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
ALEISTERI kiss her again. Her lips part in surprise, allowing me to swipe my tongue inside to taste her. And fuck, she is like a drug. I suck her lower lip, the small crease fitting right into my mouth. I am lost. Losing never felt so fucking good. I could see heaven before my closed eyes and I want to be here longer. The trance breaks when two tiny hands struggle to push me back. I breathe, savor the taste of her mouth, and let her go. She is glaring at me now.“ I hate you. ” She whispers, jumping down from the table. My hand shoots out to grab her wrist and pull her back to me. With her, it’s like one step ahead and then ten steps behind. Maybe, I should tell her that if I do devote myself to her, her life will be in danger. The people around me will never let her have me. “ Avery. ” I sigh.“ No! ” She growls, attempting to push me back again. “ You want me to be faithful and devoted while you go around sleeping with other women. You are not ready to even let me call you m
AVERYLife is unpredictable, they say.I caress the cheek of the newborn, my finger trembling softly. I am awed and reduced to a teary-eyed, half-conscious woman with nothing more meaningful in life than the bundle lying on the bed beside me. So, I believe now…Life is unpredictable. If someone had told me that I will give birth to a beautiful girl, with glassy grey eyes and a sharp cry…I would have told them that I didn’t need them to fool me into believing things that would never happen.But it has happened.“ You have the right. ” Aleister lays on the other side, watching the girl lying between us with similar expressions. He looks dazed as if he is in a dream and scared of touching this beautiful creature.“ We decided on that. You will get to name her if it’s a girl. ” I pull my knees to my chest, trying hard to forget the pain I felt during labor yesterday. People say something else too—they say giving birth is no easy feat. It’s like dying and coming back to life after seei
AVERY“ Was this really as necessary as you make it out to be? ” I ask, moving across his room, smoothening down the non-existent creases in the dress.It’s the same gown that I wore to the festival. Back then, Aleister sent me away without even looking at me but he carried this dress with him wherever he went when I left him.Now, he wants me to wear it on my initiation. I told him it’s unnecessary, but he insists that I must wear this.“ I can get you a new dress if you want, my Princess. ” Aleister says, stepping out of the dressing room and pulling me into his arms immediately. I notice the dark suit he is wearing, the material fitting every bulging muscle and making him appear bigger than he already is. Our eyes meet and warmth spreads in my insides—It’s instant and soothing. “ How do I look? ” I whisper, reaching up to press my lips to his mouth gently.“ Like my Princess. ” Aleister tilts his head, connecting our lips again. “ Like the greatest star in the sky or the beautif
AVERYIt was not as bad as I imagined it. Aleister did stick out from the others, but no matter how wary they were, they couldn’t say anything about it or him anymore.We had breakfast together, and then I showed Aleister around. As expected, Dustin gave us a side eye whenever we stumbled across him but he couldn’t do anything about it which left me giddy.For the first time in my life, I have my own team. Aleister and I are together, and I don’t care if the whole world is on the other side. He is enough for me.But I like that my former friends and acquaintances have accepted him as my mate.“ You have been smiling from the morning. ” Aleister mumbles, pressing a kiss to my neck from behind.“ Do you not like it when I smile? ” I inquire playfully.“ Of course, I love it, Princess. ” He trails a path of kisses up my neck as his hand rests on my stomach, caressing it softly. “ I want you to keep smiling like this forever. Will you do that for me? ”“ If you don’t make me mad, I will. ”
DUSTIN“ What are you thinking now? ” Lenora asks curiously.“ That’s not the right question, Lenora. ” I tell her and place my palm over the edge of the window. The sea appears calm today, or maybe, it’s just me. I am calm, inside out. There is no noise inside my head right now. After seeing Avi genuinely happy, I think I will be better for some time. “ Did you always know that King is her mate? ” She inquires and stands beside me.“ Does it matter? ” I wonder. Why does everyone make a fuss about it? If I know, so what? Does it change anything?The loser thinking makes me want to roll my eyes. If you jump into the ditch after knowing that it’s not deep or you jump without knowing it’s not deep…it’s all the same. In the end, you still have to jump in the ditch. “ How did you know? ” She turns her head and studies me curiously.“ Moon Goddess told me. ” I vowed to not lie to Lenora before, so she gets all the honest answers.She snickers. “ I am serious, Dustin. ”It’s another thi
ALEISTER“ Levian…can tell when someone is lying. If you had stayed back, he would have found out about your child. You don’t realize how brutal he can be when it comes to getting what he wants. And right now, it’s not the time for the war. It’s time to hide that you are pregnant, Avi. ” Dustin explains to her.“ You want to hide my child? ” She huffs. “ that’s not happening. ”“ That’s why I didn’t tell you before. Now that your mate here has told Levian that you are not pregnant and that he is not allied with the other three Kingdoms, Levian is not desperate to snatch your child. He will wait. Because he believes we are weak when we are not united as the four Kingdoms. ” He says and wipes the dried blood from under his nose again. “ He will wait for you to find your mate. ” I conclude neutrally.“ He will wait for me to break and join him. Or he will wait for a mate to come to break me and get me to lose my mind like the rest of you. ” Dustin replies, and smirks. “ but that’s never
ALEISTERI have a hunch that Dustin Landric—the twat let me hit him intentionally. I would have preferred if he fought back. I don’t enjoy hitting those who want to get hit.“ Aleister. ” My Princess nuzzles into my neck, and peer at me with her puppy eyes.My throat feels heavy as I stare into those eyes. I came here to be mad at her. Her friend sent me a letter and informed me that my Princess hadn’t left me and it was all her brother’s plot. He drugged her and kidnapped her.But she could have let me know about it.And she didn’t.I was mad, but what do I feel right now? The heaviness in my throat increases. She loves me, she is carrying my child and she is showing me that she cares about me without giving a fuck about the watching eyes.It’s like I am in a dream. Maybe, I lost my mind back in the South and this is a part of a beautiful imagination.If it’s that…I slide her stray hair behind her ear and watch as she smiles at me brightly. Her blue eyes are moist, and they still l
AVERY“ Once we are done, do you want me to give you a visit to the Wolveshire Citadel? ” I wonder, clinging to Aleister’s arm.He glances at my eyes, slowly looks down at my arm wrapped around his bicep, blinks, then looks away. From where I walk beside him, I can see his neck turning slightly red.“ I don’t think your brother would like that. ” Aleister grumbles under his breath as we step into the sitting area.“ I think the same. ” I nod quickly. “ but I don’t mind. He can be broody about it and go sulk in his room. ” My eyes wander off to my brother who is standing in front of the window, his back to us. “ Ava. ” Nora squeaks, grabbing my attention.I look to my right and find the rest of them standing beside the couches stiffly. Their wary glares filter towards Aleister, making me frown.Subtly, Tyson pushes Amelia behind him and stands in front of her protectively while the girl looks as horrified as a dying fish. Nora and King Striker are beside them, all in their defensive s
AVERYI fake a gasp and roll on the bed. Instantly, Aleister halts and turns to me worriedly.“ What happened? ” He asks, approaching me hurriedly.I clutch my head until he is standing in front of me. When he leans in, I grab his shoulder and sit him on the bed again.My eyes narrow. “ I liked what we did but I don’t want anyone to see this view. ”I point towards his abdomen before rolling out of the bed and grabbing his pants to throw them at him.“ You faked it? ” He rolls his eyes.“ I know what works with you. I just used that information. ” I shrug, searching for my dress. The look of disbelief comes back on his face. He leans back, dropping the pants on the floor again.“ I am not wearing them. You wanted to fuck me in your room. Now you can’t hide me, Princess. ” He chuckles, balancing himself on his palms.“ First of all, we didn’t do what you said we did. We— ”“ Made love? That’s the same as fucking. My cock goes in and out your— ” A knock silences him. Gasping, I drop t
AVERYI am getting worried now. Aleister hasn’t said anything for like an hour after what I told him.I am comfortably lying on top of him now, and I am so tired that I want to sleep. But the hundred different emotions that keep surging back and forth in my mind keep me wide awake.I yawn, snuggling into his neck. “ say something. This silence is irritating me now. ”Silence meets me as a reply again.I huff and draw my face out of his neck just to glare at him. But he looks lost and his eyes see right through me.“ Are you that shocked? Did you not want— ”“ You said…it’s not possible. ” Aleister finally mumbles, his heart beating like a loud drum under my palm.My gaze meets his wide eyes as I sigh. “ Well, my Mom lied about that. I am perfectly fine. I confirmed with a Healer. ”“ What? ” Aleister whispers, his eyes still holding disbelief.“ Yes, Mom lied and made me believe I couldn’t get pregnant. ” I shrug, dropping my head back. “ but who knew…her lie would get me pregnant mor