[~♥CORAL♥~]“Are you alright, Kiki?”Kiara lets out a deep breath at my inquiry. Slowly she turns around, her face still wears the scowl until she finally meets my gaze and it lets up. Then a smile slowly stretches her face as she slightly cocks her head to the side, her curls bounces.“Of course, perfectly fine, though a little regretful that I couldn’t slug that bitch’s face in.”“I-I don’t think there would have been any need for that.” I mutter.The look on her face is incredulous, her scowl returns. “You don’t think— Coco, she tried to jeopardize our friendship with that little stunt she pulled from her wild mouth.” kiara barks, her hazel eyes wide as she takes a step closer to me. “You don’t believe her do you?”I nibble on my lower lip, not exactly sure what to say. I couldn’t really believe Raina’s words, her accusation was preposterous, after all, Kiara was my best friend and she’d never do or act in a way that would hurt me but somehow, it didn’t sound all too ridiculous. I
[~♥CORAL♥~]The moment my gaze locks with warm ember orbs, I feel the air around me shift with an electrifying sizzle, for one, because Damian is here, as our supposed instructor and he smiles, waving at me like a child that's just found his mother in a crowd.It hinders my attempt at hiding my presence—though I wasn't succeeding much in that area either, my red hair makes me stand out like a sore thumb.The other, because there’s suddenly an uproar of excitement bubbling from the girls and the boys but most especially, the girls and very extremely, from Raina.My gaze cuts off from Damian, landing on Raina. She’s not looking at me this time because now she has her gaze solely fixed on Damian and I swear to the moon goddess that I can see the moon-struck hearts in her freaking eyes and I’m flushed by a wave of violence at her shameless ogling at my mate.“Quiet!” One of the instructor’s voice catches our attention again, this time, it’s the black haired one that speaks up, his voice h
[~♥CORAL♥~]When my body hits the ground, my world spirals for a moment. Raina's movement had been so quick and her attack was sharp and concentrated, knocking me to the ground within a second. I barely saw her coming. Much to my dismay. She proved her strength when her body settles on mine. My hands though, had shielded my face on instinct, though it didn't ease the pain that spammed my body at the moment it made contact with the hard ground.Dust gust around us before it finally settles and I look up at Raina. A smug look paints her face and she's smiling down at me like she's just won.“Ha! This is going to be so easy.” She snarls wickedly, her smile turning into a mischievous grin, her eyes shining with sheer diviousness.And somehow, my gaze finds Damian. His arms are folded against his broad, black clad chest and so is the rest of him—built like a warrior king. His demeanor is stoic and fierce but I don't miss the way his hands clench at his sides and the very subtle flex of hi
[~♦DAMIAN♦~]She won. My sweet girl won the spar. It was a little surprising because I knew her opponent was a lot stronger than her, she’d surprised me with that move she pulled.I couldn't help the smile that grew on my face the moment it happened.I've been beating myself up about stepping into her fight and breaking it off the moment her body hit the ground but I know that would only cause trouble for her.My girl was already trying to carve out her own part through her circumstances. I didn't want to be the new source of her agony. I never want to experience the hurt and broken heartedness of my mate ever again. She is the most precious fucking thing to me and bringing her joy is the only thing I'd live to do from now on.The instructor has just declared her the winner and there was a surprising alarm of cheers at her victory even though this was no more than a practice session. I was so fucking proud of her and all I could see in that moment was her.Wanting to get to my mate t
[~♥CORAL♥~]I let Damian drag me off the training ground, mostly because I'm still reeling from what just happened.Raina had tried to seriously hurt me and Damian had stepped in. He'd protected me. My heart felt afloat with the feeling of both fear and relief, it still does, the aftermath effect is still strumming around in my chest.Damian leads me behind a building. There's a bench resting against the surface when we round the corner and he pulls me down gently to sit on it before lowering his height and kneeling with one knee to the ground. His face is a mess of worry and… distress and his gaze fervently runs up and down the length of my body in fluid movement.“Where exactly does it hurt?” He asks, pulling up the sleeves of my shirt past my elbows, he carefully lifts my left arm to his face, inspecting closely.“Here.” I respond, using my other hand to motion across the length of my forearm. “All of it… hurts.”Damian's ember orbs flashes a glowering red and a snarl shapes his f
[~♦DAMIAN♦~]“You're so mean.” I stare down at my mate to see a pout puckering her sweet lips.“Whatever do you mean, sweet girl?” I ask, letting a smirk curl up my lips.She looks up at me, her eyes flashing with a coy smile. She's finally gotten used to the name so now it doesn't bother her anymore when I address her by it. Then they turn solemn, almost like she's trying to scold me silently.“You know what I mean.”I did. But I love teasing her. The thrill her expression causes is a medicine I've gotten addicted to. Even when I don't want to, I just can't help it.I flash a grin, “I apologize, sweet girl. I just can't help myself when I'm around you.”I hear her breath catch in her throat just as her cheeks turn a light shade of pink. “You're not sorry at all,” she narrows her gaze at me.I can't help the chuckle that slips past my lips at her acute accusation. “And you don't think I'm going to forget about your sudden intrusion into school today.”“I wasn't intruding, sweet girl.
[~♥CORAL♥~]“Raise your arms a bit more, lower your hips to steady your stance, that's good, just like that, keep it that way, your fist has to bear the weight of your strength…” Damian instructs calmly even though I'm trying my hardest to land a decent and possibly hard hit on his large body. He blocks them all and still has the gall to instruct so well!As Raegan had said he would, he'd instructed the instructors for my combat training class to sit me out of participating. They couldn't defy their Alpha.Raegan worries too much. It was barely a wound and it healed pretty quickly too. I could properly use my hands because of the pain medicine I was given but it's not like I was dying or had a fatal disease. He didn't have to withdraw me from practice.Five days have passed since my bruise and I'd secretly asked Damian to practice with me. He was much obliged to but with the condition that I rest a bit more, for two extra days, making it a week, to heal. Now we're at the courtyard at
[~♥CORAL♥~]Damian groans lowly the moment my fingers touch his taut skin. His eyes closing and his head hangs even lower, hovering over mine as his lids clenches and unclenches. His nose flares, his low groans turning more animalistic and strained as though he was having an internal battle.It made me a little worried seeing such displays of emotion twisting up his face. I didn’t know if he was in pain or something. Am I causing him pain? Is it because I’m touching him? I didn’t like it. I didn’t like seeing him look this way.“Don’t do that. Don’t stop.” Damian says, catching my wrist with his hand when I attempt to remove them from his skin.“But… I’m… causing you pain.” I counter and try to free my hand from his grip but it locks like a vice around my wrist, trapping my hand against his chiseled abs.His chuckle is deep and exotic, I want to fall into the trance the sound caused inside me. “The last thing you're causing me is pain, sweet girl.” he says, his voice strained with som
[~♥CORAL♥~]“Kiara… What are you doing? You’re going to get us into trouble.” I let out a hushed yell, turning my head around to scan the surroundings.Kiara creeps closer to the wall, placing a finger on her lips. “Shh, you’ll get us caught if you keep bugging me.”“Well, it’s not right to eavesdrop on people.”“Be quiet Coco, I’m trying to hear what’s going on. It’s clearly important.”“That’s exactly why we’re not supposed to be here. Why did you drag me here? I never agreed to this. What if someone sees us and reports it to Raegan.”She rolls her eyes, shaking her head, “Well, for one I know we won’t get caught if you stop making a fuss about it. Secondly, you’re literally mated to the most important people in the pack. No one else is above them, so we’ll be fine.” She says and turns to me. She winks, her smile mischievous and then she returns her attention back to the wall. Placing her ear against the surface, she strains to hear what’s happening at the other side but with the
[~♦DAMIAN♦~]It’s all bullcrap and I can smell it.If that shifty fucking smile on his face isn’t enough to prove it then I don’t know what else will. There was something other than just bringing an end to our long held feud that he was attaining for. I don’t know much about the strategic stuff in a war, that was Rune’s line of expertise but with Kane’s reputation and what I’ve seen through the long years, this war has become more than a conquest for power. Our land has one of the rarest items that any pack would kill to obtain—a mine with an abundance of mythril.It’s a stone that’s considered to be one of the strongest ore in the land. It’s used here in crafting the best of our weaponries and priced accessories but it’s never exported in bulk because it’s a precious stone but it’s also a dangerous item if in the wrong hands. It’s an item that can turn the tides of not only war but development in any pack. So it’s always been the leading factor to all the wars we’ve faced so far.
[~♠RUNE♠~]The tension in the air is remarkable. If active it would be explosively destructive.Even though Raegan might have agreed to this meeting, everyone present is on high alert. That doesn’t exempt me though. But I’d rather have a peaceful resolution than a destructive war.“My, you guys should really chill out,” Kane inputs when he takes the seat at the end of the long table. Reagan takes the other, at the head. The rest of us settle into the seats at each side of the table. Damian and I sit at opposite sides; I on the left and him at the right. Leon and a few others take their individual seats as well and Kane’s beta, Talon sits next to him, at his right side. Kane crosses his left leg over his right. The table is high enough to conceal it but his body movement is enough to read his actions. He smirks. “There’s enough animosity in this room to chill my bones. It’s almost like I’m the enemy here.”“You are the enemy here, you fucker.” Damian growls.There’s a subtle pause b
[~♣RAEGAN♣~]“What do you want Rune?” Damian hisses at Rune, not taking a look at him. His attention is held up by the man in front of him and Alpha Kane is just as reeling to go as he is.“What I want is for you to stop misbehaving.” Rune scolds. “Are you trying to make things worse than they already are?” Damian snarls at him. “He’s the one asking for a death wish.” Kane lets out a disdainful snort at his remark and Damian shoots him a glare.“Are you really going to do this? You’ll only be contradicting your stated intentions of peace if you engage him in a fight,” Rune says, and it earns him a smirk from Kane. “But don’t think we’ll be letting you off just because my douchebag of a brother caused a scene.” Kane’s smirk widens into a darkly, amused grin and his eyes flashes, noting the threat behind Rune’s words.He straightens, completely relaxed from his battle stance. His muscles are slightly tensed so I know he’s distinctly aware of Damian’s threatening presence in front of hi
[~♣RAEGAN♣~]“What the hell are you doing here?” I snarl at the man in front of me.I was in the middle of a meeting with my brothers and the pack’s elder council on finalizing the next step of action to take regarding Kane's message when one of my border guards busted in like his ass was on fire.He came with troubling news. Kane had already arrived at our border and the guards had apprehended him and were bringing him here.The news set my brothers and I and everyone else in the room on high alert. We rushed out a moment before he arrived at the pack house, surrounded by the pack guards with their weapons poking out behind him.The news of his sudden arrival was upsetting but not the most surprising thing, even though it completely threw me getting the message. We were unprepared and hadn't expected him to show up so soon and so suddenly.He’d requested a meeting through his messenger. It was the reason we were in-deep in this meeting, arguing our heads off on whether to take Rune’s
[~♥CORAL♥~]“You didn't drop by this morning. What happened? Is everything alright, Kiki?” I ask, walking up beside her just as we step out of school premises to the street.I call out her name this time when she doesn't respond to me. When I get no response again, I quickly grab her arm. Stopping in my tracks, I pull her back. It cause her to jerk back too until she halts in her track. “Kiara…” Her mind seems dazed but then she blinks and gasp as though snapping out of a hypnosis. Her eyes fills momentarily with shock and a clip expression before it falls off her face.Her breath settles and then her hazel gaze holds mine. “Sorry Coco, what was that?”I frown a little, a small pout puckering my lips and I release my hold on her arm. “You didn't show up at my house this morning… what happened?”I must have imagined the flash of anger in her eyes. “Why? I'm not your mother, Coco.”I know she didn't mean to be rude but her curt remark still cuts me like a gullet wound but in the chest.
[~♥CORAL♥~]My face is red. Beet blood… maybe even tomato red. I know because I can feel the heat smoking off my face, hotter than any heated ore or metal. Probably even hotter than molten lava itself.It's scalding and it's caused by the two large figures hanging at the doorway of Rune's bedroom.I'm overcomed by sheer embarrassment as Damian's teasing words hit me. That's right… I had come here to bring Rune over for breakfast. He's been engrossed in his new craft piece, I'm not sure he's had a proper rest. I wonder what he's making this time. I do love all his pieces. They were always enchanting. I'm sure all the females in the pack would love to wear a piece if they could. However, the thought made my mind scream with disapproval. I wouldn't want any other woman to wear his art piece. Actually, more correctly than that, I didn't want them wearing any of his piece. I know that it sounds childish to think but I can't help but think that they'd be wearing a piece of him on them a
[~♥CORAL♥~]“You want… to kiss me?” I mutter the words slowly. My cheeks instantly heating with a blush.“Mhmm, I deserve one too, don't you think?” Rune says, turning me slightly in his arms.I flush deeper, stuttering. “Well… um, I–”“You don't have to if you don't want to, cupcake.”“No, that's not it. I just thought you were angry about it.”“Cupcake… what in goddess’s are you on about?”“What? You're not angry?” I ask, surprise. I'm not so sure why I am but I also don't really know how I expected him to feel about it. “Why would I be?” He arches a brow at me.“Well, because you saw Raegan kissing me?” I point out slowly. My cheeks heat from both the memory of the kiss and suddenly feeling dumb.Rune scoffs, then roll his eyes and shakes his head. The white highlights of his soft, dark locks scatters across his face.“Why would I be angry about that? It’s perfectly normal between mates.” He remarks.I bite my lip then add. “Raegan was mad,” I pause. “Actually, no, he was jealous
[~♠RUNE♠~]A soft knock on my door has been stirring out of a daze. But I don't look up from my work when I mutter the words “Come in.”There's a low humming in my chest before the door pulls open and I'm raising my head to the door even before she pokes her head through the opening of my door.“Hi,” She calls out in a sweet, low tone. A coy smile graces her beautifully plush face as she steps onto the threshold. She stands there, not crossing and my gaze catches the nervous twirl of her fingers around her midriff.A smile of my own coats my face, my lips twitching with the amusement I'm suddenly feeling at her shy demeanor. She looks so cute fiddling with the material of her dress. So cute and so edible in the soft looking, white, sleeveless dress with soft pink flower prints, she's wearing.Noting my own thoughts, I mentally hit myself in the head when I realize I haven't responded to her greeting.“Hi,” I say, getting off my stool and dumping my piece of art on my work table.“Um…