Black eyes bored down at hers, waiting for a response and in that second, everything seemed to change. The water had grown unnaturally hot, the breeze strangely still and the scenery that held peace and gave her ease earlier just felt disturbing. Valerick's presence the root of all her problems.After tossing the bottle from one hand to another, waiting for a response, while playing with it inbetween his fingers, he lost interest in waiting and decided to find out himself."It looks interesting." He muttered to himself.He started screwing off the small iron lid of the bottle that looked tiny in his palms, and that was when she had done something she really shouldn't have had any business doing in the first place. Her hand shot to him and she seized the bottle, snapping it right out of his grip as swiftly as she could before tossing the content of the bottle straight to her throat in one gulp, not leaving one drop behind. Then she threw the bottle and it's lid behind her with force,

The King hadn't dropped by yesterday, Zezi was very grateful about that. He was indeed giving her space.Gwen had been right. She had looked like she was dying, because after she was done reading to her the story of Mr Meat and Mr Blood Meat, she needed to use the bathroom and had caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Needless to say, the sight was horrifying. Today though, she felt so much better. Looked so much better too.Lady Delice had been right. Feeling as good as she felt, without any further delay, Zezi started putting her plan into motion.Zezi had, had the time to think overnight, while she laid in bed like a weak vegetable and Gwen had sat down on the dressing chair, staring at her from across the room, refusing to go home and retire for the day. "What if something happens to you while I am not here to help."When Zezi had persisted, Gwen had thrown in a threat. "Should I just tell the King so that he might stay with you?"That had done it. They stayed in sil

"You passed out."The first three words she heard after she opened her eyes. Valerick was sitting by her side and staring down at her like she was a piece of art that was threatening to crumble at any second. She sighed turning away to get some sleep. What was he doing in her room? Why was he waking her up?The aura that pushed itself into her lungs as she moved within the sheets, made her body tingle, worry rushed into her and consumed her mind but she was not worried, why was she feeling---She shot up from bed, holding the sheets to her body as the memory of yesterday rushed through her mind. Her heart thundered and she fixed Valerick a scrutinizing gaze, one that zeroed in quickly on his neck to confirm if her memory was real or it had been tampered it. She gulped when she caught the sight of the mark that he was making no attempt to hide, and her inside recoiled in the realization that for the first time, her wolf had made a big step that she hadn't consented to. Her wolf had

Valerick was right. There was no use switching around and moving to her room, the main reason she had wanted to go would still follow her there.Him. He might even be waiting for her in the room by the time she would get there. It wouldn't be surprising to see that he had already settled in too. The King loved a challenge and she would be damned if she gave him something to be excited about him right now. Her mind was too jumbled up with the feelings that were taking turns with her heart, some were not even patient enough to wait for the other and they overwhelmed her. Her fist around his shirt tightened when she realized that her back had been pressed against the wall, there was a boyish grin on his face and his voice was low when he spoke. "I like your messy morning hair."She let go of him instinctively, trying to use her fingers to comb her hair, then he took a step back, his gaze zeroing in on his mark on her neck. "We have a lot to talk about." His voice was oddly firm, a

Before Delice saw the mark, she had already caught on to the scent since Lady Zezi came into the hallway and her head hug slightly in submission. An action she had done instinctively.Her gaze shifted when Zezi grabbed her hand with urgency, and ushered them into her room that she had just been coming out from. "He knows I am weak. He told the Physician to look at me while I was passed out. He will find out everything. Tell me you have a solution."The words poured out of her mouth the moment they were in Lady Delice's room."You bare his mark." She sounded like she was in a daze, her hand reaching up slowly to the bite marks that had more significance in them than meets the eyes. Once upon a time, she had wanted those to design her neck.Although, for a while now, she had been able to convince herself that she didn't want that anymore, but that surge that she had always felt stirred through her again, and although she fought hard to suppress it, jealousy tasted bitter on her tongu