Ivan's Queen

Chapter 4

Chapter Four - Play Hard

The next morning, I join everyone at the dining table for breakfast and take a seat beside Mikhail. He nudges me with a wink, whispering that he'll warm my coffee for me before proceeding to make flames appear in his hand. I stare at him open-mouthed with the mug halfway to my lips as he holds his palm open underneath it. I can feel the ceramic warming up, his light grey eyes shining with excitement.

"Mikhail!" Uncle Vulcan snaps, making him pout adorably before stopping.

"You're the one who said I should keep practicing, I was only following your – whoa!" He catches the toast with a smug smirk before biting into it.

Apparently Mikhail is a vampire and possesses the ability to control fire. He lives with Ayla, Ivan's twin, in the Vampire Kingdom as the realm is more suited to the species. Ayla is the only one missing from the Romanov clan. Aunt Aurora explains that she doesn't get to come back as often because she's leading the kingdom with her mate, Asher Antonov.

Mikhail's twin, Misha, is a Lycan and stays here with her parents and Valentina. She's the Beta Female to Valentina who now leads The Renascence Pack. Uncle Vulcan told me that Ivan leads the Lycan kingdom which makes a lot of sense now as to why he missed out on a lot of family holidays.

I look up to see him sitting opposite me, focused on his food. He nods at whatever Misha is saying as he takes a sip of his orange juice.

And suddenly, his eyes meet mine.

I blink before my eyes widen and I look down at my plate in embarrassment. I don't look in his direction for the rest of the breakfast, conversing with Mikhail and Nathan instead. When we've finished, Misha invites us to a game of volleyball at the pack house and everyone agrees to go except the parents and Mikhail who can't stand the sun.

We walk down to the pack house and see people setting up the net. I spot Valentina right away as she states loudly that she's only going to play one round before she must get back to work. She narrows her eyes playfully at Misha when we reach her, muttering that she needs help with paperwork.

For a nineteen-year-old, Valentina Romanov is stunning. She has straight, long brown hair that reaches down to her back with light grey eyes and green flecks. It's the most unusual feature about her. Other than that, she's of slim build but toned with soft and delicate facial features. She looks like a little fairy who can also kick some ass.

"Amelia!" She squeals excitedly as she hugs me tightly.

"Can't...breathe!" I gasp, making her let go of me.

I laugh when she apologizes with a sheepish smile on her lips. We talk a little more while the teams are being picked about how we've been and what we've been up to until Misha separates us. I'm on a team with Ivan and four other pack members while Nathan, Valentina and Misha are on the opposing team with three other members.

"Um...you're human." A redhead pipes up as soon as I cross over to the other side of the net.

"And Melissa?" Misha arches a brow, crossing her arms. "It's volleyball. I would expect everyone not to kill each other."

Melissa huffs before giving me the dirtiest look, her eyes following Ivan as he strides over to take his position near me. I feel angry when she looks at him, wanting her eyes off him this instant. But when nobody's watching, she smirks evilly at me with a dark glint in her eyes. I frown, shrugging it off before taking my position. The game starts out normally but I quickly start to realize that Melissa clearly has it out for me. Instead of trying to score a point, she seems to want to land a hit on me.