Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.-Chapter 288: Don’t touch me!

Darius.

I was fuming. Literally because all my attempts at getting her to see from my point of view were failing miserably.

It has been failing since the very first day I saw her seven years ago, and has continued to do so ever since.

I gripped hard on my phone, listening to her blabber on and on about some jargon she intended to I put into the technology she was creating. But I wasn’t paying any attention.

I mean, who could?

Who could listen to anything besides her soothing voice? How could I do that when all I’ve always wanted was her and the throne and not this stupid gadget or whatever it is that she’s talking about.

Getting the throne used to be easy. Very easy. Everyone from the onset has always known that I would rule after her father’s demise, but lately... The whispers were increasing with incredible speed. The Lycan community has for some reason, recognized her as one of ours even though she hasn’t fully shifted yet, and it wouldn’t be long before someone tries to rope her into the pack... behind my back.

I even recently learned from a little birdie that James was already trying his luck with her in the shadows. Silver had tried to take advantage of her by inducing her first heat... And Marcus, the bastard was already going around town telling everyone that he would wed her and that he would take the throne afterwards.

Oh, and let’s not forget that everyone now thinks that the key to the throne is to mate with her.

So you understand the competition now?

"Alpha Darius—"

"It is Darius to you, darling. We’ve long gone past that formal basis." I hissed quietly, interrupting her. But instead of commenting on that, she spat instead;

"I have been talking to myself for the past five minutes. Do you mind telling me what’s going on? Or should we adjourn this meeting to a later date?"

"Can the later date happen at my house?" I asked, already knowing what her answer would be.

And by the gods, I could swear that I heard her eyes rolling. I chuckled softly when she snarled; "you wish!"

"I certainly do." I clapped back, "and that is why I even mentioned it in the first place."

My responses were obviously not what she intended to hear. And I knew because she kept mumbling under her breath about how infuriating I was... how she doesn’t want to continue with this venture... how she’s tired of repeating the same things to me over and over again.

"What is that you’re saying again?" I drawled after a moment. And I heard her sigh before she answered. She said;

"If you do not wish to work with me, let me know. Just let me know and stop us from this back and forth bickering all the fucking time!"

And goddess, I couldn’t understand why those carefully said words seemed to shatter something in my chest. My breath left my lungs in one swift whoosh and I dropped my head, balling my hands into fists.

"No, I wasn’t serious. You can continue."

And she did continue to speak, not of what I wanted to hear but of what she wanted to speak about. While I sat there quietly, digesting some technical information that I cared less about.

But on the bright side, she was the one talking. It was her voice. And for me, that in itself was enough.

—

Leilani.

By the end of the meeting with Alpha Darius, I was not just exhausted but also feverish.

I dropped my phone and quietly made my way to the shower, peeling off every piece of clothing stuck to my skin along the way as I went. But tonight, I didn’t just shower. I dipped myself into a cold bath, hoping that per chance, it would quell the feverish sensation now running up the length of my body.

I hoped and prayed to the goddess that this was all it was— a mild fever.

But as soon as my body touched the water and my skin instantly exploded, feeling like a million needles had been stuck into it, I immediately knew that this was not just fever.

This was something else. Something that I couldn’t wrap my head around now.

I shuddered slightly when Darius’ earlier words replayed itself over and over again in my head, and the more I thought about it, the more scared I became—

Because what if it is indeed a full moon night tonight?

What if I was about to spiral just like I always do?

What if I lose my life this time?

These thoughts and plenty more were the things I thought about as I lowered myself even deeper into the cold water.

But did I feel any better?

Hell no.

My fear began to get the best of me, and maybe it was paranoia that had me frantically searching for my phone; But I found myself dialing Jarek’s phone... again, again and again. But he never picked up even once.

I lowered my head and cried.

The pain was increasing with each passing moment. And I know that I should be used to it by now, I should not be shaken so badly since it was something that has happened one time too many.

But that didn’t help the sobs wracking my entire body. It didn’t stop me from feeling like a complete bitch. My entire body felt like it was on fire and my tears wouldn’t stop falling as I cried, writhed and screamed.

And just when I had begun to give up hope... when I was already beginning to feel like this would be my end, no doubt, I suddenly felt something so pleasurably cool pressed against my forehead.

I leaned into it and closed my eyes, moaning when that same feeling appeared in both of my hands. Then my feet.

My vision was blurry so I could hardly see what was beside me or who it was that I could feel their warm breath fanning my face.

But as the individual continued to wipe my tears off my face, I pushed closer, wanting more... needing more.

"That will have to do..." a cool voice said, "I cannot touch you more than this."

I froze slightly. Zevran?

"We had a bad feeling that something might happen to you, and we were not wrong." Another voice cut in, and I couldn’t help but feel my face burn in embarrassment and annoyance.

Caelum..?

My voice was weak and unable to convey the kind of annoyance that I wanted to convey as I seethed; "Both of you, get out!"

But they didn’t leave.

Instead, they picked me out of the water and dropped me into my bed seconds later. And as soon as my back hit the soft material, my hands instantly flew to my exposed boobs and I screamed;

"Do not touch me!"