Couples were twirling and swirling in the throne room to the beat of the fast music. Guests' laughter and voices filled the atmosphere as the room buzzed with the sound of the orchestra and was illuminated by warm light from the chandeliers above.Baka spent the rest of the evening trying to put Aksana out of her mind. She knew Aksana would make good on her threat but she didn’t have the heart to ponder on it a moment longer.She had no control over what Aksana would do so it was stupid to worry twice. That snitch wasn’t worth her time and energy. But she would do well to stay as far away from Baka and her friends as possible. There was no telling what Baka would do if Aksana ever double-crossed the people close to her.She continued serving the guests their food and drinks.After a long while, Baka stood at a small corner close to the kitchen, waiting for orders to carry another round of food and drinks. It was going to be a long night. She could kill for a chance to rest her aching
The kitchen was a mess. The dishes were voluminous. They filled the sink, the counter, and several huge buckets. Baka stared at them in horror.It would take all of them, a small village, and the king’s army to finish those dishes. Her body was beginning to revolt against her for the hardship she was putting it through.“How long do masquerade balls last?” she asked Aja who was standing next to her with a similarly appalling expression as she towered over the sink.“It's not set in stone,” Aja replied with her hands on her hips. “Guests just sort of…. start dispersing slowly.”“Okay, but from your experience? How long?”“Till dawn.”Baka whimpered. At the rate they were going, she would finally sleep next year. She was very positive that she was going to faint from exhaustion. “Instead of standing around and complaining, start washing the dishes now!” Carlton yelled from behind them as he toasted meat on the fire.He’d been cooking all night. Some guests kept asking for a refill or
Long after the masquerade ball had ended, Tatum stood on the balcony in his room, watching the starry skies.It was peaceful and surreal, unlike the masquerade ball. He’d smiled and held idle conversations with Mother Tina’s guests when all he had really wanted to do was be in his room, enjoying the quiet solitude.He had put off joining the guests downstairs long enough until he couldn't hide anymore. His absence wouldn't have gone unnoticed. Takoda was better at events than he was. Attending them gave him a headache. In the past, he made excuses to get out of attending them because he didn’t want to have one of his spells and have people aware of his ailment. It would make him weak in their eyes, and they would’ve used the knowledge of his strange illness against him.Now he was somewhat free of his headaches, thanks to an oblivious Baka. She had freed him of a lifetime of pain, and she had no idea. Still, he was too much of an introvert to be around so many people. The only excit
Out in the courtyard, Tatum watched as his betas exercised in the field. Some ran across it while others did push ups.It was early noon and the weather was extremely hot. Tatum had enjoyed running and sweating under the heat. His wolf purred contently as he sat under the Bantaba, pouring himself a cold drink. Before he had left, he checked on Baka to make sure that she had followed his orders to sleep in. She hadn’t been in the slave’s quarters. Both Aja and Emily were not sure when she left or where she had gone.He was annoyed that she hadn’t listened to him, even when it was for her benefit.She was as stubborn as she was beautiful.“Your widower days are almost over, I hear,” Thorin said from beside him. They were both shirtless, having drenched through their workout outfits with sweat.Tatum poured the water down his parched throat, slamming the glass down on the counter with a heavy sigh.The preparations for the selection festival were well under way. By the end of the week,
Tatum raised his brow. “What makes you think there's a woman I'm in love with?”“Just a hunch.”Like him, Eugene had trained his heart, blocking its rate and heat signature from every other werewolf. So Tatum had no way of knowing if he was telling the truth. But he was determined to find out. There was a knowing glint in Eugene’s eyes that unsettled him. Something he had said had caught his attention.“You implied that Gabriel is king because you could never accept being bound by duty to the city. But isn’t it the truth that he’s king because he’s the offspring of your parent’s true mate union?”Eugene shook his head. “It’s true, he’s a true mate kid. But that’s not why he’s king. Our father was ready to give me the title. I turned it down.”Tatum was bewildered. He had never known. He had simply assumed that was the case because his was no different. “Why?”“Why what?”“Why did you turn it down?”“Ah,” Eugene smiled, still sitting in his meditative position. “I knew what it would co
Tatum looked at Aksana again. Blonde, pale eyes, plain, and curvy. He could see how she could play a spy. Whatever she did for Takoda, she was obviously betraying her own people in the process. For coin. For position. To be free from a life of slavery. The information she provided Takoda, she did so willingly, whether or not it directly harmed her people. She had completely turned her back on them.The knowledge irked him.“Good day, my lord.” She curtsied and looked him directly in the eye. He found her gaze unsettling, and her small voice didn't match her stature. “A pleasure.”He couldn't say the same. Instead, he nodded briefly and turned his gaze to his brother.“Same spy who informed you about the news from Yundum City?”“The very one,” Takoda snorted. “And she has a very interesting little story to share. Something you’d want to hear.”There was a strange note in his tone that triggered Tatum’s alert response. What now?A small wind caressed his exposed chest and back as sweat
Baka had woken up feeling awful.She wished she could say it was because she was so tired from the work she had done during and after the masquerade ball, but it wasn’t. Because that awful feeling came from guilt.Guilt over her growing interest for the masked man at the ball. Guilt over missing his laugh and charming charisma. Guilt over the fact that she replayed their electrifying encounter in her head so much that he had penetrated her subconscious and managed to slip into her dream like a thief in the night.And boy, was her dream scandalous. In it, the masked man was giving her a bath. Thoroughly. Teasing her soft spots. Whispering into her ears with his warm breath, making her tingle all over. She couldn't remember the last time she’d dreamt a dream that made her insides warm and had her wishing it was reality. Then she remembered Tatum and her guts tightened into hard knots. Was it possible to fall for two men? What had begun as a mild curiosity on her part had graduated in
There was a good kind of attention and a bad kind of attention. Baka firmly believed the one she currently faced was the bad kind. The very, very bad kind.As she took every step towards the throne room filled with acute tension, her knees buckled and her heart made giant leaps within her chest.She tried to train her eyes on her mother but her back was to her. She couldn’t see her face—wouldn’t, unless she stood beside her.Her mind raised as she tried to figure out if there was any other reason why they were gathered here apart from the one clouding her thoughts. It could have something to do with that one little secret her mother had refused to tell her about. Something about the late Luna queen. Or more specifically, the baby. But Tatum knew her mother was the midwife who had been present at his wife’s delivery. He had interrogated her about it.If that wasn’t the reason, it could only be one other thing. Baka looked at Tatum again, registering the look of betrayal in his eyes.