by Jennise K
“Olivia, the curse is not on the castle. It’s on me.”
I blinked, and he smiled ruefully. “There is no escaping it.”
~
“Letty and I aren’t going,” I announced as I walked down the stairs with Letty in my arms, her tiny fingers tight around a strand of my hair.
Alert, Romanov stood, his golden eyes blazing in open abandon. All the while, wide-eyed Isabelle continued to stare at him.
It was the next morning, and waking up, packing Letty’s things had made the impact of taking my niece to the castle settle in. It wasn’t safe.
“I can’t protect you if you’re away from me,” Romanov hissed, clutching his fists beside him.
His eyes blazed brighter when I began walking straight towards him. “I can’t take her into the dragon’s lair, Romanov.”
“She’s right you know,” Isabelle suddenly said, putting a finger up in a gesture to illustrate her point.
The steely glare Romanov gave her had her shrugging.
“It’s true. Lolette would be a prime target if she went to the castle,” Isabelle insisted.
“Err…I really think you shouldn’t butt into their conversation,” Grayson joined the argument, presenting his own point.
Just then, the loud tune of the doorbell going off echoed around the living room and caught everyone by surprise. I watched as Dom’s gaze moved toward Romanov before he nodded and, sending a tired look my way, turned around and walked towards the front door. Another round of the doorbell ringing went around the living room.
The rest of us waited in the living room as we listened to the sound of the door creaking open before Abigail’s loud voice filled the house. I sighed in relief.
“Olivia!”
“Yeah!” I called out, letting her know where I was. I took a glance at Romanov and noticed his disapproving look.
“Oh, she’s here! Hey, girl! Guess what! I’m lodging here for a few days with you girls! Thought it could be like an extended sleepover!” Abigail exclaimed happily as she dropped her backpack to the floor and rushed towards an equally happy Isabelle.
“Olivia, can I talk to you in private?”
I blinked, catching the underlying steel in Romanov’s voice.
Handing Letty to Dom, who was quick to take her, I slowly followed Romanov who’d already disappeared from the room.
But no matter. I knew where he was.
I climbed onto the stairs, stepped out onto the landing, and rushed to my room. When I closed the door behind me, Romanov immediately spoke, “I can protect you in the castle.”
I sighed, moving to stand behind him. The muscles of his back tensed under the tight fit of his long-sleeved shirt.
“Maybe,” I agreed softly. “But Letty—maybe not. A baby is too vulnerable, Beasty.”
“That won’t work,” Romanov suddenly turned around, and my breath caught in my throat. His jet-black eyes rimmed with gold had me mesmerised.
“What won’t work?” I asked dumbly.
“Calling me Beasty,” Romanov snapped, and I withdrew almost as if I was struck.
I looked away, unable to look at him when he was being so angry. “You’re being unreasonable, and I won’t bring Letty to the castle. That’s it.”
“You can’t be serious!” Romanov shouted, and my resolve only got firmer.
I continued to look away.
“Fine!” he suddenly exploded. I cringed when he turned around and took a deep breath. “Fine. If that’s what you want. Stay. Without me.”
And then he left and strode out of the door while I stood there, frozen, as I watched him leave.
It took me a minute or two before I began rushing downstairs. It had been so good the past days. I didn’t want to end it with a fight with Romanov.
Rushing down the stairs, I realized I was too late. Just when I was finally in the living room, I heard the sound of the car driving out the driveway. I panicked. Blinking rapidly, I sprinted towards the front door just in time to see the car and the three guys drive away, leaving a trail of dust behind.
“Sorry, Livy,” Isabelle murmured softly. In her arms, Lolette looked just as upset as I felt.
“He’ll be back, Liv. Trust me,” Abigail reassured me softly as she patted me on my back.
I, on the other hand, continued to watch the busy street, my mind pondering on the one irrational question that made cringe.
What if he didn’t come back?
Chapter 16
“Absence can do two things to love:
Make it stronger or allow you to pretend it never existed at all.”
– The Book of Secrets
“Livy, I don’t exactly understand how…”
Snapping my eyes away from a freshly bathed Letty as I secured her diaper, I looked up at Isabelle and cocked an eyebrow up.
“How what?”
Isabelle took a second, thinking how to place her question before she finally spoke. “How the royals are different from normal wolves.”
A soft, sad smile shadowed my lips, and I quickly got back to getting little Lolette dressed.
I knew the answer to the question, but the memories that flowed with it left a heavy longing in my chest. I remembered the precious hidden alcove in the library, my stacks of books still probably placed beside of it.
It had been two days since Romanov and the guys had left, and while Grayson had come once—much to my surprise—none of the other two had showed up since.
“So, do you know anything about it?” Isabelle asked, pulling me from my trance.
I blinked, my trail of thoughts dropping into oblivion in a second as I snapped my head towards Isabelle.
‘“The royals were the first beasts to appear, somewhere around a thousand eight hundred years ago. The specific origin is not specified, but theories move between genetic mutation to evolution. There are folklores about early beasts too, but modern historians are, of course, ruling those out. That’s fine by me, mostly because I find it personally quite distur—”
I stopped, my eyes widening at the shock of me spilling all this information. Seeing the sparkling curiosity in Isabelle’s eyes, I immediately began shaking my head “Oh, no. I’m not going to tell you any of those.”
At this, Isabelle immediately tilted her head to the side and gave me her best “puppy eye” look.
“Don’t give me that look, Issy. This is for your own good,” I warned her, shaking my finger in front of her face.
“Oh, Livy, plea—oh okay! But do continue!” Isabelle heaved out a dramatic sigh, giving up. She leaned forward on the bed, where she sat, and rested her chin above her hand.
The corners of my lips crinkled as I tried to hold my smile. I nodded and slowly turned back to tend to Letty, picking my happy niece up from her changing table and quickly settling her in my arms.
“It’s simple, Issy. The royals are like…the original of their species. The normal werewolves came about from humans the first royals bit and changed. Initially, they were all called lycanthropes. But soon, the term werewolf came about, and that’s how they are differentiated now. The cycle in that manner, therefore, continued. Royals mated, with weres or royals or humans, and royals were born. Weres mated with humans or weres, and weres were born.”
Shifting towards my bed, I settled in beside Isabelle. Just then, an accomplished-looking Abigail marched in, a feeding bottle full of milk in her hand.
“But when royals or weres mate with humans, won’t the babies be weaker? Because then, won’t the human blood makes the babies become half-bloods and lower the werewolf blood’s potency?” Isabelle frowned as she looked from Abigail to me.
“Well, that’s where we don’t follow the key aspects of genetics. Human genetics, that is. When it comes to these creatures, it’s a different rule. When lycans or weres mate with humans, the chances of the baby turning to a werewolf is fifty-fifty. Either the baby is human or one of us. But mostly, it’s one of us,” Abigail explained.
Isabelle ga
sped, and I turned just in time to see her grin excitedly. “Abigail…you?”
Handing the feeding bottle to me, Abigail shot a grin at Isabelle as she joined us on the bed. “Oh yeah, me.”
“She’s about to fall asleep soon,” Issy suddenly pointed out, and I looked down at Letty to see her eyes already closing, the rubber tip still clasped around her mouth.
I smiled, caressing the sleepy baby’s chubby cheeks as she continued to sleepily feed from the bottle.
“Yeah. It’s only seven. What do you guys want for dinner?” I asked the two.
“I’ll make five-spice chicken with rice, and then we can watch a horror movie and bond?” Abigail suggested with enthusiasm.
Isabelle and I groaned as we suddenly began looking around the room, already looking for something scary in the shadows.
“Yeah, I don’t think I’m comfortable with that, really,” Isabelle mumbled nervously, and I began nodding, agreeing.
Abigail rolled her eyes as she looked from Isabelle and me. Snatching my sheepish gaze from hers, I quickly looked down at Letty and gently pulled the baby feeder out, wiping her mouth softly with a wipe. I got up and, tucking her slowly into her crib, rocked it twice before Letty finally settled in for the night.
“Aaand Princess Letty is out. Let’s go get dinner ready,” Abigail announced in a whisper. I put a thumb up in reply before grabbing the feeder off Letty and following the other two girls out of the room. Before I went out, I made sure to keep the door open and the dim night lights on.
~
The lush green fields of Italy played on the screen in front of us as all three of us sat on the couch and floor before the TV, bags of chips in our hands. Letters to Juliet just never got old.
Dinner was quickly done and had. Chatters about the oncoming semester break brought out an excited conversation from both Isabelle and Aby about the manor Aby had gotten and how exciting the project was in general.
I couldn’t help but fall into the pits of my thoughts again, my mind wondering how Romanov must be and aching a little because he hadn’t even tried to contact me in the past two days. My mind fluttered to Dom, and I almost hit my head with a spoon for the guy. He was clearly avoiding Isabelle. And seeing the hidden looks of hurt and embarrassment, Isabelle quickly pushed away. Sometimes, I knew she knew it, too.
Now sitting there watching one of the cute scenes from the film, I couldn’t help but feel a little agitated at Romanov and my situation. I almost wanted to call him, eternally humiliating myself by planning on telling him that I wanted him to fight—fight the curse as much as he fought and argued with me.
I just wanted him to fight for me.
“And you’re lost again,” Abigail suddenly spoke up, and I blinked in my seat before turning towards her, her face set in an expression that clearly said, “You try to deny it. Deny it. Fight me. Deny it!”
Normally, my first instincts were to deny it, but strangely, this time, I just shrugged.
“I’m just thinking about Romanov,” I admitted, shrugging again.
Issy moved up on the couch at once and brought out her arm to hug me. “Oh, honey, he’ll be back before you know it. Everyone knows that. Although I don’t know why the guy is so angry about this.”
Beside me, Abigail shrugged. “Alphas don’t usually like it when their mates think they would be safer without their presence, and he is an alpha king! Double that possessiveness, please.”
Isabelle turned towards us, wide eyed, and I felt the corners of my lips turn up when a piece of chips fell out of her mouth.
“That sounds awesome!” she exclaimed, surprised, as she picked the fallen chip and shoved it back into her mouth.
“Not exactly when you’re at the receiving end of it and they get mad at you, Issy,” I grumbled, shoving a fistful of chips into my mouth, too.
“Girl, we can do a bit of shopping at the boutique tomorrow. The girl you just hired, Wendy the nanny, will be here, so we can get you a bit of retail therapy after our shift is over. How about that?” Abigail suggested, and I chuckled, nodding. Isabelle at once clapped her hands excitedly at the prospect.
“I like how you’ve titled her ‘Wendy the Nanny.’” Issy giggled, and I followed suit soon after. It was true. Abigail had a knack for titling every random human being she met. And oftentimes, it was hilarious.
When the giggling stopped and we all had calmed down, we slowly realized that between all our talking, the movie had ended and the credits were now rolling in.
“Well, I guess it’s time for 13 Going on 30,” Abigail announced, and Isabelle and I turned towards her, smiling because we had all first watched it together on my thirteenth birthday.
Those were the good days. I smiled as the memories of my mother’s sweet smile and my father’s warm comforting hugs fluttered before me. Eyes turning foggy, I began blinking, trying harder to keep the tears at bay.
Yes, those were the good days.
~
I was tired.
Noticing the change in my mood while watching Jennifer Garner go about her amazing life as a “big-time magazine editor,” both the girls spent almost the other half of the movie trying to cheer me up and getting my mind off everything. Half an hour into their efforts and we were all laughing and jumping around.
The grandfather clock down the hallway dinged twelve, and I let out a small yawn. I got myself into the bathroom and quickly finished my bed rituals. Getting out, I shoved my pants and baggy shirt away and tucked into the bed with only a tank top and knickers on. As comfortable as I ever could be.
It seemed like endless minutes of just lying there thinking about everything before sleep finally decided to pay a visit, wrapping his dizzying arms around me. I finally began to close my eyes and lose myself into the comforting darkness.
But then, something moved.
I just dismissed it as nothing. I was getting sleepy anyway.
And then, it moved again.
I froze as the blurry wooziness began to slowly disappear, and the alarm of something—or someone—sneaking into my room woke me into full consciousness.
Something moved again, its movement slow and dragging, and I realized that it was just the large window in my room, the slow, dragging sound coming from it being opened. Wait, what?
The thud of something dropping on the floor caught my attention and heightened all my senses and my panic. I froze in bed, thinking of reaching for my iPhone as quickly as I could.
The possibility of it being a thief—or even a murderer—dropped fear and anxiety on me in an onslaught. I began to breathe crazily, praying I could get help faster than I could get killed. Then, as if I wasn’t already disoriented enough, my mind drifted to little Letty who was just beside me. I began panicking, my hands now profusely sweating and chills running over my body.
“You’re awake.”
My hand was already under the pillow beside me, feeling for my phone. I froze.
Romanov.
“I can hear your heart beating like you’re running a marathon.”
I gulped, trying to calm myself down.
Slowly, I began turning towards the window and watched as the large shadow before me stood by it for a minute before it began moving towards me.
“Why are you here?” I whispered, not knowing what else to ask him first.
“My beast was on the edge. I couldn’t take it anymore,” Romanov admitted after a moment of silence. I flinched at the hints of coldness and trouble in his confession.
Reaching for the table lamp on my side, I quickly turned on the dull light. In front of me, placing himself by the foot of my bed, stood Romanov in all his shirtless glory. My eyes widened slightly when I noticed his hair was pulled back and tied into a messy attempt of a half ponytail, slight locks of his hair falling against his sharp cheekbones.
His dark eyes shined like two black pools of marbles in the low golden light, and I watched as he waited silently at the foot of my bed for my reaction.
Wh
at now?
After a minute of silence had passed, I finally sighed then turned around on my side to look away from Romanov, turning the lamp off. I waited.
Slowly, after a minute, the slow drag of his feet sounded in the silence, and I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding until then and felt the bed beside me dip.
As soon as Romanov got into my bed, I turned over to his side and edged closer to him, resting my head on his chest and throwing my left leg slightly over his body.
I missed him, and I was beyond caring to find this shameful. It was strange, but I just wanted to be close to him.
Romanov froze under me, and I held my breath as I waited for him to push me away. But I felt his hand slowly slide around my waist, causing a soft smile to curve its way on my lips. His hand brushed against the waistband of my knickers.
“What are you wearing?” he suddenly hissed, his voice low but nevertheless startled.
Before I could reply, a soft tap on my bedroom’s door sounded, and both Romanov and I turned towards it.
Whoever was on the other side tapped again. I turned to look at Romanov for a second before slowly getting out of bed and making my way to the door. I opened it to reveal Abigail standing outside.
“Hey. Err…I was thinking…maybe I should take Letty?” Abigail whispered, her brown and blond curly hair pulled up into a bun.
Quickly turning around to watch Letty fast asleep in her crib and to hide my flushed cheeks, I nodded.
Striding towards Letty’s crib in the dark, I slowly picked her up in my arms, bouncing her a little when she let out a tiny cry, irritated by someone disturbing her sleep. When she calmed, I slowly picked her things and walked back to the door.
“Sorry,” I mumbled as I handed Letty over to Aby. I watched as she blushed a little before shaking her head.
“It’s okay. I just didn’t want her to wake up. I’ll just listen to music until I fall asleep, so that, you know, I don’t hear your conversation,” Abigail mumbled with a knowing smile on her face.
I nodded, feeling absolutely stupid for taking Abigail’s enhanced hearing ability into account.