Within one moment and the next, I find myself pinned to the tree where he had earlier cornered me. My hands grab fistfuls of his jacket while his arms tighten around my waist. The kiss turns heady, wild, and downright messy as he slips his tongue into my mouth. A noise comes out of my mouth. It’s embarrassing. I am much more in control during make-out sessions, however, this feels… different. He sweeps his tongue across my lower lip and one of his hands travels down my waist and slips under the dress.His rough, calloused palm leaves goosebumps on my damp skin. This is not his rut doing its job, he isn’t under that spell. This time he is in control and yet. His hand gropes my left cheek. I can feel his interest against my hip. Despite the rough bark and the fear of being caught by someone, I press closer, hooking my ankle around his leg. The wetness between my legs makes its sticky presence known. Amaia whines in my head, whether from pleasure or simply mourning my lack of judgment I
The storm brewing inside me is safely tucked away from Aysel, or she would have been scared. She would have run for her life.Like she did.I force myself to not argue, to not command her to obey my earlier proposal. It will look barbaric and the last thing I want is to be like my father, forcing and manipulating another person until we get our way.‘But you are like me.’ My father’s voice sneers at the back of my mind. I clench my fists, stopping myself from not throwing a fit like the 11-year-old who had just lost his mother to an unknown cause.Why had she become so cold that time all of a sudden? What caused her to come to this decision? Had she been someone else, someone who is power-hungry, they would have grabbed the opportunity. Not her. Just like her brother, Aysel is resilient, and sort of true to herself.My mind drifts to the memories of Amara, the woman who was like this girl, the one who took care of me, stayed beside me but until…“I wanted to show you something…” Aysel
[Earlier]I walk back to my room in a daze. Something really changed in our relationship, huh? The dynamic just… shifted. I contemplate if I made a mistake in handing the notebook over to Azriel. What if he has other motives and my brother died because of him, but… but he doesn’t seem to be someone of that sort. He is crude and rough but not cruel.‘What would you say of his indifference then?’ Amaia counters.I remain silent as I enter the room and close it. My body feels sore. When I returned, I had to hurry and change my clothes. Now that I am relieved of my duty, I shuffle to the washroom and hop in the shower.The scalding warm water cascades down my back, relieving my sore muscles. My thoughts run wild; my chest feels heavy as I recount the evening. Shouldn’t I have been doing the bargaining? Why did Azriel keep me by his side as if I were just an arm candy?‘He doesn’t trust you,’ Amaia states matter-of-factly.He doesn’t. He still doubts my abilities. I know I have a lot to le
Running feels exhilarating. Even though my agility feels hindered, I keep up my pace to match hers. Her beautiful silver coat shines like a white blob in the dark. She yips when I tackle her after running for some time.I pin her to the forest ground; her fur is now marred by dirt and twigs. Both of us are huffing. She whines as she is on her back, vulnerable. She bares her neck as is customary, but it is more of a playful submission than fear. I would be able to smell it.Her gaze is intent, quizzical. My claws dig into her soft fur and giving into the irrational want, I lower my head and nuzzle her neck before darting out my tongue and licking the place where a mark is supposed to go. She lets out a low whine as I continue scenting her. Will she like it if I scent her? She isn’t protesting so maybe, yes?The ritual itself is very primordial. No one does this anymore. Even mates don’t and here I am scenting a beta who might…I pull away and stand up. She remains silent, assessing me
When Aysel stands at my door, almost when I am about to go to bed. She gives me a sheepish look.“Well, I didn’t want to disturb you at this time but I wanted to confess something,” she says with a nervous chuckle. I raise an eyebrow and lean against the doorframe.“What that might be?”“I kind of ruined that dress? I am sorry. I didn’t mean to. I can pay back the amount,” she rushes to explain. I swallow back a laugh. By now, probably everyone in the palace sort of knows that she is exclusively Azriel’s.“No need. Think of it as a gift. I never wore it because it did not look good on me,” I lie. Her eyes widen. I don’t want Azriel to give me a lecture.She lets out a sigh of relief.“Okay then, I won’t bother you anymore. Good night,” she says and speed walks across the corridor before I can even utter another word.Closing the door, I walk back to my desk where I have been writing. These days, I have been keeping to myself, so much so that even mom once came and asked me if I was ok
I walk further inside, knowing Dr. Valerie’s presence behind me. Kai lies still, almost like a corpse but I am not worried about that. Not anymore. He looks pale, but not deathly pale. His wounds seemed to have healed but something tells me that it hasn’t completely healed, which for a beta wolf is unusual.~~~~~[3 weeks ago….]“You need to see this, alpha,” Lauren one of the spies, I had given the responsibility to search for Kaizen, rushed inside. James as always shot her with an annoyed look but like the professional she was, she ignored it.She hands me the tab and waist patiently, but her eyes move with agitation. It’s a short clip and the reason I give this a priority is because Lauren is someone who takes her job seriously. She could have been a perfect beta but Kaizen just had to keep his spot filled.“This is Kaizen’s house,” I mutter as I hit play. Despite telling Aysel that no one was found around their house, I had continued my search because Kaizen could not b dead. I kn
The back and forth never seems to end. It feels as if we move two steps forward and then four steps back. Honestly, at this point, I feel like I should just give up on this mission to find my brother’s killer. If they are inside the palace then they have surely not made any moves and lying low, however, it seems odd that someone who knows I am their victim’s sister wouldn’t make any effort to even threaten me.If they are out there somewhere, then also…I groan in frustration and kick the door open. The day feels like a waste. Why does Azriel treat it like some sort of liability? As if I am a kid and he is trying to distract me by letting me doodle in a sketchbook or something?I amped up my hopes for nothing. I stayed up until his return for no reason. My fists clench as I stand in the middle of the room, seething in anger. My eyes burn with unshed and angry tears. Why? Why must he do this to me?~~~~Instead of waiting for Azriel’s beck and call, I decide to train on my own. I warm
Despite not wanting to get irritated, I feel exactly the same – irritated, annoyed, and kind of betrayed. He never said we were exclusive. He never said that I was the one for him, instead, he had told the opposite, so why am I so angry? Why am I feeling like a cheated-on wife?I scoff at my own thoughts.‘Let’s go for a run?’ Amai says‘Yeah, that will be better,’ I sigh.I glance at my phone because I keep doing that today, just thinking if there’ll be any call from the alpha, but there’s none, not even a text, informing me that he will be leaving for the meeting with Sarah.I turn off the device in anger and leave the room.The run proves to be a good one because it renders me with energy and less resentment. I come back by mid-afternoon. My stomach growls as I trudge my way to my room. Somehow despite the acute sense of feeling starved, I don’t want to eat.What is wrong with me?‘You are catching feelings,’ Amaia says matter-of-factly.I gulp, not responding or arguing with her c