AVERY“ Niana! Come here! ” Suddenly, a woman’s voice echoes in the area.I look to my left, at the entrance of the lounge. A small girl runs inside but is grabbed by her mother who is wearing the clothes of a royal servant.“ I apologize. ” She bows her head slightly when she notices me staring.“ It’s fine. ” Draven replies instead of me.My eyes remain on the child. She appears to be the same age as…her—Aleister’s daughter.During all this, I didn’t pay much attention to that matter, to her in general.It’s clear that Celia stays locked up in that place and Aleister never lets her out. All over again, my heart aches when I think about it. Will it be okay if I visit her sometime? She seemed excited when she first saw me anyway. “ Renee. ” I turn to her.“ Yes, Princess. ” She looks up curiously.“ Go to the main Hall for the women until I call you back. ” I command, without any room for debate but she still glances at Draven as if seeking permission.My eyes twitch as I direct my
AVERY“ You are cheating! ” I shriek, pointing an accusatory finger towards Draven.“ Yes, Uncle! You are a bad boy. You are cheating. ” Celia nods and places her hands on her waist to confront him.Draven smirks. “ How does one cheat in Jenga? ”“ I don’t know! You have some trick up your sleeve. How can you pull that out without dropping the tower? ” I am sure I am going mad with frustration.“ Yes, Uncle! ” Celia huffs, equally frustrated.“ Tsk. Girls are such sore losers. ” He snickers and smugly puts the block he pulled on the top.I glare at the shaking tower which goes back to holding its position. All the solid blocks are already out. Now, pulling out one means losing. Next up is my turn, of course. “ Uncle, you cheater. ” Celia cries out, and slides closer to me. “ Pretty Princess, we have to play without Uncle. ”“ Of course, you want to play without me. You can’t defeat me. ” Draven laughs villainously.My breathing speeds up. “ you are cheating! That’s different from win
AVERY“ Daddy! Help us punish Uncle! ” Celia adds, reaching out to grab Aleister’s hand.His eyes darken as he looks over my shoulder. After a moment, Draven shrieks like a little girl.I turn around and watch in awe as blocks rise in the air due to some invisible force and hit him one by one. He is dancing all around, dodging and protecting himself.Celia giggles, and I follow suit. I can’t help it. Seeing Draven like this is just so satisfying!“ You all are teaming up against me! That’s unfair. ” Draven huffs sulkily after the last block hits him in the back.I giggle harder. Worries cease to exist as I indulge in the moment, losing grip over the lifelong taught manners and poise. “ You truly are terrifying. I won’t play with you anymore. ” He announces, his nose scrunching.“ Who told you to go against us? Hmph! ” I say in between my uncontrollable giggles. The print of a block on his left cheek makes it funnier.“ You look so pretty like this, Pretty Princess! ” To my surprise,
AVERYMy eyes twitch as I glare at the barely standing tower. I am just so done. First, Draven was getting on my nerves. Now, it’s Aleister who is after my sanity.“ What are you waiting for? It’s your turn. Don’t make us wait. ” Draven snorts, his eyes twinkling with satisfaction.“ You— ” I glance at Aleister.Not so surprisingly, he is already drilling holes in my face. I swallow the word ‘Cheater’ when I notice his dark eyes. My stomach turns to mush as I hurriedly look back to the Jenga tower.“ The Princess has lost. Leave her be. ” Agrona chimes in.I shoot her a strained look. My bottom lip is almost sticking out at this point.I do not want to lose for the 14th time. This is just so…stupid. I groan internally.Suddenly, a current jolts down my spine as Aleister’s forefinger brushes down my ear. A pleased sigh escapes my lips before a horrified look crosses my face.“ Put her to bed. ” He whispers.“ Hmm? ” I blink, facing him. His hand is still hovering around my ear. Eithe
AVERYAleister notices the stiffness in my body and tugs my top lip in his mouth. I hiss, instantly sucking that lip in. “ Don’t mind me. Just pretend I didn’t see you two kissing like animals in the middle of the hallway. ” Draven chuckles.“ Get the fuck out of my sight. ” Aleister glances over his shoulder. My dazed eyes rise to the strained veins in his neck. An image of him hovering above me like a Grim Reaper as he pounded mercilessly flashes before my mind, making my cheeks warm up. I lick my lips, slowly lowering my eyes to my hands that are resting over his chest. I release a sigh, no longer focusing on Draven or Aleister’s bickering. I am hidden with his body that can cover mine any day. Surprisingly, it feels…safe. It’s like if he continues to stand like this, so close to me, hiding me from the world, I might never fear anything again.But he hurt me. I reason. The thoughts of feeling safe with him just don’t make sense to me. It feels like this is the nth time that I a
AVERY“ Why is it so dark? ” I wonder, folding my arms across my chest.When he forced me to ‘eat with him’, he didn’t say he would be bringing me to a terrace. The table was already set and the food was steaming hot so I had no doubt, he planned this all along.Would he ask me for dinner if he didn’t find me with Celia?Or did he ask someone to prepare all this after he saw me there? There is no telling.“ A Kingdom and the King have a bond. ” Aleister says, before taking a small sip of the red wine. “ I know. The Kingdom’s weather and conditions sometimes get affected by a King’s mood. ” I sigh. “ then is your mood so dark right now that the sky is covered with dark fog and I can’t see the moon? What time even is it? ”Aleister’s lips stretch into a smirk as he puts his glass down and looks at me. The shadows of the candles lit on the table make him appear glowing. His grey eyes twinkle in the yellowish light, compensating for the lack of stars in the sky.“ It’s not my mood. ” He
AVERY I want to ask so many questions from him and I am scared that he will continue to press me into revealing something I am not comfortable with. If he doesn’t agree to this rule, I guess, I will have to drop it here. He stares at me for a long, hard moment. Contemplating. Peering into my soul. “ Don’t look at me like that. It makes me think of your face when you are getting fucked. ” He scrunches his nose. My back arches off the chair uneasily. I curl my hands and avoid eye contact. His dirty words will kill my heart soon. “ I agree. ” Aleister adds. “ let’s move on then. ” “ Of course. ” I pick up the wine glass and take another sip to avoid him. “ When I asked for a Lycan child…you said it’s not possible. ” He leans in, appearing bigger. My hand pauses. The edge of the wine glass hovers close to my lips as I wait for his next words. “ Why is it not possible? ” He asks. My hands tremble. “ Why does it matter to you? ” Did he notice something?“ You might think you ar
ALEISTERWhen her lips meet mine, I have a feeling she will leave me hanging again. She will get her fill of me but I will be yearning for more. That’s how it has always been.She doesn’t seem to long for me as much as I do for her.Even after knowing that, I can’t help but kiss her harder. Her lips taste like the strawberries she ate earlier. It gets to my head—her scent, her touch, the softness of her. Groaning, I pick her up and sit her over the table. My hands push everything else away, helping her settle better over the surface before I grip her hips and tug her closer. She gasps and struggles to pull away. There it is—I have not even felt her yet but she already wants to put distance between us.I suck her bottom lip, a rough grunt leaving my mouth before I let her go. Her soft breaths ghost my wet lips, making it harder for me to retain control.After a few deep breaths, I open my eyes to look at her. She is watching the dishes hovering in the air with her wide, beautiful ey