17

Tarian POV

I woke up to bulgy eyes staring into my face and screamed.

Livyana jumped back to her own side of the bed, hugging a pillow tightly to her chest.

"Did you see a ghost?!" she gasped.

I rubbed my eyes, glaring at her through the morning light. "Are you not a bad dream, considering the chaos you put me through last night?"

She placed one hand on her chest and the other on her head, trying to stabilize her skipping heartbeat. "Thank the Moon Goddess you are still alive!"

"What was that for?" I asked, my voice dry and raspy.

She took a deep breath, wincing slightly. "Is that the thank you I get for watching over you all through the night? Please just let me be, my body hurts."

Did she just ask me to let her be? In such a manner?

I ignored her for a second and picked up my phone from the nightstand. The screen lit up with breaking news notifications across May Town's pack networks.

ROYAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Queen Mother Raychel Welcomes the Vivour-Wilson Family to the Royal Line. Gifts Parents of New Luna a Multi-Million-Dollar Luxury Estate.

I shook my head in utter disappointment. "I just knew it," I said out loud, turning to look at her with a bitter smirk. "You only agreed to this crazy marriage because of what you could get out of it. My mother had found a willing, sweet bride indeed."

"Now that you've caught me," she said, her tone laced with a sudden edge that caught me completely off guard. "What happened last night should never repeat itself. Asking me to spread my legs like I was made solely for your pleasure? Such rough play will not happen again. I am a woman, not a dog."

She leaned closer, a mock sweet smile on her face. "And please, do not fall in love with me. Do you hear me, my sweet darling husband?"

I stared at her as if she had suddenly grown two heads.

To be honest, I was in disbelief, nobody has ever spoken to me in such a manner.

No woman, ever!

Who on earth did she think she was speaking to?

"Are you delusional?" I growled, "Fall in what? Love? You are certainly crazy."

/Livia POV

I refused to pay attention to whatever Alpha Tarian is saying. And I meant it.

“I would never have spoken to my husband like that, Livia! What do you think you are doing, speaking to the Alpha King like that?!”

The frantic messages from Livyana flooded my screen, lighting up the HiWolf chat in rapid succession.

I rolled my eyes, completely tuning out whatever angry grumbles were currently coming out of Alpha Tarian’s mouth across the bed.

I was too cranky and tired to even care about anything at this point, I am still hurt that I was robbed of sleep.

“How else am I supposed to stop him from forming any emotional or physical mate bond?!” I typed back, my fingers flying over the keypad with furious speed. “He tried to take advantage of the full moon heat last night!”

I quickly scrolled past a string of earlier texts from her that I had totally ignored during the middle of my midnight rescue mission. A fresh notification popped up on the screen before I could even exit the app.

“Livia, please! I still want Alpha Tarian to like me!” Livyana texted back, practically vibrating with anxiety through the screen. “The way you are acting will make him hate me forever! You need to understand that you are not addressing your ex-boyfriend Taylor or some random street thug. You are speaking to power—the most powerful man in all of May Town!”

I stared at the screen, an incredulous scoff almost escaping my throat.

For a brief, wild moment, I genuinely wondered if Livyana expected me to spread Alpha Tarian’s butt cheeks and wipe his rosebuds clean with my tongue! The sheer audacity!

I’m doing my best here and the fact that she wasn’t appreciating my effort…

Livia slow down…I try to calm myself.

I am a queen in my own right. Livyana wasn't even taking into consideration the fact that I had stayed awake the entire night, sweating and panicking, just to nurse her insufferable, allergic husband back to health after he practically tried to force his way between my legs!

I gripped the phone tightly, typing out my final ultimatum: “Look, Livy, you cannot eat your cake and have it. If I am going to stand in for you and play your placeholder for three months, I have to do it my own way—the best way I know how to keep us both safe and alive. End of story.”

Before she could send another panicked paragraph, I held down the power button and turned off my phone completely.

I took a slow, deep breath. Transforming my posture in a split second, I turned to face Alpha Tarian. I forced my expression into an innocent, picture-perfect picture of obedience, dropping my voice into Livyana's signature soft, polite purr.

"Good night, my husband," I said sweetly. I paused, glancing toward the bright morning sunlight streaming through the curtains, before offering a timid, sheepish smile. "Or sorry... good morning your highness. Since I can officially confirm that you are feeling completely fine now, I would like to take a quick nap for a little while."

Without waiting for his permission, I pulled the thick duvet all the way up to my chin, turned my back on the stunned Alpha King, and shut my eyes.

“Get up! And get out!”