The black stallion nuzzled her nose on Lior's face causing a small laugh to leave his lips as he brought out the apple hidden under his shirt. "Got me,"Kenji who stood in another shed, brushing a white horse snorted. "Achilles is something else. If someone had tried hiding her snack, she'd walk all over them."Lior still had the remnants of a smile on his face as she ate the apple in his hand, patting the place behind her neck as he said, "She has to trust you aren't punishing her first. That's all, really."Achilles had been Kenji's eighteenth birthday gift and she was named that way because when his Father had gotten him from a horse dealer that said she was a male, and they believed because she looked powerful, and was horribly violent.A week after they had brought her back, no one was able to get close to her without having her hooves in their face so Kenji had brought her to the Royal Veterinary to be checked on, left for a few minutes and returned to find her licking Lior's ha
"What do you mean she's missing?"That was Lucas, asking a guard while Lior stood, walking across her room. Her scent lingered everywhere, and yet, he could tell she hadn't been here in a while. Ora had said she went to check on her, since it was getting closer to dinner time and wanted to know if she was okay found it empty, and checked everywhere else but couldn't find her."Aren't the gates locked by six?" Lucas asked, obvious anger in his voice. "Weren't guards stationed at every corner?""We were. Someone must have—""Find this someone then!" Lucas snapped. "For the godess' sake, she's not in the right state to be alone!"Lior felt his heart pulse at those words. He had forgotten but she was pregnant. With his child. Goddess, how could he have forgotten that fact? "We'll find her—""No." It was the first time Lior was speaking as he turned around to face them. "I'll look for her."Lucas faced his brother, the angry look simmerig down. "I understand you're distressed—""She's my
Nine's eyes stayed on the vanity mirror in front of her. It had been a week, and yet she couldn't get the thought out of her head. The truth had been that she left the palace, only to take a walk, to relax for a while and be alone then heard the cat meowing loudly. That was it really, but Lior didn't ask.Instead, he carried her in his arms in the bridal style. She had squirmed and asked why but he ignored her. At first, she felt uncomfortable but she relaxed, only growing more embarrassed when they got to the palace and he refused to set her down till he returned her to her room and on her bed.He had stared at her, and Nine could have sworn her heart was ready to jump out her chest before he reached out for her head and gave a soft pat then walked out, leaving her completely confused.She had waited for him to talk to her again. Acknowledge her. But he didn't after that. In a way, it frustrated her. How he do things like that, and ignored her completely afterwards. It still felt lik
This was not how he thought his wedding would go. Him, dreading every second, scared about what would happen that day, and to a woman he felt no attraction towards.Lior's lips formed a thin line now, his hands behind his back. Kenji had stayed with him since he had woken up, but had to leave to watch over the entrance of guests and security with his Father, and though he appreciated his alone time, he didn't feel like being alone today.His eyes stayed on her window now. The curtains were closed. The very first time that was happening. Lior knew he had developed into a bad habit, always looking through it, but he had grown used to it. Nina was prone to sleeping with her lights on, not covering herself, windows open, and never locking her door after her night escapades.A small smile came on his face as he remembered how she looked the first time she had done it. In truth, he had followed her, just to know where she was going. He just hadn't expected her to be hungry, but that was nor
He smiled at her.Okay, perhaps only a side of his lips had quirked, but Nine was deciding to be positive, and his hand... It held hers, not tightly, like a slight breeze, as if any slight pressure would hurt her.After the maids had dressed her and done her makeup, she was sure she was going to cry again when she saw her reflection. The woman... Didn't look like her. She looked healthy, wealthy too, like she belonged there. It was too much for her to take in but when she had walked in, and Lior had stared at her, his eyes only on her, she had suddenly forgot about crying.The priest was talking, yet Nine couldn't hear what he was saying. She could feel so many eyes on her, like they expected her to make a mistake. Be clumsy, but she didn't want to. Not today. She didn't want to... embarass Lior.He turned to face her now and she did so as well, now freezing as she heard the Priest say, "Do you swear to take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife? To love and protect? As long as you
"It could have gone worse.""Who invited him?""Still, the whole wedding had carried this whole tension all through, Skye just let it skyrocket and explode."Though everyone was out and walking again, Nine could still hear the whispers of the people around her as Ora stood beside her now. "Just ignore Lior. He'd get over it,"Nine was staring at him now as he stood beside a redhead male that looked like he was trying to calm him down. She had never seen him react that way, not even when she had arrived to the palace. "They're not... Friends?"Ora took a saucer with a slice of cake on it from the buffet table as they walked, saying, "It's more of a rivalry thing, I suppose. They're like completely different people, as you can tell. Skye was born to a Father who no one still has any idea of though we all agree he must be drop dead gorgeous, because look at him, and a Mother that doesn't exactly care about him because she's too busy drinking. While Lior has a King as his Father, and an
"Sophie. W-Why are you always trying to leave me?"The girl below him wasn't Sophie, though at the time he didn't know, couldn't tell the difference. She was smaller, weaker, because every hit of her hands on his chest barely did anything to get him off. It tickled, in a way.Still, his Wolf liked her scent. There was something about it. It smelled... like the woods. Pure clean air and trees... He buried himself in her neck, wanting to stay there as she screamed. "I swear, I'm not Sophie! I'm Nine! My name's—"Lior jerked up.The room he was in was dark, and he could tell it was still night, or perhaps midnight. Still, that dream could have woken anyone up. He always tried his best to not think of it, to ignore it, and yet, somehow he remembered it today.He sighed now, sitting up. Though the night always came in small pieces, he could suddenly remember most of it. How she had screamed and tried to get him off. Of course, she couldn't have. She was human.And from what he could rememb
Nine hadn't expected last night to go the way it went, but she was slowly coming to terms with the fact nothing ever happened the way she wanted it to. As always, she found herself craving at night and went down the stairs, finding someone else there.Skye.He had asked why she was down and she, in her panic, told him what she wanted to eat. His reaction had been him staring at her for the first few seconds before saying, "You're serious,"He mentioned again his surprise on why she was talking to him and asked if she had some other reason for it, and if she did, she was wasting her time but Nine told him she didn't. She doubted Skye believed her.Still, she didn't understand why no one liked him. Yes, he acted a bit too loud, and it was obvious he was strange, in a way, but she felt comfortable talking to him, more than anyone else. Perhaps it was because he didn't look down on her like everyone else.When Lior had joined them though, she hadn't expected the coldness he came with. Nin
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