Chapter SixteenUlricIt had only been a day since I saw her, yet it felt like I had known her for years. It was as if the mate bond and attraction towards her had been there all along, only now making itself known. Was this what the mate bond felt like, or was it something else? Everything left me confused. I wasn’t sure how to define what I was feeling.I had experienced the mate bond before. I felt it the first time I met Maelis at the pageant, and it didn’t feel pre-existing; it felt like finding a missing piece of myself, one I had longed for. But now, the feeling towards this new girl was just the same as that for Maelis. It felt like I had been waiting for her for years, as if I was meeting Maelis again.These thoughts became too much for me. I really couldn’t figure out what exactly I was supposed to do. The situation I was in was more difficult than expected. I had to decide whether to be with Lucia or keep waiting for Maelis. And then there was the new girl again. I had to m
Chapter SeventeenMaelisThe rest of the week was spent trying hard to stay away from the brothers. It wasn’t as easy as I thought, but I did all I could to make that happen, thanks to the head maid who still saw me as someone unworthy to serve the royal family. I would have been seen by them if I had been chosen to serve them.It was the weekend, and the head maid had already informed us that the weekend always started with the farm, then serving the royal family, and then doing the washing. Every single task was demanding, but like Alisha said, if we could impress the head maid and the royals, we could be given a higher position, and there was nothing I wanted more than the position of a royal physician. I had to do everything I could to make that happen, even if it meant doing things I didn’t want to do and going out of my way to do them. I had to get that position and show my father that I had a future. I wouldn’t be the slave they said I would be for my entire life.“The head mai
Chapter EighteenMaelisI desperately wanted to disappear at that moment. I wished I could find a way to wipe her memory so it would seem like she never saw me and I could go on my own. I looked around, wondering where I could go to escape the impending chaos, but her grip on my hand was so firm that the reality sank in immediately—there was no way out, and I had been caught by her.What do I do? How do I explain myself? What do I say to her? Multiple thoughts troubled my mind, but I didn’t have an answer to any of them. Nothing was clear, no ideas were forthcoming. It seemed like I had hit a dead end. I looked up to meet her gaze, which held a mixture of surprise, confusion, and mockery. I immediately withdrew my gaze and looked down again. Maybe she wasn’t sure it was me yet? Maybe she felt she was mistaken? What if she still didn’t know I was the one?All these thoughts raced through my mind, and I kept my head down, hoping she would let me be or become confused and leave.The trut
Chapter NineteenUlricI had my doubts. I knew Lucia wouldn’t stop with just spewing insults at me; she would also try to end our engagement. Although that was what I wanted, I didn’t want to go on with getting mated to her, and I was unable to break the engagement from my end. It would be great if she could do it. But it was also not great because she wouldn’t just be breaking our engagement but also breaking my mom's heart. My mom counted on that; she believed that getting mated to her would be our ticket out of the almost miserable lives we were living.The only thing helping us was the Royal status we had and how it would help us if we were outside. But within the walls of this castle, we were nothing, and every single person was above us, even the maids. Having an elaborate mating ceremony with Lucia was seen as a way to attract the Alpha’s good eyes and impress him. He would be so impressed that I was getting mated to the daughter of an elder and pack minister.Mother doesn’t un
Chapter TwentyMaelisI blinked multiple times to be sure I was seeing right, and when the realization dawned on me, I shuddered with a mixture of fear and embarrassment, the one thing I had been trying to avoid since I entered into the castle has finally happened.Even with that, I tried to hide my face, maybe as the day he passed by my side, he wouldn’t recognize me, maybe he hasn’t yet realize that I was the one.A part of me knew I was being delusional, but I just held on to that tiny rope of hope that I still hadn’t been caught, that he was only there to fight for me thinking I was just a normal maid.I almost entered into the ground during those minutes of awkward silence, my heart kept thumping hard in my chest and at some point I was afraid it was going to burst out.This was what I had been trying to avoid, I planned to stay clear of the brothers throughout my stay in the castle, but this lady has blown my cover, I didn’t even know what exactly she wanted from me.The first t
Chapter Twenty-oneMaelis The louder their voices got, the harder my heart pound, I didn’t know what to do. My eyes scanned around for a place to hide but I couldn’t find anywhere. There were bits tall shelves fixed to the walls with a lot of books on it, and the center was filled with reading tables and chairs, there was nowhere to hide.I hung my head in disappointment, it seemed as though there was no way out for me again, I just kept getting into one problem or then other. It doesn’t seem as though there was a way out for me from this.I still got a narrow escape from Lucia, and then Ulric, but now, getting away from the other two brothers seemed really impossible.My head was still raising in synchrony with my heart when his hand grabbed mine again and he pulled me towards a door I didn’t see after scanning through the library multiple times.He pushed the door open and pulled me in. It was a big space but was filled with boxed which were labeled with different type of archived
Chapter Twenty-twoUlricThe last few minutes I had spent with her inside the archive room was basically spent controlling myself from acting on my wolf’s desires and moving too forward than I should.I knew she was my mate, there was probably nothing wrong in being with her, but I wasn’t even sure if she felt the same way, I wasn’t also sure if it was right to do anything when I hadn’t made my decision yet. But each minute I spent with her made it harder to control myself from moving closer to her and even touching her.She was scarred, she had scars on her face, down to her neck, but I could still see the beauty on her face. I didn’t see all of that until I was close to her and got a close look at her.She was beautiful and had the perfect facial structure with the scars, made me wonder how she would look like if she wasn’t with the scar, she would have been so perfect that no man would be able to resist her. She would be as perfect as Maelis was.It wasn’t just her face, but also h
Chapter Twenty-three Maelis Time seemed to come to a stand still the moment our kiss met. My eyes widened and I stared deep into his eyes. It wasn’t intentional, I only wanted to move but ended up having my lips on his and it was as though there was a glue fixing our lips together as I couldn’t pull them apart no matter how hard I tried. I just laid there on his chest, my lips locked up to his. My eyes fluttered close when his hand cupped my face and he deepened the kiss, I subconsciously kissed him back. I knew I wanted it, I had been staring at him for a while, I had seen different things which I didn’t see in him before. I got so close to him that I took a good look at his face, I was struck by how perfect his facial features were, and how beautiful his lips looked. I couldn’t deny the hunger and longing that washed down on me the moment his finger landed on my lips, I wanted it to not just be his finger but also his lips on mine, and it happened. For the next minutes,