☽☽☽MIKAEL'S POV☾☾☾ Her soft gasp shatters my sheet of reverie in pieces, and I break out of the wall in my metal sphere, attention snapping to her. She places a small hand over mine, a repeated back-and-forth motion designed to soothe its receiver. A curse barely is restrained from tumbling out of my mouth as I release my deathly grip on her. Sliding an open grasp from her waist to her hip, I sketch out an apology, hoping she understands that I did not plan for her hurt. It is not clear whether or not my intent was captured, but glittering emeralds peer up at me, and there is no anger or judgment to be found there. It keeps me in check, mooring my attention to the present where it should be. "We apologise for the late introduction, Aniyah." "Please," she rolls her eyes. "By all means, continue, Alpha Mikael. We have the very evening booked for the author of Guttenbrieg and his shenanigans. Perhaps, you might kiss her again in the centre of the room, so all can see." Grinning li
☽☽☽MIKAEL'S POV☾☾☾ Saskia humphs, winding her head away from me. “Stop saying things only because you believe I want to hear them from you.” Perceptive as usual. “I can’t help it if it’s the truth, asthore.” “While we’re on the matter of truth, why don’t you tell me: were you ever in love with the red-haired woman?” While it should be no surprise she asked this, I am caught off-guard by its blow nonetheless. “No, I was not. I was her lover, yes. But I did not love her.” She pulls a face that skims short of horrified. “So you simply had casual sex with her though you did not have feelings for her? Did she know that?” She whispers, and I smile at her strain to be quiet, keeping our discussion from sniffing noses. Little does she know it is no secret. Any who is worth their salt should know the story—the feud between brother and I, and the one who’d gotten caught in the middle. “With a goal in mind, yes. And to satiate your curiosity, at the time, no, she did not know.” It had be
☽☽☽MIKAEL'S POV☾☾☾ "What?" I swing along her line of sight to end on my dress shirt. There's a darker stain with uneven edges that's snagged her mind. Fuck. She clasps a hand over her mouth, gasping on the recognition. "That's blood. Are you hurt?" I was, but that does not concern her. It is not her issue to be bothered about. Cillian only managed to escape because he set loose five of his mangy dogs. It was his way of playing. Always had been; the lying cheat. I had no choice but to kill them all. Unfortunately, they were not novices. I took a few jabs before I could eliminate them. "I had to deal with a few pesky lads." My fists clench and unclench as I wish I could have ended their lives more viciously. Rikal agrees, and the blood lust to tear into a body and rip it apart head to feet clambers to a peak. Every cell in my being screams to kill as anger consumes me. A chair lightly scrapes on the floor, and Saskia tenses close. "Mikael?" Her hand shakes, but she comes to layin
☾☾☾ SASKIA'S POV ☽☽☽ The night ended in chaos. Imagine an entire ball being shredded from top to bottom. One wink, it was an operating, functional ceremony; the other, it was an utter disaster. Magician against werewolf? Never a good medley. But I couldn't even say that this was the case, as Absalon and his fair wife disappeared in a cloud of smoke almost instantly with a taunting cackle that I'm convinced will haunt my dreams. How else did the room get razed down? Oh, that was my husband in a fit of rage before he zoomed outside to find the wizard. Of course, that was, but after he'd signalled Wade to accompany me to a safe place. Was there any time I was allowed to join in the fun without Mikael trying to hide me like a treasured china plate locked in a cupboard? I honestly might not have glimpsed the almost imperceptible, wordless interaction between both weremen if I weren't so fixated on him. I'd latched onto his every move once the red-haired woman, Adeline, jumpstarted the
☾☾☾ SASKIA'S POV ☽☽☽ The sound of his name brought the letter hogging up space at the bottom of my travel luggage to mind. I’d taken to hauling it around everywhere I went. It made me less worried about its safety and who might or not be rifting through my belongings, on the cusp of unearthing or destroying it. I don’t know what I’d do if that happened. Granted that I don’t know what’s in the damn paper, I still can’t shift the hunch that it might be something capable of ruining Mikael. Why else would Absalon place it in my hands? I’m sure he believes I hate the Alpha of Guttenbrieg and that I’m only cozying up to him as part of my pretence after infiltrating his pack through our marriage. To that premise, I have no comment. I don’t hate Mikael. I like him. A lot. And sometimes, when he acts sweetly, both melting my heart and turning me on, I have to contemplate whether I might not be close to falling for him. Yet, I don’t love him. I’m not sure I love Sage anymore, either. These
☾☾☾ SASKIA'S POV ☽☽☽ Just then, an idea pops into my head. Who the hell said I couldn't return the letter? It's such a simple yet no-shit solution I should have come up with decades ago. Yes... I wouldn't owe Absalon shit if I just gave him back his letter. After all, it wasn't like I'd been able to decipher its contents. He'd ensured that the sheet had remained blank since the first day it arrived in my mail, no matter what I did. I had a sweet plot to be put in motion. First, I had to badger Mikael for details about Absalon's departure once he was back. Then I would find a chance to sneak out of the house and hunt him down. I've always been a superb tracker than most wolves despite their excellent noses and smell system. I'm pretty confident I'll be able to sniff him out somehow. What, instead, might be impossible is escaping Mikael's clutches. Considering his keen perception and propensity to detect every cue about me, it might not be feasible at all. It may seem foolish that
☾☾☾ SASKIA'S POV ☽☽☽ Something shifts inside me. The manacles come undone. Not by my will. No, it finds a better object of attraction worthier of its time than me. I don't know what the new entity might be, but I hear the contented hissing of the dark presence as it slithers away from me. My panic dissipates sluggishly, but I kick upward, glad to have my consciousness freed. I burst to life with a harsh gasp. "Mikael?" His name is the first sound that leaves my lips in a groan. My head pounds like a pistol is being hankered into my cranium. I search for him on my left side, barely unable to manage the chore of moving my head. Ow. The rest of my body is still rigid, unwilling to answer my demands. I'm inclined against the hardboard of an unfamiliar bed. He stands some feet away; our eyes lock in a heated gaze. Or rather, mine are pinned by orbs as pitch black as night. "Fucking hell," I mutter at the drawn fangs and protruding claws glinting dangerously. Mikael's no longer here.
☾☾☾ SASKIA'S POV ☽☽☽ "Oh gods, no. No, you're wrong!" I protest, doubled over by the hit his words packed to my chest. "That's not what I think at all, Mikael. I don't think you're a monster. I couldn't because you aren't." I grasp his hand tightly, trying to comfort him. It's saddening to see what he believes of me. If Mikael's a monster, then that means every supernatural is because he's no different from them, aside from his dissociation problem. It's all my fault, complaining so much about something he can't control. How could I have been so selfish and insensitive? It honestly beats me. How can I expect him to be respectful and considerate about my feelings when I don't reciprocate the same notion? In a bid to make him feel better, I tug him into an embrace. With his head resting on my chest and my fingers buried in his hair, I mumble my apologies. "I'm sorry I made you believe I see you differently because you sometimes lose yourself. I'm sorry I didn't consider you enough