Chapter 67

Still, she stood, listening to the voices of Oliver and Laura as they passed by the door and went further away till their voices became a distant echo and soon they could no longer even hear them again.

They were gone.

"I don't want Oliver seeing you weak, he is a big mouth." He said before she would even ask him why he had done all that he did earlier.

"So he is not your friend?"

"Friend? No. The only reason I endure him is because my sister loves him."

"And you love your sister." She said with an annoyed chuckle, not directly at his statement but something else she was thinking about.

"I respect relationships. Chosen or fated mate situation, I always respect."

"Except mine." She said coldly.

"You can't blame me, Zezi, for wanting what is mine. You are mine, as I am yours." His grip on her hand tightened, the voices of Oliver and Laura moving around the hallway again seeping into their ears, while they both stared each other down.

Soon enough the voices were gone, and then tension had died down.

"You like sleeveless dresses?" The King asked.

Her head now a little clear, Zezi noticed how close they were; only a hair's breadth was in between them, and she couldn't tell which was more painful, having him pressed against her or having him just hovering close like this.

How dare she feel like this after what he had said, not even taking into account his past crimes.

It was the stupid bond!

She hated it.

She pulled away from his grip, moving away from him as much as the tiny space could allow. As dark as it was, Zezi could still see and this place didn't look like a room or a store.

What was this place?

"What?" She asked, her voice betraying her with how breathless it sounded.

"Well, you ripped out your sleeves." He stated.

"How would you know that?" She asked, folding her arms in front of her and rolling her eyes. "It isn't your dress."

What was she still even doing here?

She could just leave.

Laura and Oliver were gone already and the pain she felt a while ago had vanished into thin air.

She should leave now before things would fly out of hand.

Except he was in the way, and he didn't look like he planned to move anytime soon.

But somehow, she also wasn't making any move to get out of this space. There was a fear that she didn't want to admit, that if she left, the pain she had experienced a while ago would return.

"I picked out this gown myself. I thought it was beautiful." When he spoke again, he sounded closer to her, making her almost jump in her skin. She didn't notice him move so quickly. "You are beautiful."

"Can you just step away from me?" Her gaze snapped up to him, and she caught the way his face creased slightly into a frown, then he nodded, taking a step back, before he stopped and moved closer the next second, grabbing her arm.

What was wrong with him?! Why was he being so touchy?!

"Did someone attack you?" He paused, adding his next words with emphasis and she could sense the rage that laced his voice. "In my castle?"

Wriggling her arm from his grip, she said with a scoff. "Let go of my arm."

"Was it Laura? Again? Is she bullying you?"

"Bull--" she couldn't help the chuckle that slipped through her lips. "Bullying me?"

"It was her, wasn't it? I can smell it."

"Well, well done Vampire nose." She snatched her hand away from him. "But I did a number on your sister too. You should be worried about her instead."

He folded his arms behind him, his gaze still fixed on that part of her arm where he could see the faint line of a healing cut.

He wasn't worried about his sister, she could hold her own.

"She wasn't supposed to touch you at all."

"Stop playing Protector. It was a friendly fight. Can you just stop punishing your sister? You are not making this any fun."

"Fun?" With his arms still folded behind him, he leaned down towards her, stopping when his face was close enough to hers, her breath fanning his face. If she moved just a little towards him, their lips would meet.

"Nothing about fighting you is fun. It's getting very tiring."

It was almost as if he wasn't talking about Laura anymore, but about them.

But there was no "them", yet she could feel the air sweep away from her lungs with how intensely he gazed at her, the warm tingles spreading across her skin, the mark on her neck stinging.

Without thinking, her hand shot up, held the back of his neck, while she tilted her head a little to the side, and pushed his face to that part of her neck where George's mark was.

She sucked in a deep breath of relief as the tip of his cold nose touched her skin; the relief was immense and so consuming, she shut her eyes.

She wanted more of this--

More of this all the time.

She pushed his face further into the crook of her neck, and he didn't fight it; a long sigh of pleasure slipped through her lips, and her other hand moved up to draw him closer before it froze in the air, and she pulled back immediately.

What was she doing?!

She shook her head, like there was something stuck in it that she was trying to get out, her eyes changing from blue to black and again, before they finally became black again. She turned to him, leaning against the wall behind, her chest raising and falling, her breathing heavy and loud.

"What did you do to me?"

"Nothing. But I sense you have a lot of things you want to do to me." He arched a challenging eyebrow at her. "Do them, Zezi."

"Don't try to move closer."

"I wasn't."

She held her head in her hands.

What was going on?

She hated him, and she had been able to successfully fight him for a while.

What was going on now? Why wasn't her resistance working?

"What is today?" She asked quietly.

"Today is the last day of the third month of this year."

Her heart dropped with a thud.

How had she never thought about it?

"Tonight is the full moon." She said underneath her breath.

That was it. Her heightened feelings, it was all because of the approaching full moon. There was a high possibility that her George's mark would fade away tonight, she would become like every unmated wolf in heat during the full moon.

"I need," she folded her arms across her, looking up and meeting his gaze with a firmness, ignoring how overly aware she had now become of his presence. "I need you to put guards at my door tonight, your Majesty."

She wanted to establish friendship with him, not end up in his bed.

"Why? You miss feeling like a prisoner?"

Those were her words, she remembered clearly telling him that the guards at her door made her feel like a prisoner.

"Well, I want to feel like a prisoner again. I'm even surprised I miss it."

He didn't say anything.

It was obvious that he didn't believe her but she had to convince him to put those guards at her door without making him know why.

"Werewolves run primal during the full moon. We attack and since this is a really foreign place, I'm sure my wolf will not be peaceful here and I'll be in a full blown attack mode. I don't want to cause trouble to myself or someone else."

His face did not change.

Ice sculpture.

"Werewolves run primal and they seek their mates." He finally said.

She scoffed "I don't know where you got--"

"They will search, find and mate with them; the very need their driving force."

"That's ridiculous. We are not animals in heat."

"Don't lie to me." A silent order that she found herself obeying.

She must get rid of this bond!

He could hear it, she was sure, hear the way her heart was beating wildly in her chest.

"Fine. That's the truth. I still need the guards though."

"Do you really think I will put obstacles in your way of running right into my arms tonight, Zezi?" His hand moved over her face, hovering, not touching. She pushed it away, dragging in a long-struggling breath, trying to ignore how his increasing mention of her name was playing with her. Feeling a lump in her throat, she swallowed.

Her legs felt weak, and she leaned against the wall to help herself stay on her feet. She just hoped that besides her racing heart, he had no way to tell how much this was affecting her but she knew that was a lie.

Her present state right now was more than enough telling.

Ah. What was she going to do?

He moved back now, folding his arms behind him, his eyes determined and firm, his voice filled with an unwavering promise.

"No, I won't put guards at your door and I'll be waiting for you, no matter how long it takes."