Chapter 0791

My wolf growls and turns in my soul, worried, wishing I’d had more time to ask Elias about Jesse’s mate, this apparent master spy.

“Luca Grant rejected me,” I say, shrugging and looking down at my plate, willing myself to look sad and contrite about it. “And Jackson McClintock is nothing. A brute. A commoner. I don’t know why the Goddess saw fit to assign me to him.”

It pains me to even say the words and inwardly I shout that each one is untrue, that Jackson is the best thing in my life, the best man I’ve ever met, and I endeavor to deserve him every day.

Gabriel simply laughs softly and leans towards me, drawing my eyes back up to him. “Your relationships to your past mates are nothing to me, Ariel. Especially considering they’ll both be dead in a month.”

I pale at his words, my eyes flashing, even as I work hard to keep my expression plain.

But Gabriel just laughs and begins to push himself up from the chair. “Prepare yourself, Luna, he snaps out. “Tonight I present you to the court and then our mating ceremony will be in a week.” He leans down towards me, wrapping a possessive hand around the side of my neck, his palm pressed flat to Luca’s mark. “And then I’ll mark you myself, and wipe any memory of those pathetic wolves from your mind.” His hand on my neck tightens as Gabriel pulls me towards him, slamming his mouth on mine, crude and vulgar, a claiming more than a kiss.