AVERY“ Aleister just mindlinked me. ” Draven reveals.Instantly, my attention is drawn to him. “ What did he say? ”His brows furrow. For a second, complete silence reigns in my room. Renee and I watch Draven, waiting for him to answer my simple question but he says nothing.I don’t want to be like this. I told Aleister that I would trust his words. I can’t start doubting him now. But…I can’t help it. My heart is drowning and my thoughts are threatening to run wild.“ He will be staying with Agrona tonight. He won’t be coming back to you. ” He discloses with a sigh.My head goes blank. “ Hmm? ”“ Stop waiting for him, Avery. Stop trying to control him when you know you can’t. ” Draven shakes his head.Did I try to control Aleister? Is asking to be loyal to me like I am to him…considered controlling him?I blink, my head beginning to feel heavy. It feels like I am stuck in an enclosed space that is filled with fog. Everything is blurry and unclear. “ I told you, Princess. You shoul
AVERYWith the passing hours, it becomes impossible for me to sit still. Renee stays beside me, telling me repeatedly that I was not thinking straight.Aleister was not by Agrona’s side because she was sick or anything like that. No King does that.He was there because he wanted to…sleep with her. “ But I feel no pain. ” I utter.“ The King suppressed your Lycan, Princess. It’s impossible for you to feel pain even if he does that. ” She sighs, slumping beside me after hours of pacing back and forth.It feels like the world is slowly splitting into two. I am trying my best to hold it together but the cracks are becoming larger.Maybe, Draven was right. I should visit Aleister. He won’t be mad if he is not doing something he shouldn’t. I will only talk to him and come back.I rise to my feet but then sit down again. What if he thinks I lied when I said I would try to trust him? If I trust him, I shouldn’t be doing this right? My hands tighten over the mattress as I stare at the wall
ALEISTER “ How can she just…slap you like that? ” Agrona whispers in disbelief. My jaw ticks. The cheek she hit is still tingling. Did I fucking give her the idea that I liked her and now she could do everything she wanted without any consequences? “ Evena and the others saw her doing that. ” She adds with a gasp. “ I need to stop them from spreading the word. Or else…you know…what will happen, Leister. ” A King who lets a woman hit him is a fucking coward. When that woman is an enemy Princess, it just makes things worse. I wouldn’t have minded if she had clawed my skin if only we were inside her room, but she has crossed the line. She attacked my pride and thought she could get away. That’s why…That’s only why I never wanted to give in and make her realize that she held power over me. “ It’s possible…if the word reaches the Lords in the court, they will need an explanation as to why she is getting special treatment from you. I understand that you like her but she is going too
AVERY“ What if the King gets back at you for slapping him in front of everyone, Princess? ” Renee paces around worriedly. “ what were you thinking? How can you just abandon the protocol and let your emotions make decisions for you? ”Emotions? What emotions did Aleister leave for me? It feels like a part of me is broken beyond repair. I wanted him to feel the same. Now, he will know what it means to be humiliated by someone you believe will care for you. I don’t regret a thing. I wish he suffers with the consequences of his actions and feels equally broken.“ What are you thinking, Princess?! At least, tell me this much. ” She stops in front of me.“ I…can’t think. ” I admit honestly.My head keeps replaying the images from earlier. Him, in a towel. Agrona, smiling. Them, together for the night.Did he touch her like he touched me? Are they soaking up in the bathtub together right now?Is he telling her he likes her and won’t touch another woman? A fire is burning inside me. Ange
AVERYSilently, I remain sitting on my bed. I have a hunch that soon, Aleister will come for me too. He won’t be satisfied with just locking up Renee in some dungeon.As expected, a few hours later, the door to my room opens again. The darkness meets me on the other side.Slowly, I pick up my head and look at the empty doorway. After a moment, his big frame appears there. My heart leaps to my throat. The energy in my veins gradually calms down as the small sparks run up my spine.Our eyes meet. I don’t see any emotion in his eyes—just pure malice—like the day we met in the throne room. Me, on my knees. Him, standing proud like the cruel King he was.Did I think something changed between us until yesterday? Yes. Yes, I did.I thought we both liked each other and would be getting close. I thought he would come to me every night. We would talk about our lives. We would find comfort in each other.And I…I will find a home. In him. With him.It was all a lie.Aleister walks inside the r
ALEISTER My rage knows no bounds. I want to hurt her in the worst way possible. How could she fucking ask me to spare others instead of telling me that she regretted hurting my ego in front of my people? If only she opens that fucking mouth and spits out the needed word to soothe my anger, my concern for her might win. But she is so fucking stubborn! If it’s like that and she thinks she did a great job by making a joke out of me, then I will hurt her too. I don’t fucking care about her. She doesn’t hold any power over me. “ What is your decision? ” My hand reaches out to her lips again. I imagined feeling this mouth around my cock every fucking night. These plump lips and that sassy voice silenced, as she pleasures me. But I never thought about going through it. I didn’t want her to get on her knees and suck me off. That felt too degrading for a Princess to do and I believed she wouldn’t like it. How fucking stupid! Here I was…thinking about things she would like or won’t
AVERYShortly after Aleister left, Draven came again. I had fallen out of Aleister’s list of favorite women. I was just a girl in the Harem now and that’s where I was supposed to be, to stay, to live.He took me straight to the Hall and sent me to a room in the corner. It was just a simple room—a single bed, a chair in the corner, a cupboard beside the bed and that’s it.I didn’t fight back. I sat down on the hard mattress and stared at the floor in a trance.It was safe to say that my mind was completely numb. I couldn’t make sense of what Aleister just did to me in the room.“ You don’t need to concern yourself with anything now. ” Draven says, standing beside the door. I don’t need to reply. I can’t even think of anything.“ Relax, Avery. If you stay away from him, your life will be easy from now on. ” He sighs. “ And don’t worry. He won’t do anything to Renee. ”“ Why are you saying all this to me now? Are not you happy after seeing me like this? ” I wonder, looking up at him.“
AVERYWhen Aleister and Agrona leave the next day, the witches gather to swoon over the couple.I stand in the corner and watch them both. Aleister doesn’t show any emotion but Agrona greets everyone with a smile.They are off to war and the Kingdom’s people seem to be wishing them all the luck. If Aleister hadn’t betrayed me, perhaps, I would have been among those people praying for his safe return from the war.Now, it doesn’t matter.I won’t be here for him.That’s why, the moment he meets my gaze, I turn around and leave from there. His gaze follows me until I turn the corner but I can’t care anymore.In the book of my life, the chapter of Aleister Anasazi has ended. As I came alone, I will leave alone. *******Like Agrona promised, Sinara came to meet me in the room the next day. I was already dressed in a casual blue dress that made it easier for me to move because of its light weight.She led me to a silent corner of the castle and that’s where I met Renee as promised.“ Pri