Royally Rogue

Annoyance

"Roman, I swear-" I began to protest as he held the strawberry at the edge of my mouth as if stabbing my lips with it would make me want to open.

I could eat my own damn strawberries with my own damn hands.

"Ah, ah, ah," He raised a dark eyebrow and put a finger up to his own lips, a sign for me to shut it. "A princess must be healthy and well fed," Roman said matter of factly, nodding to himself and shoving the strawberry between my lips once more.

Refusing to be fed unless I was able to do it myself had left me starving. And so, the strawberry smashed into my teeth, which I forced closed even though I was actually hungry.

The staining red juices ran from my mouth, falling onto the white napkin on my lap. I scowled, waving his hand away and wiping my face off with the back of my hand.

"Why aren't you eating?" Roman said with a frown, putting the smashed strawberry back in the porcelain bowl with all the other smashed strawberries.

"Because I can eat on my own, I don't need you making airplane noises and feeding me like I'm a baby." I huffed, crossing my arms and giving him a serious stare.

Yes, Roman was being extremely annoying and persistent, like he had promised to be. I wish he would just go away so I could research.

And I couldn't deny the sad and pathetic thought eating at me; maybe, just maybe, Xander would sneak back into the territory and knock on my window.

Pathetic... Already sooooo attached to Xander. I sighed, feeling the chuff of agreement from my wolf.

Roman and I sat in the great hall, where a gigantic dining room table that sat 50 people was elegantly laid for a breakfast of four. It was only me and Roman, though. My parents had meetings to attend to this morning, possibly talking about Xander's scent around the territory.

That thought made me gulp.

Were they going to follow it? Had Roman really taken them off the path?

Why do I want him to come back to me if that meant me asking him to risk his life?

Selfish. I scowled to myself.

"What are you thinking, princess?" I heard Roman say, concern laced into his words.

I looked up at him, mouth open- prepared to lie, but my stomach interrupted with the song of its people.

A loud rumble echoed throughout the great hall.

"Ah," I nervously smiled, taking this as a chance to avoid his question.

"See!" Roman gasped, rolling his eyes at my stubbornness. "You are hungry!"

"Let me feed myself!" I shot back, squinting when he fell back into his chair and flopped his arms dramatically into the air.

"Ugh," He groaned dramatically.

"Ugh," I mimicked, my lips curving into a smile when he pushed my bowl back towards me in defeat.

"And the plate," I added, pointing at the filled plate on his other side. Roman had taken my food away, more than just the strawberries, and put it behind him so I couldn't reach.

The one thing I did appreciate in his prescience was the ability for me to be relaxed. I could act the way I really was with him, without my etiquette tutor telling me I was eating too fast or in large amounts.

No.

With Roman, he accepted me for me, and for that, I was grateful.

As soon as his mocha hand left the porcelain plate, I grabbed the silverware and ravaged the large omelet and sausage on the side.