The world around him was dark…blue…. cold… terrifying… empty… void… pointless… pointless. Pointless. “Your majesty?” Everything was hideous; food tasted of nothing; music burned his ears with its blandness, and everything remained meaningless in his misery. “Your majesty?” He hated everything in his sight. The statues, the art, and the halls were all decorated beautifully, but they soured everything within him. Yes, he should burn everything down. "Your majesty!" He jolted at the familiar call before his eyes raced across the room to place his surroundings. Where...was he? "Your majesty, you have wandered far from your room." His butler, Marcus, uttered as he offered a shawl to him. His gaze dropped to his shirtless attire and pyjama bottoms before accepting the old man’s kindness. “Thank you.” In the darkness that enveloped the room, he placed it finally as the ancestral hall that held the statuses of great Ivanov Lycans. A sacred room. Yet now, most of the artworks

‘How could you make me someone he is wary of?’His question stills everything within me.If he asks it in that way, then there is no defence I can come up with. Everything I utter will be just another excuse.An excuse that, in his frustration, he will demolish, leaving me resting in nothing but guilt.When I left, I was in the worst situation possible, but much has changed since then. At some point, I should have been the one to tell him. He is right, I never gave him a chance.Giggles follow the silence following his question as Milos's head presses against my chest.Cute, but it worsens the situation as a scoff leaves his throat."Alba?"Sharon calls from the hall, rather, from the nursery.Her voice sounds groggy, meaning she must have fallen asleep on the couch in Milos’s room…again."Just a second!"I utter, then turn to Marko."I'll go-""Go and what? Hear the diagnosis without me?"Marko interrupts.Huh…I am saying everything wrong today.I meant that I would go and at least p

"You must?”I question with a brave laugh, given his imposition on me.“You ‘mustn’t’ do anything, Marko; you are the king. Say you ‘want to’. Do not act as if you have no choice. You do; you just always choose force. Like when you kidnapped me from the stations and threatened to harm those I care about if I dared leave you, and now You intend to go to people that favour you enough to disregard Milos’s wants and needs-”"He is six months old; besides a pacifier and a caregiver, what else can he want?""Oh, I don’t know…Love? Care? Compassion? Understanding? I do not want him growing up being scrutinised for his existence or mistakes; it was hard for us, hard for me and you because our parents were not…there emotionally.""We do not choose where we are born.""That is not the response I expect from you!"I utter before trying to pry one of his hands from the wall on my side; however, this makes him press his body harder against mine.I hate the searing sensation scorching its way acros

"Are you sure?"Marko asks as he lifts Milos's tiny legs to finish wiping him on the diaper station.I can tell he isn’t happy about the stranger in his space, but he isn’t fussy either, which is weird."Yes, it’s supposed to be that colour.”I utter as I hand him a fresh new diaper.“It's normal.""But we can have the doctor check; I mean-"Spray that one can only hope is water -it isn't- springs from Milos's tiny and undiapered body all over Marko.An ‘Oh…’ is the only sound to leave my lips before a string of laughter follows from Milos’s lips, making me fight the urge to hold back my own."Oh, this is funny?”Marko asks, his eyes still wide from the little accident as he turns to me, and my head shakes from left to right to emphasise my ‘no’, yet my smile still holds.“You two are in on this?"Marko concludes with a smile as he widens his arms and begins walking towards me."Give me a hug.""No…no, thank you.”"Come now, you didn’t plan this, and it is natural, right? So, hug me.”

Marko "Come with me." Marko uttered, trying his best to maintain the steadiness in his voice. Her gaze turned to the water; then again, she slid her body onto his so that her butt was to his groin and her gaze back to the ceiling. He did not wish to assume that her turning away from him was a form of rejection, but…he knew. Yet, despite the ache in his chest, he still craved her. His hands left her waist to part the cheeks of her buttocks so that his length rested between her tight warmth. He hardened instantly. She felt him; she must have for a breathy moan slid past her lips. "Come with me to Ketria, Alba." He asked again, this time grinding his length against her flesh. "No." He stilled at her answer. He knew she would turn him down, yet he couldn’t help the anger bubbling within him, begging him to ask if she intended to keep Milos from him or if she would flee in his absence. Petty questions considering the conversation they had, but he couldn’t help it. He was still