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Don’t be late

Author: Author Calypso
last update Last Updated: 2025-09-09 22:52:53

ASHER

I no longer attempt to measure time here.

In this room, the hours blur together, bleeding into each other until day and night lose their meaning. The window lets in light sometimes, harsh streaks across the stone floor, but even that does little to tell me anything of the world outside. All I have is silence, and the steady drip of my own weakness as it grows heavier inside me.

I don’t know what’s happening beyond these walls. I don’t know if the palace still stands strong or if Aaron and his mother have already wrapped their claws around it. The not knowing eats at me, gnawing through whatever scraps of patience I have left.

After speaking with Althea… after sleeping with her… if anything, she’s managed to dig deeper beneath my skin. I don’t want to admit it, but I can’t stop thinking about her, the way she looked at me, the way her voice broke when she said she wanted to help. And still, goddess help me, trust doesn’t come easy. Not with her. Not after everything.

I keep turni
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  • The Mate Games   Where’s Asher

    ALTHEAThe silence after Aaron leaves feels like a wound, raw and bleeding. His words still echo in my skull, refusing to fade no matter how hard I try to push them out. You belong to me.I press both hands to my stomach, trying to steady the shaking. The air feels colder than before, heavier, as though his presence still lingers even after he’s gone. For a moment, I almost think I might be sick.I don’t have time for this.When the knock finally comes, a sharp, deliberate sound against the door, I nearly jump out of my skin. My heart lurches to my throat, and I swear it skips a beat before crashing into a rhythm so fast it hurts.Theo. It has to be him this time.A relieved breath slips from my lips, shaky and uneven. Up until this moment, I’ve been a wreck, pacing like a trapped animal, wondering if something had gone wrong, if Asher had changed his mind, if Aaron had somehow destroyed everything before we even had a chance to try.I snatch up my cloak from where I’d laid it across

  • The Mate Games   You’ll never escape me

    ALTHEAThe day drags like chains tied to my ankles. Every hour feels stretched too thin, every sound sharper than it should be. My nerves buzz under my skin, restless, like they know what’s at stake. Everything has to go perfectly tonight. One mistake, one wrong move, and it isn’t just my life that ends, it’s Theo’s, it’s Asher’s, maybe even the kingdom’s.Theo’s words from yesterday cling to me like burrs I can’t shake off. The king… awake. The thought still unsettles me. For so long, I thought he was little more than a shell, a ghost breathing but not truly alive. And yet, he’s been awake, hidden away by Madeline’s lies. Kept silent, not for protection, but because they’re waiting. Waiting for the Red Moon. Waiting for the moment to crown Aaron and twist me into their weapon, using me to unleash powers I don’t even fully understand.I shudder, remembering the cold knot of dread in my stomach when Theo told me. Once, not so long ago, the thought of eternity with Aaron would have made

  • The Mate Games   Don’t be late

    ASHERI no longer attempt to measure time here.In this room, the hours blur together, bleeding into each other until day and night lose their meaning. The window lets in light sometimes, harsh streaks across the stone floor, but even that does little to tell me anything of the world outside. All I have is silence, and the steady drip of my own weakness as it grows heavier inside me.I don’t know what’s happening beyond these walls. I don’t know if the palace still stands strong or if Aaron and his mother have already wrapped their claws around it. The not knowing eats at me, gnawing through whatever scraps of patience I have left.After speaking with Althea… after sleeping with her… if anything, she’s managed to dig deeper beneath my skin. I don’t want to admit it, but I can’t stop thinking about her, the way she looked at me, the way her voice broke when she said she wanted to help. And still, goddess help me, trust doesn’t come easy. Not with her. Not after everything.I keep turni

  • The Mate Games   I’ll get him there

    ALTHEAI wake up flat on my stomach, the sheets twisted around my legs, clinging to damp skin. For a moment I don’t move, too heavy, too warm, too sore to even think. My eyes pry open, only to immediately slam shut again when light floods them. It’s sharp, unkind, stabbing through my skull like a blade. I groan into the pillow, trying to bury myself away from it, but the truth comes faster than I’m ready for.This isn’t my room.Oh goddess.The realization cuts through the fog of sleep, shoving me upright in a jolt. My breath catches in my chest as I glance around, the unfamiliar walls, the bed, the faint scent of smoke and cedar that clings to every corner. Memories of earlier crash back into me like a wave, the heat, the fury, the way my body betrayed me again and again until there was nothing left to give.My stomach twists.I turn quickly, almost afraid to look, and there he is.Asher.He lies on his side, one arm bent under the pillow, the sheets pooling low across his hips. His

  • The Mate Games   And then I let go

    ALTHEAThis was a bad idea.The words whisper through me, soft but sharp, cutting into the haze of heat still clinging to my skin. My chest heaves, my body trembling, but I force the words out again, louder this time.“This was a bad idea.”His eyes lift to mine, narrowing, storm-dark and unyielding. “You don’t get to decide that.”I roll onto my hands and knees, meaning to crawl away, to put space between us before I lose myself again. But Asher doesn’t let me. He rolls with me, fast, fluid, so he ends up on his back beneath me. One strong hand locks on my hip, holding me in place when I try to move.“We can’t do this, Asher!” My voice cracks, betraying how badly I want it even as I say the words.His mouth curves, not quite a smile, more like a threat. “You’re not in control,” he says, his tone maddeningly calm, almost conversational, as if he’s telling me something I should have always known. He adjusts me over him, my thighs trembling on either side of his head. “I am.”Before I c

  • The Mate Games   What the fuck am I doing?

    ALTHEAAsher’s hand comes up suddenly, rough and unyielding, closing around my face. His long fingers press into my cheeks, forcing my jaw open as he tilts my head at the angle he wants. His mouth crashes against mine, nothing gentle about it. His tongue thrusts past my lips, invading, claiming, owning. The pressure makes my nipples tighten against the thin lace still covering me, a sharp ache of need racing down my spine.He tastes like my undoing, like mint, sharp and clean, mixed with something darker, something that stirs memory deep inside me. A taste I once thought I would never forget, a taste that calls up echoes of laughter stolen in the shadows, of whispers pressed against my skin when the world wasn’t watching. That part of me, the girl who had loved him so easily, rises like a ghost.But there’s no room for thought. Not when his mouth is taking everything from me. I fall into him, my mind blank, drowning in the heat of his kiss. His grip is bruising, his tongue relentless,

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