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I woke up with a smile. The sun was shining, the birds were singing. It felt like today was going to be great. I yawned lazily and sat up.

"Did I wake you?"

I looked over in the direction of the voice to see Ashton on the other side of the room drying his hair with a towel. His chest was bare and a towel was draped low around his waist.

"You're blessed. You get to wake up to this," he said, motioning to himself.

My face automatically reddened, but I grinned. "I could get used to that."

He chuckled and I grabbed my things and went into the bathroom to get ready for today. There were no more meetings. Today was all about fun.

After we both got dressed, we headed downstairs for breakfast. Kevin stared suspiciously at Ashton, who just smirked back.

"He didn't do anything weird did he?" he frowned.

I laughed at his concerned expression. "Ashton was well behaved for the most part. You don't have to worry."

"Hey, it's still my duty to protect you," he grinned and ruffled my hair.

"Thanks Kev," I said, giving him a hug. "You're the best."

"I might get jealous, princesa," Raúl said, slinging an arm around my shoulder. "Hey, I'm lonely. Come to the gala with me tonight. Forget Ashton."

He just managed to dodge the book that Ashton sailed at him from across the room. I laughed at their antics as Beau came downstairs.

"Find your own soulmate," Beau said as he grabbed some bottled waters and fruit cups.

"If only it was that easy," Raúl groaned. "Let me in on your secrets."

"Sorry, can't help you with that one," Kevin laughed

"I'm stuck in the single gang with you?" Raúl gagged. "But I'm Raúl the hottest guy on planet Earth."

"Don't delude yourself," Jackson commented.

I turned to Beau as they continued their banter. "How's Bianca doing?"

"Morning sickness," he sighed. "And she's still feeling sick from the seafood yesterday."

"How does it feel knowing that it's your fault?" Raúl smirked and Beau flashed him a look of irritation.

"Are you still doing it today?" Jackson asked.

"I want to." Beau smiled nervously.

I cocked my head in confusion. He pulled out a small square box and opened it. I gasped. Inside was an elegant sapphire ring.

"You're proposing to Bianca?" I asked excitedly.

He nodded. "I've been waiting all year so that I could do this tonight since we met at one of these galas. We even have a baby on the way and I couldn't be happier."

"That's so sweet!" I gushed.

"I hope she'll like it," he worried nervously. He placed it back into his pocket. "Anyways, keep it a secret, okay? I want to surprise her."

"My lips are sealed," I giggled.

Beau grinned as the guys patted him on the back. He headed back upstairs with the stuff he had come to get for Bianca.

The chefs came to prepare breakfast and we all sat down to eat when Kristof and Diana came downstairs.

"This punk got to share a room with a girl while I was stuck with that fight obsessed kid," Raúl sighed.

"Where's Jun?" Kristof asked, looking around.

"We did stay up really late playing games," Diana mused. "He's probably still in bed."

"I didn't know you liked video games," I mentioned.

She nodded enthusiastically. "Uriah is a hard-core gamer, so I kind of got caught in gaming too. It's really fun and Jun's a great player."

"Do you play 2K?" Kevin asked eagerly and Diana nodded proudly.

"Of course. Name a game and I'm ninety-nine point nine percent sure I've played it."

"I'll go get Jun," I offered as they started chatting about games.

I slid out of my seat and made my way upstairs. I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. I carefully pushed it open. There were two beds. One was messily made which I guessed was Raúl's doing. On the other side of the room, Jun was tossing and turning in distress. As I walked closer to him, I could see that he was sweating and he was breathing heavily.

"Jun?" I whispered as I perched beside him.

"N-No," he groaned. His voice was hoarse. "I don't want to kill him, Alpha."

My brows furrowed in shock. Was he having a nightmare about the king?

"I don't want... to be an assassin." He balled his hands into fists in agony.

"Jun," I repeated more loudly this time, gently shaking his shoulders. He flew up in the bed wide eyed and I just managed to dodge the hand he swung at me.

"Hey, it's me," I said, grabbing his hand and his gaze settled on me. Recognition settled in his eyes and he lowered his head, trying to control his breathing.

A stinging sensation in my neck made me realize that I hadn't dodged his hand at all. I glanced down at his hands to realize that his fingernails had extended and were sharp and pointy. A small drop of blood dripped onto my collar. I used my hand to apply pressure to the area. Thankfully it wasn't deep, it was just a scratch.

Jun closed his eyes and wiped the sweat from his forehead. After a moment he turned to face me. His eyes narrowed at my neck and he pulled my hand away to see the scratch.

"Did I do that?"

"It was an accident," I reassured him. "You were having a nightmare, it's okay."

He shook his head in denial. "It's not okay. It's not... I'm sorry." He punched the sheets angrily.

"Shh," I said, pulling him closer into a hug.

What he had said just now about an assassination was bothering me. Either the king was still bothering him about it or he had PTSD about the training.

He pulled away from me shakily. "I wasn't sleep talking was I?"

"Kind of," I murmured.

"What did you hear?"

He paused and rested his face in his palm. "It doesn't matter. Whatever you heard, just don't tell the other guys."

"Jun, if the king is still bothering you-"

"I can handle it," he cut me off, swinging his feet over the edge of the bed.

"This isn't the time to be putting on a brave face and trying to deal with everything on your own."

"Stay out of it," he said with a forced smile and headed into the bathroom.

I heard the spray of the shower and got up to leave the room. I frowned as I went back to my room and inspected the scrape in the mirror. It was a small red line against my neck. Not completely obvious, but not discreet enough to go unnoticed by the sharp eyes of everyone downstairs. Hopefully they would be too occupied to realise.

It really wasn't my place to say anything. It was Jun's business. But I could tell the whole situation was starting to take a toll on him. He didn't have to bear everything alone because the other guys were willing to protect him at all costs. The problem was that Jun didn't want to be protected.

I gently cleansed the scratch. I thought about covering it up with some concealer but I didn't like the idea of putting makeup on a fresh scratch.

I went back downstairs and slid into my seat quietly.

"Is Jun still asleep?" Kristof asked.

"He woke up a little while ago," I muttered as I took a bite of my toast.

Nobody said anything, but their eyes lingered on my neck. I looked up to meet Ashton's confused gaze. Kevin cocked his head with narrowed eyes.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. So they did notice. Hopefully they wouldn't ask questions.

After breakfast, I hurriedly tried to help Diana and Kristof with clearing the dishes but Ashton yanked me away.

"What happened to your neck?" he asked, gently running his thumb across the fine line.

"It was an accident," I mumbled. "I'll be more careful next time."

"An accident?" He frowned.

"You finally decided to come down," Kristof grinned at Jun who came downstairs with a perfectly masked expression.

He met my eyes for a brief moment, but just as quickly, he looked away. Ashton didn't miss that small exchange. The dots connected in his mind.

"Is this your doing, Jun?"

Jun sighed. "Yeah."

"I said it was an accident," I insisted as Ashton glared at him.

"Jun, a word please," Jackson called to him from where he was still seated at the table.

Jun groaned in irritation as he stomped over to Jackson. He still wasn't in a good mood. Jackson whispered something to him and then Jun turned to me wide eyed.

"You told them?"

"If you're talking about that, then no I didn't," I frowned.

He pinched the bridge of his nose as he realized that he probably just admitted to something Jackson said.

"I'm going to take that as a yes," Jackson said drily. "You said the king wasn't pressing this issue anymore."

"He... he's letting me train with Kevin," Jun protested heatedly.

Diana excused herself from the conversation for a phone call and Kristof went closer to where they were disputing.

"What did you talk about with him?" Jackson asked me. "Whether he wants us to know or not is not his choice right now."

"Nothing's my f*cking choice!" Jun exploded, knocking a stack of papers to the ground. "Just leave me alone!"

"Watch you language, kid. Who the hell do you think you're talking to?" Kevin caught him as he stormed from the room.

"Let go!" Jun hissed.

"You're burning up," Kevin murmured as he felt Jun's temperature.

"Is the king still thinking that Jun will be an assassin?" Ashton frowned at Jackson who nodded.

"Jun..." Kristof trailed off. He placed his hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "Is this true?"

Jun averted his eyes from Kristof and glared at the floor.

"Damn it!" Kevin grunted. "I should have been more careful."

"No es tu culpa (It's not your fault)," Raúl sighed.

Silence descended heavily on the room.

"I received some information about a new group that the king's forming. I think he's trying to recruit Jun into it," Jackson continued grimly. "We need to stop his plan."

Jun looked up uncomfortably.

"Have you seen Jun without a shirt during training?" Jackson asked Kevin.

He frowned. "Yeah, but recently he's been keeping them on. Says it looks cooler. I think he's going through another phase or something. Why?"

Jackson's eyes flickered to Jun who instinctively pulled on the sleeves of his sweater.

"Take it off."

"No."

Jackson stared him down and Jun avoided his gaze.

"Do you really think the king's trying to get Jun in his new group?" Kristof asked.

"There's a high possibility. His sudden fever is suspicious too."

"Just drop it," Jun growled in annoyance.

I glanced between them and Ashton folded his arms. Before anyone could do anything, Kristof sighed and quickly unzipped Jun's sweater. Of course, Jun tried to resist, but in the end he just gave up and let it fall to the ground.

I let out the shaky breath I didn't even realise I'd been holding. Everyone stared in silence at the circle tattooed on Jun's biceps. In the circle was the Crysauralian crest.

"He... branded you?" Raúl's voice was winded.

Jun stared at the ground, as the guys tried to contain their anger. Kristof gripped the counter to keep himself under control, but his body was shaking with rage. Kevin inspected the mark in fury.

So that's why he always wore sweaters.

"Come with me," Ashton commanded and Jun sighed in defeat.

Jackson and Kevin followed behind Ashton and Jun with urgent whispers. Kristof stared after them, worry etched on every inch of his face.

"Jun will be fine," I reassured him. "Believe in them."

He nodded and gave me a sad smile. "Jun deserves a break. It's crazy what he's going through. I've failed him."

"No, you didn't. You're really the only person who can get through to Jun this much. I'm glad he has you."

I was very upset too. How dare the king do something like this to his own cabinet member, or anyone for that matter? And a thirteen year old, no less. By branding him, he was proving that he had full control over him and that he belonged to him.

It made me sick. I couldn't imagine how Jun must have been feeling. I was glad that Jackson had managed to get intel on the new group because Jun needed help as soon as possible.

I spent the rest of the morning talking with Raúl, Kristof and Diana. Diana told me all about her kingdom. It was a lot different from ours. There was a lot more freedom there and Omegas weren't treated as badly.

She complained about her older brother who only cared about picking up girls and she told us a little about her childhood. It was nice to see that she had opened up over the last couple months. Kristof seemed to have that effect on shy people.

I got to know more about Kristof too. We never actually had a long conversation before but he was extremely interesting and had a tendency to tell dad jokes. We were laughing at one of his jokes when Bianca came downstairs with a smile, assisted by a cautious Beau.

"Having fun?" she asked as she took a seat beside us.

We nodded and her face lit up with an excited smile. "Why don't we go shopping?"

"I don't know about that." Raúl pouted.

"I was talking to the ladies," Bianca laughed. She pointed at Beau. "I need to get away from him too. He thinks all I need is rest."

I stifled a laugh at Beau's flustered face. "I just want to take care of you and the baby."

"And I love you for that. But a little walking isn't going to hurt me you know."

He didn't look convinced.

"See?" She pouted at us. "Help me escape."

Diana and I laughed at that. It could be fun and it was a nice way to spend some more time together. I wished Callie was here too. If anyone was a shopaholic, it was her.

"I'll go get my bag," Diana said as she ran upstairs.

Bianca patiently ate a chocolate brownie while she waited. When Diana came back we headed out. The bodyguards followed a short distance behind us.

"Do you know where we're going?" I asked her.

"Yes. I passed a boutique somewhere around here yesterday. I love Cilan fashion, it's so different. Did you two already pick your outfits for tonight?"

Diana and I nodded. Callie and I had scoured the stores to find the perfect dress. I ended up ordering something online.

We found the boutique after a bit of walking and embarked on an afternoon of fun.

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