Writers POV

"Answer me! Where is she!" He roared again. The guards couldn't muster up the courage to answer so one of them just pointed towards a door end the end of the hallway to their right. He rushes towards the door, which was not locked from the inside, and bragged inside the. The room was dimly lit and large, with a king-size bed in the center covered with a black duvet and a pile of pillows. Blank off-white walls and a wall of windows from ceiling to floor. On the other side, there was a wooden door that he assumed led to the bathroom and another that led to the walk-in closet. His gaze darted around the room, coming to a halt at the figure sitting in a corner. Her head was bowed, one hand on her thigh, the other holding a cigarette on her knees. He turned on the lights and approached her. Her knuckles were bruised with blood, a few cuts here and there. What caught his attention was a piece of glass stuck in her forearm. Blood was oozing from the cut, so he rushed over to her, kneeling down and inspecting her forearm right away. She neither acknowledges nor speaks to him. Aiden's heart began to race as he noticed how calm she appeared. He stood up and dashed out the door, one guard was waiting outside with a medical kit in hand. He snatched it from him and dashed over to Ariel. He took out the piece of glass and attended to every visible cut and scratch.

"Are you hurt anywhere else? Are you all right?" When he finally asked, she shook her head. And he stormed out of the room, his chest was heaving, his veins were visible and he was on the edge of ending someone's life, the thought of someone had dared to hurt his mate when it's his responsibility to protect her and he failed miserably only fueled his rage.

"Who dared to attack my mate!" He roared at the guards and they bowed in submission.

"They w-were from the K-kings Guards, Your Highness."

A few hours earlier,

When her hand moves over the canvass it's almost likely her mind is directing her hand without her knowing, odd perhaps, but that's the way it is. Her hand moves instinctively to the right spot, building a new picture, often one she has never seen before. In these fantastical worlds, she sees reflections of her own mind, the way she thinks, but there is something else there too. She doesn't know what, perhaps she just imagined it. She had been in her studio for a couple of hours, distracting herself from the world, the day, and the memories. She was so concentrated that she could see every single wool of the paintbrush touching the canvas. The room was silent, and she was distracted by the storm within her. Her entire attention was focused on the canvas in front of her. The massive glass windows shattered with a tremendous force startling her and jumped in a few men in full combat gear masks covering their faces. The Royal emblem on their arm, however, did not go unnoticed by Ariel. Outside, she could hear the sound of destruction as well as the snarling and howling of wolves. Five men were approaching her in her studio. She returned her gaze to the canvas with a borderline expression on her face. Her blood boiled and her face turned bright red when she saw the wrong color stroke on the canvas.

"How dare you destroy my work! Do you have any idea how long it took me?"

"It would be wise for you to think about yourself, mutt." One of them snarled

"Oh no, if I were in your place I would be wise enough to run." She growled, the soft tone was gone now replaced with an inhuman voice. That made them halt in their pace and look at her in disbelief. Ariel's eyes were changing colors and the veins on her neck were popping out. Her chest was heaving up and down, she was fuming. The intruders looked at her with wide eyes, and one of them, whom Ariel assumed was their leader, said, "Take her alive." Two of the intruders approached her and attempted to grab her arms; in the blink of an eye, his arm was separated from his shoulder and dangling like a thread. They were taken aback by her strength and speed. Another man attempted to punch her, but Ariel grabbed his hand, twisting it, and flipped him, throwing him on the tiled floor and breaking his hand in a swift motion. "Guess I was just waiting to get ticked off the whole day," she said. She crushed the men's necks before turning around and charging towards the rest of them using her vampire speed. The reaction time of the intruder was slower, before they could shift she was in front of them. She landed a hard punch on his ribs and grabbed his neck breaking it she threw his body away. In a blink of an eye, she was done with all the six intruders standing in front of their leader. Her eyes were bloodshot red and her fangs were out on display.

"You were a bloodsucker all along."

"Took you look enough to figure that out." He snarled at her and started to shift but before he could shift completely she was in front of him and grabbed him by his throat

"Not so fast, I can't let you destroy my studio now, can I?" Ariel snarled with a wicked smirk on her face

"L-look around a-again." She looked around and saw that her studio had been destroyed, that torn canvases and other supplies were strewn about, and that all of her works had been severely damaged. She returned her gaze to the man in her hand and applied increasing pressure. Her face was flushed, and her eyes were bright red.

"You! You are going to suffer."

Punches landed on his face one after the other. His face was swollen with blood, and the ones that knew him would hardly recognize him. All of the cuts, torn lips, and a broken nose were gushing with blood. She was using him as a punching bag in preparation for future fights. She dropped him after giving his face a makeover, but her hands and punches didn't stop. He lay on the floor, his ribs, legs, and hands are broken, waiting to die but she seemed to have different plans for him. She grabbed him by his collar but a loud whimper made her halt

"Heal as much as you can and don't move, though I hardly can imagine you moving." She threw him on the floor again and ran off to the source of the whimpers. Six lycans were circling the three Royal Guards, who were supposed to 'protect' her. One of the guards was seriously injured and he was lying on the ground hardly breathing. The rest of the guards were also injured but they were not looking as bad as the third one. She took slow steady steps towards them. The noise of her boot hitting the tiled floor made everyone present there turn to her.

"Looks like my protectors need my protection. How lovely of you guys destroying my house."

Present time,

Aiden didn't wait for more information about the fight; the dead bodies and his mate's bruised knuckles say it all, he growled and stormed into the room where she was. She was sitting at the same place where he left her, unlike last time she raised her head to look at him. All of a sudden her eyes became glossy and she looked down.

"What happened, princess?" He asked looking concerned at her sudden mood change

"They destroyed my studio a-and all my works in there."

"I'll make you another studio."

"What about all my works?"

"I'll see what I can do, princess. Don't be sad." He gave her a small smile and she looked up.

Her eyes followed his every movement as he came and sat in front of her. Her eyes were silently observing his every facial feature, from his tousled hair, beautiful sapphire blue eyes, the light stubble, and his pink lips. She placed her right hand on his cheek softly, her sudden action and the sparks from her touch made Aiden look at her wide-eyed

"It suits you," she said caressing his cheek

"What suits me?" He asked confused

"This, stubble. I like it on you."

"Are you, okay?" He placed his hand over her's to stop her but she slapped away his hand

"Yeah," she moved to touch his lips with her thumb

"You know, I could kiss you." She said and Aiden's breath hitched

"You and this bond do weird things to me." She admitted and he chuckled

"Glad to know I at least have some effects on you." She moved a little forward to him and the glass bottles near her made clanking sound that caught Aiden's attention.

"Are you drunk?" He asked

"Maybe," she shrugged and he gave her a stern look

"How much did you drink?"

"A little," she took of her hand from his face. Aiden made her stand and she didn't protest. More than fifteen bottles were laying behind her

"You drank all of that?" He asked her surprised

"Yeah, so what?" She started walking but her legs were wobbly. Aiden caught her and helped her on the bed

"You know, you are quite handsome. I won't lie."

"Thanks, I guess," he said while removing her shoes'

"But, you are an asshole and an arrogant bastard and a spoiled brat. Who are you to keep me locked up in that room of yours!" She complained while poking his head with her finger

"Our room, princess. And I'm just keeping you safe and making sure you don't run away from me again." He sighed

"Safe! I could kill your whole pack and all those fucking Kings Guards, you should think about their safety and the people of your kingdom's safety. From me." She scoffed

"I'm sure you can, princess. And they are safe, don't worry." He moved on to remove her jacket but she caught his hands

"You don't believe me? Ask those guards of yours how I kicked those Kings Guards butts and protected my protectors."

"I know you did baby and I'll make sure something like that never happens again. I'm sorry for endangering your safety." He sat in front of her and sighed

"You are pretty cute, do you know that?" She tilted her head and he looked up at her

"I'm not cute! I'm anything but cute." He glared at her

"Neh, you are seriously cute." She cooed and before he could tell her otherwise she started talking again

"I wanted to kill you but I couldn't get myself to strangle that neck of yours. And now I feel like biting it." She licked her lips while eyeing his lips and neck like a hungry predator. His eyes followed her every movement and her sudden confession made his pants grow insanely uncomfortable

"So you are truthful kind of drunk, huh? As much as I would like to bite your neck too, I don't want you or me to do anything when you're drunk, sweetheart." He chuckled and she pouted

"I like this side of you better," he said chuckling

"Shut up,"

"Wanna tell me what had you got so upset whole day?"

"No, I wanna sleep." She said laying down on the bed, he had thought she would tell him what got her upset but she didn't.

"Of course, baby." He covered her with the duvet and stood up to leave but she grabbed his wrist and he looked back at her

"Stay," a small word brought a smile on his lips. He removed his shoes and stripped of his clothes leaving only his boxers on and he got under the duvet beside her. Ariel moved closer to him and snuggled to his chest taking a deep breath in his scent. He held her tight and she slowly drifted off to sleep.

"Good night, my moon." He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and she snuggled closer. Only if she would behave like this with him always. He wishes that she would not keep pushing him away. There is a kind of peace in his heart even after the chaotic day. Only if he could keep her like this, in his arm.

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Daisy Chaseley