The silence was palpable. Baka wanted to scream.“If you want me to stop, tell me now,” the Alpha king whispered slowly, his warm breath fanning her face. She opened her mouth, but no words came. It was as though she was hypnotized. Baka couldn't think of anything else but him at this moment, looking at her like she was the only light in his life. Touching her with so much gentleness and warmth. Talking to her like a lover, a lover she realized with great turmoil she wanted to be.On top of that, he smelled amazing. How? A few hours ago, he had been a wolf, for Pete’s sake. A big black furry looking animal. None of that was evident right now. No, in this moment, he was a man with a broad naked torso and a bulging member.“Please…” she begged. What was she even begging him to do? She wasn't sure if she was begging him to kiss her or to leave her alone. “Please what?” he whispered. His free hand lightly brushed through her hair and settled at the nape of her neck.Her vision blurr
Tatum took a quick shower and got dressed. Feeling a bit under control, he followed after Baka downstairs. Soft voices filled the small space and he slowed his descent. It sounded like Baka and Blessing.“Your man was going to get food for you both before the fight began,” Blessing was saying, holding two plates of food and setting them on the table. “I believe he ordered two sandwiches.”Baka reached for the plates. “Thank you. I didn't think you’d be up.”“I couldn't sleep. Matthew snores like a pig.”Baka grinned. The sight struck Tatum. He didn't think he had ever seen her smile. So little an action moved him to his core.“How about you? Why are you up? Your man isn't giving you trouble, is he?”Tatum held his breath.“Why do you keep calling him my man?”“Well, he is, isn't he? I've seen the way he looks at you and you him. It's clear as day.” Blessing eyed her, and then she suddenly smiled, nodding her head in understanding. “You two had a fight, huh?”Baka shook her head. “We're
As they got ready to leave the following morning, they worked in companionable silence. The Alpha king was getting dressed while Baka inspected their belongings, making sure nothing was missing.Since their kiss, something had changed between them. Whether it was for the worse or for the better, Baka had no idea.“I didn't know your name was Ruby,” the Alpha king said all of a sudden.Baka looked up at him, then she let out a small sigh. “You were eavesdropping.”The Alpha King shrugged. “It's a pretty name.”“Thank you. It's my middle name. I was named after my maternal grandmother.”Baka went back to inspecting their belongings, going through them a final time. Hearing nothing from the Alpha king, she looked up again to see him staring at her.“What now?”“Just thinking about all the things I don't know about you.”She got up from her squatting position. “What do you want to know?”“Your full name.”“Bakady Ruby Clark.”“Date of birth?”“May twentieth.”“Mine is—”“I know what yours
They arrived at Avenue City by nightfall.But before venturing in, Tatum reached for Baka’s hand and she looked up at him. “I haven’t been entirely honest with you. This visit may take a surprising turn. I don’t want it to, but it might. I can’t tell you everything just yet, but please, trust me. Okay?”She nodded. Tatum reached for a small container under the car seat. When he opened it, there were six soggy looking tiny brown branches. He took one out and handed it to her.“Chew on this. It’s called Imposter. It masks your human scent for a few hours.”Baka reached for it reluctantly. “Why do I have to mask my scent?”“Trust me, Baka. The less you know, the better.”He could tell she was still struggling with the trust part and he didn’t blame her. If someone had given him these same weird looking branches and told him to chew on them, he would have much the same look on his face.“Please, Baka. Trust me. I will not do anything that would bring you harm.”This was the ultimate test
The Alpha King Boaz’s palace was much bigger than Tatum’s. But the decor was lacking. Despite being a broad expanse of silver ornaments and marble plated tiles, Boaz’s domain was built more for style and elegance than for comfort.Baka couldn't help but note the vast differences between Tatum’s domain and Boaz’s. While Tatum had built his palace for ease and comfort, Boaz cared more for superficial aesthetics and grand interiors.There were at least three statues of him in the garden outside his palace. Inside, rows of family pictures lined the hallway and the throne room.The throne room harboured three chairs, the biggest one in the middle. They were gold plated and screamed lavish. As Baka drew closer, she noticed that so much attention was put into the details. Roaring wolves could be seen etched into all the chairs, a stark contrast to Tatum’s single throne which had wolf fur lining its length, beautiful and simple.They followed after the guard past the throne room and into a hu
They had put Tatum and Baka in separate rooms. That displeased Tatum greatly. He had seen the way Boaz had looked at Baka, like he wanted to eat her, and it had gotten under his skin.He couldn't sleep and wasn't even remotely sleepy. All his thoughts were of Baka.He wouldn't put it past Boaz to go looking for her in the middle of the night. The man wasn't above rape. The thought chilled Tatum to his core.He found himself jumping out of his bed and heading to Baka’s room. He told himself he just wanted to check in on her, to make sure that she was okay and that that monstrosity of a man hadn't tried to venture into her room via a secret door.Opening his door very slowly, he tiptoed out of his room. He felt silly, acting like a thief in the night. When he got to her door, he pressed his ear against it.Her heart was beating rapidly. She too wasn't sleeping. How could she? She was in a strange palace with strange people and in a strange bed. A bed she wasn't used to.He was about to
Baka sat before the grand oval mirror as a slave girl attended to her, fixing up her hair. It felt weird being the one attended to and she fidgeted a little.The small girl, whom she’d come to know as Fatima, had wanted to give her a bath minutes earlier. “No!” Baka had screamed, then caught herself immediately. “I mean, don’t worry. I’ll handle that myself.”The slave girl had paled, thinking that she was somehow in trouble. Baka noticed the bruises that adorned her otherwise lovely skin tone. She reminded her of Mosaan. Too young and too innocent for this cruel world.Her big doe eyes pierced Baka and her lower lips quivered. “But M-master said I should attend to you fully, my lady.”Baka had briefly wondered if she had meant Boaz or Jerome, finally concluding that it was Boaz.She understood that for the girl, it was obey her master or bear the consequences either by lashes or death. But she really, really couldn’t bear the thought of being washed by her. It felt wrong.“Fatima,”
Boaz’s idea of a men’s day out included slaves being used for target practice. They were on the training field, wielding daggers while two male slaves ran around every which way, wearing a wooden board. Boaz sent his dagger flying. It hit one of the slaves on his leg and he cried out in pain, sinking to his knees.Boaz barked out a laugh as blood pooled down the slave’s ankles. Jerome looked sick to his stomach. Tatum hid his disgust, having had enough time to practice how to school his expression to one of bored indifference.“Your turn,” Boaz declared, pointing at Tatum. He chanced a glance at his son and shook his head in disappointment.“I’m convinced I did not father you. If your mother were alive, I would have her tell me who she spread her legs for because it most certainly wasn’t me.”As usual, Jerome said nothing as his face began getting some of it’s colour back. Tatum felt a strong need to stand up for his friend. His father hadn’t been this cruel. He was tough on his sons