"Did you see any advancement from Ishtar's side?" I ask Lyco Suilius and Haestus who've been keeping tracks on her. Ishtar has been moving hell and heaven to get back at me lately. She wants to hurt my Nefret. The good thing is Nefret is with me now, safe but this is not stopping her.

She has tried to get into my kingdom countless times ever since I bought my Nefret here.

"As usual, she is trying to breach the southern Border or navigate through underwater from the western side." Lyco Suilius answers and I nod as I look down at the food on the plate. We're having dinner currently and Nefret is not sitting beside me. She is in her room where she likes to be most of the time.

I know that she has been avoiding me. I wanted to talk to her and spend some time with her lately but I have been busy blocking Ishtar from my territory. And Ishtar is not the only headache for me. There are others who want to hurt me through my Nefret.

Rey has been constantly pacing inside me. He wants to see Nefret so badly. It's been almost a week since we saw her. I have been out for five days and the other two days she plainly ignored me. My ministers are slowly accepting her and she is also comfortable between them which is good.

"Why is she trying so hard? She could just break the bond between you two with a curse," Haestus ponders.

"It won't work now. I have marked her wolf," I tell him and he nods. Even if the bonds get broken, I will still continue to love my Nefret. I couldn't feel grateful enough that I got her. I'll do everything to protect her and cherish her for as long as I exist.

Everyone on the table is deep in thoughts. It's been a long time since a female ever stepped over my land. I believe she could change everything here but for now, I must protect her because she is a tool for Ishtar to hurt me. I want to talk to Nefret about this and tell her about Ishtar but she couldn't stand to hold a proper conversation with me.

After dinner, I head to my study room in my wing. After looking at some reports and letters from correspondents, I retire to my bedroom. It's a little after midnight when I find myself standing in front of her room.

I want to see her.

I enter her room silently. It's dark but my eyes fall on the painting of Luna hanging on the wall of the sitting room. Her silver eyes are looking at me. Those eyes, the way they look at me, it haunts me. It reminds me of the past. It reminds me of what I have been and what I really am. It reminds me of what I have become.

"Luna..." Her name slips off my mouth. Guilt and disgust fill me. She is the first person whom I killed. I killed the very person who gifted me my first breaths.

I look away and head towards her bedroom. I find her curled up into a ball in the middle of her bed. The moonlight is sneaking inside her room through the enchanted window. I sit on her bed before leaning forward to reach her.

There's a deep frown covering her face and the sheets have ridden down. Beads of sweat cover her face and forehead and strands of her midnight black hair are plastered over her forehead.

"Nefret..." I whisper as I caress her cheek, running the back of my hand gently over her skin. Small sparks dance over my skin as I do so. She lets out a half moan and a half groan sound. I feel Rey come to the surface. He wants to hold her so badly.

"Neffie..." I whisper gently against her ear, running my fingers through her midnight black hair that's spewed all over the pillow. She tries to roll over but I snake my arms around her and pull her closer to me instead.

The frown on her face leaves as she yawns like a cat and stretches in my arms. I can't help but stare in awe at her. She looks so adorable sleeping peacefully in my arms. I couldn't help but feel more protective of her. She is everything for me. I am nothing without her.

"My Neffie..." I call out for her and this time, she opens her eyes dreamily. With her half open eyes, she studies me. I can see that she is still asleep, deep into the dream playing in her mind.

She blinks a couple of times before she smiles at me. This is a real smile. It reaches her eyes and shows her teeth. The smile on my face grows wider at this and Rey becomes excited.

"Arles..." She calls out weakly for me. Her voice is husky and deep due to sleep. She lifts her hands and holds my face in them. Sparks tingle my skin as I see her eyes darken, signaling that her wolf is on the surface. Rey stirs excitedly in me and I let him have control so that he could bond with her wolf.

She seems to be sleeping while her wolf is awake. She snuggles against me as soon as she feels Rey's presence. The smile on her face is bright enough to chase my darkness away. I look down at her fervently as I pick her up in my arms and take her out of the bedroom.

"You missed me?" I ask her as I nuzzle her neck. She looks longingly at me and nods. This turns on Rey and I feel myself speeding to my room. Her eyes are staring at me longingly and so are mine. I place her on my bed gently after I enter my room.

I remove my cloak and the shirt under it. My eyes are fixed on her while she is watching my actions with her longing and hungry eyes. I climb on the bed after her and she grins at me as she wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me closer.

I can't help but smile at her adorable actions before pressing my lips against hers. She responds to me and I push her on her back so that she is lying flat on my bed while I am hovering over her. Fireworks explode all over our skin. I feel her run her hands all over my exposed back, feeling my hard muscles.

Our tongues are at war. Her moans are swallowed by me as I explore her insides. I didn't realize how much I had been starving before I tasted her. It seems like years since I tasted her last time. She pulls back unwillingly to catch on her breath.

"I missed you so much, Neffie..." I tell her as I put my forehead against her.

"Vesta," She whispers and I nod at her.

"Vesta..." I growl as I bury my face in the crook of her neck and breathe in her intoxicating scent. She giggles at the tingles before she holds my face in her hands and makes me look down at her.

"You?" She asks with innocent curious eyes.

"Rey,"

"Rey..." I couldn't help but crash my lips on hers as soon as she spoke my wolf's name. It sounded so different and beautiful coming from her.

After we pulled back, we lay on my bed staring at each other. She stared at me dreamily with her half-open eyes which would shut close and again open slightly to peer at me. She would then smile dreamily at me before drifting back to sleep. I couldn't help but stare in awe.

I want to mark her so badly. She belongs to me and I'll do anything to keep her happy. I just want her to give me a chance. She doesn't know how much desperate I am. I know that I messed up before and that I don't deserve her. She is so pure and good for me whereas I am a monster. My hands are stained with the blood of innocents and my title is painted by my dark past. I am the first of my kind, an infamous king and a dreaded god.

Even after being under so many curses, I kept my kingdom from turning into ruins. Many tried to hurt me. They tried to deprive me of peace and happiness but they never knew that I never had those things. I had nothing to lose and I didn't care about losing to start with.

I was an outcast, something more inferior to a slave because of what I am. I was labeled as a monster even before I began to exist. I tried to be good. I did everything I could. It didn't work so I became bad. I became worst and put Satan to shame.

The past disrupts me. It makes Rey violent. It brings out the monster in me who likes the taste of blood and the smell of fear. I keep this part suppressed in my deepest depths. Those who've seen this part of me know who I truly am.

I never wanted Nefret to see this part of me because it's ugly. It's the scar that never fades away. I am afraid that she may not like me once she learns about me. It's not like she is into me already. She hates me. It's not her fault. I made her hate me. But don't I deserve a chance? Just one, even though I've had never been given one before?

As she sleeps peacefully in my arms, I couldn't help but admire her. She is everything I desired long ago. As time passed, they got buried deeper and deeper. I was long dead, trapped in this immortal body which I so badly wanted to escape. But now, I got her. As long as she is here, I don't mind being a prisoner. Heck, I'll become her slave if she gives me one chance. Just one...

~

I search for the pillow into which I snuggled last night. It smelled so nice and it was so comforting. Where's it? With my eyes closed, I run my hands around on the bed. The bed seems so soft and it smells nice too. I have been sleeping on it for a week but I swear, I never slept so well in ages!

I groan when I don't find the pillow and snap open my eyes. It takes some time for my vision to focus before I yawn and sit up on the bed. I rub my eyes and look around the bed for the pil- HOLD UP A SECOND! WHERE IS THIS PLACE? WHOSE ROOM IS THIS?! HOW DID I END UP HERE?

I look around to find myself in a completely different room. If I thought that my room was the biggest the boy, I was wrong. This room is so huge! It's much bigger than mine.

The bed I am in is two times bigger than the little plank I had for a bed in my room. It's covered with a black, velvety bedsheet. There's a huge window at the far corner of the room through which one could see the whole Zaeris!

There's also a huge mirror, facing the bed. My eyes are drawn to my reflection in the mirror. I look less tired. My eyes look bluest. A gasp leaves my mouth when my eyes trail down my neck to find it covered with more hickeys. These are fresh.

Sparks shoot up my skin when I touch them. The scent floating in the air confirms my speculation.

I am in Arles' room.

Fuuucccckkk!