Raven's P•O•V

I breathed in deep, taking in the scent I could recognize instantly as Alec's. Feeling his perfect body beside mine never felt so right. I almost wished for the sound sleep to come again and for us to stay like this forever.

A yawn escaped my lips as I tried to move closer to him, but winced instantly. Alec awoke with a hoarse moan and pulled me closer.

"What's wrong, love?" He asked. I shook my head and scoffed.

"Just a little sore." I replied. Alec hummed in response and pulled me on top of him swiftly. I held close to his chest as I lied on top of his perfectly muscular body, tracing circles above his heart.

I looked up and smiled at Alec. I lifted myself to kiss him, then parted from him. I sat up on the edge of the bed, letting the sheets pool around my hips. Alec's eyes flared bright red. I stood, letting the sheets fall away from my completely bare body and walked over to the chair where I had placed my robe. A chill now filled me once I departed from the warm bed and I started to pull the robe on, but before I could tie it, I felt Alec's arms wrap around my waist.

"Where are you going?" He whispered in my ear. I shut my eyes, tilting my head back so I could rest it on his shoulder.

"To take a shower." I told him in reply, holding his arms that were wrapped around my waist.

"Are you sure about that?" Alec asked gruffly and turned me around so I faced him. I raised an eyebrow at him pointedly and smirked.

"Yes, I'm sure about -" I started to say but he cut me off by smashing his lips against mine. I gasped and felt him walk me back over to the bed. I smiled in the kiss.

Suddenly, I found myself under him. I giggled as he used his speed to get us on the bed quickly. I pressed my chest against his, arching my back against him. He parted from the kiss and gazed down at me with those bright red eyes, a look of an untamed beast filling his firm expression.

"Don't tempt me, Princess." Alec said sternly, his eyes shining rubies down at me. I gave him a devious look and pressed myself closer to him. He shut his eyes and growled lowly.

"Oh! I'm sorry. Is that tempting?" I asked sarcastically. Alec opened his eyes, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Okay. Now you're just asking for it." He murmured gruffly with a small smirk planted on his face. I feigned my confusion obviously.

"Oh am I now?" I whispered teasingly as I glanced down at his lips then back up to his eyes. Alec lowered his hips and pressed closer to me. I gasped, then smiled at him mischievously.

"Now, what were you saying about a shower?" Alec whispered, placing his mouth behind my ear with a gentle kiss. I took in a sharp intake of breath and let out a breathy laugh in response.

"I was just thinking that it's already two o'clock and we should get ready for the day." I said, my voice ragged as he planted soft kisses behind my ear.

"And what is there to get ready for?" Alec murmured in my ear and started kissing down my neck. I whimpered.

His kisses started to lower down to my collar bone. He lightly nipped at the skin then kissed down to my breasts. I breathed out a small moan as he squeezed my left breast while taking the other in his mouth. Although he was rough with it, he didn't once bite down or break the skin. I moaned out loudly as he did so.

Slowly, he departed from them and I huffed annoyedly. Alec laughed, his lips pressed against my abdomen. My hands found their way to his hair, twisting and knotting themselves into the soft, midnight black locks.

"Alec -" I wanted to protest and say that we really should be getting ready, but he cut me off by kissing the inside of my thighs.

"Do you still want to take a shower?" Alec asked, looking up at me devilishly as he kissed closer and closer. I threw my head back and moaned out a no.

♱

Finally after about two hours of Alec's seemingly never-ending pleasure, we took a shower and decided to get dressed.

I took Alec's hand as we walked over to the double doors that lead out of his room. He squeezed my hand lightly and smiled down at me. As we walked out of the doors, two guards stood posted on either side of the doors. I felt my face blush deeply as I thought about how much they had probably heard. Once we were heading down the stairs, I wondered,

"Can the others smell it?" I asked Alec.

"Given I've made love to you nine times in the last twenty-four hours, everyone can sense it." Alec explained. I gulped and felt my face heat up even more.

"What are they going to think?" I asked curiously since we were going down to the dining room to have dinner with his family.

"I have no clue." Alec chuckled as we neared the dining room. I gulped as he opened the door and all of his family; uncles, aunts, cousins, parents, sister and grandmother turned their heads to look at us. I smiled sweetly to all of them, trying to mask my worry of how they'd react to the hidden scent of Alec imprinted on me.

Suddenly, Vega smiled at us. As did Irina and Piper. Dimitri looked at us with a blank expression although he looked like he was holding something back.

"Oh! I was afraid you wouldn't make it to dinner. Please sit." Vega summoned us kindly. I smiled at her and went to the two empty seats for us, Alec pulled out my chair and let me sit down, then sat beside me.

Irina and Piper sat across from us. I looked to them and both of them smiled brightly. I blushed, knowing what they were smiling about.

"I've come to realize that we haven't had a family dinner like this since Andreas passed, and I think it is a wonderful time for us to get together once again as we go through this trying time." Vega said, her voice filling the dining room. I must have looked confused because Alec took my hand and smiled at me.

"Let us make a toast. For our family and for our prosperity. May we all stick together and strengthen our bonds as we deal with the ... struggles coming after our family." Vega said firmly, her voice wavering just the slightest bit as we all know she spoke of DeMalo. We all raised our glasses, mine the only one with red wine in it instead of blood.

After talking with some of Alec's family, we all finished our meals and conversed among each other. I looked to Alec, still confused by something Vega had said.

"Who is Andreas?" I asked quietly. Alec was about to answer, but Vega answered me before he could.

"Andreas is my late husband, Alec's grandfather." She told me.

"Oh..." I said quietly. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Vega smiled warmly.

"Dear, it's been almost two hundred years since Andreas has passed." She told me, seeming to have come to terms with losing her Soulmate.

"How did he pass?" I asked, before I could control myself. Everyone at the table seemed to quiet down. Vega took a sip from her chalice and looked back to me.

"My twin sister Elisabeta was quite jealous when my father only let me find my Soulmate, since I had been destined to take the throne instead of her. When I brought Andreas back from his Romanian village, Elisabeta grew into a fit of rage and wanted to spite our father. She started to wreak havoc among the kingdom and killed dozens of innocent people. Our father banished her, and for sometime we didn't know where she had went. I didn't see her for over five hundred years before suddenly, she brought the Witches into the castle and made it so Andreas and I were vulnerable. Therefore causing the main distrust between the Vampires and the Witches." Vega paused and by now everyone was quiet. She looked at all of us, one by one, then sighed.

"I swear I fought with all I had, doing everything I was trained to do in order to protect my crown. But I was no match for her when the coven of witches paralyzed me. I was forced to watch her cut off Andreas' head." Vega sipped from her chalice and I was struck with shock.

"Where is Elisabeta now?" I questioned. No one wanted to stop me from asking these questions because they seemed as intent on the story as I. I wondered if any of the grandchildren knew of this.

"Dimitri killed her. After seeing what she had done to Andreas." She explained. I looked to Dimitri. He seemed emotionless and unhurt by this.

I wondered if deep down, that had caused Dimitri to be who he is now. Seeing his father be beheaded right in front of him...

Dimitri caught me looking at him. I looked down at my hands in my lap and avoided his gaze.

Vega sighed and sat up straight at the head of the table.

"Now," she cleared her voice, "how about some dessert?"

😋

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