❝ Sometimes I feel like I have changed into something unrecognizable, but then I see you, and the love I feel tethers me back to this earth ❞
Maiya was walking a fine line. On one side was safety; her brother and mother and love, but the other was c...
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𝔚hen I awoke the next morning, regret coursed through me at the feeling of Azriel's arms wrapped around my waist.
"Morning." His morning voice was deep and rough, nothing short of bliss to my ears and there was nothing I wanted more than to stay next to my mate. But I pushed through that, sitting up and running my hand through my hair. It was knotty, tangled in his shadows and fingers.
Cold air brushed against my exposed skin, leaving little goose bumps in it's wake and I could feel Azriel's dark eyes burning into my skin. When I turned to him, he was looking at my face, eyes wide with reverence and guilt rushed through me as I watched him.
"Princess. What is it?" His fingers were tracing shapes into my sides.
"We shouldn't have done this."
"Done what?" I turned to send him an unamused glare. The Illyrian raised a cocky eyebrow, waiting for me to admit it. "Done what, Princess?"
"Slept together." I shook my head, untangling the knots as best I could. "Do you want me to spell it out or does your small brain understand that?"
"Understood loud and clear."
"That's what I thought." I sighed, pulling my hair up and out of my face, rolling my shoulders back in the process. My hair covered my back, and I turned to him. "Regardless, this was a mistake."
Azriel groaned, before sitting up and looking at me.
"When are you going to admit that we are mates? This 'mistake' was not a mistake." Azriel looked the most annoyed that I'd ever seen on him, his eyebrows furrowed and his jaw set. His shadows flicked back and forth, seemingly waking up as he did.
"If anyone finds out about this, Azriel, they will kill you." I replied, trying to make him understand the position we were in. "Everything I did was to make sure that you didn't die, but if my father finds out about this he will try and kill you."
"He married an Illyrian, why can't his daughter?"
"Because I'm his daughter." I shook my head. "You wouldn't understand."
"Then spell it out for me." Azriel shrugged, the covers slipping down to reveal his chest and I could see bite marks that I had left. Embarrassment coursed through me. "Because all I'm getting from this is either your scared or about to reject the fact that we're mates."
"It's not that." I managed to get out through gritted teeth, already growing annoyed with him. "My father wants to marry me off for a political gain, especially before the war. If he does that, then he'll have more power and that's what he wants, regardless of my protest. Because he's just decided that Mendax is going to be my betrothed, I'm going to be set to marry him which includes keeping my 'innocence' intact."
