"Who would have thought you ugly bitch would ever make me rich?!"There was a manic look on Mom's face as she drove. If Nine thought she was driving recklessly before, she seemed determined to end their lives now. "When you gave that description, I knew it had to be that boy. Freaks like freaks! And I was damn right!"Nine felt her body slam into the car's door. The seat she was in had no belt so she kept being thrown around. The urge to throw up climbed up her throat but she fought it down.Puking in Mom's car would not end well.The car's speed began to decrease as they reached the palace. There were three gates: The massive one at the center that towered almost sixty feet, which bore engravings that meant nothing to Nine but glowed under the light of the sun and there were two lesser gates, each twenty feet tall, made of a kind of metal which caught the sun in a strange way, shimmering and subtly changing colors.Mom parked the car in a corner, ordering Nine out and as soon as they
Lior sat crossed legs on his bed, his face staring into space as he stroked the fur of his cat, Summer. She was a white furred feline that had more grace and kindness than most people, but she also had an attitude that made him can't help but laugh sometimes.Except now.He had done all he could. For so long... He had dedicated his weeks to Sophie. To get her attention. What had he not done? A part of him even craved to get her attention on him again. Just to look at him, but it seemed like they had never been friends before.His love for her had made him respect her decision to not tell anyone. Even though Ora and Kenji had begged at the beginning, he ignored them, eventually locking himself up in the room.Summer, unlike everyone, never asked questions. She let him hold her without making a fuss out of it, and there were times when she would rest on his chest when she realized tears were streaming down his face.He wasn't sure how he could have gone a day without her.Lior's ears tw
"No!"Elizabeth was the first to react. Her face was twisted into complete scorn and rage as she yelled, "My son would never do such a thing! He can't— He's not the—"Then she turned to Leonard, her voice breaking. "Tell her she lies. Tell her,"It broke Lior hearing her. She sounded so desperate to hear her son uninvolved from this sin, but that was impossible. The girl was not lying."Madame Dalia," Leonard sounded angry, but his voice still carried sanity in it as he spoke each words as carefully as he could, "I need you to be sure, of your words. I will not hesitate to mete out the appropriate punishments if this is a lie.""I'm a Mother as well, your Majesty," Dalia's voice sounded hoarse now. And hurt. "I would never put such a traumatic experience on my daughter and foil her dignity for no just reasons."Leonard's jaw clenched as he stared at the woman. Though he wasn't looking at him, Lior could feel the disappointment flowing in waves out of his body and all around the room,
How long had Nine sat there next to Mom waiting for someone to return?It was beginning to feel like they had probably forgotten them, or planned to do something with them. It would make sense, wouldn't it? If they tried getting rid of her and her baby.For the first time, since that day began, her hand rose to touch her stomach. There really was something growing inside of her. Something that would live. Something that she created.How could she never have known? Seen the signs? Was that why she had been sick? "Oh, yes, touch it."Mom's voice brought her out of her thoughts as she turned to the woman who now bore a devious grin. "Because that thing is going to make me very rich,"Bile rose to Nine's throat. How could she have forgotten? She still belonged to Mom, and now that she had a child, the same thing would happen. The thought that she'd bring a child into her life, to suffer the same way she had, made tears come up again. She couldn't let that happen. That would be— Oh, Godd
Lior stared outside the window of his room, to hers. He had no idea if Leonard had made her directly adjacent to his so he would be punished by looking through it every day but he ignored the thought.He watched as she touched everything. Felt everything. Like it was still all new to her, and he could also feel her awe. It was probably the bond telling him how she was feeling now and he resented it.Why did this have to happen? Why did she have to come back here? Why did he... Why did he have to feel what she felt? Of course, they had been times he had felt something odd, but since she had been so far away, he brushed it out as his Wolf instincts showing up.Still, he couldn't hate her. It had all been his fault. He was the one who hurt her. Who force himself on her. If he had just stayed away, if he had begged Sophie..."Lior?"He didn't turn to look as his brother walked in, shutting the door slowly. "Mother is resting now, so you don't have to worry."He said nothing."I spoke to
Nine woke up with a start.Her heart raced as she stared outside the window. It was still dark, and the curtains on her windows were still open, allowing her to see the moon.She knew why she had woken. Even without looking at the clock, she was sure that it was three am. By now, she was up at the Petal, preparing to go to work at the Pub.Slowly, she crawled out of her bed, letting her feet fall to the floor. Before she had slept, someone had brought in a nightdress for her. It was a lace camisole and silk robe, with soft bunny slippers, but she didn't wear the slipper as she walked to the window.The floor was cold, but clean. Soothing to her. She reached the window, staring at the moon now. Nine had never had the chance to look at the sky before because she was always so busy to do so, but now that she looked at it, she suddenly felt calm.Everywhere was quiet, peaceful. It was a moment she had never experienced before, and she enjoyed it.Nine stood there, watching the sunrise be
Nine stared outside the dark window of the car she was in, her body rested on the door. Elizabeth Byron sat on the same seat, thought she was also at the farthest end, her eyes scrolling through the tablet in her hand.The air in the car was cold, but not as cold as Nine was feeling. Before they got into it, the Queen had pulled her to a corner and said with a snarl, "I saw what you did on the table, and you must think that you're smart, acting all shy and naive, but I will not fall for your trap. If you know what's good for you, and the thing growing inside you, you will stay away from both of my sons, or else,"Of course, she had not completed the threat but Nine had understood. It wasn't like she had expected anyone to accept her with open arms, but the hostility wasn't expected either. Was this how she was going to have to keep living?Worried about her self forever?The Queen's head suddenly snapped up from the tablet as she looked through the windshield. "What are they doing the
"Stop Slouching.""Keep your head up.""Do not bend, how do you not know this by now?""Shut your mouth and eat. One more sound coming from your direction, and you will never join us on this table again. Vanessa, have you thought her nothing?"After they had returned back from the hospital, the Queen's hostility to her for some reason, had grown. When they had lunch, she picked at everything Nine did. It had been easy to take because they had been the only ones there, but by dinnertime, when the King was seated there as well, Nine was sure she was going to burst into tears.After her complaints during lunch, Vanessa had given her backlashes, though she hid behind a nice and respectful facade to do it. For hours, she drummed Nine's head with etiquette rules that she could barely keep up with, and though she did her best to understand it, Elizabeth still had a problem.Of course, she hadn't expected her to be nice, but that was a new road for her. People had always had a problem with he
Once upon a time, there was a boy with blond hair and green eyes that lived without the love of a Father and in fear of his Mother. Many times, he stole so he could find a way to eat and other times, he took care of his Mother when she was too... Out of her zone to remember cleaning herself.At six, he found out that he had an Aunt, a family member that was not Mother, and like any other child, he had been happy to hear that and was invited to go over to his Aunt's place that turned out to be a Palace because... She was a Queen.This little boy, was jealous. No one could blame him. His Aunt had everything and never once tried to help him or his Mother, and his jealousy only grew when he realized she had two children, one a Prince that had the kindest smiles and tended to treat him like he wasn't a poor sewer rat and a son that... Avoided him.He was a mischievous child, of course, though this was his only way to forget his life and caused as much trouble as he could, especially to the
"You are serious?" Lior asked for the umpteenth now, staring at his Grandmother like he could not believe what she was saying. "You didn't need me?""I did need you," Grandma April said, keeping a taunt face on. "This party would be incomplete without my grandson."The 'party' she was taking of was just her, Sanchez her caretaker and Kenji who was currently wearing a garland around his neck as they stood beside the swimminb pool. Asides that, no one else was here.He sighed now, fighting the urge to facepalm. "Grandma, this doesn't qualify as a party,""Not with that behavior it won't," She replied, her frown deepening. "I have no idea what is wrong with my grandchildren, all so uptight. You know, Lucas came to visit me at my retirement home and we were throwing a party but he refused to party with us. I even asked if he'd take weed, but he refused."He facepalmed now. "Grandma, please.""And you won't even be grateful that I found a way for you to relax from your 'princely' duties,"
There was one thing Lior was beginning to realize about the female on the bed beside him and that was the fact that he could never predict whatever was happening around her.And for someone who didn't like sudden changes, this was... Growing on him.He watched as she curled more, making a small cooing sound, a small smile coming to his face. He had been going the wrong way all this time. At first, he didn't want to be around her because he feared that he would... Cross a line he shouldn't, or the bond would make him do something that he was not supposed to, but that was his mistake.All his Wolf wanted, under the primal needs and constand want, was to make sure she was alright. Watching Skye holding her like that, while it was so obvious she could barely stand any more, made his Wolf growl at the sight.For the longest part of his life, he was a born caregiver. He liked to make sure that the people he cared for, his pets were alright and she...She reminded him of a little child. Alw
There were times when Nine felt sad. Times like when Ora had to go do something else, most times at the vet clinic and though Nine had asked once to come with but Ora had completely disagreed, that it wasn't exactly safe around animals most of the time.Then there were other times when she watched Lior and his friend be together all the time. She was told that he was busy, and she only came to give him books because Sophie's Father was too sick to come and do that himself.And she felt bad, that she didn't like it. That she didn't... Like the fact that they were always together, even though she knew that Lior needed what Sophie was giving to him.It always made her seem... Useless. Like she could give him what Nine couldn't. That no matter what happened, Sophie would be the one by his side, not her.But Skye always made her feel better.He was a... Weird male. Unlike anyone she had ever met. He always seemed eager to please her, which was a new thing for her because no one ever looked
"A-And what happened?"Skye stared at the female in front of him, her face filled with awe and eyes wide. She reminded him many times of an eager child and she probably was.It had been about five days since he started drawing her, though due to certain things, like her inability to stay away from food, tiredness and excessive need to sleep, he wasn't exactly started with painting.Not that he minded. She was... Good company even though he found that his new favorite habit was reading sex scenes to her and watching her redden till she begged him to stop as she covered her ears, shaking her head.He stared at the book in his hands. After the incident with the idiot and the fake bimbo, she said that Lior never found her a tutor so he volunteered to teach her, though there were times he found himself reading to her because there were words she probably wouldn't be able to pronounce and yet, she would still stubbornly try to and he'd watch her scrunch her nose and puff her cheeks then sta
Before Elizabeth Byron became the wife of King Leonard Byron and Queen of Raester, she was Elizabeth Venezia.Daughter of Elder and Lady Venezia. Members of the Royal Council and Highborns and sister to Astrid Venezia.Life was perfect. That was until there had been a fire that burnt down their house and every possible asset that their family had. Elizabeth had been in boarding school at the time and Astrid was spending a sleepover at a friend's place.Both their parents, dead, and all the possible things they could have inherited, burnt along with them.Many times, Elizabeth would tell herself that it must have been someone who hated her parents that caused this, but she could never truly prove this so she stopped thinking of it.When she had returned from school, she found out that her baby sister, Astrid, had been sent to an orphanage as no Highborn family would take her, and neither would they take her.At first, she hadn't believed it, but with the months that passed, she realiz
Something was different about Lior, and Sophie wasn't sure if it was a good or bad change, but she didn't want to think of it too much. There was something bigger than that for her to worry about.The past week had been... Destructive, in a sense. Having to watch everything that you've worked so hard for to crumble to dust, especially when you had put your eggs in one bloody basket and they were all... Broken."Wine?"They were in a lounge room, the male seated in his armchair with his legs crossed, a thoughtful look on his face as he stared at the wine bottle in her hand. "I don't think—""Nonsense," Sophie said, branding a smile on her face as she popped the cork out and began to pour it into two wine glasses then walked back to him, her walk graceful. She placed one in his hand and held the other, raising it in the air. "We haven't exactly celebrated the fact you have been given the Crown Prince title, have we?"He made a face. "Its a lot of work."Sophie laughed. "You were alway
Lior wanted to see Nine but Fujikiwa was a man that seemed to like pushing someone to a near death situation and Kenji liked to abuse the fact that he could bully him without having to worry about breaking any Royal rules.Still, he was grateful for it. He knew if he eventually saw her, he'd run out of what to say and just... Stare at her. He was beginning to realize he barely ever looked at her and his brain kept trying to come up with her face and whenever it did, unfortunately, it was an image that caused the thing underneath his legs to rise.Kenji tormented him for it and Lior had nearly cracked his head open with the wooden sword he had before Kieran stopped him.Now, he was to have a meeting with Elder Whittaker but the man had not arrived yet. "What do you mean you haven't found anything on her?" They were in his Study again, Kenji in his military uniform (Kieran made it a compulsory wear for him) and Lior had on a white turtleneck sweater with black pants and a black wool c
"Are you—" Nine stared at Ora, her hand now playing with the hem of her coat. "Are you sure this is okay?"Ora was staring ahead, her head craning a bit as she nodded, "Most definitely. Nothing hotter than seeing your Mate putting his muscles to use."She turned back to the middle floor of the training room they were in. On it, were Lior and Kenji fighting with swords, both men shirtlessThey were maids already there when they walked in and Ora had wanted to send them away but Nine told her not to. That she was fine staring from the sidelines. And truthfully, she was.She wasn't sure how it'd seem if Lior saw her staring at him the way he was... Even though she could admit that staring at him like that made her feel hot and uncomfortable all at once.Unlike most of the people in the Palace that had milky skin, Lior's was a healthy tanned shade, light and gold like. His body sleek and lean with sweat making his body glow, for some reason.His face was concentrated as he fended his frie