34

Shortly after I sat down with her, Aiden came down the stairs, straight towards us, gracefully as always. "Melody, you're expected for dinner," he informed me. My eyes fell on Emma, who suddenly seemed tense again. "And what about Emma?" I asked him, putting my hand on hers and trying to relax her. "She's eating with me, don't worry."

Do not worry. He said that so easily, but just now, together with Damien, he was of the opinion that she was worth nothing.

I reluctantly let them go and slowly walked up the stairs into the castle, where Nero greeted me with a smile. "Good morning dearest Melody. Please follow me." Irritated, I stared briefly into his exaggeratedly pleased face, eyed his black suit, which was a bit too tight around his chest. He was an actor, you could tell by his brown eyes, which spoke a different language than his mouth. They were empty, lifeless and cold.

As he started walking, I followed him to the right through the castle where there was a long dining table in the first room. It was richly filled with the most delicious delicacies. My mouth watered at the sight, I had waited far too long to finally be able to eat something again.

Nero pulled a chair back a little, waiting for me to sit down. He wasn't the only good actor here, I also had the ability to hide my true feelings, so I smiled kindly and thankfully took a seat in front of him at the brown table.

He walked elegantly to the other side, settled at the head end. At least four people could have sat between us, but he probably didn't want me near him any more than I wanted him near mine.

Not knowing what to do next, I just stared at my empty plate, on which lay a neatly folded white napkin. "How do you like it here?" My eyes fell on Nero again, who folded his hands in front of him and gave me a serious look. "It's quite nice," I replied, grinning slightly. A little provocation flowed out of me with the words. He didn't seriously think that I would praise his inhuman kingdom to the skies. He could hardly be such an idiot, otherwise he would not have become king. "Nice? A big castle, a handsome prince by your side and clothes worth more than some lives, and you think it's all nice?" he laughed, which made me so angry that Saphir tried to calm me down. "Well, first of all, this castle doesn't belong to me, and is also just a big cage that makes you think you have the right to do whatever you want. I can do without a prince who's more lapdog than werewolf, and no dress in the world comes close to being worth a living. Can we please start eating now, I'm bored and have better things to do." I said so calmly that he just stared at me in irritation. I was right about everything, even if he didn't see it.

"How can you talk about Damien like that?" Sapphire growled, but I ignored her going mad. She should make a little lamb of herself, but not with me.

We sat there in silence for a short time, and while the oh-so-great Herr König kept glancing sideways at me, I took a closer look around the room. Large windows let everything shine in the daylight. Even the furthest corner, where there was a nice shelf full of books, got enough of the sun that shone in. The curtains, burgundy, fell to the floor, giving a certain warmth to the otherwise cold room.

Before I could look around on the other side, I sensed footsteps in the hallway, and watched Nero happily get to his feet.

"Camilla, my love.", he hugged her and then greeted Damien, who entered the room hand in hand with her. "He's ours! How much longer are you going to sit around and do nothing about her. Give me control, I'll get us that, what is ours!" "Get it yourself!" I hissed and was immediately stared at by the others who were just taking their seats, gave them a mock friendly smile and pretended nothing had happened.

Camilla sat right across from me with Damien at her side. What a hypocrite he was anyway. Didn't he say he didn't want her, and now he's sitting there not looking at me. This made me mad with anger, but I swallowed the hatred and accepted the bitter aftertaste.

"Enjoy it," Nero raised his arms to give us permission to share his meal. Everything here seemed so artificial to me. A bad play, that's all it was here. "And Camilla is the tragic character who has to lose her life.", laughed Saphir. I shook my head at her. As if Damien was the only thing she wanted in this world. But somehow I could understand her, for which I wanted to slap myself immediately.

Again and again I caught myself looking over at him while eating. How perfectly he sat there and just radiated a sense of security that I could feel across to me. His strong chest, his warm eyes and the beautiful lips that you could kiss for a lifetime without losing desire. " Finally we're thinking the same sister. Get him!"

I felt a tingle in my stomach as his eyes met mine, and Sapphire in my head only made things worse with her manner and constant howling. I snorted in annoyance and stood up. I didn't care that the three of them stared at me in confusion. I quickly grabbed another roll and ran outside, just out into the fresh air.

As soon as I got outside, I clutched my trembling chest and gasped for air. This feeling was terrible, like I would suffocate without his nearness, and yet at the same time, his nearness was also to blame for this chaos.

"Why are you-" I stood there with my eyes closed and my hands on the banister of the stairs, in my perfect dress, and angrily threw Sapphire out of my thoughts. A few hours without her Damien-drooling ways would be good for me.

When my heartbeat finally settled, and the air slowly and peacefully found its way back into my lungs, I walked gracefully down the steps to the yard to keep an eye out for Aiden and Emma.

A few women eyed me jealously, whispered behind their hands, and smiled coolly as I walked through the crowd. The men looked at me differently, you could almost call it excited. No wonder, with the dress that clung to my body like a second skin. A wink here, a smile there, and I was already amused by the venomous looks of the ladies.

"You obviously enjoy provoking others, don't you?" I turned around, startled. Damien was right behind me and immediately Sapphire was back in my head, pounding me with her howls that were unbearable. "Are you okay?" he asked, staring at my pained face. "No! Just leave me alone and I'll feel better!" "I can not." "Why not?" "Because everything in me is looking for you. Because since I saw you for the first time, in the little bar, my instinct only wants to protect and desire you, and because you are my mate, even if you don't want to see it, we can't live without each other."

The headache immediately disappeared as he suddenly took a step towards me, taking my hand in his to press a pleasant kiss that I could feel to the butterflies in my stomach. "And what about Camilla?" I asked, slightly confused. Actually, I wanted to push him away, this arrogant wolf who counted little girls as his workforce, but being a wolf thwarted my plans. "She will only be the second by my side from now on. You are my number one."

Disgusted, I snatched my hand from him, looked into his eyes in disbelief and had to choke down so much anger that my body consisted of almost nothing else. "Have you lost your mind? Do you seriously think I would ever share a man with another woman?" I yelled at him in front of everyone. That must have made him quite angry because he suddenly looked at me with anger. "You have no say whatsoever! Not only am I an Alpha, I'm also the heir to the throne! It's my right as a wolf to have as many women by my side as I want!" He stomped off angrily and didn't look back, leaving me alone while I stared after him in bewilderment.

It wasn't until a hand took mine, making me wince, that I woke up from my trance. "Hey," Emma whispered, looking at me questioningly with her blue eyes. "Hey.", I answered her and pulled her behind me, out of the castle, across the bridge to the big lake, on which the sun was reflected.

When I got to the shore, I stripped down to my underwear and jumped into the cool water. Within seconds I felt free. Under water I was no longer aware of all the problems that were bothering me. Here I was alone, belonging to nobody and even Saphir enjoyed swimming, amusedly purring a melody of peace.

As I emerged, I looked over at Emma and grinned at her. She stared at me in disbelief, then turned her gaze to the bridge. I followed her face and noticed two guards on the bridge watching me, smiling and waving. I laughed amused and swam towards Emma.

"Come on in, the water is lovely," I urged while unerringly splashing water that hit her dress and made her giggle. "Okay Okay.", she grinned and jumped excitedly into the beautiful lake with her dress.

We just let ourselves drift, laughed loudly again and again and dived under with joy. Addicted to the liberating feeling, I couldn't imagine ever going back to the castle. I've had enough of werewolves. I used to be proud to be one, but since the war with humans, they disgust me. Not because they defended themselves, but because we women weren't worth anything anymore, were treated like dirt, as if love had been defeated by war. Another sacrifice we had to make.

It made no difference if it was a Calvin who drank every night and lived in poverty, or a prince who could afford anything. All of them were selfish and cold, not worth loving.

"I think we should get out of the water immediately." Emma looked at me with wide eyes and then looked past me in shock. When I turned around I saw him. Damien the big wolf standing with Aiden on the edge of the bank right where my dress lay. When his eyes met mine, time stopped for a moment. I forgot everything around me, wanted to look away, but just couldn't defend myself against the connection. He was too beautiful for that and I too weak.

"Are you coming out voluntarily or do I have to help you?" he called, still looking at me. Emma swam to shore and let Aiden help her out, but I finally broke my rigidity, swimming quickly the other way, away from him, away from the desire.

Saphir kept trying to force me to stop, but right now I felt freer than ever, and he wouldn't take that away from me.

Arrived on the other side of the lake, I looked back, but no one was there anymore. All I saw was the beautiful water and my black dress still lying on the shore.

I turned back towards the forest, and was almost terrified when Damien suddenly stood right in front of me, gently cupping my chin in his hand and soft lips on mine. My heart leapt at the touch of his hands around my waist. Without resistance, I let his tongue enter my mouth, and suddenly Saphir had the upper hand. My mind gave in to the desire. The connection between us was the only thing I could think about while our tongues played with each other, he pulled me tightly and gave me an incredibly beautiful feeling of security that nobody could give me before.

We stood there like newly in love who didn't really know each other at all. Our instincts led us to believe that we would be together forever and that no matter what came next, our bond would be a strong rope, full of respect and love, that would never be broken, no matter how hard we tried.