Chapter 129
The Crown's Entrapment
Xenia frowned when she heard a womanâs voice yelling out to her. She wouldnât have minded it at first, but what truly distracted her was the fact that she saw the same woman hugging Dariusâs arm with her bosoms brushing up against him!
It was in that momentary lapse that she failed to see the stray arrow aimed at her back.
âAhhh!â she cried out when she felt the blade of the arrow grazing on her skin.
âXen,â Darius gasped as he quickly came to her. Pulling her back, she narrowly missed death as quickly composed herself.
âItâs nothing. Just a scratch,â Xenia murmured out with a frown, her eyes fixating themselves on the woman with strange purple hair.
The woman smiled at her and straightforwardly introduced herself. âHi, Iâm Bella.â
Xenia only nodded to the newcomer once before she turned to Darius. With a thinly-veiled glare, she asked, âCan we stop, for now, my King? Iâm distracted.â
Darius frowned at Xeniaâs request as he strictly replied, âNot yet. You must stay focused on the task at hand no matter how distracted you might get, Xen.â
âHis Majesty is right,â Bella candidly added with a smile. âThe trials of the four elements wonât be easy to your kind, so you must train hard to keep yourself alive. Also, Iâll be joining the fifth trial as well, so it would be nice if I can see you there. Itâll be boring if I just have to fight Clara for the throne.â
Xeniaâs frown deepened. Here she was still deciphering what Claraâs game was, and now this woman wanted to join in? She held a sharp glare at Darius, one that screamed, âwhat a player!â
Just how many women did she have to encounter revolving around this Werewolf King?
âIâm distracted with seeing another woman lurking around my mate!â she wanted to lash out loud, but she didnât. Darius was right. She shouldnât let anything distract her.
Composing herself, she closed her eyes as she whispered, âAgain.â
Taking his silence as a yes, Xenia cleared her mind as she focused on her training. The next thing she knew, another batch of arrows were flying towards her. Using a different strategy, she kept her eyes closed as she let her body move in sync with the flow of the air around her.
She kept at it, her mind zoning out as everything became routine. Minutes had already passed when she heard Dariusâs voice.
âThatâs enough.â
At his command, the arrows stopped flying towards her, and so did she. Xenia opened her eyes and dainty applause greeted her efforts.
âWow! Thatâs great. You move just like us now,â Bella congratulated her with genuine admiration. âI guess that means you can pass the Trial of Air without a sweat now.â
Hearing the praise, Xenia gave her a smile before she walked towards Dariusâs side, comfortably hooking her arms around his as she sweetly smiled, ignoring the mischievous smirk on his face.
âShall we go now, my King? Walk me to my chambers so that I can change before joining you in your luncheon meeting.â Satisfied with her words, Xenia then looked at Bella and directly addressed her. âIt was nice meeting you, Lady Bella. But, if youâll excuse usâ¦â
She gave the woman a slight nod before she started walking away with Darius. However, they were only halfway out of the stadium before they stopped midstep.
âWhatâs wrong?â Darius whispered out to her.
âCompleting the actâ¦â Xenia coldly stated before turning around to look at Bella. With a faint glare, she added, âBy the way, Iâm quite possessive with whatâs mine, so please refrain from touching my mate. I will consider your prior act a blatant insult to me, and you wouldnât want the Kingâs mate getting annoyed now, wouldnât we?â
âWha-â
She then addressed Darius, her eyes still lingering in Bellaâs direction, ignoring the womanâs confusion.
âMy King, didnât you already spread the word that insulting me, your mate, is equivalent to insulting you? It seems like it hasnât reached Lady Bellaâs ear yet. Iâm quite disappointed that the rumors and gossip around me seem to be spreading faster than your orders.â
Piecing together her play, Darius amusingly smirked as he stated, âYou heard my mate, Bella. Please refrain yourself from touching me from now on.â
Xenia released the frown on her forehead upon seeing the genuine smile on Bellaâs face as the woman amusingly replied, âOf course, My King. I will make sure that this wonât happen again. My apologies to you and to our Lady Xenia.â
âVery well. And do refrain yourself from addressing me as âmy Kingâ as well. Only my mate, Xen, can address me in such a mannerâ¦â Darius added before he continued walking with Xen.
âI understand, and I will oblige accordingly,â Bella promptly replied.
Leaving the stadium, Xenia waited until they were completely out of earshot before she pointed something out.
âYouâre really enjoying this, huh,â Xenia couldnât help but scoff at seeing how Darius was even whistling as they walked back inside the castle.
âOf course. I can smell your flaming jealousy, and it pleases me to see you this riled up,â Darius directly replied.
Xeniaâs face burned in embarrassment. So she was jealous? Well, as much as she wanted to deny it, doing so would only make her look pathetic. Still, she almost forgot that Darius could almost smell everything from her. She couldnât even hide any of her desires for him now.
âThis is so unfair. I feel like I canât hide anything from you if you can just smell everything in me,â Xenia complained with a pout. âBesides, Iâm just being territorial. Youâre being possessive around me, so itâs only natural for me to do the same thing, wouldnât you think?â
Darius chuckled. âYouâll be able to smell me my love, feel my emotions, and even talk to me telepathically once you allow me to mark you, you know,â he enthusiastically replied.
Xenia remained quiet, thoroughly assessing herself if she was even ready for such a thing. A terse silence settled between them as the question lingered.
âLike I said, I will wait for you, Xen, so donât stress yourself out over it,â Darius added. âIn the meantime, focus on your training. I want you to pass all the trials with flying colors.â
He then stopped walking to face Xenia, pulling her in for a warm embrace as he whispered, âThereâs no other woman I would want to be my Queen other than you, Xen. Youâre the only one for meâ¦â
Her heart melted with those words. She wanted to ask Darius if he really meant his words. If he⦠if he really had feelings for her and not just because of the Mate Pull affecting him. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out of it.
Giving up, Xenia bit her lower lip as she let her nose nuzzle into his masculine scent. It felt so nice to be in his arms like this, feeling so secure and comforted within his embrace. When did that start? She didnât know anymore.
But one thing was for sure, she would definitely do her best and give her all to stay by his side; as his mate, his Queen⦠All because that was what she wanted as well; To be the only woman in his life.
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A/N: Keep voting on Golden Tickets and Power stones guys. I will release 5 chapters instead of just 2 every time we reach 100s on Golden Tickets and 1000s on Powerstones. Another Extra Bonus Chapter/s too will be released for every Super Gift the book will receive. Thank you so much for the support and love. PS. Share your thoughts about the book through comments and reviews.