For the time being, I couldn't stop hearing her mumble things like, "I damaged the wall" or "I don't have money to pay the debt."
Evelyn repeated those same lines over and over, even while the maids were helping her change out of her torn, burned clothes.
As the maids undressed her piece by piece, I didn't see a single wound or burn mark on her skin.
She was still covered in ash, but after they wiped her clean, everything looked perfectly normal.
Her porcelain skin remained smooth and glowing, just like before, like the explosion had never touched her at all.
Afraid my wolf would react too strongly once the maids had cleaned most of her body, I turned around to face the wall.
"She's special," my wolf said in my mind.
I clicked my tongue in irritation. I hated when he suddenly chimed in like that, especially because I knew his presence always came with something else I couldn't ignore: desire.
The kind that made me want to do things I shouldn't.
"Your mate is one of a kind, Theron," he said. "The Moon Goddess has blessed her with immortality."
My eyes widened at his words. 'Immortality?' I asked in my head. 'So … she can't die?'
My wolf replied, "She can bleed, she can feel pain, but no matter what happens, she'll always come back alive. Death may knock, but it will never take her."
Was that really a blessing?
When I first met Evelyn, the first thought that crossed my mind was, "She looks like she's in so much pain."
She didn't show it, she never did. Even after being caught in an explosion, she didn't cry, didn't scream.
She just calmly tried to leave the palace, as if surviving something like that was no different than finishing lunch.
But the way she kept saying I didn't need to bother killing her or burning her alive … That was all I needed to know.
Behind her calm face was something broken. Something buried so deep that even survival felt like a punishment to her.
How long had she lived like this?
"Your Majesty," one of the maids approached me and spoke gently. "We've changed Lady Evelyn's clothes and cleaned the ash off her skin. However, she might be even cleaner if we bathed her."
"That's enough," I replied. "You may leave."
She had just been through an explosion. A bath was probably the last thing on her mind.
"Understood, Your Majesty." The maid gave me a respectful bow, then motioned for the others to leave the room.
Once everyone was gone, I walked toward Evelyn, but I made sure to keep some distance, because I could tell she was uneasy around me.
She sat on the bed with her knees drawn up to her chest, trying to make herself look as small and unnoticed as possible.
"This … this is your room," she said, her eyes wary as they watched my every move. "What do you want, Your Majesty?"
I hadn't even opened my mouth yet, but my wolf was already growling in my head.
"I don't understand why you're holding back so much! She's your mate! You have the right to claim her!"
"Look at her, Theron! Just look at her!" he shouted. "Look at how beautiful she is. Those soft, plump lips. That flawless skin. Oh, look at her breast! Her body's practically begging to be touched!"
"Wouldn't it be easier if you just let me take over?" he said. "I could mark her in seconds. Make her beg for mercy while I keep thrusting into her—"
'Shut up.' I cut him off sharply. 'She's my mate, not some damn toy. You think I don't want to touch her? Of course I do. But that doesn't mean I should.'
I spoke firmly in my mind. 'If my touch ever makes her afraid of me for the rest of her life, then I'd rather never lay a hand on her.'
My wolf mocked me. "For someone who's never even been able to touch another she-wolf, or any female at all, you're pathetic."
"This is your chance to have sex, you fucking coward!" my wolf snapped. "She's the only she-wolf you can touch, the only one who won't be cursed just because you gave in to your desire. And you're wasting it!"
I clenched my jaw as he kept throwing insult after insult, calling me a coward for not forcing myself on my mate.
But I didn't listen. I tuned him out, trying to focus instead on Evelyn, on her voice and her presence,
"I don't want anything from you," I said to her. "It was just a coincidence that this room happened to be the closest to the eastern side."
But was that really why I brought her here?
If I was being honest with myself … I wasn't sure. Maybe it was instinct, like my body moved on its own, bringing Evelyn straight into my room without a second thought.
"Your Majesty," Evelyn looked at me with those serious eyes. "I truly don't have any money to pay for the damaged wall."
The wall again …
hadn't even mentioned it once. It was just a wall, nothing special.
But maybe … I could use that damn wall as an excuse to keep her here.
Yes, I once said I'd let her go if that's what she wanted, but how could I possibly let her go now, in this condition?
I'd heard from the maids that Evelyn had stolen silver cutlery and a few other palace items, only ones without the royal crest on them.
At first, I didn't really care. It wasn't like she took anything valuable.
But now I understood that she wasn't just stealing. She was preparing to survive after she jumped over the wall.
The maids also said the belongings she arrived with were barely worth anything, mostly junk. Nothing useful.
From that alone, I could tell she still needed to eat, even if she couldn't die.
No wonder she looked thin, malnourished, worn down.
If I let her go now … what would happen? Would she end up wandering the streets? Sleeping on the ground?
What if she ran into someone bad, like wolves who wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of her?
For someone who had already endured so much pain, I couldn't let her suffer any more.
"That wall is actually very expensive," I said. "If I want to repair it, it'll cost around 100,000 Lirae."
Her eyes widened, and she immediately crawled to the edge of the bed. "That much?!"
I had already lowered the price. The actual cost to fix the damage caused by the explosion was probably closer to 500,000 Lirae.
But if I told her the truth, I was afraid she'd pass out from the shock.
"Yes, that much," I said. "Don't you think you should take responsibility for what you did? Even the back garden can't be used anymore."
In truth, no one even used that garden. I had let the flowers wither a long time ago because I never saw the point in keeping it alive.
"I … I don't have any money," Evelyn whispered, clearly panicked. "You can just add it to my debt list!"
What debt list?
She probably had a debt list longer than her life expectancy, and I doubted she ever paid a single coin of it.
"If I add it to your debt," I said, folding my arms, "how am I supposed to collect it when you're already planning to run off? Let's be honest, you'd just disappear."
Out of nowhere, Evelyn jumped off the bed and marched straight toward me. Her sudden boldness caught me off guard.
"How about I pay you with something else?" she said, eyes locked on mine.
I frowned. "Like what?"
There was no way she was thinking of building the wall herself, right?
"I can let you touch my boobs," Evelyn said, stepping even closer, then slowly pulling down her dress until her cleavage was fully exposed. "If I let you touch them for one minute, will you let me go?"
I stepped back instinctively, trying to avert my gaze. But my wolf—the insufferable beast inside me—was already pushing forward, trying to take over.
"Touch it!" my wolf shouted in my head. "What are you waiting for?! If you won't do it, I will!"
This horny bastard.
He never acted like this around other women.
But whenever Evelyn was nearby, he wouldn't shut up, constantly throwing images of her naked into my head like he could undress her with just a thought.
That's why I had to keep my eyes on her face. I knew if I let my eyes drop, even just a little, my wolf would react badly.
He always did. Usually by giving me a boner at the worst possible time.
In fact, this past week had been hell. He tortured me daily, making me feel unbearably horny, filling my room with my own pheromones until I was dizzy, and left me lying awake at night like a cursed teenager.
I had only just regained control over him, and I wasn't about to let him take over again.
I turned my head and said, looked away and said firmly, "How can you compare 100,000 Lirae to … touching your breasts for one minute?"
I thought Evelyn would finally drop the idea. But instead, she lowered her dress even more, just enough that I could almost see her nipples.
"If one minute isn't enough," she said softly, "how about ten?"
"TOUCH HER BOOBS NOW!"
My wolf roared in my head and suddenly took control of my right hand, moving it toward her breast faster than I could stop it.
At the very last second, I grabbed my own wrist with my left hand and yanked it away.
He howled inside me, furious. "TOUCH HER! TOUCH HER NOW!"
And just to make things worse, Evelyn kept walking closer, her voice as calm as ever. "You can touch me, Your Majesty," she whispered.
Oh, fuck.
Between the two of them—my mate and my insane wolf—they were going to be the death of me.