*LYCIA*“Do we have to go home so soon?” I asked, slightly surprised at how easily it was for me to adapt to calling that gigantic palace my home.Seff on the other hand loved it, he didn’t say it but I could see the corners of his lips rise a little every time that I said something in context to accepting the fact that I was soon going to be the princess of this unfamiliar kingdom.“Unfortunately I was just told that the dress designer had arrived earlier than scheduled so it should be only right to head back or do you wish to keep her waiting?” he asked but the choice only made me feel guilty. I wouldn’t want to seem like a rude stereotypic royal.“No, it's fine, let's go back,” I said, pulling on his hand to take me back to the palace.The mini surprise he gave me was fun but I really wanted to spend more time with him alone. Roaming outside like this on these unversed streets almost made me forget about the hardships that had been circling our lives.The peace that this brought m
*LYCIA*I haven’t got a moment’s rest since I stepped back into the palace.There was always something that was happening around that had kept me occupied. First, the designer took a lot of time in determining what would look best for me then I was tossed all over the place by Reemus who took me through one fourth of the palace acquainting me with all the whereabouts followed by asking my opinions on various matters of the ceremony, like the theme color, flower arrangement, décor etc.Each and every job that we did only made me realize further just how immensely large was the responsibility of being a princess of this kingdom in comparison to my coven. If just handling a ceremony as large as this seemed tiring, how tiring would it be to look after each pack inside the kingdom?I kind of understand why King Roz might seem so pissed and angry all the time… if I would have to deal with everything the way he does, I might be cranky too.Still the ring Seff gave me was reassuring.Bringing
*LYCIA*I was adamant not to leave him today so easily but he really did look tired. What should I do? I really wanted to talk to him. This isn’t like him. He would never do this to me without reason.Right then my phone rang and looking at it I saw that it was a call from Mom. Picking it up without any delay I said, “Hi Mom!”At the mention of Mom, Dad who had been taking out some papers stopped and looked at me. “Aldith? What happened? Is everything alright?”The effect Mom had on him was clear as day and that brought a smile back on my face because that's how my dad usually behaved. Ever since he was away from Mom it was as if he had lost the spark in his eyes.“Hi Lycia, do you know why your Dad isn’t receiving my calls?” she asked, getting straight to the point. I had already talked to her before dinner to let her know about Seff’s proposal, about the ceremony and everything else that was happening around. She wasn’t very happy with the thought of me staying here in Darrow as its
*LYCIA*“I give up! I can’t do this anymore,” I huffed looking at Reemus with a pleading look to grant me a break.“Well you aren’t completely hopeless like I thought. You are a fast learner be it etiquettes or learning about the politics and history but there is a lot that you still have to learn about before you could even cover one tenth of the lesson plan I have prepared for you,” he said pointing at the stacks of books and manuscripts kept on a side table in the study room that had been prepared for me.“Fine then can I at least see Seff once? I promise I’ll get back to work immediately after.”“I would have let you but you cannot because he is not in the palace. He has gone off to attend the Alpha ceremony of a nearby pack who is celebrating the coronation of the heir Alpha today.”“What? But Seff didn’t tell me about this,” I said wondering why he hadn’t informed me like he would before he left.“Yes, that was because I asked him to keep it a secret from you so that you wouldn’
*LYCIA*I had for a second thought that maybe Laverna was messing with me when even after walking for fifteen minutes in the dark passage I still hadn’t seen the exit. I wasn’t scared even if she did try to lock me in here because I knew when Seff would be back he would find me easily. Not to forget my Dad was here to save my back. I am sure Laverna wasn’t a fool to do any harm to me right now but I am sure she purposely let me through this path that must be longer than the rest to make me suffer.Around another ten minutes later I finally got out from a door only to see that it opened in a dark road tunnel. Getting out I quickly closed the door to see that it at once disappeared from my sight letting me know that magic was in play here.It would be very difficult for any lycan or witch to track its whereabouts but since I knew where it was physically, opening it again wouldn’t be that hard for me.Realizing that I had spent a lot of time already I used my teleportation magic to go to
*LYCIA*How was this possible?Looking down at my ring I touched it. It was real then how could the store be in my imagination? What the fuck had happened in a day’s time?I wish Seff was here.“You look worried, are you sure you are okay? If you want then we can search other parts of the market too,” Landon offered but I didn’t want to tire him out with useless effort when I knew that this was the exact place that I had been looking for.Was this the reason why my magic hadn’t teleported me right in front of the shop? Because it didn’t exist anymore?“No, I am fine. I think it would be better if I talk to my mate about this. He was there with me when I visited that jewelry shop yesterday so I am sure it would be better to ask him to help me out,” I said and then looking up at him I smiled, “Sorry for taking so much of your time today.”“No, it’s perfectly alright,” he said rubbing the back of his head with a slight blush on his face, “Don’t embarrass me by saying that I wanted to hel
*LYCIA*His presence at once made the two adults standing there cower in fear and bare their necks as a sign of submission while the kids rushed to hide behind their mother.Although similar, the same wasn’t the effect that took over me. Like them my heart raced and a breath was caught in my chest as words refused to leave my lips but the culprit of this wasn’t his aura but his touch that had ignited my desire.He was here. He was here for me!“Are you betraying me, my mate? Who is this man?” Seff asked and I knew that he didn’t really doubt me but his anger was clearly radiating through the bond, letting me know that jealousy that he felt.Tilting my head and peering at his face I brought a hand to his mask covered face and cupping his cheeks I said, “You know I would never do anything that would hurt you. Please release them, they are my friends.”It didn’t seem like he was willing to do that but nonetheless he did and sighing at the reluctancy he showed I turned back and apologized
*LYCIA*“There she is!” Reemus’s voice reached my ears making me freeze and then sheepishly turn back to face him.There was an obvious glare on his face that he was trying to keep in given that there were warriors around us. “Believe me if we had time to waste I would have given you a twenty four hour lecture on why you shouldn’t ever sneak out of the palace on your own and how dangerous it is.”“Hey, I am sorry but see nothing happened to me,” I said wondering why did they forget that I, myself was a powerful witch capable of taking care of myself.“Luck! That was all luck!” he burst out for a second and then controlling his anger again he huffed, “Seriously how can you two be so similar? Just when I thought I had enough of taking care of one brat find myself taking care of another.”This time his glare was directed at Seff who merely grinned back at him. I could sense that there was a long history behind this reaction and it made me chuckle a little making Reemus direct his gaze ba
(6 years later)*LYCIA*Blinking open my eyes I yawned and turned my head to the side to find that my husband and adorable mate was already staring at me.“Good morning,” I mumbled, making him kiss me.“Morning beautiful,” he said against my lips.“How long have you been staring at me, you creep?” I asked with a chuckle, realizing that it was still early in the morning.“Long enough to get me hard,” he said, swiftly turning us over so that I was now sitting above him as he clamped onto my thighs that were stretched out on his either side, with my crotch directly in line to his cock.“Seff!” I admonished him hitting his chest as I felt all sleep vanish from my mind with the straining hot dick I felt through the soft cotton of his boxers. The loose t-shirt I was wearing over my boy shorts moved out of the way leaving us touching directly save for our underwear.“What? I thought you promised that we would do something naughty today,” he said and I realized that he must have been looking
*LYCIA*"I can't believe you would be the first one to get married among all of us," Esme said, adjusting my veil so that it framed my face better."Hey, don't forget you were the one who wanted me to get into a serious relationship. I merely adhered to my best friend's request," I said, making her pout at me."Don't think that just because you made me your bridesmaid I will forgive you for keeping that secret about the spirit from me," she said, clicking her tongue in disapproval. "That isn't something you hide. You should always come to me first when something happens. I want to be there for you.""I've already apologized a million times for it. Please let it go for today," I groaned, her action reminding me of Reemus. The two were similar in that they both held a mean grudge.She grinned at my expression and then, facing forward, she said, "By the way, you look really sexy! Seff is going to lose his mind."Suddenly, there was a cough behind us, making her look embarrassedly at my d
"Give me some space and move as far away as you can," he said, motioning for us to stick to the walls and keep our distance."Are all magicians this strong?" Seff asked in my head. "I feel like every witch and wizard that I have seen so far are phenomenally strong.""No, I think it's just Lars who can get off a hospital bed and start to wield such strong and difficult magic like that," I said in slight awe at the power he held."Alright, I will start now. Don't try to intervene in between," he said, and then closing his eyes, he started chanting a spell in the old witches' language.Electricity crackled in the air around him as the clothes on his skin started to lift in the air from the waves of magic that he was sending out from him. Slowly, he was lifted off the floor, and just when we thought something would happen, he was plopped down to his feet, making him open his eyes and shake his head."Ah, I think I have become a little rusty not having used magic in so long. Don't worry, j
*LYCIA*So maybe I was wrong. The reason why Mom wasn’t worried wasn’t because she had been hiding her fears; it was because she had been working on it. So far, she had put ten tracker witches on Alora’s case to find her, and although they hadn’t been successful, she had been putting all her time and energy into bringing her out of whichever hold she had been hidden in.“It feels weird to be back here,” I commented from my spot on my bed, where I had been lying flat on my belly while Seff was seated on the sofa of my room, holding a cushion to his chest and taking in the room.We had decided to stay the night at the palace yesterday after the ceremony and had only returned back home just two minutes ago after having breakfast with Roz and freshened up.“Yeah, it does, but also kind of nostalgic and comfortable,” he said, picking at a stain on the wall of my lipstick form when I had once thrown it at him, and the stick had smeared red on the wall. “I can’t believe so much time has pass
*LYCIA*There was a still silence that hushed the people as they stared at the scene before them.“Your Highness,” the priestess started at the sudden change of the happy scene. “We shouldn’t do something like this on such a joyous occasion like today.”“It is exactly why it should be done today, in front of all these people, to show them their fates if they were to try to harm the crown and the royal family,” Roz said, his voice naturally reaching far and wide even without the microphone as people listened in on what their feared leader had to say.“But this is an auspicious occasion, shedding blood today…?” The priestess trailed off hesitantly, voicing her thoughts and those of the others who had been raptly looking at the scene before them.“Are you questioning your king right now?” Seff asked, looking over at her with a raised eyebrow.The question chilled my blood; there was rage behind it that couldn’t be masked even with the calm demeanor he had used to ask those words. He abho
*LYCIA*My heart felt like it would beat out of its cage and run all the way back to Amoret. Amoret was a small coven, so its population was small too, but with the way things had been in Darrow, I didn’t know how to face such a gigantic crowd.“Nervous?” Mom asked, coming to my side where I had been waiting to be called to greet the crowd of Darrow.“How could I not be? There are more than a thousand people out there waiting to see me, and millions more watching me back at their homes,” I said, feeling the anxiety eat at my nerves. "I knew what was coming for me, yet when I peeked out and saw it in reality, it was unbelievable. I can’t believe I am a part of the royalty of such a big kingdom."“Regretting being mates with that boy now?” she asked with a wicked smile on her face. She was teasing me and enjoying seeing me squirm, as if taunting me to have listened to her and stayed within the protective walls of the coven.“Never,” I admitted, “I almost died, fought a crazy manic culti
*LYCIA*"So you finally got rid of the Luna training, huh? Wasn’t this a bit extreme, though? You didn’t have to go and risk your life for it."At the words, I turned around to finally see the man who had been missing since yesterday after our return."Reemus! Where have you been?" I asked, rushing towards him. I had wondered about his whereabouts a few times but had forgotten to ask Seff about it."While a certain someone freed herself, I am still bound by my duties to get the Luna ceremony prepared for her," he said with a sigh. Then, with a small smile, he let go of his pretenses of being annoyed and said, "It's good to see that you are fine. I heard what happened, and it must have been really scary for you.""Of course, almost getting transformed into a chimera with my mate wasn’t the most pleasant of thoughts," I joked. But even as I said it, I felt my bile churn at the thought of it actually happening."Spare me from having to imagine that again. If that human hadn't already bee
*LYCIA*They knew.It was apparent by the silence that we now sat in after having just finished our lunch. We had been late because of obvious reasons, and by the time we came, dessert was already served to Dad and Roz, making us quietly hurry through our meal."Since we couldn’t talk while having lunch together," Roz said, looking at the two of us pointedly, "We should continue our conversation in the sitting room."Oh my goodness, I could see it from his gaze that he knew we were late because we were busy fucking each other.‘This is so embarrassing,’ I said, following King Roz to his sitting room, who was now talking to Dad again.‘Is it? I feel quite content, though,’ Seff grinned, glowing from the post-orgasmic bliss.‘Don’t joke about it! I can’t even look Dad in the eyes,’ I said, groaning as I remembered Dad politely smiling at me when I walked in and apologized for being late. ‘We should have stopped right there in the bathtub. Why did you have to seduce me to do it properly
"Lycia! Oh, my goddess! You are back!" Dad's worried voice fell on my ears like a salve, and tears spurted to my eyes like those of a child. I turned around to let him gather me in a hug."My sweet child, I am sorry. It's all my fault. Are you alright?" he asked, his shaky hands reluctantly pulling away from me to look me over. I could see in his eyes that even as I stood there, he found it difficult to believe that I was before him, safe and sound."Why are you covered in soot? Did she try to burn you?" Roz's aggravated voice roared out his anger and concern as he grabbed Seff by the shoulders and turned him around to check on him."We are fine, but let us talk about everything after Lycia and I take a bath," Seff said, pointing at his attire and our state."Yes, of course, but first, tell me, are you both hurt anywhere else besides this?" Dad asked, still anxious as he examined my burnt hands. He didn't wait for my response as he closed his eyes and started working on healing my han