THIRTY-EIGHT

I waited for Valens but he was taking longer than usual to arrive.

After I surprisingly succeeded in freeing Beta Strauss, I ran into Lucien. He was frankly the last person I wanted to run into in this lifetime or the next. I tried to pretend he wasn't there but he rushed at me and engulfed me in a bone-crushing hug that made my back crack. Thankfully, training with Valens taught me how to get out of his hold. I wriggled free of his hold just as Jabari showed up. Jabari glared at him so hard that he scampered off.

I tightened my robe around myself as I waited for Valens. I wanted to get into my pyjamas and just go to sleep but I felt I had to appease him for releasing Beta Strauss against his orders. I had to soften him up for when I broke the news to him and if I knew Valens, the thing he liked most in the world, more than his duty and his pride, was sex.

At around midnight, when my eyes were dropping from exhaustion, I heard our suite door open. I sat upright, my skin heating in the