Render Me Starless

♛ | Chapter 22 - "the cold charmer"

"It's not too late to change your mind," I tell the new pair.
"We'll come next time," Gray says, his arm tightly wrapped around Rose, his mate. It was still so weird to see. My best friend smitten with someone. "Are you sure?" I ask him for good measure. "Don't complain that you weren't invited."
He looks down at Rose, smirking. "I don't think I'll be complaining about much for awhile." In response to Gray's words, Rose winks up at him and I refrain from rolling my eyes. I can't help but grin though. I was happy for my best friend.

"Are you ready to go?" Orion asks me as he walks up to us. We stood under the grand chandelier, only a couple of metres away from the castle entrance. I let my eyes happily flit over to my mate. He had swapped his mage attire for modern day clothes. He wore a black button up with the sleeves rolled up to just below his elbows and I refrain from drooling over the man's forearms. A few buttons were forgotten at the top and I force myself to look away from the exposed skin. He wore dark blue jeans, complementing the simple shirt.

I smile up at him, completely forgetting about the pair in front of me. Not that they would have noticed. I nod in response to his question, "let's go."
We were off to my parents house for our little family gathering. I was nervous to say the least and I was glad my mate had invited himself to the event. As we start to make our way there in Orion's car, I force myself to relax.

"I've already met my in law. Now it's time for you to meet all of mine," I tease. "Don't worry though, I'll be meeting them for the first time, too." And just like that, the nerves are back. Orion turns his head to me for a second before going back to the road. In response, I turn my body to face him slightly. "You'll have your parents and Ashton with you," he points out.
I nod, "that's true."
"You'll also have me," he points out.
I grin, "that's also true." Progress, Strae. You'll have the man loving you in no time. I refrain from letting out a snort. That's if I don't scare him away first, but then again this was Orion we were talking about. The all powerful mage Prince who so many feared and loved. He didn't fear anything.

I pull away from my thoughts. "Try not to scare them with your brooding, okay?"
"I won't scare them."
"All you have to do is look at them, oh mate of mine."
He raises an eyebrow, sparing me a glance. "I can be charming if I want to, Astraea."
I snort. "You, charming? I never knew you were quite the joker."
He raises an eyebrow. "You don't believe me?"
My grin widens and I shake my head. "You could scare everyone into being seduced but seduce them with your charm? I don't quite think so."

✦✧✦✧

I sit there with my mouth parted as I watch my cold prince of a mate charm the panties off of an Aunty I hadn't known existed till today.
"Is your mate," Ash pauses skeptically, "smiling?"

"You're seeing it too?" I ask, closing my mouth and facing my twin.
"Yup."

"Oh look," Mum chirps as she joins us. "Orion is getting along so well with your Aunt Robyn. He looks to be quite the charmer." Mum grins and throws a wink my way before walking off to greet some other relatives I didn't know.
I shake my head at her words. My mate, a charmer? Since when?
"I told him that I didn't believe he could be a charmer," I tell Ash, deciding to fill him in on my thoughts. "Considering the man has never once smiled at me."
My twin hums in thought. "Perhaps your game with the opposite sex is worse than mine," Ash deadpans.
I scoff. "The man is my soulmate, Ash. It's a guaranteed win in this game."

He gives me a pointed look, letting me know he thought I was utter bullshit. A young woman then slinks up to my twin without noticing me. "Who's with Aunt Robyn? I have never seen her smile so much," she says, her voice lowered but was still loud enough for me to hear.
Ash smirks slightly and glances at me. "That would be Astraea's boyfriend."
The woman's eyebrows rise. "She managed to snag that? Dude, where even is she? I need to take down notes," she says.
Ashton looks to me and rolls his eyes and I silently snigger. My man was a hunk. The woman's eyes had never left my mates form. "Why don't you look in front of you, Aisha," Ash says and she does. Her dark eyes widen as they meet mine and I offer her a smile. "Oh my gosh," she mumbles. "I am so sorry," she draws out the word 'so'.

I wave her off, "It's fine."
Ash elbows her, grinning. "You can always fawn over me, A."
Aisha returns his grin and I watch the exchange, oddly fascinated. "Maybe I will," she flirts back. My twin's face turns red almost instantly and I refrain from chuckling. The man had no game. He then turns to me. "This is my long lost twin, Astraea," he introduces, no doubt trying to keep our minds off of their little flirting session. "I'm Aisha," she shakes my hand. "My mum is best friends with your mum so we're basically family."
I nod in acknowledgment, smiling.

I fiddle with the gold necklace Gray had gifted me. A nervous habit I had acquired.
Aisha looked to be our age and it was obvious that she was of Indian descent. Her dark brown hair was remarkably long and slightly bushy which gave the woman more character. Her eyebrows were almost as thick as my own. She was beautiful, no doubt. The kind of dorky beautiful that was a hidden gem.

"I'm so glad you've recovered," Aisha smiles, her eyes ridden with sympathy. I try not to let out an awkward chuckle. That was the brilliant cover story my mother had created. I had been sick with some life threatening illness and had to be kept in some secret hospital. I had only just recovered and defeated it, now being able to come back to my family.
"Me too," I let out and Ashton and I share a glance.

"That's a cool tat you've got," she compliments the mark below my collar bones and I smile. "Thank you."
"What inspired you to get it?'
My smile slightly widens. "I just really like the moon and stars, I guess."

Orion and I have met mostly everyone and true to his words, my mate could be a real charmer if he wanted to. It was mostly the same conversations over and over. Them asking about my 'illness' and me making up some bullshit responses which was swiftly followed by an, 'I'm so glad you've recovered'. I internally sigh. I will be so glad if I'm able to recover after this.

"My mum is calling me," Aisha says, breaking me out of my thoughts. "I'll catch you guys later," she says, smiling at me politely and then grinning at Ash. We both watch as she walks away. "So Aisha, huh?" I say, wiggling my eyebrows. The man blushes yet again but is unable to keep his smile away. "Shut up, Strae," he bites out and I chuckle.
"Ashton and Aisha, sitting in a tree," I sing, not loud enough to draw attention but loud enough to embarrass my twin.

Before I can continue the little song, my mate joins my side. "You haven't known Ashton long and you're already traumatising him," he says, coming to my twin's rescue.
"It's the bond formed by blood," I say matter of factly, grinning at the two.
"Well, we're going to have to take our leave now," Orion says and I feel both relief and disappointment. It was great seeing my family again but I hated meeting so many people, especially all at once.

We flit around the house, saying our goodbyes to everyone and promising my parents that we would be back soon. "So, you can be a charmer who actually smiles," I begrudgingly admit once we're on the road, leaning back in my seat. "That does not explain why you haven't been smiling at me."
"I don't particularly like smiling unless I get something out of it," Orion deadpans.

I scoff. "And what did you get out of this?"
"I got to prove to you that I am a real charmer."
My scoff depends. "I'm the only one you should be charming, pal."
He raises an eyebrow. "Are you jealous, my lady?"

My eyes narrow on their own accord. "I don't wear any shade of jealousy, my prince."
His mouth quirks up the slightest. If I wasn't always paying so much attention to my mate, I would have not noticed. "This particular shade is quite enticing on you."

My mind floats back to my conversation with Ash. "Orion, we both need to play this game to win," I tell him.
"What game?" He asks, clearly confused, but I don't bother acknowledging his question. "We need to both put ourselves out there for each other." I meet his eyes. "We need to seduce each other."

"We have got plenty of time to seduce one another, Astraea. We are going to be alone for a week in a secluded cabin," he reminds me.
I mule this over and then nod, satisfied with his answer.

The prince's eyes flash gold for all but a second and I watch as his perfect lips form the smallest of grins. The grin no less deadly to my faltering heart. "Be prepared for my charm, mate of mine. I won't be holding back on my-" his eyes shine with stars of mischief. "Seducing skills"