VioletI sat on the edge of Kylan’s bed, somehow feeling more nervous than all the other times I’d stayed here.My eyes were locked on the closet door, fingers fidgeting in my lap as I waited for him to come out. Any second now, he’d be walking out shirtless.He would possibly want to act all formal, talk about Aelius—while I only had one thing on my mind.Sex…While the negative aftereffects of using my eyes appeared to be much better than before, with each minute that passed, I began to feel this constant burn in my stomach. It felt like a fire I couldn’t put out. It wasn’t just desire. It was hunger. I felt restless, hopeless, and desperate.So desperate, I was almost prepared to pretty much fly through that damn door until…I sat up straight, hearing the door unlock. Then Kylan walked out the way I had expected him. Hot and shirtless…My mouth nearly drooled as my eyes trailed down the sharp lines of his chest. His arms flexed as he ran a hand through his hair.“Here you go, catch
VioletOuch.Leave it to Aelius to humble me.“You are different from the others. The Alpha King’s blood that runs through your veins is too strong for such a weak body. You’re simply not ready.”By now, I knew this was typically Aelius. He didn’t hold back. He was always like this. No matter what, when it was time to offend anyone, he went straight to the point.“Not even in shifting class?” I asked carefully.“Especially not in shifting class,” he said, his eyes going even wider at the first word.Once again, I didn’t know if this was just some piece of advice or something he had actually seen.I looked down at my lap, thinking about his warning. I didn’t understand it completely, but I could feel what he meant. All my life, I had been unable to control Lumia, who would just do what she wanted.There were days when she felt close—where she would share my anger, my pain, my happiness. But there were also days where she would suddenly vanish, like she didn’t want to be part of me at a
VioletGreat sorrow?I began to worry, and a million thoughts started racing through my mind. It was supposed to be a quick visit to Lyperia. One to supposedly present myself and meet the Lyperian royals.How could I possibly mess that up so badly to the point that he wouldn’t want to teach me?“W-What will happen in Lyperia?” I asked anxiously.Aelius rolled his eyes. “What will happen in Lyperia…” he repeated. “You think too much about yourself, instead of others. That’s what will happen.”Impossible…I frowned deeply, my chest suddenly feeling a bit tighter. He had to be mistaken because I had never been that kind of person. I always thought about others first. That was the kind of person I wanted to be—the person I always tried so hard to become.But now Aelius was trying to make me doubt myself. Maybe I had some self-reflection to do. Had I really been selfish all along?Aelius got up, and I followed him with my eyes. “Those eyes of yours,” he said, shaking his head as he paced b
Violet“Is he going to say something?”My attempt to whisper had failed dramatically as the loud words left my mouth. Kylan, who was beside me, didn’t answer. He was too focused on the scene in front of us.We sat inside the cave, around the same fire as last time. Aelius sat across from us, his legs crossed, hands resting on his lap, and eyes closed like he was in some sort of deep sleep.It had been minutes since he had taken this position, and while I could laugh about it at first, I didn’t know how to feel about it anymore.Was I nervous? Excited? Frustrated?There was one thing I did know, and that was that I was ready to learn something—anything. I had come here with the right mindset, only for this old man to ignore us like we weren’t even present.I gave Kylan an elbow, forcing him to look at me.“What?”“Is he breathing?” I asked, tilting my head to inspect Aelius.Kylan chuckled softly. Then he pointed a weak finger at Aelius as if to ask me why I wasn’t paying attention. On
VioletThe woods looked darker than the last time we were here. So did the path we followed as we headed for Aelius’ cave—or the caves of Bloodstone Haven.Days had passed, and after surviving a week of Commandor Jorn’s training, it was now time to survive Aelius’s.And in a few days, I would have to survive Lyperia.As promised, Kylan had joined me. He walked a few steps ahead of me, and even that wasn’t enough to save me from myself.“Ow!” I yelped, almost tripping over a fallen branch. Luckily, I had managed to catch myself just in time before I hit the ground. Nothing new for me.Kylan looked over his shoulder, chuckling. “Do you need a break?”“No, I’m good.”“Or do you need another piggyback—”“No, I’m good!” I said, waving him off. He was having way too much fun with this.A laugh escaped his lips. Frustrated, I quickened my pace and bumped against his shoulder to push him aside. Then I took the lead at the front.“I can walk, thanks.”He was annoying, but it was moments like t
VioletOf course they were pushing for Chrystal as mistress.By now, I kind of knew what to expect of Lyperians, so it wasn’t supposed to come as a surprise—neither Chrystal nor the other mistresses.But hearing her name…that changed everything.Each time I tried to convince myself that whatever had happened, happened, and I didn’t care anymore. But the impact that name left on me said otherwise. There was still so much pain, anger, but definitely not fear. Not anymore.Still, I just couldn’t bear the thought of her standing next to Kylan, getting some kind of title, being praised by people, even if they were her own. The thought made my stomach twist.I swallowed, hard. “Is that what you want?” I chuckled bitterly. “For Chrystal to be your mistress?”Kylan’s eyes narrowed, and then he started laughing. “No,” he choked. “No, she will not be my mistress. I’ll deal with it in the future.”“Oh. Okay.”I stared down at the table, picking at some food. “But you do want a mistress?”It was
VioletI sat with Kylan in the corner of the diner, a full tray of food right in front of me. Honestly, I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until I started eating, and now I couldn’t stop.Kylan watched me, his arms crossed on the table. His eyes were warm, smile a bit too soft—so soft it almost scared me.“Are you not eating?” I nudged the food.“No,” Kylan said. “I just want you to eat.”Then he kept staring at me again with that same gaze. If I hadn’t known any better, I would’ve thought some spirit had taken over his body. This was not the Kylan from yesterday.“What?” I asked, a bit weirded out.He shook his head. “Just looking at you.”I narrowed my eyes. “And what’s going through your head as you’re looking at me?”His smile faltered a little, and I saw him swallow hard, like he didn’t know what to say.“You always tell me I’m the weird one,” I said, pointing my fork at him. “But you really got me beat today.”He let out a small, embarrassed laugh and sat up straighter in his ch
Violet“I see you’ve come back to your dorms,” Esther said, a fake smile plastered on her lips.“I have,” I answered shortly.“Good,” she squeezed her eyes together. “I won’t report you. You’ve already been through so much.”I felt something twist in my stomach. Seeing this woman smile in my face after all the things I knew about her bothered the crap out of me. Whether it was a real or fake smile, she didn’t have any right to laugh.“Thank you, ma’am. That’s kind of you.”I waited for her to leave, but at the same time, I knew she wouldn’t. She had clearly come here because she wanted something from me. However, it was still unclear what she wanted.She kept staring at me with that uncomfortable grin on her face, like she had practiced it beforehand.After some time, she took a small huff. “Do you really not want Starlight to expel those girls, sweetheart?”There it was again. She was trying to push me—wanted me to think about it and get angry, lose control so I could light up Starli
Violet“If that creepy woman bothers you again,” Trinity’s voice blasted through the empty cafeteria, “you better tell me!”She was clearly talking about Esther. I turned the other way, silently ignoring her words.Although I was back in my dorm, I had managed to escape her for the night, but I had run out of lock. I had Healing Class today, so there was that.“Dylan went downtown with the boys, and for some reason, it bothers me because it was supposed to be our thing,” Trinity complained. “Like, didn’t they already go yesterday?”I didn’t have to look at her face to figure she was most likely pouting. “Maybe it’s time for you to let him breathe a little,” I chuckled.Trinity gasped, holding her heart. “Let Dylan breathe?” she spoke in horror like I had said something awful. “The same way you let Kylan breathe?”Yes, that was definitely sarcastic.“Speaking of Kylan, have you heard anything from him today?”I smiled through the slight ache I felt in my heart, then shook my head. “No