There was an ufortable silence between us, the heaviness in the air almost suffocating.


    I sighed, feeling my tongue drag across my dry bottom lips like a desperate attempt to break free. “So, what do you expect me to do?” I asked, the words tumbling out of my mouth like a plea.


    This isn’t like me – I’m not one to falter – but right now, I just couldn’t help it.


    Aristide’s eyebrows shot up, surprise flickering in his loweredshes.


    “I think you should start small,” he said, clearing his throat and leaning back in his chair, his words only adding to my confusion.


    “Little things, like what?” I pressed, frustration etched on my face.


    “Get close to her, and free her wolf.” He said and I quickly snapped my head up, my gaze zing with anger. “NEVER!” I snarled, leaning forward, my voice low and dangerous. I paused, dragging in a deep breath to calm myself, but Aristide remained silent, his eyes fixed on me, waiting for me to continue.


    “If she ever gets her wolf, this little secret will be exposed. She’ll know… and what happens then?” I trailed off, studying Aristide’s face before continuing. “Everyone will find out that we’re mates.” I exined, but Aristide looked unconvinced – instead, he seemed angry, disappointed, and concerned.


    “Why do you care so much about what others think?” he asked.


    “Because I’m their king!” I snapped, “And this… ” I paused, pointing at the door, “She’s an enemy, a dog.”


    Aristide’s eyes shed with anger. “Really?” he growled. “Then reject her.”


    He repeated the same word, and I felt myself freeze in ce.


    Dante growled in my mind, “Don’t even think of rejecting our mate.”


    I hummed, unfolding my arms from my chest, and shrugged my shoulders, rxing back into my chair. “She hates me,” I said nonchntly.


    Aristide shook his head in disagreement. “I don’t think so. Besides, I think you need to mend things now before it’s toote.”


    “Toote?” I raised my head, confusion etched on my curious face, but Aristide just sighed. I caught a glimpse of hesitation in his eyes before he shed me a wide grin.


    “He’s hiding something,” I thought, narrowing my gaze on him.


    But I couldn’t see through him – that’s what I hated about him, his intelligence, his ability to always know how to keep me in the dark.


    “Can you keep this a secret?” I asked instead, trying to deflect from my growing unease.


    “You mean, the secret of our queen?” That’s the problem.


    “She’s not your queen,” I said, shaking my head, and that earned a chuckle from him.


    “Yet you don’t want to reject her,” he observed, his brow furrowed in a frown. “You can’t deny it, big brother. You’re very strong but for the first time in thousands of years, I can see what makes you work up.”


    My shoulders slumped in defeat.


    “It’s all your fault,” I muttered, casting a re at Dante. “We shouldn’t have had a taste of her in the beginning.” I huffed at him, groaning in frustration.


    I rolled my eyes as I heard Dante snickered in response. He was the one who fucking initiated that idea, and nted the seed in my mind for the first time. If only we hadn’t taken a taste, I thought, at least then I wouldn’t be this restless.


    “She’s not that bad, she’s actually fun to be around,” Aristide suddenly said, drawing back my attention.


    He paused as he stood up and walked over to stand beside me. He ced his left palm on top of my tensed shoulder. “We’re friends,” he added, and I immediately snapped my head at him.


    His words kept echoing in my mind ‘Friends’. And instantly my normal ck eyes shed golden, and my beast’s possessive instincts surfacing.


    Aristide immediately stepped away, sensing the sudden shift in me.


    “You can’t be friends with my mate!” I snarled, my voice low and cold.


    “She’s my sister-inw too, remember,” he replied with a chuckle, and I felt Dante’s tension ease at the words.


    “Interesting,” Aristide hummed in a mockery tone, sensing how rxed Dante is at his words.Content provided by N?velDrama.Org.


    Ugh, two infuriating assholes! I groaned, rubbing my palms together in frustration.


    “Get out,” I sighed, closing my eyes to calm myself.


    Aristide cleared his throat to stifle hisughter before he patted my shoulder, and left.


    I opened my eyes after he left, and stared nkly at the wall as my mind whirled.


    ‘Do you also expect her to forgive her mate, the same man whose men killed her parents?’


    Aristide’s words continued to repeat in my mind like a haunting whisper.


    I exhaled a soft breath and leaned forward, my hand instinctively pulling open the first drawer under my desk. I brought out a small, white handkerchief.


    And slowly unwrapped it to reveal the ne inside. There were still dry blood stains around the edges of the ne.


    Merely looking at it, transported me back to a painful past, causing tears to prick at the corners of my eyes as hurtful memories resurfaced. I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to blink away the tears.


    The ne was the only thing I was able to hold onto.


    If only dad had listened, we couldn’t have lost mom in the cruel hands of those dogs.


    They shattered us, leaving scars that would never fully heal.


    I clenched the ne in my fists, the metal biting into my skin as I dropped my head on top of the desk.


    I have vowed after the death of my mother to not rest until I wiped out all those ns but now, my mate, Emma, was from the very same n I sought to destroy.


    I sighed, shaking my head in frustration. I am a bit confused.


    Though my desire for revenge still burned bright, I just couldn’t bring myself to harm her again.


    She already hated me, and I couldn’t bear the thought of her hating me even more.


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