At his touch, Bianca quivered and he let out a dark sound, which rumbled through his chest into her. He continued to devour her, brand her with his touch. Every damn emotion that he had felt for her all those years poured in that kiss. He didn't know what to do with himself, what to do with her. All he wanted was to merge with her, or merge her with him.

"Bianca," he breathed as his lips went back to her neck again and nibbled at a spot where her artery throbbed the most. He grazed his fangs there, which had sharpened smelling her blood. He was dying to bite, sink his teeth in her flesh.

​​

She didn't know why, but she had this inexplicable urge that he bites her. And her urge to bite him was overwhelming. Why was everything so unreasonable with her? They said that Lykae found their mates and when they did, everything in the world centered on them. Was he her mate? What was she supposed to do? She whimpered in his mouth begging him not to leave her again. Gods, she was so pathetic. She didn't even know him, she had kept him a secret in her heart and he had left her and here she was again—

After what seemed like only a few seconds, Brantley pulled himself away with a lot of willpower. He leaned his forehead to hers. "I am sorry…" Slowly he let her slide down his body.

She panted against him and because her knees felt wobbly, she thought she would fall, so she rested her face on his chest and, Gods be her witness, his chest felt like the only place she wanted to be in. Her face was red with the want of air, yet she wanted him to kiss her more.

He had wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on hers. He kissed her again. The muscles of his chest were shuddering underneath her touch. So many years of wait he had waited to touch her, feel her that now he wanted to… cry.

"You should be," she rasped. Then she looked up at his devilishly handsome face, his sinfully attractive chin and asked, "Why did you come back?" What she meant was would he leave her again. She wasn't ready to listen to the answer, and regretted blurting out without thinking.

He placed his hand on her cheeks and wiped her tears, which had stained her creamy skin. "I have come back for you," he replied softly. "So you know for how long I have needed you? For days, for weeks, for months, for centuries and for eons. I have waited for you forever and ever." His eyes glistened with unshed tears as he looked at her. His Adam's apple bobbed.

Bianca's heart skipped a beat. He sounded so genuine.

But she was confused. How could one want her for so long? "I don't understand what you are saying but we need to talk," said Bianca. Gods, she wanted this man but she didn't know anything about him. She was so angry with him at the way he came in her life and then left her and then reappeared. She wasn't a toy. And this time she would guard her heart well.

Who was this mystery man and how did he even enter Silver Mansion? Did her parents know about him?

He nodded. "Yes, we have to talk." Then he reached for the leather strap on her neck. "Before we talk, I need to remove this."

Bianca's eyes became wide. She snatched it back from him and said, "Don't touch it. It's a gift from my parents. And how do you know about it?" Her confusion intensified.

"It's not a gift, it's just a protection," he said.

"From what? And how do you know?" she asked with a frown. She knew this man had a deeper connection.

Suddenly a voice from behind interrupted them. "Hello Brantley!" Dawn was smiling at them and Daryn was standing beside her with his hand curled around her shoulders.

Bianca whipped her head in her parent's direction. They knew him? Her gaze traveled from them to him and back to them. "What is going on?" she asked feeling so left out of the pleasantry exchanged.

Brantley tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ears. "Like you said, we need to talk."

"Yeah! But how do you know my parents?" she was practically freaking out with the knowledge.

He chuckled and held her hand.

"Bia," Dawn called her. "Did you like your gift?"

Bianca's face fell. So this guy was her gift for the eighteenth birthday? She fluttered her eyes in order to understand things.

"Come here baby," said Dawn. She extended her hand to her. "We have to talk to you."

Reluctantly, Bianca left Brantley's hand and walked back to her mother. "Please mom, fill me with everything you know because right now my head is exploding with thousands of questions."

Daryn gave his usual bear hug to Brantley.

"Of course darling!" said Dawn as Bianca placed her hand in hers. They all walked back to the main hall.

She sat with her legs curled up under her knees on the sofa next to the window.

Though Brantley wanted her to sit in his lap, he resisted his temptation. The girl was already so freaked out that she needed a lot of time to sink in the things. Other than that he really wanted to take her to his kingdom. They were simply running out of time. Her presence was paramount. His people were dying and his kingdom… it had turned into a sort of desert. No amount of magic was helping it.

Daryn called Darius also and introduced him to Brantley. When the siblings were sitting together, he walked to them and said to Bianca, "Take out the medallion that you are wearing."

When she took it out from beneath her clothes, he waved his hand in front of it and recited the incantation, which Ileus had told him in order to remove the magical medallions. Red, fiery symbols appeared in front of them in the air. Blazing hot like fire, they floated to the medallion and covered it from all the sides. They clung to the medallion and glowed.

Bianca watched it with wide eyes and anxiety. The medallion was always hanging in their neck. It had become a part of her daily lives.

The leather strap snapped and the medallion fell in her laps. The glow pulsated once more and then disappeared. She looked at her father as he collected the medallion from her lap and placed them back in the same velvet blue box, which Ileus had given them with it.

The world turned red, filled with cries. She became dizzy and breathless. So much energy sizzled and cracked through her body that she was on her knees. Power beyond comprehension threatened to tear her body apart. She smelled copper. Was that magic? It cruised in her veins like fire and exploded out in a way that her body started glowing silver. The magic crackled and reached the glass vase and the glass table next to her. The glass shattered on the impact but when it fell on the ground, the shards had turned to leaves and rose petals. The carpet, on which she was scrambling, turned into a carpet of green grass.