked away, refusing to look at him any longer. I could feel his eyes burning a hole in my back, but I kept my back straight and tall, resisting the urge to glance back.
I had to forget his existence.
―
[Caius POV]
'You're a fool,' Atlas, my wolf, growled out the moment Iris turned away from me. 'You will regret treating her with such cruelty.'
'This is what she deserves. I've said this before. Are you my wolf or hers?' I retorted angrily. I clenched my hand around my steak knife before realizing my food was all over the floor, and I had nothing to eat. But that was all Iris's fault. How dare she plan to infect me with her illness?
'Yours, but only because you lack a working brain and I have to support you,' Atlas bit back with a growl. 'She is more important to you than you know.'
'Rubbish. No one is more important to me than my fated mate. She is nothing to me,' I argued. 'She's just an unbearable eyesore that should have died when she was born.' If she had, my mother would still be here.
'Fool,' was Atlas's only reply, as he skulked to the corners of my mind and proceeded to howl up a storm. Sadly, I was already used to it. Since Atlas's awakening, he always had an unfathomable soft spot for my half-sister. Whenever I made her remember her place, Atlas would howl and give me terrible migraines.
All it did was make me hate her more. How dare she turn my wolf against me?
'Our priority should be on finding our fated mate,' I yelled. 'Stop caring about Iris and help me!'
Unfortunately, Atlas was determined to ignore me. I could only sigh and toy with the hair tie on my wrist. It was a generic one that anyone could buy at a corner drugstore, so I had no way of tracking them through it. The scent that had been on it was rapidly fading, much to my dismay.
Although it could be due to my sniffing it the entire night as though it were a heady drug.
This was all I had of my fated mate, after she slipped through my fingers like the soap suds she left on my bathroom floor. When I found out that she hadn't replied and she had been taking too long in the shower, I busted the door open, fearing that she might have slipped or drowned.
Instead, I found an open window, and she was nowhere to be found.
I leapt out, trying to track her, but I couldn't find her. She hadn't left a single thing behind.
It made me wonder if my fated mate hated me.
But that was impossible. No one in this pack could hate me. I was the Alpha's son. I was Ashbourne's golden boy the moment I was born. If anything, my mate should be delighted to be with me.
No matter what, I had to find her. When breakfast was almost over, I stood up to make an announcement.
"Everyone, I met my fated mate at yesterday's masquerade ball."
The hall broke out into jubilant cheers at my words. Every unmated woman in the pack seemed to perk up at the exact same moment, and they craned their necks, their eyes staring at me as though I were a premium slab of buttered steak.
That was nothing new. Women always looked at me like that. But when my eyes roved over them, my shoulders slumped minutely in disappointment. My fated mate wasn't present among them.
'Look at Iris,' Atlas prodded suddenly.