KHALIDI stared at her sleeping figure on the bed, tempted to touch her shiny black hair—realizing for the first time that it was the same color as her wolf.The color of midnight.Black wolves were the third least common among the four wolf colors werewolves had. Around seventy percent of all pack wolves were gray, and about twenty percent were white or light-colored. The remaining ten percent were split between black and red wolves—blacks making up just eight percent. The rarest of them all were the reds, only two percent.As I watched her, I remembered how I’d once imagined I’d end up with a mate who was both strong and intelligent. Someone who could match me—challenge me. I almost laughed. But then I remembered something else: My wolf is gray. The most common.If ten wolves shifted outside right now, there was a strong chance that nine of them would be gray. I’d be one of them.I growled under my breath at the thought.Color wasn’t supposed to matter. It didn’t mean anything if
MIAI stepped between Khalid and the chief maid before he could reach her, placing my hands on his chest to stop him. He was quite a bit taller than me, and when he looked down, there was an irritated smear across his face.The chief maid had looked like she was about to collapse before I turned to her, but now her expression had shifted into something else entirely. Her fear was palpable—her mouth hung open in disbelief, like she wanted to ask what was going on but couldn’t form the words.Then, all of a sudden, Khalid touched my face. The warmth and surprise of it made me flinch. His gaze grew darker, and he gently pushed me aside.The chief maid dropped to the ground.“My greatness… I’m sorry. I—I didn’t know she was with you. I would never have touched her.”A low grunt escaped Khalid’s lips.“Please,” she begged, now on her knees, her head lowered to the ground.I noticed she was shivering. I didn’t blame her though—the look on Khalid’s face was enough to knock out even the most
No matter how hard Mia tried to think about it, she just couldn’t believe Dilan had a hand in anything. He was too quirky and innocent. Perhaps he really didn’t like his brother—they didn’t seem to like each other—but why would he send someone to stalk them?Mia was walking back to the house. Khalid had left earlier, and now she could only barely see him in the distance. She tried to think about what he said—tried to make sense of what was happening. What both brothers wanted… and what part she played in it.She still hadn’t told Khalid her name, and now she regretted it. She wished she had answered the moment he asked back at the wooden store. She’d wanted to thank him too—for the clothes, for bringing her here instead of back to the pack.When she finally got to the house, Lady Velvet was outside, tending to something in Khalid’s car. She shut the door as she saw Mia and smiled.Mia returned the smile and thanked her again for earlier—for the reassurance she gave. She wanted to have
MIA I was eating slowly, very aware that he was watching my every move. The food was tasty and savory, but I could barely chew it because of the throbbing tension in my chest. Khalid sat opposite me. He had waited until I arrived before starting to eat, and considering how long I delayed, I wondered what he’d been thinking while he waited. He didn’t say a word when I finally sat down in front of him—just picked up his cutlery and began eating. I was doing everything I could to avoid his gaze, but the fact that he was staring made it impossible. Maybe it was because his presence was too intimidating—maybe I feared he would snap at any moment, and we’d be taking ungodly trips to dungeons again. Or maybe… It was because of our intimate moment just minutes ago. I blushed again. His continuous stare had begun to feel creepy, and it was even more annoying because I couldn’t look him in the eye either. I wished I could do something to make him just as uncomfortable. “So what did you
MIAThe expression on his face was one of warmth, and a certain calmness I had never seen before. I stood transfixed, staring at him, wondering why he came back in—wondering why he was now sitting on the bed.“Come,” he said quietly.My body responded before my brain did. I found myself obeying his command, walking toward him like a lonely lamb in some kind of trance.He looked intently into my eyes, and mine got lost in the beauty of his. He placed his hands on my lap, and I shivered at his touch, at our closeness. The next moment, he lifted me and dropped me onto the bed, his lips claiming mine.I froze at first from the surprise, but then kissed him back—suddenly, instinctively—like it was something I had been waiting for.His lips felt warm on mine, and I tried to catch my breath as his tongue plunged into my mouth, licking and teasing with force. I moaned and kissed him back, hoping I wasn’t doing it wrong… hoping my inexperience wouldn’t throw him off. A warm fuzziness settled i
MIAThe man he held looked terrified. He was dressed like hospital staff, but something about him felt… off. Too alert. Too still.“You were following and watching us,” Khalid said, pushing him forward. “Why?”The man trembled, mouth opening to speak—but no sound came out. He couldn’t even look Khalid in the face. “I... I...”He looked around my age or a little older, with short hair, thick eyebrows, and a hardened face. As I stared at him, my heart throbbed against my ribcage. The thought of a stranger watching me was scarier than anything I’d imagined. And for what reason?“Y-your greatness. I was just shitting in the bushes. I swear I wasn’t watching or following you. Why would I want to do that?”I might have believed him—if I didn’t know there were countless toilets in the clinic. What did he take us for?“Oh,” Khalid said, nodding as if convinced. “Okay.”He let the man go and ushered me into the passenger seat, then turned to go to the driver’s side.When he started the engine