~ Rhys ~HOW?!Rhys looked down at his body- that wasn’t his body- and was once again in Amira’s form. Deliciously naked. That wasn’t the shocking bit, though. With some of the wounds scattered on her body, including a painful burn on her arm that was starting to heal, Rhys knew Amira escaped the dungeons almost unscathed. But HOW?! They were told it was 99% impossible to escape. Amira was that 1%.Rhys shook his head and scanned his surroundings. He stood beside a tree in the forest. It all looked the same, but he knew Amira didn’t make it far before their body swap. ‘Welcome back,’ Nisha greeted Rhys. He was surprised to have a warm welcome; it was far kinder than Amira probably would be. Hearing his thoughts, Nisha added, “You cannot blame her for that.’‘And did she really hate it?’ Rhys asked, feeling confident without the need to hear Nisha’s response. Still, he was curious.‘That’s beside the point!’ Nisha humphed, but Rhys could tell she wasn’t really angry and only putting
~ Rhys ~Did you mate with her already? Rhys wanted to scoff. Amira messed up in the midst of leaving to hunt him down. She should have known better than to believe he would continue on her little venture into the woods. What advantage would he gain from doing such a thing?Baltir glanced at Amira’s chest and the bare spot where a mate mark would be. Amira ignored the Beta’s questions, though, and glanced behind her and stopped. She frowned at Rhys. Rhys glared back, not sure what was wrong with this she-wolf now.‘Amira walks confidently and proudly. No matter who is around her. You are covering yourself and acting ashamed-’Rhys scoffed, interrupting Nisha’s explanation. Before he could respond, Nisha spoke up. ‘We are werewolves. Walking around naked is our forte. Amira has a beautiful body-’‘Exactly! I don’t want the others drooling over her!’ Rhys snapped back. He expected Nisha to be annoyed. Instead, she chuckled and seemed happy for some reason. Amira sighed after watching
~ Amira ~Amira parted ways with Rhys, her mind somewhat sluggish from the turn of events as she tried to keep up with everything that happened. Now back in Rhys’ body, she walked down the open hallways to the king’s room, one she was used to returning to now but was overly aware of the bedroom beside his. The one where Rhys was currently.Zev and Tolva stood guard outside. The pair managed to find some breeches. Zev looked like he’d just gotten out of bed with that shaggy brown hair like normal compared to Tolvar’s stark difference with his blonde hair neatly pulled back into a small queue. Despite this, both were still shirtless. They appeared comfortable standing guard half naked, and she saw why. Their bodies were what she expected of the king’s personal guard and friends. All muscular and chiselled. Demon growled in her mind, and she had to hide a slight smirk at his jealousy.‘It is only a compliment. I don’t mean anything by it. You’re obviously waaaay hotter,’ Amira flattered
~ Amira ~While Amira had been internally debating with herself and forcing herself to look past Demon’s whines and the barrier around her heart that crumbled to them, Rhys had been side-eying her in the bath.“You were going to escape. Why? You knew this was a possibility of happening,” Rhys said, oblivious to Amira’s thoughts and the narrowing of her eyes directed at him.Amira rolled her eyes. “If you were ever truly in my shoes, then you would understand why escaping was a better option.” She held her finger up to silence Rhys; surprisingly, he did. Rhys didn’t interrupt and watched her; his movements paused mid-scrub under his armpit. “There were other reasons as well… I wanted to hunt down the elders who were banished... No matter, I will send the word out to target them.” A wicked smile lit up Amira’s face to the malevolent thoughts racing across her mind. So many would volunteer to hunt down and torture corrupt officials, which made their lives harder. Heck, even if she sent
~ Amira ~The doors closed behind them as Amira ventured further into the Alpha King’s chambers, lost in thought about this situation. She never thought about Beta Baltir discovering the body swap. Or hear their conversation. They seriously needed to get thicker walls. Rhys and Amira would need to find somewhere more private if they wished to discuss such things again. Right now, though, Amira needed to focus on the current issue. What could be done about Baltir?“What do you think you know?” Amira decided to ask, turning to face him, now inside the living quarters by the fireplace. It was relatively safe to talk about this here. It was further inside the king’s quarters, with the multiple walls and doors between them and the guards. "You’re not Rhys…” Baltir said, observing her and side-stepping gingerly. Amira glanced at his movements. It looked like he was debating whether to attack her or not. That would be a mistake. Amira ignored his hesitant movements and sat down in the a
~ Rhys ~Damn, did it feel good to be in the comforts of luxury again? Although his bath had been interrupted by Amira and the questions, she didn’t get answers to. He felt no guilt for not telling her the reasoning behind the elder’s authority. Even Nisha’s silence was not enough to deter him. In fact, it reminded him of having Demon in his mind. He would only growl and make his emotions apparent. Sometimes, if they were strong emotions, then he could hear some of his thoughts; otherwise, it was quiet. Much like now, though, he knew Nisha had a lot to say like Amira, making him more aware of Amira and Nisha’s similarities. Now dressed in the nightgown the maid gave him, he stared outside the bay windows, cradling a glass of whiskey. Yep, he managed to procure a bottle he’d hidden in the room previously. While lost in thought about the elders and the annoying power they had held over him until now, his head whipped to the side, hearing multiple footsteps approaching the door. The d
~ Rhys ~By the time Amira returned, dressed in a white shirt and breeches, the trio were sitting at the light pink sofa and armchairs, a drink in their hands. Baltir and Bash were still tense around Rhys, observing him and wondering if he really was the Alpha King. But they were more interested in getting some alcohol in their system first so they could handle the conversation they were going to have.It really wasn't that hard to understand, but Rhys and Amira were now somewhat used to it.Amira grabbed Rhys’ glass and tossed the whiskey back, gulping it down like water. Baltir and Bash watched her, a little fixated now that they were up to speed with everything. Their expressions were easy to read. They were adjusting to calling the Alpha King Amira and vice versa.Amira handed the empty glass to Rhys and plopped down in the open spot beside Rhys on the sofa. The Beta was in one armchair and Bash in another, watching them.“Thanks," Rhys grumbled, glaring at Amira. "Care to pour me
~ Amira ~It was strange having two others now aware of the secret Amira and Rhys only just wrapped their heads around. Simultaneously, it was nice at the same time. Around Baltir and Bash, Amira didn’t need to be overly conscious about how she acted unless she was in front of other courtiers.After a few weeks in Rhys’ body, though, she’d already done well acting as the king. It was quite easy. She was a leader herself, so ordering people to do stuff came naturally to her, especially with the Alpha blood in her system. But it was also nice to speak to someone else who wasn’t the irritating king. Now that Baltir was aware of who Amira really was, he started to act a little differently with her. He was definitely more formal. It had only been half a day since she went to meetings, and in the short spare time they had, Amira noted his slightly different behaviour. She asked him about it, and his response was that she was Alpha King Rhys’ mate, the future Luna. He couldn’t act so casual