I was the first to sever my eyes from him His gaze continued to stay on me for some time, pricking my skin in a manner I had never experienced. When I finally felt him turn away, a small sigh of relief escaped my lips.
He was speaking with the Royal Couple when I turned to look back at the balcony. They appeared to be discussing a very important topic as they gave their full focus to the chat.I occasionally felt his eyes on me as the evening wore on as I was spending time with the three of them. I constantly had to suppress the impulse to gaze at him. I felt compelled to look at him by some unseen power inside of me. It did force me to stare at him a few times, locking eyes with his brown eyes from a distance before I was the first to look away once more.
Every time I sensed his sight lingering on me and scorching my skin with his fierce look, my body tensed. Unfortunately, the dinner had not yet begun when I decided to escape and spend time with Dal while I hid in my wing.We would all be seated at the big table together, so I knew that would be the most intense time of the evening. Even just thinking about it made me anxious. Along with me, my inner wolf was pacing in anxiety.We had no idea what to anticipate. The night seemed to drag on and the tension in the air was too heavy.What took place? When Locros realized that I had become excessively silent and wasn't taking part in Embry and Jacob's argument, he asked me.I took another drink, mumbling, "Er... nothing." I welcomed the booze and anticipated that it would reduce my anxiety, but it didn't. I sensed his eyes on me once more, which increased the stress.I resisted the impulse to peek in his direction as soon as his sight rested on me. However, Locros didn't seem to be happy with my answer."Are you okay?" He persisted.I replied to him, "Yeah," with a breathy voice. "I'm good. All I want is for this to end soon. Returning to my wing, I want to sleep "I told him the truth."Yes, today was a long day. particularly the training "I was relieved when he stopped asking me any more questions after that.When the dinner was eventually announced, my stomach was in knots and my heart was pounding in my chest. While the ministers and their families sat at the long table with the Royal Couple and the principal guest, the other guests sat at tiny tables about the room.Between my father and Locros, I took a seat. I was seated only a few chairs apart from the Royal couple. The Royal couple were seated next to him. He continued to look at Locros for a little moment before turning to face me, which I didn't miss.He must have realized that Locros was getting more of my attention. I did not, however, dare to look at him once during the meal. The fact that my father was talking to him the majority of the time didn't help.Lucian was here to increase military collaboration, and Jacob was right. This dinner's main focus was on it. It increased the already present tension in the room, which persisted throughout the dinner.As I chewed, the expertly prepared dish tasted like sand. The environment became overwhelming for me at one point, and I wanted to leave. Everything seemed off at that time—his continual stEmbry, the tension, the talk, the food, the company.
"Who do you think will replace you?" At one moment, Lucian questioned my father. The dinner was going to end at that time.My father replied, pointing at me, "My daughter, Athena." Over supper, we again locked eyes, but this time with more purpose. He had a grimace on his face, but I could see movement in his eyes."A woman?" In a patronizing tone, he questioned, "As a general?"
The tension in the air had already been raised by his statements. Rapid escalation occurred. It wasn't until the glass broke that I realized I had been gripping it too tightly. At this, a few individuals, particularly the woman seated at the table, gasped a little."Why? What's incorrect with that?" Before anyone else could speak, I lost my temper. This time, I didn't look away. I kept my demanding look fixed on him. My jaws clenched, and my lips formed a narrow line. My father's anxiety was palpable throughout my entire body, and I could sense it in him as well.It wasn't the first time that someone has questioned my talents solely on the grounds that I was a woman. Hearing it from my friend only made it somewhat worse on my nerves despite the fact that I had dealt with it many times and was by this point extremely immune to it.Lawrence tried to break the tension, but Lucian immediately cut him off as the intensity in his eyes and the air only increased "In particular, I wouldn't trust a woman in a General-level post. I'm afraid you might wish to look for a different replacement.""The General would be her. The decision has been made. She is equally capable of being the General despite being a woman." This time, my father spoke, seeming extremely serious and almost demanding. In answer, Lucian raised an eyebrow at my dad.In the same patronizing manner, Lucian said, "The future partnership would suffer."The extremely easy return of my father was, "Then it's your problem." He was respectful while also being gloomy. As the dinner neared its conclusion, the tension persisted to break over it.I mentally kept track of the passing time and prepared to jump as soon as the dinner was through and vanish into my wing. I had had enough with him tonight, and I didn't think I could take his intimidating presence anymore.As soon as dinner was ended, I felt his strong, lingering gaze on me. I quickly excused myself, sprinted away from the packed area into my room. As soon as I returned to my wing, I was able to finally exhale in relief. I didn't care that my shoulders were still clenched tightly.I had my leopard with me at home. To see Dal, I made my way to my bedroom. He was the one I always looked for when I needed comfort. I couldn't put into words the peculiar sensation of relief and security he gave me.Perhaps it was because he was there for me from the beginning, when I was still only a beating heart within my mother's womb, even before I was born. Even in the hereafter, I would always remember his deep purrs.I'm back, Dal! I walked into my bedroom and yelled for him as I did so. When I didn't hear a noise in return, a frown began to form on my face. I hurried to my bedroom but it was empty and Dal wasn't there.I couldn't help but shuffle about the room, searching for him, but he wasn't there. His aroma lingered in the air very faintly, giving the impression that he would be long gone."Dal!" I yelled for him while shaking with fear.Where did he go?He wasn't in his playroom when I left my bedroom and went there instead. I looked everywhere, including my training room and study. He simply couldn't be found anyplace.I could not help but feel fear. What if he was going for a run outside? I kept saying this to myself to get myself to stop freaking out, but I couldn't get rid of the sensation in the pit of my stomach that something wasn't right with him.I waited for him all night, but he never showed up. In the wee hours of the morning, I went for a run to look for him after pacing about in my wing. I searched wherever he might be, but he was nowhere to be found.In the morning, I was in a lot of distress. Never had anything like this occurred. Dal had never vanished in this manner before, and I was worried about him. The moment I woke up, I hurried to my father and told him about my leopard's absence.He immediately became worried and despatched some wolves in search of my leopard, but I had a hunch they would return without it, and that is exactly what occurred.They simply were unable to locate my leopard anyplace "Go away, Athena. He would return. I'm going to discuss it with Lawrence. Even if your leopard got lost in the abyss, he would still return it to you." My father reassured me, but I was already crying.I spent a lot of time looking for my leopard but was still unable to discover it, so I arrived back at my wing late in the morning, fatigued and really anxious.It entirely escaped my notice at first, but when the crow croaked, I suddenly became aware of it perched outside my bedroom window. It seemed really unusual to me. Even though it was snowing heavily outside, I had never seen any crows here. But then I saw something connected to one of the bird's foot.In an apparent attempt to get me to open the window, the crow kept banging on it with its beak. I jumped out of bed right away and opened the window. As soon as I removed the parchment that was attached to the crow's feet, it took off flying.When I opened the parchment, I discovered that it had been written on in blood. As I read the bloodied words, "Looking for your leopard," my eyes became wider. After dark, search for it in the forbidden forests.-LMy heart was racing as I was left just staring at the letter. Fresh blood was found on the parchment. Its source of blood puzzled me. Did Dal own it? As I kept thinking about it, I became agitated. Is it true that he killed my leopard? Despite my immediate desire to meet Dal, something about the letter piqued my interest. Perhaps it was my eagerness to see what he had in store for me, or perhaps it was just the power of our shared tie at work. We hadn't even been together for a day when I started to feel defeated. I thought about going to Lawrence and asking him to speak with Lucian and give my leopard back. I didn't want to take the chance, despite how alluring the concept appeared. If I didn't follow his orders, what if he did something awful to Dal? Even simply thinking about it made my head hurt. Already, I was so frustrated. Again, I knew that he wouldn't just hand me my leopard so easily, but I still wanted to approach him and ask him for it. He seems to enjoy playing games, t
-HER- As I continued to fall and fall into the pitch-black hole, I yelled at the top of my lungs. The strange thing was that my scream did not resound. I don't remember how long I fell, but it seemed like an eternity. As gravity seized me, I had my eyes tightly clenched and the wind was rushing past my ears. I had given up shouting because it didn't seem to help.However, at one point I felt someone restraining me and the wind stopped swooshing past my ears. I understood the fall had been broken, but how?I quickly sensed the same presence from last night—a very strong presence. I quickly became aware that I was being held by two arms. I wrenched my eyes open and was met by a pair of brilliant golden-brown eyes. My already pounding heart accelerated as my breath became lodged in my throat. The more I looked into his vivid, dark-hued golden brown eyes, the shinier I became in his arms.Before they eventually let me down, they gave me a few blinks. As soon as my feet landed, I widened
-HER- For the second time today, I stumbled. Before the portal closed behind him and made a crackling sound, Dal jumped out of it. I sat there for a while, my mind trying to make sense of everything that had transpired up to this point as my heart raced in my chest. Dal was happily rubbing himself all over me while licking me clean. He seemed relieved to be back with me. I threw my hands around Dal and gave him a strong hug as I sobbed once everything finally hit my brain and I regained consciousness. I had truly missed him. I had been so anxious for him. Although I was relieved that my leopard was unharmed, I didn't enjoy how Lucian and I ended up getting along.I had no interest in him at all. Even my wolf felt something off about him. First of all, he was distinct from me. My type was inferior to his, and they ruled with far more ruthlessness. I was aware of his administration's treatment of women. They were in an unsafe environment there. I suppose that now that I've personally m
"What do you say?" I asked Lawrence as I looked around the crowd from the royal balcony. I was looking for a certain dark she-wolf with unusual features. There was always something about her that interested me.I didn't think it was the mate bond. It was somethi1ng different—a curiosity, an interest, a strong desire to know everything there was to know about her.When I didn't see her in the crowd, especially among all the Princes here tonight, I started to frown. I thought about where she was."My General doesn't like it very much," Lawrence said. I looked at him because of this. He gave me a grim look before saying, "He doesn't want his wolves to fight proxy wars."His words made me look at Lawrence for a second longer. I couldn't help but look at his partner, who was standing next to him and looking down at the crowd. She changed Lawrence so much that I never liked her.Lawrence was someone I'd known for a long time. He wasn't always like this. He wasn't the type to take things eas
Athena's POVAs I looked down at the women in front of me, I leaned back in my throne. As I looked at all of their faces, the thought of getting a headache danced on my forehead. With each face, I felt more and more upset.As Amoux brought more women into the room, a small crease began to form between my eyebrows."What is it?" I asked with a mix of anger and irritation in my voice. Seeing all these faces I didn't know made me mad. I hated being in a crowd.Amoux frowned when I asked him my question, and then he looked at the women, confused, and then back at me."Why? Didn't you tell me to bring them?" He asked in a hurry. I could also tell that he was upset by the lines on his face. We were having more trouble than I thought because of this.All because of that stupid bond between mates.I took a deep breath to get myself back together. I was about to lose my cool. I didn't realize how hard it would be."I told you how I wanted them, the women," I said, glaring angrily at the women.
Lucian's POVI couldn't wait for the next day to get here. I had never been so restless and angry all night, especially for such a small and useless goddess. I was so angry that to say I was mad would be an understatement.I was really, really mad at her. My cynical mind was already planning something to do to her or to help me get out of the mate bond. On the other hand, whatever was going on in my head didn't make my lycan very happy.He had always wanted a mate, and when we found her, he tried to claim her like other lycans would have, but I'm not like other lycans. I'm the leader of the werewolves.Having a partner would make me weaker, not stronger. My enemies would try to hurt her, and they weren't like most enemies.They had a lot of power and would do anything to hurt me and my kingdom. It had taken me many years of hard work and many sacrifices to get my kingdom to where it was today. I wasn't going to let a she-wolf and a goddess turn into a weakness for me.Either that she-
Lucian's POV"You could have just turned her down instead of bringing me here for this small matter," she said as if she weren't talking to the King of Lycans. I was already mad at her, and it seemed like she was doing everything she could to make me angry.My patience broke, and I ended up growling at her and shaking the ground where she was standing. This seemed to finally make her remember who I really was and how important what we were talking about was. I saw her take a small step back and heard her heart beat fast for a moment.She finally realized how much trouble she was in. She had very faint signs of fear on her face, and it made me and my lycan very happy to have hit the right note with her. I sat back a little on my throne, but I never took my eyes off of her. I never stopped looking at you.This time I said, "I don't like to repeat myself, Fowol. Do what I said," with more authority. My heavy, deep voice was filled with dominance and power that you could feel in your bone
Athena's POV"I don't understand why women can't go there. Is there something special there?" I asked him. He had already been to the Midwinter Festival. Except for me, the other three had already been there."Actually, no. In that way, it's very normal, but it's also very grand. Everything about it is very grand: the decorations, the people, the events, and everything else. Lucian seems very serious about it, "While Embry and Jacob caught up to us, Locros told me. They had been out for some runs in the snow."What is very important to Lucian?" When Embry joined us, he asked. Jacob was just a few meters away, putting on his training gear to get ready for battle.I said, "The Mid Winter Festival.""Oh, yes, that's a big deal for them," said Embry. "I wish that you could join us,"I told him with a smirk, "Well, I'm going." His eyes grew very big at once. He opened his mouth to talk, but Jacob said, "Hell, yeah!""But they don't let women in there!" Embry had said."Who says I'm going t