KAEL.Adessa continued to whimper, her body shuddering at her release. I didn’t even give her time to enjoy her orgasm before I reached for her waist and lowered her from the bed, positioning her onto my thighs while I remained half kneeling on the floor.She looked at me with her mouth parted and lust in her eyes.I didn’t need to tell her what to do. She knew exactly how to proceed like we had done this in this position before.She reached for her pussy and opened her folds wider before I positioned her onto my erection. The moment her folds welcomed the tip of my shaft, she removed her hand and arched her body backward.I plunged my throbbing cock into her without warning, causing a sultry moan to escape her lips as she threw her head back.A growl escaped my throat at the feel of her pussy clenching around my hard cock as she adjusted to my girth. She was so tight and warm, and if I didn’t take time to gather myself, I might end up exploding soon. My hands on her waist tightened a
ADESSA. We had just calmed down from a wild sex. My head rested on Kael’s arm while my hand was playing on his chest while he was staring at the ceiling, his heartbeat already returning to its normal pace.“Kael…” I mumbled, letting my fingers trail down his chiseled abs down to his washboard stomach.“Hmm…”“Next time that we have sex, we need to use a condom.”“Next time? Will there be a next time?” He asked. I felt my cheeks burning, but I tried not to show his response embarrassed me. “Oh, I mean. Of course, only if you want. I’m not going to force you. Sex should be consensual…” I couldn’t stop my mouth from talking, but even before I could finish my litany, Kael had already moved in a swift motion. It was so fast that I just found him hovering over my body, our faces parallel and just inches away from each other, while his arm was on my side, propped against the mattress so that he was not crushing me beneath him. I swallowed and smiled sheepishly.A smirk tugged at his mout
KAEL. “How much time do we have?” I asked Erika as I put on my shoes. “I don’t know.” She replied while helping Adessa to zip up our bags.“Adessa, the pouch.” I reminded her. “I have it.”“Where is Sasha?” I asked. “In her room. I will deal with her later. You need to leave now. Don’t use the trail you took going here, as I’m sure that’s the same one they will come from. Do you still remember that secret exit I showed you before?”I nodded. It had been decades, but I knew where it was. I just hoped the landmarks hadn’t changed yet. “I’m sorry. I wished I had seen this coming. I knew she would never hurt Kael, so I thought…” Her tears fell again, and I felt the misery inside her. I should have told her about all the other things Sasha did to the women in my life. Then, maybe we could have avoided this. But more than Erika, this was all my fault. I should have seen this coming. She would never hurt me, but she surely didn’t have any reservations about the women in my life.But I
KAEL.The moment the gun fired, I knew I couldn’t just keep running. I was sure my wolf could fight off the bullet as long as it was not silver, but it could be fatal for Adessa.She stopped screaming, but her legs and arms around me were in a vice grip, and despite my movement, I could feel her body shaking. I knew it wouldn’t be long before her tiredness and fear could take over, and she might eventually slip and fall from my back.I had to do something. I made an abrupt turn to the right, navigating a narrow path that would make it hard for a car to follow but still possible, especially since they were prepared for this and were driving a Jeep Wrangler.The thing with this forest is that the trees grew with wide spaces between them, so a hardcore car could definitely just sweep over those little bushes here and there. I stopped running when there was already a great distance between us, and I couldn’t see them. I immediately lowered my body to the ground, and Adessa slid down from
ADESSA.It was not Kael’s wolf. Someone found me.Instead of running back to Kael as I originally planned, I spun around and started to sprint away. But this time, I went to where I saw many trees that were closer to each other. I had no idea how far I could run before it would reach me. All I knew was I needed to survive so I could find Kael. I kept looking back, and when I was sure the wolf was treading the same path I took, including maneuvering himself on narrow bushes and trees, I ran head-on to the two trees standing close to each other and slipped my thin frame in between them, hoping his momentum would not let him steer away from this path. My body landed on the other side with a big thud, and I immediately turned around, hands gripping the earth as I anticipated his next move. With wide eyes, I watched as the wolf leaped into the air, only for his body to be trapped between the two trees. He growled loudly, saliva dripping and eyes dilating as he struggled to break free.
ADESSA.My mind was flying the whole time I was on Kael’s back. If he were not with me, I would think I was hallucinating, that all of this danger around me has resulted in my head going crazy.But I knew everything was real. I felt it in my hands. I saw it with my eyes. And I heard Kael confirm it. I healed him, but I had no idea how it was possible. Kael opened the car’s passenger door and let me in before throwing his duffel bag at the back seat. We stopped to pick it up when we passed by the area where I left it, and he was able to change into his clothes after he shifted back into his human. “I don’t know what I did there,” I told him the moment he started driving.“Have you done it before? Am I aware that you could heal before I lose my memory?” He asked without looking at me, concentrating on navigating around bushes and trees. “No. I have never done it before. This is the first time.”“So I was the first one you healed.” He said, and a smile cracked on his face, which made
ADESSA.“I will make sure your perfect little wife will bow down to me and eat whatever fucking thing I serve her! And I will make you watch it…” Alpha Draco's words echoed in my head.Goosebumps rose from my skin as cold chills ran down my spine. I tried not to be frightened, but hearing him talk like that was like hearing a devil come to life. I coiled my hands into tight fists to stop my body from trembling. And Kael saw that. He kept looking at me as he spoke back to him. “Over my dead body, fucker. Stay on your line, or hide. Because this time, I’ll be the one hunting you!” He didn’t allow him to respond. After he was done talking, he dropped the call and threw the phone onto the dashboard before stepping on the brakes, halting the car. He turned to look at me and reached for my hand. “Adessa, look at me!”My eyes were watering, and I knew my tears would fall if I turned to him. I didn’t want to cry anymore. “Adessa, look at me.” He repeated, softer this time. But as much as
KAEL.“I love you, Kael.” Adessa’s voice came out soft, but I was sure I heard it. My foot stepped on the brakes, and the car came to a sudden halt, making our bodies jolt forward. “I’m sorry,” she gasped as her hands held onto the dashboard before her as if it could stop her from slamming there, but she had a seatbelt on, so I knew she was safely tucked in her seat.“Did you just say what I heard you say?” I asked, ignoring the apology that came out of her lips because I had no idea what she was apologizing for. “Well…” She stammered, then flashed me an embarrassed smile. “You said it first.” “I said. So you think…” A smile tugged at my mouth, but my eyes were watering. “...it was appropriate and polite to say it back?” I couldn’t contain the happiness in my chest.I had always been a storm, and Adessa was definitely sunshine. It was easy to love her, but I felt good and exhilarated knowing this little ball of sunshine and butterflies had fallen in love with me despite the bad w
ADESSA. I had no idea what to feel once the result of my pregnancy came out. Negative. A part of me was grieving because Kael and I wanted to have a child, and another part was relieved that no other person I loved would be pushed into this messy life I had. But aside from that, nothing had changed.I threw all my doubts about Kael. Danielle was right. There are people worth taking risks for, and I would risk it all for Kael.If he turned out to be the bad man in the end, at least I had no one to blame but myself. Rather than turning my back on him and finding out they were all wrong about him.He might not be my husband anymore, but I remembered the vows I made to him in that car—for richer and for poorer, in sickness and health—I promised to honor and cherish him. I planned to keep the end of my vow, even if I didn’t have the ring anymore that we had that day, as I had taken it off and left it in the car when we attended the Moonlight Ball. I’d been longing to see Kael. The days
ADESSA. I whimpered softly before fluttering my lashes. The bright lights blinded me for a millisecond before I was able to open my eyes completely and found everyone staring at me—as if I were a subject on a petri dish. “Am I dead?” I asked. “Adessa!” The king hissed, and I closed my eyes immediately.“I’m sorry, Father. I just…”“Enough. We will talk about that in private. You need to be checked first.”I just nodded my head before opening my eyes. They assisted me into a sitting position before they checked my vitals. After a while, the physician said nothing was wrong, and it could only be pointed to exhaustion. He then asked the King if he wanted him to do sets of tests to check further.Even before he could answer, I had already blurted out my own question. “Can you check if I’m pregnant?”I knew I was being bold, but the earlier I could find out, the earlier I could plead to stop the Royal Games. “Do you think you are?” The King’s jaw tightened as he asked.“I’m already del
DANIELLE. Prince Esriel was approaching. As much as I wanted to walk away and pretend I didn’t see him, I couldn’t. I had my responsibilities as Princess Adessa’s handmaid and as a palace worker. So, I turned my body around and bowed my head in his direction. “What’s happening here?” he asked once he stopped before me and the guard outside the room. I tilted my head up and met his piercing gaze before replying. “The princess fainted your Royal Highness. I already requested for the family physician to come here.” He didn’t say anything and opened the door, stepping inside the princess’s suite, so I had no choice but to follow him.I walked faster than him, leading him to her bedroom. “She still hasn’t woken up.” I immediately checked her pulse and if she was breathing. “Do you mind helping me to position her correctly, sir? I can try carrying her, but I don’t want to hurt…”“Cut with the Sir crap, Dani.” He interrupted me, and then he chuckled. He walked toward the bed, and I cou
ADESSA.I made it back to my chamber and found Danielle there. She ushered me in and locked the main bedroom before guiding me to sit on the bed. “Are you okay, my lady?” She asked, and I could tell she was worrying about me, even if she knew she was in a greater mess than I was. “No,” I replied, letting out a big sigh. “I’m sorry that you don’t feel good, but I have to say this first because they can take me away from you any moment now.”“I won’t let that happen.”“Don’t worry about me, but listen, Princess Adessa. Under this mattress is my phone. It is safer here than in mine if they ever search my room for anything.”I nodded before I threw my arms to hug her. “I’m sorry I put you in trouble.”She rubbed my back and pulled away from my hug. “It’s okay. I want to help as much as I can.”“Did he message already?”“Not yet, when I placed it there a few minutes ago.” She replied. “He must not have the chance to do it yet.”“Do you think he loves me and not just because I’m a princes
ADESSA.“Did the accident really happen? Did he lose his memory, or was that an act to force divorce on you because he no longer wanted you?” Father asked all this in one breath. “But he changed his mind when he found out you could be of Royal blood.”“He had an accident! If you researched him, then it should be here!” My voice was higher, and my hand slammed on the folder as I fought my tears—everything he said kept piercing my heart. I could take anything. I could take the divorce talk. I could take looking at photos of him and Desiree embracing and laughing. But my heart couldn’t accept that he didn’t love me as he said. “It is here.” The King took out documents and pushed them in front of me. My eyes watered as I looked at the papers—some of them I was familiar with as they were handed to me while he was in a coma.All these documents were signed by Dr. Carlitos, the one who attended to him because Dr. Gideon was not around. “The doctor who saw and attended to him was not a leg
ADESSA.“Your brothers will be the ones screening all the applicants for the Royal Games. They should know who your ex-husband is.” Father’s words kept resonating in my head, and I was losing my focus. Father talked about not wanting to meddle with whoever would be joining the games, as he was the one to determine who would take the crown after him. So he needed not to give any favor to any of my possible husbands. I still couldn’t understand anything. So, instead, I looked at all the men around the table. Esmaeel, Eston, and Esriel, the three oldest, listened intently while Esaias, the youngest, looked bored and kept yawning, although he was trying to be discreet about it. Esegar was playing with a Rubik’s cube and seemed to be in his own world. But he did ask a few questions while Father was reminding all of them when the screening would start, so I knew he was listening. I did wonder, though, who among them wanted the crown. Maybe I could plead to him or them to let Kael part
ADESSA.“There she is.” I heard a voice, and my head snapped to look where the sound came from. I found myself face-to-face with four men around a conference table. Even though they were sitting, they all looked tall. They must be taller than Esriel, who was already six feet and two inches in height. “One would have thought she was tall. Did we have a midget for a sister?”My eyes widened. Midget? I was around five feet and four inches. I wasn’t short. They were just giants. I thought they were seriously judging me when I realized they were all smiling. “I would rather have a midget than a giant for a sister,” Esriel said as he stood beside me. They all chuckled, and if these four men, who must be aging from their late twenties to late thirties, were the princes, they didn’t look like one except for the formal vests they were wearing. The way they were snickering reminded me of the boys of the little rascals. “Hi…” That was all I could say as my eyes shifted between them.They imme
ADESSA. “Do you think I will just get my details from another’s mouth without any proof? Don’t you think I’m not capable of getting credible information?” The King asked, and his voice was back to being cold again. “I’m not challenging your resources, Father, but I know my husband. I know what we went through and why we ended up here.”“Do you really know your ex-husband, Adessa?”I was confident when I started talking about Kael, but the way he was delivering his words made me question whether I really knew Kael. Was one year enough to know him? But even if there was doubt in me, I did my best not to let it show. “Nothing anyone can say can make me see him in a different light.”“You are blinded by what you feel about him.”I swallowed hard, but I kept my gaze on him. I was torn between challenging him more and allowing him to speak his mind. “Let’s move to my office. Your other brothers are waiting for us there.” He stood up from his chair, and I immediately moved to block his w
ADESSA.Danielle helped take my clothes off, but I told her I wanted to shower alone. I wished I didn’t. I wished I had let her help me with my bath because she was gone the moment I stepped out of my bathroom. Another handmaid was waiting for me. Aileen informed me that she would be assisting me moving forward. I knew right then and there that Danielle was in trouble. I might get away from the King’s anger, but not her, and it was all my fault. I maintained my composure while Aileen assisted me in putting on a new gown, even if I was worried. She offered to braid my hair, but I refused and let it down. And even if she wasn’t in agreement, I left the room in a hurry. I wanted to find Danielle to make sure she was okay. My feet led me to one of the Palace Salons, where I was told the King was. Either he left the banquet early, or the breakfast had been concluded. But it didn’t matter anymore, as Kael was no longer there, and I had to make sure Danielle would not be punished.Aile