The Alpha's Blind Fate
Chapter 271: As An Equal

Chapter 271: As An Equal

ZINA

"Listen to me now and listen very carefully...." He spoke slowly. He didn’t speak exactly carefully, but not without restraint either.

"Should I ever have cause to leave, whether it be for battle or for the sake of diplomacy, you will be the one to hold the reins. Not my Beta or my Delta, not my Gamma or my Enforcer, not even my Theta, Zina. No, it will be you, the Luna Queen."

Zina gulped, and then swallowed nothing.

"I...I... I mean, why... Why does it have to be the Luna Queen? I mean, can’t the Luna Queen accompany you wherever you are going to? Whether it be war or for diplomacy? Must she be left behind?"

Her words were in fact a desperate plea. But it came out otherwise sounding like a bumbling mess. She wondered if Daemon could hear her plea, but for all she cared, the sound of beads smashing against each other on the Abacus strings might prevent her plea from reaching him.

"If I do not leave her behind, who else can I trust to take care of a whole country if not her? Who else can I trust to take care of our family?"

Our family?

Her eyes stung, and her heart ached at the same time. While she was proud to be at the receiving end of such sincerity, her doubts and fear over herself crept up at the corners taunting her.

Was she deserving of this? Could she take up such a mantle?

"Yes, you’re deserving of it. And yes you can take up such a mantle." He spoke, answering her unvoiced doubts. Her eyes flew wide open while his mark on her tingled.

It was both a reminder that their minds were bound together, and their souls too. It was also a reminder that it was absolutely unfair for her to allow her doubts to have a place in their conversation, not when she had been the one who pushed for him to claim her.

Now that Daemon had claimed her, the next right thing was for her to step up to her role as well. Theirs was never an ordinary relationship of two commoners without a care for their world. No, theirs was a relationship that thousands of people looked onto. They had responsibilities that came with their title and the mere fact that they had decided to act on the mate bond... so it was wrong for her to be afraid.

It occurred to her then that Daemon choosing her might not have been just for the mate bond. He was after all a man who thought deeply about a lot of his decisions and was more inclined to logic than emotions.

"You know our beginning, so why do you have such trust in me?" Zina questioned him because she needed to know the answers for herself. "I understand why you might trust me personally, but trusting me to the point of leaving even your family in my hands, that is too unbelievable. I am after all someone so small in comparison, I can’t even fathom to think about such responsibility."

Zina watched as the corners of his lips, ever slowly and carefully, curved into that damned smile that almost always got to her. It was that smile that managed to be the brightest and most beautiful thing she had ever seen even without exposing any of his beautiful dentition.

He held out his hand for her, and Zina placed his palm in his slowly while he led them deeper into the room, past the workers that had never acknowledged them for once.

"While I was fighting the rogues, the information that I got came from the Houses that worked for me. Every one of those information was passed through this building. Malik Zorch happens to be the leader of one such house—she has been working for me since she was fourteen when she took over from her deceased father."

Zina nodded slowly, looking at the interior of the building with fresh eyes. The wood was made from the very best, and the polishing was a work of art. Although the designs were not so ostentatious to have silver and gold inlays, it was clear to her that the modest looking finish was hardly modest in fact.

"What am I trying to say," Daemon explained further as they came upon a staircase, "is that I was informed on every possible thing that happened in the palace and the Arctic North.

"Imagine my evident pain when I learnt that the same woman whose words casted me out of my father’s land was the same person that was holding together the last strings that united the Arctic North." He finished with a hint of sarcasm while leading her up the stairs that had rows of lit lanterns extinguishing the natural darkness on that part of the house.

Zina blushed from different kinds of embarrassment at the same time. "I didn’t do much...." She mumbled, at the same time she remembered all the underhanded tactics that she had to resort to to survive Eldric’s reign. From pretending to be subservient to him while plotting his downfall behind his back, she didn’t believe there was any low she didn’t reach yet.

"You’re too modest," Daemon commented with a smirk, "but the point is that I know how much you suffered so the people will live a good life. I know how you used the Taga meetings as a way of doing charity, provided you had to defraud those Noble Werewolves to raise the funds, but still ...."

"Daemon!" Zina squealed, sure that her cheeks were the deep red of blood. It was indeed not the fondest time of her life, but she had no other option than to act like so. She had been surprised at how much most rich merchants were willing to pay just for the Theta to lay her hands on them before they departed for their business, so Zina was quick to adapt to the ’trends’ so as to raise money for those who were truly in need.

The Noble Werewolves were not left out either, they always brought pouches of golds and silvers to the Temple just for the Theta to lift a curse from them... who was Zina to not oblige in their requests? As far as she was concerned, it had all been a win-win situation for her, provided she knew nothing of how to bless someone or how to lift a curse.

"Do not be so shy, I was truly enamored by your ways." Daemon drawled, still leading her on the long flight of stairs.

"It didn’t seem like that when we first met." Zina grumbled, remembering how Daemon had manipulated Zoric Sofyr into kidnapping her. Although shrewdly it could be said that he saved her from suffering from a far worse fate in the hands of her convoy that planned on having her head.

"Ah... you’re referring to the warm welcome that I gave you?"

Zina never thought she would ever find that time in her life to be funny, but she found she was unable to stop the laughter that bubbled within her.

"I guess you could call it that." She said as they finally came at the end of the stairs. Unlike the dark stairs, the floor they were in was with floor to ceiling windows that easily allowed daylight to stream in.

Zina schooled her expression as she faced Daemon anew.

"Do you understand it now?" He said with his signature smile, "I do not merely see the Luna Queen as a wife, but an equal I can rely on."

Zina’s breath hitched in her throat, but she was surprised that she was able to defeat the urge to play with her fingers.

"Can I rely on you Zina? As an equal?"