TRISTAN POV It had to be the lights overhead that had me opening my eyes with so much annoyance, like, "Who the hell uses so much light in just one room, for goodness' sake?"And why was I still alive and breathing, wasn't the goal to Vampire clan just to alarm them and die?Her scent tickled my nose and whetted my appetite—or was I dreaming? But when I turned my head, there she was, all right.In a blue nightie, her back was to me. The hunger to see her face had me using my hands to support myself up so my back rested on the pillow behind me.But then I saw him holding her hand with his eye on her face; indeed, it had to be the drugs that I was so sure were pumped into me, for I felt hot jealousy flooding into my body as I glared at the dude holding Iris' hand.I had my heated gaze on him until his eyes met mine, and he stopped, looking at me in shock.Well, I, too, wasn't prepared to look away. How dare he touch Iris? IRIS!Then Iris turned too, and I shifted my gaze to her; immedia

We stared at each other without speaking a word. I wasn't sure what he was thinking, for just like when I told him about Andrea, he seemed to have been knocked out of his seat.I could only hear my breath and maybe the constant thud of my heartbeat. What was he going to say? But with how he was calm about it, it seemed he already knew. Maybe he would stop being mad at me.He was purposely keeping me in this awkward silence, and it wasn't fair.Tristan suddenly turned towards the bed to see Andrea crying, and then he picked her up, daintily hugging her to himself and whispering, "Sorry, princess, it's ok."And to my surprise, she stopped crying, placing her head on his shoulder to stare into his neck.And when she drifted away, he faced me again, but this time his face wasn't so blank."How many more secrets were you hiding from me?" I mean, this is number two now? So what's the third?"I bit my lip; ok, maybe I was wrong; he was still mad at me, and it seemed with the way things were g

I watched him breathe in and out, my fingers tracing his chin; he had the most angelic features now bare to me; he emptied himself because I asked.I understood him now more than I ever had; he had gone through a lot as a kid, and that was the reason for all of the nightmares and also the reason he pushed people away so no one knew what he was hiding inside.Like me, his growing up had been rocky; was that part of Artemis' punishment for going against her will? And here we were again, interwoven with each other.He frowned in his sleep, and those lowered brows had me smiling. I let my thumb brush his cheekbone, then reaching forward, kissed the corner of his mouth.He was out cold.I climbed out of bed, quietly grabbing a white dress and scarf from the open wardrobe, then putting them on as quickly as possible. When I was done, with the scarf covering my unkempt brown hair, I snuck out of the room.The royal house was so empty that one could hear a pin drop. My steps daintily on the re

TRISTAN'S POV Watching her disappear through the door, I turned to see the captain also watching her, and I walked closer to him with my hands in my pockets. "What's in it for you, huh? Why are you following her around, always ready to run her errands, even at night?" I raised a brow at him now that I was calmer. "I am just doing my job, sir," he replied, massaging his chin with his hands and trying not to sneer pointedly at me. "I don't know if I can believe you're doing all that without a hidden motive." Goddamn it, I didn't trust this guy one bit. Under all of this gentleness, there was something he wasn't showing: "What's the deal here? "There's no deal, Alpha Tristan." "How about a hidden motive?" He smiled this time and said, "Don't we all have hidden motives?" I looked into his dark red pupils and nodded as if agreeing with him, "I'll be watching you." I smiled back, then leaning close, I tapped him on the shoulder and whispered, "That's my woman. Find yourself yours."

IRIS POV Waking felt like stages; at first, I wasn't sure if my eyes were open or closed since it was all dark, the darkness so thick and murky that I felt I could reach forth and grab a handful of it. Then next, my head felt heavy and round and couldn't stay still, for my neck suddenly couldn't hold it any longer. Then letting thoughts fill my head; whatever content they held, I just thought about it. Trying to place my hand on if I was awake or not. Then I began to hear sounds like a lighter, and when the first ray of warm firelight hit, I knew I was awake. Then the memories of my last encounter flowed into my head, and the betrayal stabbed me again. "Good evening, princess." I turned to see him; at the end of the room, he was playing with a lighter, striking it and tapping it so the fire went out. His face, that gentle shyness, wasn't there anymore; in its place was a wicked glare at the firelight, a dark countenance of what would soon happen. And instead of fear, I felt a