Oops! Trouble in paradise...? Already?!?!?!
Nicholus's POV: As Ember retreated to our room, I jerked around and slammed my palms on the stone railing while staring at the vast empire sprawled in front of me. Things weren't going the way I'd imagined. Ember and I...we were the most unexceptional thing to ever happen in this universe. But still, even after all the generational enmity and hatred, we found our way to each other. In our earnest attempts to hate each other, we somehow fell in love. But is loving her enough? Since the last few days, I'd been constantly feeling miserable. I couldn't fathom what she felt at being the target of so much hate. And the fact that I couldn't hide her from all that only enraged me even more. My shoulders slouched as I turned around and walked back to the bedroom. It was dimly lit and eerily quiet in there. Ember was lying on the bed. I took in the wall of pillows in the center of the bed she had set up to show how upset she was with me. But for some reason, everything this 5'8" woman did
Ember's POV:After breakfast, Nicholus and the boys made their way to the office, and having nothing else to do, I resigned to my room to escape reality.But I had just read one chapter when a sudden knock jerked me out of the world of faes I was wandering in.Flipping the book close, I hollered, "Come in."As the door creaked open, I saw a maid slipping inside. Bowing her head, she started speaking politely, "Good Morning Queen. King Nicholas has sent me to give you a message."Even though she didn't ask I could see the question lingering in her eyes. Why did King have to send a message through a maid instead of mindlinking?Well, the answer was that I'd been blocking him out of my mind ever since he played his pillow trick. Petty and childish, I know, but I had no idea how else to make a point that I was really upset with whatever he was doing lately.I nodded slowly, "What's the message?""He is calling you to his office," she was staring at me and I don't know what she saw in my e
Ember's POV:Ethan, however, still seemed reluctant to comply with my plan but instead of outrightly denying it, he turned to his Alpha who was rooted to his spot with his intense eyes fixated on me.Clearing his throat, Ethan said, "Umm, what's your take on this, Nicholus? Do you think this is a good idea to go ahead with?"Without averting his gaze, Nicholus ordered his Beta and Gamma, "Leave me alone with my mate."The way he said that in his deep, rough voice coupled with the way he was staring at me, a chill ran down my spine along with a flame of desire igniting deep within me.Ethan shot up from the chair and nodded once before making his way to the door. Darius, who assessed the look in Nicholus's eyes and assumed God knew what, stood and winked at Nicholus before smirking, "Don't go so rough on her."At that, Nicholus finally shifted his gaze to glare at him before grumbling, "Close the door on your way out, Beta."Snickering under his breath, Darius sauntered out of the offi
Ember's POV: The next day while we were all gathered around the dining table during lunch, Nicholus's phone started ringing. One glance at the screen and my breath got stuck in my lungs as the name 'Mabel' flashed as the caller ID. Mother. Quickly grabbing the phone off the table, Nicholus excused himself and hurried outside. For a long minute, I stayed stuck in that moment. A ball of nervousness inflated inside me. Yesterday, I asked Nicholus to contact her and tell her I wanna meet her. As much as I was curious, I was also dreading the moment he would walk back inside and explode the bomb on me. I couldn't believe I was actually sitting there, with a stomach tightly coiled in a knot of fear, wondering whether my own mother would agree to meet her only daughter after abandoning her all those years ago. For the first time ever, I was questioning my worth. Would she see me worthy enough to meet me? Or was I going to be shunned once again? My stomach churned. The taste of my mouth
Ember's POV: The next morning, I woke up to find myself spooned in Nicholus's embrace. One of his arms was under my head while the other one was wrapped around my belly. I fucking loved mornings like these. Waking up to the warmth of my mate was worth every difficulty I'd survived till now. Oh, what I wouldn't give to have his body tightly pressed against mine every morning. I shifted slightly and froze as something poked in my ass. His morning wood. Did I fail to mention that while counting the morning blessings? Something hot exploded in my lower belly as heat pooled between my legs. My heart started racing excitingly as I shifted slightly to have the perfect angle to rub my ass on his hard dick. As I slid my ass up and down his hard-on, I felt slick wetness leaking out of my pussy. Fuck, it felt so amazing that I could do that all day without a pause. And suddenly, my heartbeat turned erratic as I heard a deep, morning voice, "You again?" It was so sensual that a new wave of
Ember’s POV:Today was the D-Day. And that fact was hanging over my head since the moment my body recovered from the hard-core orgasms my mate had bestowed me with all morning.Nicholus had offered to stay with me but I didn't want him to stop everything and babysit me while I fretted over meeting my mother for the very first time.To calm my jittery nerves, I decided to go for a long and hot shower. The maid even lit up some candles with soothing aroma but unfortunately, even after half an hour of leisuring in the bathtub, my mind was still stuck on my mother.With a ball of anxiety rotating in my stomach, I let out a loud sigh and hopped out of the bathtub. Wrapping the bathrobe around me, I strode out of the bathroom.While making my way toward the closet, I heard a knock on the door. Halting, I turned toward it and hollered at whoever was on the other side to come in.I watched as the door slid open and a maid stepped inside. Bowing at her waist, she started speaking politely, "Go
Ember's POV:With my heart stuck in my throat and gaze on the floor, I stepped inside the Guest Hall where she awaited me.She? Who? Even in my mind, I couldn’t bring myself to give her any title. And that got me wondering what was I actually supposed to call her. Mom? Mummy? That would sound so weird. It wasn't like we had some deep bond of love between us. Alas, it would have been if she hadn't left me.Mother, maybe? Like Father. I never called him dad or daddy because I never felt like that. Pain shot through me as I suddenly realized this lady standing in front of me was even more of a stranger than I considered my Father to be.At least, he stayed with me despite everything. Even though deep in his heart, there was hatred for me but still, he never left me. I don’t care whether that was because I was his only heir or what, he did remain with me, and brought me up. Even though he couldn’t give me his love, he did give me all the facilities one could ask for. And still, despite al
Ember's POV: Unable to look at her being hurt by my words, I averted my gaze, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude." I took a deep breath and willed myself to calm down and think rationally. Pulling her hand away from my face, she fumbled her fingers together, "Never apologize for speaking your mind." That coming from her made so much sense. That actually made me realize that my mother wasn't some weak woman, indeed. For years, she faced Father's oppression and finally, did find a way out of his clutches. Father had often reprimanded me for having too many opinions or always speaking my mind. He perceived my fierce personality as a sign of arrogance. But hearing these words from my mother made me wonder whether I got this fierceness from her. Moving my gaze to the couch, I waved at it, "Let's have a seat." I waited for her to start moving and then followed her to the couch. As she sat down, I followed the suit and sat on the couch adjacent to hers. She was still fumbling with
Ember's POV: When my mind processed everything and I came back to my senses, the first instinct was to comfort him but I resisted the urge to go after him. He was very angry and I didn't want to add fuel to his rage. Deciding to give him some time to cool off, I took off the bathrobe and changed into PJs. With slouched shoulders and a foul mood, I walked into the bedroom and flopped onto the bed. After such a hectic day, sleep kicked in the moment my body touched the mattress. The spot beside me was cold and empty. I missed his presence. I missed how he'd either spoon me or hug me. I missed sleeping to the sound of his heartbeat beside me. I forced my eyes open and decided to wait for him. I kept glancing at the clock. It struck 12, then 1, and then 2 before my already tired body couldn't take it anymore. With the thought of waking up in his arms, I finally drifted off to sleep. The next morning, I woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside the window. As soon as my eyes open
Ember's POV: After showering, I tied the bathrobe around myself and tiptoed toward the closet room. I was going through my PJs when the hair on the back of my neck stood taller. That always happened when he was nearby. Would my body ever get used to his proximity? He was lingering at the doorway, waiting for me to acknowledge his presence and when I didn't, he let out a deep sigh, "For how long are you going to keep ignoring me?" Not making any attempt to answer him, I kept sifting through the clothes in the almirah, pretending to be busy deciding what to wear. All of a sudden, a chill ran down my spine as he came up beside me, too near that I could feel his hot breath on my cold skin as he said tightly, "I am talking to you, Ember." Yanking the random PJ set out, I snapped sharply, "And can't you see I'm not interested in talking to you?" Slamming the almirah door shut, I jerked around. Without bothering to cast him a glance, I just walked around him. But I had just taken a ste
Ember's POV: During the entire ride, I kept my face toward the window, staring at the night lights as the car sped on the road. I could feel his unwavering stare boring holes in my back but I did nothing to acknowledge his presence. Apparently, the silent treatment was just not sitting right with him because he finally ended up opening our mindlink, "Are you okay?" I kept my face fixated on the window, too angry to answer him. How dare he behave like that? Carrying me over his shoulder as if I was some stubborn kid? And that too in front of everyone? Ridiculous! He waited for a few minutes and when I still didn't answer, he tried again, this some more gently, "Will you let me see your wounds? I need to make sure they're healing properly. I don't want them to catch any infection." Again, he was met with only silence. Was he not going to talk about how inappropriately he behaved or how rudely he talked to me? Maybe I was exaggerating but considering I'd never imagined him talking t
Ember's POV: The world seemed to slow down around me but at the same time, everything felt to be happening in the fast motion, way too quick to process properly. In my peripheral vision, I saw a guard lunging forward but before he could even reach us, another rebel gripped him by the throat and yanked him away. I choked as the blood gushed out of my throat. With trembling hands, I managed to grip his wrist and tried to wriggle myself out of his death-like grip. But all my efforts were in vain. He was strong. Way too strong for me to take down. I tried to use my hypnotizing power on him but because of my weakening strength and loss of consciousness, I was unable to muster up the magic. Blood rushed to my ears and soon, all I could hear was a loud ringing and nothing else. Tears welled up in my eyes and my vision blurred. My eyes were fixated on the demonic, creepy smile stretched over his face as he relished in my misery. But the very next moment, I frowned slightly as I saw his
Ember's POV:My mind was too shocked to register the sudden turn of events. I and Darius jerked our heads toward each other at the same moment and the next thing I heard was his ear-piercing scream, "Protect the Queen!"All of a sudden, someone gripped my wrist in a death-like grip. My gaze shot down to see fingers clasping around my wrist. I was just about to lift my gaze when my head whirled toward the door as the loud banging erupted in the air before someone yelled from the other side, "Open the damn door, Samuel." Someone else screamed, "How dare you invite the daughter of the enemy into your pack house? Are you declaring a war against us?"Samuel turned to his wife. He was no longer looking like a sweet old man I had a great time chatting with earlier. Instead, he looked every bit of a deadly warrior as he commanded Luna, "Take Queen and the girls to the safety bunkers. You must protect her at every cost, Carolina."The hold around my wrist instantly tightened before suddenly ya
Ember's POV:Darius stayed by my side as we took a quick tour of the packhouse before settling in the living room. After a few minutes of talking about random things, a maid strolled inside with a rolling tray laden with a kettle, cups, and all sorts of desserts.“Aw, Carolina, you didn’t have to do so much. Only tea would have been enough,” I said with awe.She shook her head, “You requested us not to arrange for the lunch. Even though we wanted to but we decided to respect your request. So, please enjoy the tea.”Pouring the tea in the cup, the maid placed it on the table in front of me before picking a plate, “What desserts you want me to serve you, Your Highness?”Sliding forward, I grabbed the plate from her hand and smiled up at her, “It’s okay, dear. I’ll serve myself.”She went still for a moment before finally straightening up, “Sure, Your Highness.”My mouth watered as I greedily eyed all the pastries, donuts, custard pies, and fruit tarts. I was about to pick the chocolate
Ember’s POV:As soon as I stepped out of the castle, I came to a sudden halt while gasping aloud.With wide eyes and a shocking voice, I screeched, “What the hell is happening here?” while pointing at dozens of black SUVs parked outside with almost half of the North army standing guard beside them, ready to hop in at their Alpha’s command.Nicholus raised his eyebrow as if there was nothing ridiculous going on, “I only agreed to this plan of yours because you agreed to go with high security, remember?”I sucked in a sharp breath, “I definitely didn’t think you were talking about this ‘high security,’” I groaned while waving my hand toward the guards.Nicholus took a deep breath and twisted his neck, “You refused to take me along with you. If I’m not going, then they’d all go instead.”I rubbed the back of my neck, already tired of discussing the matter for infinite times, and gritted out through clenched teeth, “In case you forgot, let me remind you again of the purpose of my visit. I
Ember's POV: The next morning, I woke up with Nicholus's arm wrapped around me. As I tried to wriggle out of his hold, he squirmed in his sleep and tightened his hold, "Mmhmm, where are you going?" I glanced over my shoulder at his adorable, groggy eyes he was squinting at me with. "I have to go," I replied. He groaned, unhappy with the answer, "No, don't go anywhere. Just stay here and give me morning cuddles."At that, I burst out laughing loudly, "People would call me crazy if I'd ever tell them that the ruthless alpha of the North just said those cheesy words to me."Moving his hand to my bottom, he spanked my ass playfully, "You naughty, little princess, why would you tell anyone about what happens in our bedroom?"I giggled under my breath, "Good thing that the room is soundproof or otherwise I wouldn't need to 'tell' them about what exactly happens in our bedroom."Snuggling closer, he licked my earlobe and whispered roughly, "Yeah, because your loud screams and hot moans wou
Ember's POV:Knowing that I had a long day ahead, I hit the bed earlier than usual. I just wanted to restore my energy to appear fresh and energetic while making my first public appearance.But despite everything from lighting the candles with soothing aromas to drinking the herbal tea, I was unable to find sleep. Hours passed and I still found myself tossing and turning on the bed as restlessness zinged inside me.There was a ball of nervousness inflating inside my belly as I thought about tomorrow. Even though after careful consideration, we've shortlisted the smallest and most welcoming pack for our first visit I just couldn't help thinking about the worst outcome.I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard the door creaking open. I glanced over my shoulder to find Nicholus closing the door behind him.As he turned around, a slight frown appeared between his brows, "Why are you still up? Is everything okay?" I caught a hint of worry in his voice as his eyes roamed over all over