Her Unwanted Mate On The Throne
Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Chapter 84 At least you finally found a way to make yourself useful.

The main kitchen in the camp looked like any other regular kitchen she would expect in a home. It wasgood enough sized and homey, but she had to admit it was a little hard to imagine how the cooksmanaged to feed the whole village with such a small space. They were truly talented-since there wasalways an endless amount of food being passed around. The room was hot enough for Doris to strip offher jacket after only seconds of standing in the entryway. An older man turned to look at her with acurious lift of his brow but said nothing as she hung her coat. The ovens were on, but it appeared thatnothing was inside them yet. It made her wonder if they were always left on, just in case. A large pot onthe stove was filled to the brim with some sort of warm soup that made her long to curl up by the fire withthe largest bowl possible. “Hello, sir.” Doris stepped further in and held out her hand. He glanced down atit before he seemed to decide to oblige her. “I was wondering if I could use some of your ingredients andovens to bake something small. I promise to clean up after myself and replace whatever I use.” “Oh, youlike to cook?” The man asked. He had a thick accent that she wasn’t familiar with, but it was lovely andwent along with his kind face. “Yes sir, I love to bake. I’ve missed being in the kitchen, it’s been a longtime.” Doris glanced around and felt her head spin with all of the delicious scents. It was so calm in here.The kitchens at the palace were always so loud and busy. It was hard to replace any sense of peace therewithout a string of anxiety to follow. She wasn’t sure if there were more cooks that helped, but for themoment it was just him. “Hmm, I see.” The old man crossed his arms. “What did you have in mind?” “Iwas thinking something simple. A chocolate cake and frosting.” Doris brushed her hair behind her ears.“I’m Doris, by the way.” “I know who you are, my dear. You can call me Poe.” He turned his back on herto pull down a glass bowl. “You may use my kitchen and ingredients on two conditions.” “Of course,anything.” “You have to keep an eye on my soup, and you have to clean up after yourself.” He turned andplaced the bowl in her hands. He smiled a little and winked. “Stay for as long as you need and havesomeone come replace me when you’re done.” “Oh! That’s so kind of you. Thank you, Poe.” Doris smiledwidely. Poe went to the coat rack to pull on his jacket. This village was full of some of the kindest people.Each day that passed only made it harder when she realized they would soon leave this place and she

would have to go back to her old life where she had no choices. “You’ll replace everything you need forsweets in the lower cabinets.” He pointed.“ Maybe leave me a slice, eh?” He said and smiled.

Doris laughed a little. “Absolutely.” Once he was gone, Doris searched through all of the cabinets to pullout everything she needed and got to work. Her wolf remained silent the entire time, most of her wasthrilled to have the silence. Her head could get so loud, but baking always centered her and remindedher how to keep a bit of clarity. There was nothing to stress over, only getting the recipe right. Shemissed those sort of simple worries. She couldn’t help but think of the times her largest worries werereplaceing misplaced books and removing all the cobwebs around the shelves. Now she worried if shewould witness another murder almost daily. She moved around the kitchen as if it was her own. It felt likean old dance as she placed the cake pans in the ovens and spun around to clean up the mess shemade. By the time she wiped the counters clean, she was pulling out the hot pans and starting thefrosting. She set the blazing pans by the cold window and had them cooled in no time. She cut the cakeinto pieces and left one on the counters before she carried the rest of it out. She was almost sad to befinished so soon. Time always seemed to fly faster when she was enjoying herself—but at least she hada taste of what it was like to feel lighter. At least for a little while. 1 Each step towards William’s cabinfilled her with a heavy weight once more as her unease and nerves came rushing back in. What if heturned her away? He hadn’t spoken to her once since he spat at her feet. The memory burned worsethan any fire ever could. She swallowed her pride before she knocked on his door. His deep grumbledbeyond it. “What?” “It’s me.” Doris leaned closer as if it would make him hear her better. She glancedaround and was glad to see no one was around to see her pathetic attempt at civility with a grumpyprince. There was a pause that lasted hours in her mind. She cleared her throat and took a small stepback as if to prepare herself to run as fast as possible away from this door. It wasn’t worth it, she knew itwas an awful idea “Come in.” He said. Doris released a breath and opened his door slowly. Her eyesfound him instantly by the dimming fire. His eyes lit up beautifully against the light. What a curse it mustbe to have such beautiful eyes like that. His dark lashes raised and suddenly they were on her without awarning. She closed the door behind her and lifted the plate in her hands. “I made you some dessert.”“It’s not even dinner time.” He said blandly. Doris felt her cheeks heat instantly, she took a step back

towards the door. “Yes, right. I meant for later-of course.” Doris looked around for an area to put it so shecould leave. “I’ll leave it over here—“ “Come here.” He said. His words rooted her in place and she hatedhe had that sort of power over her. He leaned forward n his seat and gestured to the chair next to his .own and her feet had no choice but to obey. She gently placed the plate of cake slices on the table infront of him before she sat. She shifted uncomfortably in her bulky coat. William looked over the slices asif he’d never seen such a dish before. “Did you already have some?” “Oh! No, of course not. The nice oldman in the kitchen asked for a piece if I used his things.” Doris pulled her arms free of her constrictingcoat. Why did she always feel as if she was about to suffocate in his presence? William brushed histhumb across his lower lip. She wished her eyes hadn’t seen that, now she couldn’t look away from hismouth. “Have some with me now, then.” He said. Doris almost thought she imagined it. Her wolf woke upa little and made a sound of approval. “Are you sure? I can have dinner brought for you first if you—“.“No.” He said and grabbed a slice with his bare hands. Doris laughed in surprise when he took a largebite. His eyes snapped to her and took in the sight of her smile as if he was drinking it in. Doris clampedher lips shut and brushed har hair behind her ear. “I wasn’t sure of your favorite so I made chocolate.”She cleared her throat and leaned forward to wipe a bit of frosting off the plate with her finger to have ataste. “Oh,” Doris moaned a little. “I’ve missed the taste of chocolate.” William watched her with suchintensity, she felt as if a fire erupted inside her chest. His blue eyes trailed across her face and along herlips with a different sort of heat she wasn’t used to. “It’s good.” He finally said. His large hand gripped theedge of her chair and brought her seat closer to him. She held her breath as he used his thumb to wipe abit of chocolate near her lips. He was so close to her, she knew he could hear how loud her heartpounded. “Why did you make me this?” He asked with a voice that was meant just for her. “I… I justthought you would like it.” The air felt thicker when he looked at her like that. His eyes watched hermouth whenever she spoke and had a hard time looking anywhere else. He shoved the rest of the piecein his mouth and leaned back away from her. “You were right.” He stood and brushed the crumbs off hisshirt. “At least you finally found a way to make yourself useful.” 7