Chapter 9Lydia’s POVI stumbled in shock and would have planted my face on the cold tiles had King Darwin not reached out and immediately steadied me.“What the HELL are you doing here!" I hissed in irritation as my heart thundered, both from the shock at seeing him and the feeling of his hand around my waist.I swallowed audibly as a slight fear went through me at the thought of triggering his psychosis again.“Your majesty?” I asked weakly as a show of respect. But even to my ears, it sounded fake.“Darwin. Always Darwin, only to you,” He whispered, his voice sending tingles straight between my legs as I suddenly got very self-conscious about being in a towel.“Um, you can let me go now. And you didn’t answer my question,” I replied as a blush darkened my cheeks and I pulled back from his hold.He let me go with an amused smile and pushed his hands into his pockets.“This is my room, Lydia,”I blinked in surprise and briefly stared around to confirm I hadn’t walked into the wrong r
Chapter 10I jolted back in shock.“Sorry!” I squeaked in fear.“Lydia?” He asked in surprise as his grip on my wrist slackened and he put on the bedside lamp.“I thought it was someone else. What are you doing, creeping about this night?!” He asked, confused, as my cheeks burned and my brain raced to find some sort of excuse.“I I just wanted to look at your laptop. I can’t sleep, so I wanted to video call Lily,” I sputtered.My heart was beating fast with the thought that he would know I was lying, but to my surprise, he just groaned groggily.“Lydia, you should have woken me up if you couldn’t sleep. You can’t use my laptop for video calls with your friend. It’s for official business." His husky, sleepy voice sent tingles through me, and I swallowed as I searched my brain for something to say.“I’ll get you new gadgets tomorrow, okay? Do you need some milk so you can sleep?” He asked as concern steeped in his voice."Um, no,” I said hurriedly. I only got away with it because he wa
Chapter 11 Lydia’s POV. “Is this the hallway that leads to the princess’s rooms?” I asked the grumpy-looking guard in front of me. “Yes, my lady. But-” His face paled in shock as he stared at my state of undress. “Thank you,” I replied as I swiftly continued down the hallway. The guard tried to call something after me, but I was moving too fast I didn’t hear anything he had to say. Even if I was walking normally, chances are I wouldn’t have heard him anyway. Not when anger and panic clouded my mind. I arrived at the end of the hallway and skidded to a stop when I realized there were two doors. “What do you think my love?” Wilson’s voice drafted from the door on the right. “You look amazing. The black goes perfectly with the wedding theme,” Lydia’s shrill voice responded. With shaky angry hands, I pushed open their door and barged into the room. Wilson and Freya were hugging tightly and broke apart frazzled as I stared at them. Freya seemed normal enough but my eyes narrow
Chapter 12 Lydia’s Pov. I trembled as Darwin left the midst of the workers and stalked over to me. What will he do first? Torture me? Kill Wilson? I was frozen with fear and badly wished to escape but Darwin caught up to me first. I winced as I shut my eyes tightly and waited for the slap that was sure to come. “Are you okay? Is everything alright?” Darwin asked panicked. I blinked my eyes open and stared at him in surprise as he cupped my face with his palm gently. So he hasn’t discovered my secret! “Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” I breathed in relief. “So you just decided to walk about in a bathrobe?” He asked me teasingly as he shrugged his coat off and wore it across my shoulders. My thoughts were disoriented and I was about to reply when one of the workers, hurriedly came towards us and broke my little bubble with Darwin. “Sorry to interrupt you, your Majesty. I need to confirm that the main theme colors are black and gold, per the future queen’s preferences. Are we going with g
Chapter 13Lydia’s POV“What do you mean? Everything’s so nice, and you look breathtaking, Lydia. So what’s the problem?” She asked confused.I shook my head with a sigh.“I don’t know, but my wolf, Drusilla, is uneasy. And she loves Darwin, so I can’t figure out why." Just as I replied, the orchestra started playing a violin rendition of Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud, and a bright spotlight shone on me, signaling the beginning of the wedding walk.With jitters in my stomach and a reassuring squeeze from Lily, I began to carefully descend the staircase.“I’m sure it’s nothing. Just smile and enjoy the moment,” Lily replied softly as Katrina caught wind of our conversation and shot me a concerned look.I gave her a nod and plastered the brightest smile I could on my face.As I got to the base of the stairs, Lily handed me over to Darwin, and he gently led me before the pack elder, who was officiating the ceremony.“Everyone rise! We are gathered here to witness the joining ceremony be
Chapter 14 Darwin’s POV “WHERE THE HELL IS LORCAN!” I snarled angrily at the stupid rogue tied down in a chair before me. “He’ll take the throne! Lorcan is the real rogue king! We’ll never agree to be… brughhhhh” The rogue groaned as I slammed my fist into his face. Bastard! Does he have a death wish?! “You will answer the king when he asks you questions!” Parker growled brutally as he grabbed the back of the rogue’s head and slammed it down onto the table before us. Good. The satisfying crunch of the rogue’s nose filled the air as the coward began to cry and shake. “I asked you before and I’ll ask you again. Where is the mastermind behind your paltry attack? Where is Lorcan!” I picked one of my wolfsbane-coated knives from the table and slowly carved a line in his hands as he screamed. “DARWIN?!” Lydia’s shocked voice carried over to me and I froze. No! I didn’t want her to see this depraved side of me. I whipped my head around swiftly in time to see her push past the dunge
Chapter 15Lydia’s POVI pressed my palms against my too-hot cheeks and paced outside the bathroom door.“Are you sure you’re okay in there?!”I cringed the moment it touched my lips; it sounded like I was expecting an invitation to join him, and I heard Darwin chuckle from inside.“Lydia I’m taking a bath. I promise I’m fine,” he replied as I shook my head to clear Drusilla’s thoughts.Of course he’s fine! His wolf must have healed him by now. And yet, I can’t help the worry that takes over me at the slightest thought of him being hurt.“Okay! I’ll just…” I trailed off, unsure of what to say, as I turned awkwardly and walked back to the bed.Darwin said something in reply that sounded suspiciously like he was laughing, but I ignored him and proceeded to change the bedsheets. Just because it’s something to do and I like the feel of crispy, clean sheets against my skin.My skin prickled uncomfortably at the thought that I was alone in the room, and it was the perfect time to snoop agai
Chapter 16Lydias POVWilson gasped and launched me away from him so quickly that I stumbled.Had he gone mad?!"Wilson, what-” I hissed in annoyance.“I’m sorry, my king. I tried to stop her; she just wouldn’t stop,” Wilson pleaded cowardly with Darwin as he ignored me and turned to face Darwin, who had walked up to us.My eyes widened at his insinuation, but I slapped his arm lightly with a chuckle, trying to play it off as a joke.Don’t be ridiculous, Wil. There’s no need to joke around like that."“We were just having a conversation. With everything that happened today, he just wanted to make sure I was alright,” I said brightly in hopes that Darwin would buy my bullshit, but his eyes narrowed like he could see through my lies, and I squirmed uncomfortably.“My king, she-” Wilson started to speak again, but Darwin cut him off.“WHY WAS LYDIA CRYING?” He truly looked livid, and with a start, I realized he wasn’t angry at finding me with Wilson but was angry at the tear tracks on my