Layke scowled as his eyes gazed over the reports laid out on his desk. He’d been sat here for the better half of a day trying to make sense of the accounting, but his father’s system just never maid sense to him. He made a mental note to reorganise the system once he had a spare minute and he wasn’t in the middle of an impending war. Shoving the papers to the side, Layke picked up the report Henrie had brought with him when he arrived last week. The prince and his men had been settled for a few days now and their training was coming along nicely. Despite not having the advantage of Belle and his marital strength, the enforcers of Moonbeam worked hard to keep up and refused to slack even though they had a disadvantage. Layke respected that, a lot. Henrie had done some further digging into the original witch they found in the hut. It turns out the rumours were true. The witch had been mated to a faerie in Willowisp, an enforcer in fact. But the Willowisp monarch didn’t accept the mati

“Is this your new thing, Belle – putting space between us?” Layke shook his head, tsking at her. “It won’t work. We’re mates.” “Wrong. We might have mated, but we didn’t do it because we chose each other and wanted to have that bond, we came together for a deal. That makes it an arrangement, not a mating.” “I don’t care for what you want to call it, Belle. The point is, I’ve claimed you and we have a connection you can ignore. Neither of us can't ignore.” “And this connection means I am supposed to give you whatever you want?” Belle snorted. “Well fuck you.” “I know you’re upset with me, baby, but did you give me a chance to aplogise? Or did you try to freeze me out?” It surprised her that he seemed genuinely hurt by that, in fact he looked it too. “Who said I was upset?” “If you’re not upset then prove it. Come here so I can give you what both of us want.” He fisted his cock. “You want this, baby.” He was right, the bastard. She couldn’t help but be annoyed at her body – it di

“You two seem… happy.” Queen Serena smirked, observing her daughter sprawled over Layke on the sofa. She had expected Belle and Layke to have warmed up to one another by now, but it was a shock to see just how comfortable they had gotten. Serena always knew Layke would be a good match for her daughter, he levelled her out. Where she struggled, Layke thrived and vice versa. Together, if they actually took the time to learn about each other, they could work wonderfully. And as much as her feisty daughter could handle herself, Serena knew Layke would protect Belle the way a husband should do. Belle needed to learn to let people in and trust them, she always kept herself so isolated and never allowed anyone to have any power over her. Serena hoped that the marriage with Layke would help Belle open up slightly and it seemed her plan had worked brilliantly. She also knew about the deal Belle had made with Gladdis. Gladdis would never have granted Belle’s wish without asking for Serena’s a

Layke was striding purposefully towards the door, intent of hunting down the little witch that had tried to hurt his wife. Belle dashed after him and leapt onto his back, locking her arms around his neck and her legs around his middle. “Layke, listen to me. No, you can’t go after her, it’s what they want. You’ll be walking right into a trap. They knew there was a chance that creep wouldn’t return. They knew there was a chance he would be caught. And if he was, then you’d go in guns blazing.” He continued onwards as if Belle wasn’t even there, completely undeterred by her weight – though it was fair to say she didn’t weight that much. Deserting her plan to placate him, Belle took to another approach. She kicked her legs madly and bit his ear. “Layke, do not do this! For fuck sake, will you listen!” Layke halted abruptly and shifted her so that she was wrapped around his front. He held her gaze as he growled. “Don’t, Belle. Don’t ask me to ignore this. You’re my wife and she sent some

Time seemed to stand still, there was an eery silence in the air that had everyone on edge. No one uttered a word, no one uttered a sound. They were in battle mode, anxiously waiting for their enemy to arrive. The wind whistled amongst the trees, leaves flickering through the air. Tension was thick, suffocating, even. If you listened intently enough, you’d heard the thundering of heartbeats echoing along the fortress wall, threatening to rip from their chests. Belle held her head high, her eyes narrowed on the clearing, waiting for those who were against them to arrive. Her chest heaved, the threat that was soon ahead filling her with rage. No one tried to hurt her people and got away with it. Today was about revenge. Today was about justice. Today was about the future. She had a one-track mind right now and it could be summarised with one word: kill. Her mother stood by her side, her long blonde hair dancing in the wind, determination glazed in her eyes, her fingertips tingling wi