35
LYRIC
Jaris started the car and kicked us into the road. Initially, I thought I was lucky, but it wasn’t until that moment that I thought maybe, Jaris was trying to kill me for everything that just happened. Because why the hell was he going so fast!?
He was driving at an incredible speed, making all the buildings and people pass by in a blur.
I thought he was mad, but when I looked at him, I saw amusement in his metallic eyes. Then, it dawned on me that he was enjoying this, and he wasn’t doing it because he was mad or wanted to punish me.
I laughed at some point, also enjoying the thrill of it. But I soon became worried from how dangerous it was.
“I–I think you might want to slow down,” I stuttered when we’d narrowly missed a truck.
He glanced at me and smirked. “Are you afraid of dying, Lyric Harper?”
Goodness, he was enjoying this! But now, I wasn’t so much.
He stepped on the gas pedal, making us go even faster. In a really dangerous way, he maneuvered trucks and cars. Horns blared angrily at us.
“The people are not finding this funny!” My voice rose a notch.
“Oh, Lyric Harper. Embrace the thrill sometimes and live.”
The thrill.
I swallowed hard as I looked out the window.
I wouldn’t deny; there was a part of me that found this really fun despite how scary it was. Living my life without a single fear….
A small smile touched my lips as I closed my eyes and allowed myself to enjoy the feel of the air from the window against my cheeks and my hair. It was exhilarating.
Jaris suddenly stopped on the brakes, making us bounce on our seats. My excitement vanished.
What in Hades?
I heard a low chuckle and looked at him to discover he was the one chucking. And he did that on purpose!
“That was scary,” I said with a frown.
“I know. Thought I’d bring up a little scare to the fun.”
I shook my head and ended up laughing.
Then, it dawned on me. Jaris and I were acting normal for the first time since I saw him in a few weeks. How did this happen?
Tonight, I could catch a glimpse of that fun man I’d met in a bar five years ago. A glimpse of that loving man that had taken me to bed.
‘He abandoned you in the morning, Lyric, and had you kicked out.‘
No. I shut the voice out. Tonight, I wasn’t going to dwell on the past. I was going to embrace the present.
“Thank you,” I said to him with a light smile.
He looked at me, his eyes probing.
“For helping with Roderick. And not judging me,” I clarified.
He said nothing, simply shrugged, and stepped on the pedal. ***************
MARTA
Marta hated that she was here at the moment, but she didn’t have a choice when her grandmother had summoned her herself.
She kept her head low as she entered her family’s mansion. Fortunately, none of them were in the living room, except for the servants cleaning up the pace.
She took the stairs, heading to her grandmothe
Once upon a time, this mansion used to be full
Successfully unlocked!
so much fur Nea
empty, sad, and bothersome.
She could perceive the smell of burning incense as she approached the door. Knocking twice, she made her way in and found her grandmother seated on the floor, various candles burning around her.
In front of her were books upon books and clump of herbs.
1/2
35
The woman’s eyes were closed as she muttered some words.
Marta stood back with her head bowed. Her grandmother did not like to be interrupted when she was praying.
“Have you any idea how much of a disgrace you are?” The woman asked after a while, her eyes still closed. “For six years, you only had one task: get Alpha Jaris to make you his Luna.”
The woman opened her eyes, then slowly, turned around to meet her gaze. “How disappointing could you be, Marta? What exactly have you been doing?”
“I’ve been trying, grandma. I–I even gave him kids. I thought that would be enough to make him choose me. But-”
“Well, it’s obvious you’re not doing enough!” The woman snapped. “How can you be there and he’s planning on making someone else his Luna? How useless can you be, Marta?”
Marta kept her head low, tears rimming her eyes. If it had been anyone else, she’d have spoken back at them. But not her grandmother. That would be her signing her death sentence.
“This family has gone down in shambles!” Her grandmother continued, turning away from her. “We all put our hopes in you, thinking you’d be able to help us out. But what did you do, Marta? You’ve obviously been there, enjoying the privilege that comes with being Jaris‘ baby mama, while you leave us here to rot!”
Marta frowned. “I’m sorry, Grandma. Believe me, I’ve been trying.”
“Then, try harder! See to it that the mating ceremony does not take place this Friday. If it does, we have lost, Marta! And you‘ Il be useless to me.”
**********
JARIS
After a long, exhilarating ride, Lyric and I arrived at Darkspire, and I could see how grateful she was that we arrived in one piece. He had been very scared during the whole ride, but I could also tell that a tiny part of her had enjoyed the thrill.
I couldn’t exactly tell why I had the need to do this with her. I loved driving like ‘that‘, but it was often alone. Yet tonight, I’d been tempted to do it with her.
I’ll admit, I’d been shocked to know she was still bonded to Roderick. But it didn’t take a genius to know Roderick was an asshole who was trying to manipulate things in his favour. When she said he’d treated her like a slave, I didn’t have a hard time believing. Because then, it proved why she had this underlying fear in her eyes, like someone that was used to being hurt by others.
Roderick was lucky it was against the rules to kill another Alpha who didn’t pose a serious threat to others.
She told me she wanted to check on the kids to make sure Xylon didn’t have another epistle. I followed her.
We found one of the nannies at the door, and she confirmed that Xylon was fine throughout the day. Lyric still went into the room. So, I waited at the doorframe.
The blue lights were on in the room, so we could see how peacefully they slept.
I looked at Lyric in front of me and noticed she was staring too keenly at the kids. It was almost as if she was lost for a moment.
I heard a light sniffle, and my brows creased on their own. Was she… crying? No, that wasn’t possible.
Her hand went over her face before she turned around.
“They’re fine. I’ll check on him again in the morning,” I noticed her voice was a little hoarse this time. And her eyes… they were glossy.
Did my kids remind her of something?
Not saying another word, we left the room together.
口
