“What sort of nonsense is this Thjis? That you’ll let a wolf dine with iced royalty?”
A sultry voice asked this just as Massa shoved a forkful of pork in my mouth. Since I’m just a whore, I’m not allowed to have roasted steak like my master here.
I looked up as a woman sauntered into the dining room. She wore a knee-length dress with lots of sequences, probably with the intent to blind. She has weird markings on her bare arms and her skin is pale. Her blond hair is held high in a ponytail but her ears are devoid of earrings just as her neck and wrists are devoid of any jewelry. And she is without shoes.
Thjis stood up at once, his food forgotten. The other princes stopped eating except for Sia. Massa didn’t feed me pork anymore. I don’t know whether to be glad.
“Rifera, I’m quite shocked. You’re not the type to show up early.”
“Well, when I heard there was a wolf on iced grounds, I had to cancel all operations and come see her.”
Now I’m starting to feel quite important. Someone had left their home to come to see me. Me, a lowly omega.
“You’ve seen her,” Massa said dryly. “Now can you just excuse us so we can enjoy our meal in peace?”
She turned to Massa. “Ever the same young prince. I do not blame you for your rudeness. After all, Dogara forgot to teach you manners.”
I’m guessing Dogara is his mother. Massa flared up. “It’s the queen to you leech! And a persona like yours deserves no manners.”
“Enough!”, Thjis bellowed.
“No don’t shush him Thjis. I wouldn’t put it past him to bring a wolf into our lands.”
“I brought her and so what?”
“You truly do not fear the council’s wrath young prince. You are yet to clear your name from the bad book and here you are committing another atrocity.”
“Getting a new whore is no atrocity,” Massa countered.
“It is when she’s a wolf!” She sharply turned to Thjis. “I don’t know about you Thjis, but this stunt of his is enough to rule him out. Honestly, I don’t think he needs to face the panel anymore. I say we hang him immediately!”
“Enough Rifera! That’s my son you’re talking about.”
“Family ties know no bounds when we’re trying to uphold the law Thjis. We’ve let him off a thousand times, but this is a crime we cannot easily forgive.”
“Actually, you can,” Massa muttered.
“Let the council be the judge of that Rifera. Now if you’ll excuse us, my sons and I would like to finish our dinner.”
The Rifera woman glared. Thjis just smiled and sat down. Huffing, she gave up.
“This isn’t over yet This,” she said before storming out.
The princes heaved a sigh of relief and continued on with their meal.
“Tell us Stormie,” Kayne said, taking a careful sip of his orange juice. “How did you meet my baby brother?”
Baby brother? He looks like the baby brother.
“We… we met at a club, my prince.”
“And?”, he asked wriggling his brows.
“I saw him, and liked his appearance but the prince never noticed me. He was busy snogging other women,” I said, and it’s the truth.
“So, what did you do to have his attention?”, Kayne asks.
“I stole his pendant off his ne..”
“Now just look at that!”, Eleanor exclaimed. “Massa brought a thief into our home!”
“That’s enough Eleanor. And you too Kayne,” Ruarc ordered.
Kayne pouted. “You take the fun out of everything Ruarc.”
“I’m not interested in how Massa met his whore,” Eoff said. “More importantly, I want to know how our Crown Prince came in contact with a wolf.”
And all eyes fell on Ruarc. He coughed, reaching for his glass of wine. “Nasia introduced her to me.”
And they all turned to Sia. He blinks, definitely not expecting to be the center of attention.
“Tell us Nasia,” Dolan urged. “How did you meet Stormie?”
He took a careful sip of his water. “I don’t remember.”
“Surely that’s impossible,” Dolan exclaims. “You’re not the type to forget things Nasia. Tell us, how did you meet her?”
“I think we’re all done here. Permit me to leave father,” Sia says, waving off Dolan’s question.
“Permission denied,” Thjis said rising. His sons rose up too. I stand behind Massa. “You all can go but Massa, Nasia, and Ruarc are to remain.”
The princes bowed and left. I turned to Thjis. “If the King would permit me, I would like to retire for the night.”
“You’re not going anywhere until you tell me Crinka what you’re doing on my lands.”
Ruarc’s eyes widened along with Sia’s. Thjis chuckled. “You look surprised that I know your mate’s name son.”
“How did you…”, Ruarc straightens before continuing. “How did you know that she’s my mate?”
“Didn’t your little mate inform you of my visit?”. Ruarc shook his head. “Ah Crinka, you didn’t strike me as the type to keep things away from your mate.”
“You’re an asshole,” I tell Thjis, ignoring Massa’s glare.
“How about you stop insulting my father and tell me why you kept his visit a secret from me?” Ruarc thundered.
“I don’t owe you any explanation Ruarc,” I tell Ruarc before turning to Thjis. “I’m here because it’s much safer here.”
He chuckled, “How foolish. You haven’t even lasted an hour here and my sons are already thinking up ways of how to kill you. Take a look at these icy walls Crinka. This is no place for a wolf.”
I glower at him. “You know I like you better when you called me Clepp.”
He laughed. “And you, Nasia, how could you bring her here knowing fully well that she won’t be safe here?”
“Leaving her behind wouldn’t have been any safer now that the bomzees had seen her,” Sia responded.
Thjis tsked. “What a shame. From the frying pan into the fire. Let me tell you something sons. If you don’t level up your acting skills, Crinka would soon join her ancestors.”
“I say we performed pretty well,” Massa countered.
“No, you didn’t. If you want to pull this off then you got to do this right. Ruarc, you need to learn how to mask your expressions very well especially anger and jealousy as Massa is bound to get more explicit with Crinka given he would soon make her a Royal Concubine.”
“Am I not one already?”, I ask, looking at him.
“No. Right now, you’re just his whore. For you to become his Royal Concubine, you have to pass through a series of rituals.”
“What kind of rituals?”
“The council will conduct it,” Sia offered. “They will all have a taste of you to be sure you’re worthy if becoming a Concubine.”
“A taste?”, I shriek. Massa nods. “And how do they taste? Is it the way chefs’ taste for salt?”
“No Crinka,” Sia said. “The vampires would drink your blood.”
“The fuck they will.”
“Calm down Crinka,” Massa says.
“Calm down? How do you expect me to calm down? Those fuckers are gonna drink my blo…”
Then the idiot kisses me, His lips meet mine for a moment before he softly pulls away. Nasia looks unbothered, but Ruarc? His eyes scream bloody murder. Massa slowly backs away.
“That’s what I’m talking about son. Massa just kissed her and you look ready to pounce. You need to control that. Nasia could teach you. And Massa, you need to get a little more sexual with Crinka. Kiss her like you can’t get enough, or give her multiple orgasms during breakfast. You need to show them that she’s indeed your whore.”
“Why are you helping us?”, I ask Thjis. “You don’t even like me.”
He just smiled.
“In due time you will understand. But for now? Try to stay alive.”