"Going once, going twice..." The auctioneer paused, glancing around to see if anybody could match Denzel Montgomery's bid. When he found no one, he called out, "Sold to the Lycan king!" He banged his gavel against the sound block. Cinnia clapped along with the others as Denzel set down his number plate. Much of the night had been like that. Pieces of art were brought out and purchased by those who bid the highest, then they would choose the charity organization where they wanted the proceeds to go. Denzel had chosen to donate to a human-owned orphanage since werewolves always took care of their own whether they had parents or not. She noticed how offended he was at the mere mention of the foster care system and how some humans badly treated each other. Cinnia had seen his relationship with his pack. Even the omegas were treated with respect though they were the lowest in rank. The dislike she had felt for all werewolves was diminishing the more she spent time with Denzel. There were

The mark burned at intervals but most of the time, it was numb. Denzel had whisked Cinnia away to a lavish hotel in Renmar, an hour away from Lunar Crest. Cinnia's heart swelled at the way he worshipped the ground she walked on. To her, there had been no need to go to a hotel. She had suggested that they go back to the pack house to inform everyone and think of the next course of action but he had insisted that they get away at least for some time. Denzel had given her a relaxing bath around midnight and held her to his chest through the rest of the night and early morning. Though Cinnia would have preferred they did something a little more exciting than cuddling and listening to a soothing playlist that he had carefully curated from a list of songs that he knew she liked since she always bobbed her head to the beat whenever it was played on the stereo, she had relaxed into his warm embrace and set her mind at ease. The realization that he had quickly become her safe space frighten

Denzel pinched the bridge of his nose and marched to the door. He yanked it open and roughly dragged both Cinnia and Mya in. "I told you to stay put. What did you not understand by that?" He rebuked. "You cannot—" Not letting her finish, Denzel went on, this time focusing his anger on Mya. "And you! Why did you let her come here? What is wrong with you?" "I tried to stop her..." Mya mumbled, her head bowed. "Why, you must not scold them. Cinnia must have wanted to see her dear brother-in-law. Isn't that right, love?" Elijah directed a dazzling smile at Cinnia but her response was a cold glare. "I wanted to know if you needed any help from me or something. There has to be something I can do. I mean, he of all people is here. He might be more willing to answer any questions you have now that he has seen me. And wait... Brother? What does he mean by that?" Cinnia rambled before ending with a question about the very large elephant in the room. The stench of dried blood permea

"A curse?" Cinnia deadpanned. "What's that?" Then a horrifying thought crossed her mind. "Did my mother do this to you?" She gasped. "No, no," Denzel said hurriedly. "It's...more complicated than that. You remember what I told you about how I came to be a Lycan?" "Yes, yes." "Well, there was more to it than I let on." "So you were keeping secrets from me. How spectacular." Cinnia rolled her eyes and tugged her hands-free from Denzel's grasp. "Princess..." He traced the outline of her waist with a finger. "It's not like I didn't want to tell you but nobody except Maverick, knows about this. And Maverick only knows because he stumbled in on me. Just like you did now. Well, he doesn't even know much because I sent him away and forbade him to speak of it." Cinnia eyed him for a moment before letting out a long exhale. "Fine, you are forgiven. Continue." A cheeky smile spread on his face, transforming his features completely. Oh, how she loved his smile. Then he became serious a

Cinnia straightened her fingers from the tight fist they were in and scrunched her eyebrows as she willed the tips to light up in flames. So far, that was the only 'trick' she could do even after Sophie tried—and failed—to make her learn something more complex after taking the block off her magic. Cinnia had been at it in the garden for hours and while she wanted to punch herself repeatedly for being unable to master the simplest spell in the book, she thoroughly enjoyed watching Sophie's face twitch from increasing frustration. She guessed how long Sophie would last before yelling at her but the witch did not break. If Cinnia weren't observant, she would never have caught the almost murderous look in Sophie's eyes. Eventually, Cinnia succeeded after four grueling hours of non-stop 'encouragement' from Sophie. It was already late in the evening when Cinnia bumped into someone and lit their shirt on fire. "Shit!" She frantically dabbed at the flames till they were extinguished.