♦Raphael’s Point Of View♦ “Arielle, please wake up. I need you.” I whispered, brushing a small strand of her hair from her face. It had been three days since we returned from The Intertwine. Three days and my sleeping beauty’s eyes hadn’t even twitched. I had been by her side the whole time I was awake, waiting and praying to the moon goddess that she would wake up. Joan had said she would wake up soon, but every second she wasn’t awake, it made my chest squeeze. How soon was soon? She had to wake up. I was losing my mind seeing her so frail and weak, covered with bandages from all the injuries that she had sustained from the bug bites. We had even tried magic-induced drugs, and they helped her leg a bit, but the wounds she had remained the same. I was sure it was because she got them from The Intertwine. I couldn’t protect her enough. I had laid half-dead, unable to do anything against the devil bugs apart from waiting for the hands of death. While she got hurt not just trying to
♦Raphael’s Point Of View♦Arielle was kissing me?! Not me kissing her. I didn’t initiate it; she did. She was kissing me on her own volition.My brain fried for a split second before my body responded on its own. I placed my hand behind her head and deepened the kiss. The beautiful taste of her lips and her scent engulfed me, and I lost myself in them, savouring the goodness.She broke the kiss just when my hunger for her had risen to the point where I wanted to be in control and deepen it, but I had to respect her boundaries. If she wanted to stop, then it was fine with me, even though I wanted more. Just her kissing me out of the blue was enough to keep me on cloud nine for a week.“What—”“Shh.” She whispered, placing her finger on my lips. “It may seem really odd that I would say something like this at this moment, but I need to say it now because I don’t think it’s fair to you. So will you please listen to everything without interrupting till I’m done?”Though confused by the sit
♦Raphael’s Point Of View♦“I heard you had an accident, but I never expected you to look as terrible as this. What happened?” Gordon asked, eyeing Arielle from top to bottom as he sat on the chair opposite us. We sat in the gazebo of the garden as per Arielle’s request, enjoying the cool evening and the fragrances of the flowers.“It’s a long story.” Arielle sighed and took a small bite of her cupcake.“Well, I’m already here despite my will, so listening to a long story won’t be the worst thing that can happen to me.” He leaned back into his chair and crossed his legs. “The last time I saw you two, you guys said you were going on a trip. What exactly happened on this trip that gave her a broken leg and injuries on every inch of her skin?”“I can’t say.” She mumbled, reaching for another cupcake.“Raphael?” Gordon’s eyes flickered at me, and he gave me an intimidating glare that would have made most alphas’ squeak like pigs. But I wasn’t most alpha. I couldn’t be intimidated by an alp
♦Raphael’s Point Of View♦“Pardon me, but I have a concern.” I said, interrupting Liana, and everyone’s gaze landed on me.We were in another meeting like we had before, but it wasn’t like the previous one. Gordon, and Joan— we needed someone who understood the ways of medicine— were with us. Liana didn’t mind as long as he swore to keep her identity a secret, which he did.“Yes?” Liana replied.“How is Arielle going to do all that with a broken leg? I don’t think sympathy will win the heart of Killian.” I said, crossing my legs. I prayed that that would disqualify Arielle from going. What use will she be if she can’t move? None. That was exactly what I wanted. I would rather have her stay at home grounded than be in the crossfire in the battle against Killian.“Oh, that doesn’t pose a problem. The flower has healing properties. You just need a drop of its extract, and everything will go away like it was simply an illusion.” Liana shrugged, and Arielle’s eyes widened.“Really?” she re
♦Raphael’s Point Of View♦ “Yes? What about Brielle?” Gordon replied, as monotone as before, but he couldn’t fool us. We had caught him, and we were going to drill him till he talked. “I noticed you were quite concerned about her since your visit to Moonshade. It almost seemed like you were interested in her.” I pointed out, trying to drive him to a corner. “I’m only concerned about her because of the type of situation she is in, and I pity her. I would feel the same if it were another woman.” He shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. “Oh, so you don’t have any interest in her.” “As I said, I’m only concerned about her because of the type of situation.” He didn’t say no. If he meant no, he would have said no. Gordon was a straight forward man, but for him to beat around the bush meant one thing… he was definitely interested in her. It seems the Winston sisters had a way of finding their way into hearts. I needed to get Brielle a large bouquet of flowers for doing what no other woman
♡Arielle’s Point Of View♡“Go to the beach house?” I asked, dropping the book I was reading on my lap and staring at Raphael as he sat by my side. I was holed up in the library, rereading one of the books we had gotten from Agnes in case we had missed anything. Any information we could“Yes. I was thinking we should go to the beach house to rest after you’ve been healed.” He said as he took the book from me and placed it on the side table.“Why?” I tilted my head to the side. Why did he want us to leave when there were still a lot of things to be done? Our plan was already in action, so we couldn’t just leave. The extraction of the magic from the stardust was going on without any mishaps, and the alphas that were going to infiltrate Killian’s home were being trained. Though I couldn’t actively be involved because of my broken leg, I still ensured that things were going on without any hiccups.“Because you’ve been agitated and worried these past few days.” He took my hand in his.“Of
♦Raphael’s Point Of View♦“Thank you,” Arielle said as I helped her into the large bath tub full of warm water.“You remember how many drops she said you should use, right?” I asked, raising the small vial to my face. I was torn between feeling glad about it and irritated. I was happy it was done so that Arielle would be finally healed, but because it was, George had interrupting me when I was so close. So close to having her.I wanted to grab his neck and strangle him. The idiot had deliberately interrupted us. He wouldn’t have died if he had waited for just a few hours, but he just had to walk in and ruin the mood. I was sure she would have given herself to me without resistance.But I couldn’t complain or be really mad. Arielle was going to be completely fine, and she was bubbling with excitement, and I couldn’t help but feel the same. I didn’t need to even look at her to know that her broken leg was irking her. Though she wasn’t vocal about it, it was written all over her.“Just t
♡Arielle’s POV♡“You know you’re a beautiful girl, Arielle. I couldn’t help falling in love with you from the first time I saw you.” Jake’s beady, lust-clouded eyes stared at me, and his grubby, dirty hand rubbed my knee. I knew I should have worn jeans instead of a dress.“You met me when I was thirteen.” I said, the disgust in my voice and on my face was well hidden under my usual blank expression.“I know, it seems strange, but age is just a number, right?” He laughed as his fingers made their way a few inches up and played with the hem of my dress.‘Eww! Paedophile! And he doesn’t even have an iota of shame! What a pig!’ I tried not to crinkle my nose, and I gently as possible pushed his hand from my knee. I knew Jake had some weird attraction to me, but I didn’t expect him to be this perverted. Eww! Just eww!“So, can you lend me the money? You can be deducting fifty percent of my salary till my debt is paid off.” I diverted the conversation to the reason that made me sit with hi