Iris meets Eros

"Drag her out" 

A man wearing an expensive-looking shirt and black breeches ordered the guards outside the prison cell, indicating Iris.

Diandra is worried about Iris. She spent one evening and night with Iris to understand that her smart mouth and sharp tongue are going to push her into trouble. Just before the guards could open the cell door and drag Iris with them to the royal court, Diandra decided to warn iris.

"Iris, stay quiet and apologise to that man for kicking him. They might leave you with a simple punishment. Try not to attract the king's attention. He is the worst one of the lot. He hates humans. Stay quiet Iris" Diandra warned.

The guards came in and pulled Iris out of the cell and led her out of the prison to present her in the royal court.

On the other hand, Eros is amused. He heard a human woman kick a WERE man for touching her.

"You were kicked by a woman? Shame on you. You are almost triple her size, but still, she outsmarted you?" Maxim, his second in command scolded the man who came with the complaint that a small human woman kicked between the legs.

"I was not expecting her to kick me. She looked delicate and her beauty is deceiving. I think she is an assassin sent from the compound to kill us" the man muttered.

His words made Eros travel back to the past when his father was killed by one of his human concubines. It's been 5 years since that incident, which shook the entire WERE kingdom.

After that, she was punished and was thrown into the cold cell. She didn't even try to plead with Eros to escape punishment. She didn't speak at all. Eros was snapped back to the present when a loud slap resonated all around the royal court.

He looked up and found one of his guards holding his cheek and a human woman wearing strange clothes glaring at him angrily. The other guards are looking at her with wide eyes. They saw what the other guard did to garner her wrath. They understood that she must have come from the human compound. Humans are delicate and they always rebel. Not all of the WERE men are bad. Most of them have a stable life with the woman they love.

Eros is looking at the incident with a blank mask. He can only see the human's side profile. She is glaring at the guard with anger. Her waist-length reddish-brown hair is as wild as she is. She is wearing breeches like a man and a shirt of some kind. She is dressed up as a man and she is dirty. But despite how she is dressed and how dirty she is with all the dirt on her limbs and face, she has this aura that is attracting him. Maxim snickered beside him.

"This one is feisty, just like her hair" he commented. Eros sensed that Maxim is interested in this woman, which made Eros irritated for some reason. He is feeling territorial over this woman, who is yet to show him her face.

"What is happening here?" Eros growled with authority.

The moment that human turned to face him, he felt like he is punched in his gut by something heavy. Her face has streaks of dirt here and there, but still, she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. Even WERE woman cannot compete with her in beauty.

Iris thought of staying quiet just like Diandra suggested. But the moment that guard grabbed her butt, she had enough. She cannot stay here in this male-dominated stupid world any longer. She slapped the guard as hard as she could and gave him her best death glare.

When Iris heard a commanding growl, she turned towards the WERE king to give him a piece of her mind. But the moment her gaze met his, something happened. Everyone and everything around them disappeared and he is the only man she could see. A piece of her walked out of her body to meet him. A part of him walked out to meet her other half in the middle. They hugged as if they have been waiting for each other for years. 

Maxim frowned when he noticed the odd exchange between the human girl and his king.

"Your highness" he called Eros to snap him out of whatever daze he fell into.

Eros blinked and the image vanished.

He looked at the girl who is now blinking as if she was there with him.

'These humans always have some tricks with them' he thought with a frown.

"What happened?" he asked the guard who has been slapped by the girl.

That guard knelt down in front of his king before replying.

"Your highness, this girl raised her hand at me when i was bringing her to the royal court" the guard revealed, conveniently leaving the part where he squeezed her behind.

Iris glared at the guard and his king.

"You lying a*shole, why don't you tell him why i slapped you?" Iris snapped at the guard angrily.

Maxim is amused, but Eros is not so much so. He is thinking that the girl is not trustworthy, just like the woman who killed his father. 

"Enough, you are supposed to talk only when you are asked to talk" he snapped at her.

Iris glared at Eros.

"Listen here Mister, i don't know who you are and what this place is. I am done here. Do you understand? Everyone tries to molest a woman here. What kind of a place is this? And you are telling me that I should not talk when I am the one who has been molested by this as*hole" she yelled at Eros, much to the shock of everyone present in the court.

Maxim winced when Iris yelled at his king.

'Oh dear god, he is going to kill her today ' he thought feeling bad for the girl.

Eros is known for his temper. Everyone thought that the human girl is going to die today. 

That's the moment his heart began to peek from behind its iron walls at the woman who is brave enough to stand up to him. But he didn't let his emotions be seen by others. He stood up from his throne and slowly descended down from the stage where his throne is. Iris is challenging him with her eyes. There is not a speck of fear in her eyes, which made Eros curious. 

When he is just feet away from her, he stopped.

"We werewolf experience something named as HEAT. It's more in the males than with the females because females cannot shift into their animal form. When a male werewolf is in heat, he would want to spend his time with a woman. That's why it is a specific rule that women should not roam in the streets alone without a master to protect them if a werewolf in heat tries to hurt them. You humans are not ignorant about our rules. Then why are trying to garner attention to yourself?  Where is your master? Who bought you from the compound? Are you sent here to assassinate someone?" Eros asked with authority.

Iris groaned with frustration.

"I have been asked this same question by three people already. I am not a pet who needs a master to take care of me. I am a person with feelings. Since the moment I came to this place, two men molested me and I have been thrown into prison for defending myself. And that guard just touched my behind and I slapped him for that. I don't think either of them was in heat, like you said. They were just trying to take advantage of my situation here" Iris argued with him.

Eros knows that he should punish her for disrespecting the king and the court. But something is stopping him from doing that. Even though everything she said is true, he still doesn't trust a human. But his prejudice should not come in between his duty. He doesn't want to look like a man who let his personal emotions rule his decisions

Eros looked at the man who came to him complaining that a human kicked him when he was in heat, which is a crime. Clearly, he is lying. 

"You lied to your king and tried to mislead the court. The moment you find a helpless woman, you should bring her to the court so that we can investigate her and send her back to her master. But instead of that, you tried to take advantage of her. This is a crime" Eros declared.

The man who molested Iris is now scared. He thought he could use the king's hatred towards humans to his advantage, but clearly, this human ruined everything.

"Please forgive me, your highness. Spare me your highness" he began to beg for mercy.

Eros ignored him.

"Maxim, take him away and throw him in the cold cell for 2 months" he declared.