when I said slow burn, I meant it 🙊
[Valerie] I won’t say that kissing Clyde hadn’t ever crossed my mind, that would be hypocritical. It was just a mere passing thought while we traversed the cliffs of Verglas, a few days ago, or that day when he eavesdropped on my conversation with Ken. However, the kiss is nothing like I had imagined my first kiss to be. It’s all-consuming and messy. I can feel my insecurities begin to creep out from the deep recesses of my heart as I sloppily reciprocate. His lips are soft, almost silken. I can feel his breath tickle. Warmth blooms in my chest as I give into the heady sensation. The kiss deepens as he pulls me impossibly closer. My fingers caress the hair on his nape. I push back any other thought that tries to breach the forefront and it evaporates almost completely when his tongue swipes my bottom lip. A noise bubbles out from my lips. His tongue slips into my mouth and that brings me back to reality. My hold slackens and I begin to draw away. He feels the change and pulls ba
[Valerie] Rather than lying down and getting some shut eye, I pace around the room, anxious and worried. I call mom, despite knowing that she might be asleep. "Are you alright? Why didn’t you pick up the phone?" Even though her voice sounds groggy, it's laced with worry. "I was having some problems. I didn't mean to call you, but…" I am not sure if I should tell her. Will Zenith stay true to her warning? If so, then... I push back the morbid thoughts. "Well… I witnessed something… someone doing something bad. It was heinous, and I couldn’t do anything," I say, my voice quivering with each word I utter. "What? Stop speaking in riddles. Tell me clearly." Mom sounds calmer than I had expected. I quit pacing around and sit at the edge of the bed. "Someone is possessed by demons. Someone in the dragon clan." The words feel so foreign and almost silly, but I know Ruelle won’t joke about this. She sounded shaken and a tad bit fearful. "What?" The question isn’t more than a brea
[Valerie] My lips tingle when we finally pull away and yet we let our lips brush against each other. My eyes flutter closed again. “Don’t worry about anything. I will handle everything,” he murmurs against my lips. His hand squeezes my hip while the other caresses my head. I open my eyes and gaze at him. “What if you can’t? You are not Almighty.” My voice comes out petulant. When he gives me a pointed look, I sigh and instead of pulling away, I wrap my arms around his midriff and hug him. He stiffens visibly, probably not expecting this, but then he goes on to reciprocate the embrace and just like that my heart flutters. “Don’t get so used to this. I am only appeasing my wolf,” I lie, earning a growl from Ruelle and a chuckle from Clyde. “Whatever you say.” The truth is yet again at the tip of my tongue. “Can you please keep me updated from now on?” I request instead. “Is this hug a form of bribery?” he counters. I tip my head back to look at him. His blue eyes are laced
[Valerie] Jade drags me up to Elias’ room. She closes the door once all three of us are inside and casts a spell. She turns her sharp gaze towards me. “Speak.” This is a queen’s command and even though it’s a dirty trick she uses, I can’t defy it. I recount everything that I had said to mom. “A Demon?” Jade parrots in disbelief. I nod in affirmation. She lets out a slow exhale, hands settling on her hips. The stress and concern on her face is apparent which is not a good look because Jade rarely gets this look and when she does it means that the shit is real which I know is but seeing her worried makes me even more anxious for Clyde and Viola. “Did you do anything else? Tell anyone else apart from Erica?” she asks. Elias has been standing silently, pensive. I shake my head. “Demons are dangerous beings,” Elias says. His voice is laced with trepidation. “I know,” I murmur. “Dad told me a little about them.” He sighs. “We need to be careful. It will be like an open secret, b
[Valerie] This is the end, isn’t it? This marks my exit from this clan and then I will probably be shunned and killed like the other mage wolf. My heart hammers in my chest as I level my glare at Zenit, who was smirking while the clan members gawked and some of the resident mages stared with their mouths agape. “See, she is not only a mage and also a wolf. And all of you know how the legend goes, right?” Her voice echoed across the silent crowd. How did I get myself into this mess? Well, now I honestly don’t blame anyone but my temper and Ruelle’s as well. _____________________________________ [Earlier...] “You have improved by 0.05%” Rudra jests when the meditation comes to a close. I make a face, although subtly, he notices nonetheless. Elias was continuing his research while Jade was going to arrive today with another witch. I have wanted to check up on Viola, but Clyde isn’t here because he has gone somewhere with Fionna. “Only this much won’t do much,” I grumble. “I
[Valerie] I am trembling within, although Ruelle lets out a thundering growl. Despite the fear, there’s a slight satisfaction in seeing Zenith’s fearful eyes. ‘A demon can’t get away from a mage wolf,’ Ruelle says to me, but I am unconvinced. However, Zenith uses this to her advantage like the cunning woman she is. She looks around frantically as if trying to prove her point and by the wary and hostile gazes directed at me, I am almost sure that this is working. “What did I say? Look how unhinged she is! No wonder she was thrown out of her Pack.” I let out another warning growl. How dare she think like that. ‘Kill her,’ a voice inside me screams. ‘She is going to get us killed if we don’t kill her first,’ it says. Our eyes snap towards Zenith who is rambling bullshit. Whose voice am I hearing now? I want to know but at the moment, I am running out of time. “We should call the Queen,” someone murmurs fearfully, and others nod. Fuck what if they call the Queen, which will
[Clyde] This has happened before when Valerie fainted after overexerting herself. I caress her head softly as she lies prone in my bed. Viola had visited despite being injured herself before Elias managed to assure her that Valerie will be okay and had sent her to her room, a new room that has been assigned to her. The atmosphere outside is icy as well. People are scared after the showdown. I don’t know what I will do to Zenith if and when I call her for interrogation. My gaze remains on Valerie. Only a knock on the door gets my attention. It’s Moran no doubt. He enters after I give my permission, and bows before his gaze flickers towards Valerie as well. He frowns. “Has she opened her eyes?” he asks worriedly. I shake my head. “Not yet. Have you..?” Moran nods. “Alpha Xyan is on his way with Queen Erica.” I cast my gaze back at my mate as apprehension curdles in my gut. She won’t take this lightly, nor will Alpha Xyan. I sigh and take her hand in mine. It thankfully feels war
[Clyde] Queen Erica stares back in horror as I recount everything that has happened so far before her face morphs into anger, eyes burning with rage. Alpha Xyan doesn’t do much to keep his fury at bay either. “So my daughters have been injured, insulted and generally been unhappy here while we have not been aware of anything?” she pronounces each word slowly as if trying to assimilate reality. “Well…” I don’t want to anger either of them because what I am about to say might anger them further. However… “Mage Elias did not say anything?” I ask thoughtfully. Queen Erica huffs and looks away. “Nobody seems to be saying anything.” “Ma,” Alpha Xyan puts a soothing hand on her shoulder. I lean forward and clasp my hand. “I apologize for whatever the princesses have gone through.” By the way, Queen Erica gives me a scathing look in return, I know I am not doing a good job. She straightens her shoulder and says. “I managed to keep my mate from visiting. Otherwise, you know it woul