CHAPTER 9: Work Day One

The week of adjusting went by and I hadn’t seen Lexus at all. Maybe this was going to continue, and I wouldn’t have to worry about running into him. If I stay away from him then we’ll have no problems. Arma and Stewart made some time in the past week to hang out with me. They showed me around more so now I was more familiar with the castle and the city. They’d argue a bit sometimes, but I could tell they were close friends.

I made sure to take my meds today since I forgot to take them yesterday. I needed to be able to concentrate on my new work. I don’t want to make a bad impression on my first full week of work.

Today was my first day on the job and I had to meet Konn in the castles lounge. I guess I spoke too soon because Lexus was there. I did work for him so of course I’d have to see him on a regular basis. I had to ignore the pull of the mate bond. Cade was there too. “Morning Aqua.” They greeted me.

“Morning… sorry if I’m late.” I was overthinking a lot this morning and it wasted a lot of my time. When things are important to me I’m usually over prepared but I guess I was anxious.

“You’re not but you should always arrive at least ten minutes early for work,” Konn explained. “Today should be easy for you because you have the duty of accompanying Prince Lexus through his day.” He handed me a piece of paper. “That’s his schedule, you need to make sure he’s able to be on time. You also need to do any tasks he asks throughout the day.” I wasn’t looking forward to that. “Cade is going to be there for the first hour to make sure you know what you’re doing. Then he’ll be assigned something else to do.” 

I watched Konn walk off then looked at the schedule. “You don’t have to bother with that.” Lexus said. “I’m capable of keeping to my routine all by myself.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned around.

We followed him. “He says that but just make sure he doesn’t waste time between classes.” Cade whispered.

“I hear you Cade.” Lexus said.

“It’s our job to make sure things run smoothly.” Cade chuckled. “Aqua he main thing you’ll have to do is follow his orders. If you think you can help him with something, then advise.”

It wasn’t much but it felt like a lot. “Okay.” I’ve never been given responsibility like this before.

We walked into a small room with rows of seats then Lexus sat down and gestured for us to sit beside him. There was a man in the room. I’m guessing he was his professor. The class lasted four hours, Cade walked out after the first. The professor taught about the kingdom and the different rulers they had. I guess this was a good time for me to learn too. Lexus kept scooting closer to me when Cade was gone so he was making it hard for me to pay attention even on my meds. I took a deep breath so I could calm down and ignore him but all I smelt was his scent. He was trying to drive me crazy so that the second we got to be alone I’d make a move. I was able to ignore him after a little while and learn something about this place.

Apparently, we all have inner dragons, it’s not a second consciousness but another side of us that exists even in our human forms. The side that feels the instincts and desires of a dragon. I thought about the instincts and desires the professor listed and realized I felt my inner dragons a lot. I felt her every time I road on someone’s back. I had instincts to jump off and fly myself because that’s that my inner dragon wanted. Our heighten senses in our human forms also comes from our inner dragon. I could never have learned things like this in the human realm. He didn’t say too much more about it since it seemed like something Lexus was probably taught at a young age and the professor was only reviewing now. I found this stuff a lot more interesting than the things I learned back at home.

After the class I looked at the schedule and we had fifteen minutes before his piano lessons. “What do you usually do between classes?”

Lexus looked at me in the side of his eye as we walked. “We could find a dark private spot.” I had to remind myself he was only interested in me because we were mates, he didn’t want to do anything with me outside of sexual things. He made himself come across as really unlikable.

My throat felt hot. “That’s what you do with Cade?” I joked to lighten the tension. 

Lexus chuckled. “No. We usually just talk. Before you came, we’d try to get his holder abilities to show up.” It must have been hard for to stop trying. They were best friends but not meant to be King and Adviser.

“Oh… well doesn’t it come once every few generations, why are you guys so sure we’re the generation?” Couldn’t it have been the next generation?

“Because that’s what our oracle predicted,” Lexus answered. “He said the holder would be a child of Konn. Our oracle has never been wrong before.” There’s a first time for everything.

I looked down at our feet as we walked. “Okay so let’s see if we can get my abilities to show up.”

Lexus raised an eyebrow when I looked up at him. “Really?”

This was better than having an affair. “Yeah, I don’t know how what the abilities are or how to start using them. Well, if I do have them.” 

“Okay.” He led me to an open space in the castle with large windows and seats at the window that were cushioned. We sat down and leaned against the windows. “So, close your eyes.” I didn’t exactly trust him, but I did it anyways. I closed my eyes and waited for his next instructions. “You have to open your mind and use your third eye. We all have third eyes but yours should be able to access knowledge you didn’t have before.”

“What should I be looking for?” I was only imagining things, not seeing anything real. 

“Try to see someone, uh maybe Cade. Tell me what he’s doing.” He suggested.

I thought about Cade but how was I supposed to know the image I saw wasn’t my imagination? “I’m thinking about him and in my head he’s yelling.”

“About?”

“I don’t know, that’s just what I see.” I couldn’t hear anything; I could just see him yelling. My head was hurting so I opened my eyes. “...now what?”

Lexus took out his phone. “Now I call Cade.” He went to Cade’s contact and called him. 

I could hear Cade on the other end. “Hello?” He sounded irritated which is also how he looked in my head. 

“What are you doing?” Lexus asked.

“My Father told me to look after your sister, but I had to leave her class to have a stupid fight with Vella.”

“Stupid? I just want to know if you trust me!” Vella yelled.

“Of course, I trust you! I have no reason not to! I don’t believe Arma, I believe you and you knew that!” This must have been the same fight she restarted with him when I first got here.

“I’m not talking about Arma! See you’re still thinking about the lie she told you! I just want to move past it!”

“Fuck, You’re the one not letting us! You wouldn’t be asked whether I trust you if you weren’t thinking about what she said!”

Lexus hung up. “Congratulations, your third eye can see onto the physical plane. He was yelling like you saw. That must mean I can’t doubt Konn’s claim that you do have intuition too. What are you getting from me?” He leaned closer.

My heart was slamming against my chest. I thought about what I was feeling from him then said it without thinking, “You’re hiding yourself.”

He leaned back. “What?” He wasn’t expecting me to say that. “Hiding myself?” He rolled his eyes. “Funny, I guess all your abilities aren’t very accurate yet.” He stood up. “You should be keeping time, I’m sure the fifteen minutes are up.” 

He said he was capable and now he’s blaming me, great. I got up and followed him to his piano class. I sat down in the back while he sat at a piano in the front with his instructor. I knew I wasn’t wrong; Lexus was hiding himself, but I wasn’t sure in what way yet. As I watched him play the sound made me relaxed. I knew he wasn't playing for me, obviously he was playing for his instructor. He kept glancing at me, so it made me think maybe the music was supposed to reach me. 

After an hour the lesson was over, and we walked out the room. “How long have you played for?”

Lexus sighed. “Since I was eight,” he answered. “My parents thought it was classy, so classy I’ve been playing at every ball we’ve hosted since I was twelve.” He didn’t seem proud, his sentence almost seemed rehearsed.

“I played the violin once in elementary school,” I started to share my experience. “It was boring, and I barely liked it, but the school required us to learn an instrument.” 

Lexus looked to the side without turning his head. “Are you expecting me to say that’s how I feel about the piano? You want me to open up to you about how I secretly hate it?” That’s not what I was thinking at all. “Then it’ll fill your fantasy that I’m hiding myself?” He looked down at me. “Is that it?” He was still upset over my intuition that he was hiding himself.

I exhaled. “No, I was just having a conversation.” I mumbled out of annoyance. “I actually ended up loving the violin when I hyper fixated on it three years ago. I didn’t feel good about it when I was little but now, I look back at the memory fondly. I’m glad I learned because it made it easier when I was older since I remembered the basics.” We sat down in the same window seats as before. I looked at the king and queen as they walked past us while talking to guards. “Are they-“

“You could go.” Lexus interrupted my question. “I got an email that my professor is canceling my last class of the day. The rest of my day is free, and I don’t need you to do anything else for me.”

“Would you let Cade go?” I asked. I wanted to do my job right, the same way Cade would but Lexus wasn’t letting me.

Lexus stared out the window. “I wouldn’t because we’re friends, we’d just hangout unless he had plans with Vella.”

“Was Vella the last girl?” After I heard Cade’s argument with Vella and Vella was avoiding Sadia. Him threatening Vella and not me made sense. He’d threaten her because he wouldn’t want his best friend knowing he slept with his girlfriend. 

Lexus looked at me with his cold eyes and expressionless face. “She was and it was a mistake,” He admitted.

“I’d be one too,” I said without thinking because it was just me begging for him to deny it. 

Lexus chuckled which surprised me. “Maybe, but it was clear Vella was from the beginning,” He spoke quietly. “Don’t go around telling anyone. Cade would hate me, not outwardly but he would. He’s like Konn, they don’t let anything get in the way of their work and Cade still works for us. He wouldn’t cause a scene, but he’d distance himself from me. It would be clear we wouldn’t be friends anymore and that’s not something I should have risked. He probably wouldn’t work for us when he’s dismissed due to you being the holder.” He was disappointed in himself. “It was just one night but Vella wanted more.” I think he was letting a burden off his chest by confiding in me. “And here I am trying to sleep with his sister.” It wasn’t the same, but it still wasn’t right. 

I’ve never slept with anyone before. I couldn’t imagine my first time being with someone who’s engaged. I wanted Lexus to feel better but that didn’t mean I had to submit. “That won’t happen, so you don’t have to worry about making things worse.”

Lexus shook his head. “It’ll happen, us just talking strengthens the mate bond. The urge to officially mate will wash over you.” I wasn’t looking forward to it, but our only other option was rejection.

Now that Cade had explained the X to me, I knew it would clearly give us way. “If you rejected me… could the X be removed?”

“Yeah, but only on a full moon if we bathe in a lake under it. The X is just confirmation that we’ve gone through rejection, it’s not supposed to be permanent. The next full moon isn’t for a few weeks.” He said I could go but we’ve been talking since. I couldn’t tell if he wanted to be around me or not. “We could wait it out.”

“Do you love Sadia?” It was important to me that I know first. I tapped my fingers against the seat. 

“You’re asking a lot of personal questions Aqua.” He got up. “I’ll see you Monday. Cade’s going to assist me on weekends.” 

I looked down the hall and saw Sadia walking our way. I immediately felt panic even though we hadn’t done anything other than made out almost a week ago. We weren’t doing anything now. “I thought I was getting here too early, did your class get cancelled?” She asked Lexus then looked at me. “Hey Aqua.”

“Hey…” I greeted her back hesitantly.

“Yeah, it was.” Lexus answered. “I was going to go to you.”

Sadia shrugged. “I don’t mind going back, Aqua should come with us. She’s never seen werewolves before, and I doubt she has anything else to do.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea Sadia. Not with everything going on,” Lexus protested.

Sadia grabbed my hand. “She’s coming, you’re going to leave me to deal with everything going on. I don’t want to be in the room when you guys talk, and I want someone there with me. She’s going to be my adviser too.” It was like she was begging to bring her toy along.

“Fine, she can come,” Lexus gave in. I wasn’t sure what to expect from werewolves, but I guess I was coming along anyways for moral support.