39

A R Y A

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Without tormenting myself any longer, I left the hall and stepped straight into a brightly wallpapered hallway that led to the kitchen, when someone also turned into the hallway.

She had followed me.

"Trouble in paradise, huh?"

I turned and had to suppress a hiss. Her blond hair fell down her back in perfect waves and the pompous dress, the classic red of which perfectly matched her red lips, clearly stood out from all other werewolves. She was pretty, no question, but that wasn't what bothered me. It was the perfection in it, the flawless, that pierced my skin like a needle, digging deeper and deeper.

Here we were, both in our red dresses, and I wondered who he liked better. Did he want her back? Would he rather have her than his mate?

“Aee”, he had made me his queen. But did he have it because he wanted to, or because he had to do it tonight? I didn't know the answer to that, and maybe that was for the best.

"What do you want, Cecilia?" My voice was as sharp as a whiplash.

She smiled sweetly at me. "I could ask you the same thing."

I rolled my eyes. I didn't feel like arguing with her. "Just get out."

Of course she didn't listen to me. She crossed her arms, which only caused her breasts to appear to pop out of her plunging cleavage. “I want my old place back.”

“And that would be? The turd?” I scoffed, raising an eyebrow.

"By his side," she hissed, glaring at me. “Who do you think accompanied him all those years before you? Who danced with him on that floor?”

"I don't know, tell me!" I snapped and stood in front of her, happy to have finally found an outlet for my frustration. 'But if it's that bitch in front of me, then don't. Because he wouldn't want me to know about such an embarrassing past!'

"AAHRG!" With a loud shriek, she threw herself on me, throwing us both to the ground. "You don't deserve it, you little bitch!" Her fist was already flying toward my eye as I undocked her. "Give me this tiara!"

"Oh, is that what you want? The crown?” I slapped her hands away and wrestled her sideways to sit on top of her. "Forget it!" I snapped, punching her in the face quickly and hard.

She screamed and then glared at me. "Definitely not! You may be able to fool Xenos and everyone around you, but not me.” She shook her head, her teeth red with blood. "I know that “you” - “Arya te Retani” - are not the honorable warrior you like to profess to be."

I kept her hands pressed to the ground, ready to break them. "Don't you dare speak of me like that!"

With skillful grips and leg dexterity she rammed me down and then jumped up. "What werewolf would dare hurt Xeno's guest?" she countered as I got to my feet as well. “Petalouda venom is only available in the tropical areas of the Gis. Someone must have had a very big grudge against you for coming all the way to Moonwater Pack to avenge and stab you. Not quite the honorable warrior, then.”

I snorted. “Every good warrior has enemies. It depends on whether she can defeat them or not."

"You think the pack doesn't know how much mischief you've gotten us into?" Now she laughed sardonically. “The rumor spread like wildfire. Everyone knows the burglary mission almost failed just because of “you”."

"That's not true," I protested, but even I could tell that was a lie.

"So, Arya, tell me what happened to Honaw's infamous daughter?"

Oh how I hated her! "UAAARH!" I lunged at her, grabbing her hair, pulling it so hard she cried out as someone roughly yanked me back, stopping me from clawing out her eyes and ripping off her ears.

"Let go of me!" I hissed at the two soldiers standing next to me in full uniform, holding me by both arms. What on earth was that?

"By order of the Alpha, we hereby arrest you."

My head bobbed from one soldier to another and back again. "What?" Didn't they see the tiara on my head? Didn't these blockheads understand who I was?

Then again, how could they when I didn't recognize myself? Who was this woman so full of anger and pain?

"Xenos is my mate," I stated immediately.

The hard grips on my arms remained.

"At least “he” knows where you belong," Cecilia taunted me. “Since you stopped us in the first burglary, no one wants to take the risk of taking you with them. Not even your oh-so-worthy mate.” With a mischievous smile, she studied the picture I gave for a moment before disappearing into the room.

Anger was no word for what was raging through my body. How much shit is supposed to be thrown in my direction today until it's enough?

"XENOS!" I roared. LIE, LIE, LIE! It had to be a lie. He would never do such a thing.

He stepped in front of the aisle.

"They're trying to lock me up!" I almost laughed at the silliness of the whole thing. "Tell them there's a mistake here!"

His eyes darted over me briefly, then settled on the soldiers. Nothing about him stirred, he didn't even seem to be breathing. "Come on, take her to the dungeon."

"Yes, Alpha!"

I was speechless, not even an insult escaped my lips. Nothing. I stood and watched as he just turned and walked away. As if nothing had happened. As if they weren't locking me up roughly against my will. Like he doesn't care about me.

A dull ringing in my ears, gray fog taking over everything around me. I neither felt the brutal grips on my arms, nor did I realize how I was being dragged away.

The cell door slammed in my face and the two soldiers disappeared down the dark corridors of the crypt as my heart shattered.

➳

Z A I R A

➳

I made my way to the cool room deep in the bunker and sat down on the modest bed. I gently rocked Koray back and forth, then pulled the small cot closer to me and put him in it. After I tucked him in, my whole body started tingling; that could only mean one thing. I lifted my head and caught his eye.

"Has anyone else signed in for this room?" He leaned casually against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest, his eyes on me like a predator on its prey.

"Not yet," I said, smiling slightly. “No one wants to come into my room. They're all too scared of you."

His dark green eyes flashed dangerously. "Good. I want everyone to know what territory they're treading on when they get close to you."

I laughed softly and my wolf purred at his possessive gaze that engulfed my entire body. I got hot. "Oh believe me, you've made your territory clear enough."

There he was. Black tousled hair and bright green eyes. Pure power, clad in a dark leather suit that stretched over his muscles. And my heart ached as I saw him standing alone in the dark. Sometimes I thought he forgot that the thousand years of solitude had come to an end. That everyone thought he was a monster.

I held out my hand and he immediately took the gesture. He was with me in a flash, leaned down and picked me up.

My legs wrapped around his waist and my arms wrapped around his neck. "Take care of yourself tonight."

He sat me down on the bed and pulled me even closer, his arms protectively around my waist. He buried his head in the hollow of my neck, inhaled my scent deeply, and placed his mouth on the mark on my neck.

My hands clawed at his hair. “Holy Moon Goddess!”

Teeth on my neck, then he slammed them down my throat deep into my skin, licking them with his wet tongue, “once...twice” “...”

Then he suckled on it so hard that I couldn't help but press even harder and moan softly. Runny honey pooled between my legs and I rested my head on his cheek. "Come back to me, you hear."

Now his face was floating in front of mine and his eyes were fixed on me. "Of course." He bit my lower lip, then licked the small wound, which healed almost immediately. "I would never leave you, “Vinea”."

I blinked back tears at the thought of what could happen to him today. He wasn't as immortal as he liked to pretend to be. I'd seen his back crushed before. How his face had twisted in pain and he had looked at me with broken eyes.

Fear was pounding deep in my body and gradually taking over the whole room. I would have liked to follow him into battle, at least to reassure myself that nothing happened to him. But I could neither fight nor would my wolf voluntarily support me. She had already crouched deep inside me and whimpered her tail. Besides, there was another reason and he was asleep in his bed.

I cupped his face between my trembling hands and planted small, quick kisses on his face. "I don't want to see a scratch on that skin, understand?"

He grinned. “What if? Will you blow kisses on it to make it better?”

"I wouldn't bet on it, darling." I looked at him seriously, but a small laugh quickly broke into it.

His eyes gleamed as he just watched me for a moment. The temperature around us seemed to be rising degrees and the air crackled violently. I was breathing shallowly as he grabbed my chin and a wild glint entered his eyes. "You stay here, okay? Don't even think about coming after me and breaking out."

“I won't, I promise. I'll take care of our kid.” I rubbed my nose against his and he growled. "Besides, my battle is after yours."

Any soldier who was injured and close to death I would bring back to light. As were all of the healer werewolves that were also in this bunker.

““Aee”.” he whispered, then looked briefly at Koray in the cradle, leaned towards him and gently stroked his head so as not to wake him from his sleep. Then his head snapped back to me and my heart pounded against my chest as he let his eyes travel all over my body.

How could its effect not have worn off after more than a year. Every time he touched me, it tingled all over my body. I wanted to snuggle up to him, touch him, smell him and just be with him every second of my life.

The gold band of mate between us pulsed as he growled, "I'll take care of my family."

"Yes you do."

He then captured my lips in a fiery, fierce kiss that was as raw and passionate as Aramis himself. His tongue slipped into my mouth as I moaned softly and it rubbed against mine, faster and harder and harder until I could hardly breathe.

"You're mine," he growled, his chest brushing against mine with every quick heave, chafing my hard nipples.

I pressed myself tightly against him, wanted to crawl into him, never let him go. But I knew he had to go tonight. So I forced myself to break my hug. "I love you." I whispered and felt the hot tears that left tracks on my cheek.

He kissed my tears away and said hoarsely, "I love you too." Then he tucked a strand of white hair behind my ear. Tenderness crept into his hard, sinister features and I recognized the love in his green eyes as he looked at me. "More than you know."

➳