Ronak
I looked over the report and then back up at the viscount who came from Cloudbrook to represent his earl. What the earl wanted to do was fine. It was probably time for Cloudbrook to have repairs done to the city walls, but did they have to send the chattiest guy ever? I've grown to enjoy listening to Micha chatter about even the most mundane things, but I was about ready to snap this twats neck. If I had to hear this idiot flounder one more time, I was going to lose my shit-
Huh? Micha was feeling upset, but what really distracted me was Olivia. I was a little aware of how Olivia and Gerard were doing simply because of the link we had from me summoning them, but it was incredibly unusual for them not to control the few emotions they experienced. It wasn't the same as the bond I had with Micha, but I could tell that an incredible amount of bloodthirst passed by Olivia, and now… she's in a panic? What could possibly worry her? All she was assigned to do today was to check up on the maids' cleaning and see if Micha had found a room…
"My lord!" Olivia's voice was an odd mixture of anger and panic as she contacted me.
"What?"
I barely got my response out before she started basically shouting into my head. "I-It's the little lord! I was checking up on him as you asked and-" Pain coursed through Micha before his panic started to rise. "That bitch!"
"Olivia! I need to know what's happening!" I stood from my chair, causing the damn annoying viscount to flinch, but I hardly paid any attention to him as I rushed out of my downstairs office. I knew this feeling all too well. Micha was crying. What bitch dared to upset him?! "Olivia?!" Why the fuck wasn't she responding?! This wasn't like her at all.
I melted down into my travel spell and rushed off, but by the time I arrived at the scene, Micha had teleported away. "How fucking dare you!" Olivia screeched as she repeatedly slapped the maid huddled down on the ground. Never in my life had I seen Olivia take things this far. "How dare you run your mouth to the little lord-!"
I grabbed her hand as she went to slap the maid again, and I angrily gnashed my teeth together. "What the fuck happened?" I snarled.
"Thisss bitch dared to raissse a hand towardsss the little lord! Ssshe ssspat nonsssensse of him not being worthy of you before sslapping him! I'll kill her!" Olivia was barely controlling her human form as her pupils elongated and her fangs became visible. She was going to fully transform if she didn't calm down.
"No," I commanded, causing Olivia to settle down a bit. "I'll deal with her later. Have her locked in her room for now." My fury was bubbling inside of me, but my gaze had wandered up. Up to where Micha was, probably in our bed, bawling his eyes out.
"But ssshe doesssn't desserve mercy-"
"She will receive none from me but now isn't the time for this. Micha needs me."
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Micha
A massive wave of anger and concern hit me as I cried into my pillow. Within moments, I heard Ronak's feet on the stairs. "That is not true! Don't you dare believe that bitches words." Ronak crawled onto the bed and pulled me against him as I cried. Dang it, I knew Olivia would tell him.
"B-but I don't know how to run a dukedom! I'm worthless." I wailed sadly, and Ronak gently patted my back.
"You are not worthless. I also had to learn how to run a dukedom. It took time and effort, which you've already expressed that you're willing to put in. Trust me, it will be a lot easier for you to learn your responsibilities than it was for me."
"Y-you have to do the work of two people b-because of me!"
"If it's your fault, then I should have hunted you down when I was a child because I've been doing it all for a long time." Ronak wiped some tears from my eyes and stared down at me with a kind gaze. "It's not your fault that I have so much work to do. If anything, you'll be able to relieve me of some work one day." He smiled, but it didn't lift the heavy weight from my chest.
"I-I don't deserve to s-stand by your side." I buried my face into his chest as another big wave of tears hit me.
"If the person I love can't stand by my side, then no one can. I only want you by my side; everyone else can just fuck off." Ronak's words helped a little, but I still felt incredibly disappointed in myself. I wasn't actively trying to help out, and if anything, all I had done was cause problems for everyone since arriving.
Tears kept falling from my eyes and soaking Ronak's nice shirt. Ronak let out a sigh and whispered into my ear. "I don't know what I could possibly say to convince you of how much I love you, but it angers me that you're this upset."
Ronak snuggled me closely and continued rubbing my back until the tears stopped. Eventually, I fell asleep, but I still had a heavy feeling weighing me down. Even my dreams were incredibly fitful.
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I woke up feeling gross. I had dried tears all over my face and puffy, swollen eyes. Worst of all, Ronak was gone. I thought he had simply rolled away, but upon further inspection, I was very alone.
Maybe he went to change? I waited patiently, but I never heard him rustling around downstairs. The sun was down… Did something urgent happen? I lay there sad and confused until a massive wave of anger from Ronak hit me.
It made my heart race, and a bit of panic set in. W-what was making Ronak so angry? I don't know where he is, though… As worry began to flood my heart, it was like something just clicked in my head. I wobbled out of bed on two unstable feet and snapped my fingers. I wasn't completely sure of the destination, but I knew that Ronak would be there.
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As I appeared on the other side of my teleport skill, the scene before me was horrific. All the staff of the house stood in the main foyer with grim faces as the maid who slapped me was whipped by a man in all black. Their faces were a mix of fear and horror as most of them looked away or down at their feet, but looking away didn't block out the sound. The sound of the whip digging into her skin with a loud snap, and her screams that followed. It was completely bone-chilling.
Worst of all was that, above all this, was Ronak looking down at the scene from the second story with malice in his eyes. I've only seen him this angry once before, and he almost killed the jerk who assaulted me on campus.
"R-Ronak?" I toddled out from where I was watching on my wobbly legs and wandered towards Ronak, who looked towards me in shock.
"What are you doing up?!?" I seemed to be the last person Ronak wanted to see at the moment. The malice that occupied his eyes mostly disappeared, and a bit of worry crashed into me from him.
The whip cracked, and the maid cried out, sending shivers down my spine. I thought I was going to vomit, I was so disgusted. "S-stop this!" I snapped my fingers and appeared next to the maid. The man wielding the whip had it drawn back, ready to hit her again, but flinched as I appeared. I wasted no time creating a golden shield around the maid, but the hit from the whip never came.
"Why are you fucking protecting her, Micha?! She hurt you! She even dared to raise a damn hand against you!" He wasn't wrong. Not only did my cheek sting, but her words inflicted pain upon my heart that was going to take a long time to heal. Ronak leapt from the second level down to the ground floor like a graceful god of fury and stormed over to where I was.
Tears returned to my eyes as I plopped to the ground next to her. I glanced at her face full of pain, and her bloody back. "Two wrongs don't make a right, Ronak…" I held out my hand and pressed it against her bloody whip marks. She hissed as my hand caused her pain, but my mana quickly alleviated anything she was feeling and shone out like a beacon in the dimly lit room. A murmur went through the attendants, but I wasn't paying close enough attention to make out what any of them were saying. The maids back stitched together, not even leaving a scar. She'd have a bruise, but nothing compared to what it would have been had she let it slowly heal.
I brought a towel out of storage and wiped her blood off my hand as Ronak stormed closer. "She doesn't fucking deserve to be healed, Micha! She's goddamn lucky I didn't have her fed to wolves! Ten lashes was a mellow punishment, and you fucking erased it all!" Ronak was so angry that his mana was swirling about him in an eerie manner. It sent a shiver down my spine as I looked up at him with my teary eyes.
I knew Ronak wouldn't do anything to me, even though his anger was currently directed at me. He'd become so gentle and careful ever since he marked me. "I-I'm the one she hit and berated. Shouldn't I be the one to decide the punishment?" My voice was a bit shaky, but I managed to get the words I wanted out. I glanced at the maid who was staring at the floor with wide eyes.
"You would go damn easy on her because you're far too nice!" An awkward chuckle escaped me, making Ronak scowl. I guess I am nice because I'd never resort to violence as a punishment. "Even now, you're feeling bad for her! Why?!" Ronak leaned down and cupped my face between both hands. His face was a lot more sinister-looking than it had been in a long time, yet I didn't feel afraid.
"Th-that's just who I am. I don't like blood or violence, yet I'm always scraping people off the ground because of you." I chuckled lightly as Ronak released me. His eyes angrily turned towards the maid, so I grabbed his face in return, making him look back at me. "I-I just want to go back to bed and pretend this was a nightmare. Please, no more whipping people or hurting them. Let these people go to sleep." I waved at the attendants and staff who were watching with wide eyes.
Ronak stood, hauling me up off the floor with him as he picked me up by the armpits. He pulled me into a hug as he glared down at the maid, and I could tell it was taking everything inside him not to kick her across the floor and into the wall. "You are removed from service and stripped of your Ebonhold citizenship. If I ever see you again, you will face dire consequences. You'd best leave my dukedom if you don't want misery to befall you. You should be grateful to the end of your days that Micha showed you mercy because I won't nor will I give him a second chance to." Each word that left his mouth was dripping with venom. Ronak even growled, making everyone flinch.
"You're such a bully," I grumbled into his chest as I rubbed my face against him.
He pulled me away from him and stared down at me. "And you look like a fucking mess with your red face and eyes." R-rude… You didn't need to say that…
"Th-thanks…" I grumbled.
Ronak turned to face the staff that didn't move a muscle during the whole ordeal. "If any of you are brave enough to voice your opinions of what sort of omega I should have selected again, just know that Micha won't find out about your fate. If you're daring enough to make him cry, I won't make the same mistake twice. Your screams won't reach his precious ears." Ronak cupped my ears with his hands, while I clung onto him like a baby marsupial. Yeah, as if that would prevent me from hearing his threats. I was about to voice my complaints when he melted down into his gooey travel spell and took off with me.
"R-Ronak, that was a bit…" Gosh, what do I even say about what just occurred? I know why he did it, but… that doesn't mean I approved of it. Why couldn't he settle it peacefully from the get-go? I understood he was upset over what happened, but… I didn't like seeing Ronak get so angry.
"Enough!" He snapped at me. "I'm running out of mercy. Just go to sleep." He appeared next to the bed and lay me down. I thought he was going to scoot me over to lie next to me, but instead, he turned to leave.
I reached out and snatched the tail of his shirt. "W-where are you going?"
"To change and find something to drink." He glanced back at me, and there was a massive frown plastered across his face.
"C-can I join you?" Honestly, making everything I just witnessed disappear sounded nice. I had never been drunk before, but if I had to pick a time to get drunk, now sounded good.
Ronak let out a sigh and turned around to scoop me back up. He hauled me downstairs and plopped me down on the sofa, then went to change. He was being scarily quiet. When he returned from the closet, he was carrying two bottles. "I have whisky or bourbon. You'll have to drink them neat because I don't feel like seeing any attendants right now." His tone of voice was incredibly curt with me as he set down the bottles and the two cups. He didn't even sit next to me. There was a rather clear gap between the two of us.
I stared at him, a bit confused. "Two things… Why are you storing liquor in the closet when we have shelves, and what do you mean by 'drinking neat'?" I pointed over to the shelves that I had placed some books on earlier today.
"God, you really don't ever drink, do you?" No… he knows I don't really drink… we've talked about it… "I didn't put the alcohol on the shelves because too much sunlight will make it taste odd. Drinking neat means there's nothing in the drink, not even ice." Ronak waved at all the windows, and I nodded my head. We did get a lot of light in our room… "You'll probably prefer the bourbon, it's a little sweet." He sat down next to me and poured me a drink.
I accepted the glass and stared into it. Ronak went to talk but froze as I downed the entire glass in a few gulps. Ew…I smacked my lips a couple of times. I-I don't like that one bit… He thought this was sweet?
"That… was for sipping…" Oh, oops. I held out my glass as if he would pour me more, and he confiscated it. "That was about four ounces, you can't have more. You don't weigh enough, you're as light as your obnoxious pillows." He grumbled as he poured himself a glass of whiskey.
I tilted my head to the side, confused. What did my weight have to do with anything? Also, you don't need to be so crabby with me… I-I guess I did make him mad though… I nervously fiddled with my fingers and noticed Ronak watching me.
Ronak let out a sigh and used his creepy mind-reading abilities, which he insisted that he didn't have. "Your body will struggle to process the alcohol because you're smaller, so no more. Plus, your limit is probably low because you rarely drink."
I sat there staring into space when a hiccup escaped me. I turned to watch Ronak staring out at the darkness through the window; he still looked extremely upset. Only the crackling fireplace was lighting the room with a soft orange glow. Normally, it made the room feel cozy, but at the moment, it was giving everything a somber appearance. "I-I'm not mad or anything. I understand that she needed to be disciplined…" And it's not like whipping isn't a common form of discipline… but that didn't mean I had to like it…
"But you don't like my methods…" Ronak snapped and took a large swig of his drink. The room was silent for a moment as I selected the right words.
"They were a bit harsh… but I also undershtand that you did it to protect me and to make an example of her." Another small hiccup escaped, followed by two more, and I was starting to feel a little dizzy. "Y-you can be a bit of a… hic… bully." I glared at him, but my vision wasn't clear, so I scooted closer to him so I could stare at him with wide eyes.
I scooted closer and closer until I basically ended up crawling into his lap while hiccupping. Ronak looked a bit disgruntled by my actions, but he didn't stop me. "Oh? Is this what your father is like when drunk? Does he get cuddly?"
I rested my dizzy head against his chest for a moment and rolled my head back so I could look up at him. "N-no, he… hic… shtartsh saying embarrashing things about how much he lovesh my… hic… mother and me." Ugh, it was like the world was spinning inside my head. I-I didn't realize the alcohol would hit so quickly.
"Mmm, I see, that's why you get embarrassed when I do it." I nodded my head and rubbed one of my tired eyes. "You don't think I'm… abusive… do you?" A confusing wave of sadness and despair hit me from Ronak, and I wiggled around to get a better look at him.
I reached my hand up and patted his head like he always did for me. "You're a big… hic… grumpy meanie every once in a while…" I blinked a few times and thought about his question. Maybe towards others… but never towards me… Mmm… "No… You're crabby, not controlling… hic… Tshough I do worry about you ash a father… hic…" I collapsed forward onto his shoulder, and he slowly wrapped his arm around me.
It took him a while to respond to me, but when he did, his voice was rather soft. "You actually want to have kids with me?" That's a shilly question.
"It'sh my reshponsibility as your omeeega… hic…" My words were far more muffled and mumbled as I spoke into Ronak's shoulder.
"No, I don't want you having kids with me out of obligation. Only if you love me and want to." Ronak pulled me away from him so he could push my bangs out of my face. I guess I was sorta eating my own hair… Mmm… Ronak looks a little fuzzy. Fuzzy wuzzy like a bear… I'm… sleeeeepy…
I blinked slowly at Ronak. Huh… he looks shad… "That's… hic… not a problem, I like you lotsh… but like… can you… hic… not make our kidsh cry?"
"Do you… think I'm going to be a terrible excuse for a father like mine was?" Ew… the previous duke? Don't compare yourshelf to him. He'sh icky. You're just grumpy.
"No, dummy," I grumbled as I blinked repetitively. My eyes felt sho heavy… Ugh, Ronak was ashking too many queshtionss.
"You're acting like I'm going to be a bad father…" Ronak glared at me but I just poked his cheeks, making him lose his composure. He was still frowning quite a bit, though.
I let out a big yawn and tried to look him in the eyes. "I would cry if you were my… hic… father, you have a shcary atmoshphere about you… and you like to shcowl... Plush, you're gonna teach our kidsh bad wordsh… I'll have to wassh your mouth out with shoap… Naughty, naughty, alpha… hic…" A big yawn escaped me, and like a cat, I curled up against Ronak and started to purr. The sweet sound filled the air, and I started to doze off.
Ronak made a highly disgruntled noise, and the feeling of annoyance washed over me, but I was too tired to care. I was so sleepy, and Ronak's chest felt like the perfect place to take a little nap. Don't mind if I do…
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Hurk! I woke up with a sense of urgency and rushed to the restroom as the undeniable urge to vomit gripped my stomach. Footsteps followed not too far behind me, and I sadly looked up from the toilet to see Ronak watching me with concerned eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Ugh, why do I feel so gross?" My head was pounding, and I felt like I was going to vomit again. Ronak quickly kneeled beside me and pulled my hair out of my face as my stomach deposited its contents into our toilet.
"Do you not remember downing your cup of bourbon like a shot?" It was a bit hard to see due to the tears in my eyes, but I saw Ronak narrow his eyes.
"....No… ugh, I think I remember crying…" Did I forget something? "Did something happen- Hurk!" Nothing but bile was coming up, and my mouth tasted horrendous. Ugh! Make it stop!
"Mmm... nope. You were upset, and we shared a drink." I wanted to question his odd response, but I was far more interested in depositing all my insides into the toilet. Ronak sighed and rubbed my back. "Take slow breaths, we'll have breakfast, and then get plenty of water in you. You'll be feeling better in no time."
"What about knight training? Aren't you going to be late?" The urgent feeling passed, so I miserably sat up and moved towards the sink to wash out my mouth.
"They left to go hunting, and even if they weren't gone, I wouldn't go. I don't feel like being around anyone today." In other words, you're still mad about last night… The memory is a bit blurry, but those screams will haunt me for a while. Everything after returning to our room is blank, though… I hope I didn't do anything too embarrassing…
I stared at Ronak with wide eyes as I got my toothbrush ready, and he looked away with a face of shame. "I-I would kiss you to help you feel better, but… you probably don't want to taste the contents of my stomach…" I scooped a far too large blob of toothpaste onto my brush, but I didn't care. I needed something to cleanse my mouth.
Ronak lightly scoffed. "That will be a hard pass for now." He was still avoiding eye contact, though…
I watched him as he sat slumped on the bathroom floor while I finished with what I was doing. "Did I say something or do something weird? You're acting strange." I grabbed Ronak's hand and pulled him back into our room. I was feeling a tad bit better now that my stomach wasn't feeling like the rough ocean and my mouth didn't taste gross.
"Not particularly." Grah! He was still avoiding eye contact. He sat on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands, so I obnoxiously squirmed myself between his arms like a needy dog.
I grabbed his face with my hands and stared into his crimson eyes. "What are you doing?..." Ronak asked while staring at the ceiling.
"Why won't you look at me? Either you're hiding something, or you're feeling guilty about last night…" There was no way, nothing happened. I-I totally did something embarrassing, didn't I?!
"So you do remember…" Ronak pulled his face out of my grip and stared past me.
"I remember parts…" I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head on his shoulder. "It's okay…" I played with the back of his hair by running my fingers through it as I held him. He was being too hard on himself. I've seen how some nobles treat their attendants at the academy, and I'm sure much worse punishments go on at their estates.
Ronak pulled away from me and gently rubbed my sore cheek. "Your cheek is still a bit pink." His eyes caught mine and then quickly looked away. "Marking you has only brought you trouble…"
"Oooh, so now you're worried about that." I teasingly pinched both of his cheeks. "Where did my confident alpha go who was ready to face any challenge with his fists?"
"The fact that a lowly maid dared to lay a hand on you makes me uncontrollably furious. Honestly, I wanted to hunt her down this morning…" Ronak's eyes were full of rage as he stared past me. I was aware of how mad he was; it was seeping into my own senses and trying to take over.
"You've done enough, though. The fear in her eyes and the pain she went through will haunt her for the rest of her life. I'm perfectly safe in your arms right now. There's no need to get upset again." Ronak leaned forward, pressing his head against my shoulder as he let out a sigh.
"How am I supposed to leave you alone if even my own estate isn't safe for you?" Oh, right. Ronak was leaving in a few days… C-can't he just stay? N-no… I can't be selfish, I've caused enough problems…
"I would be surprised if anyone tried anything after what happened." They're probably scared now because of Ronak. "Also, won't Olivia be here with me, or will she be going with you?"
"I'll definitely leave her." She seemed to be just as protective of me as Ronak was…
"Then just like a fairy tale, I will stay locked away in the tower awaiting my prince's return." I giggled as I laced his hair through my fingers. "I won't have a reason to leave, it's not like I'm going to take meals in the dining room alone."
Ronak scoffed. "You are quite the damsel in distress who needs a prince to keep track of you. Admit it. You got lost yesterday, didn't you?"
My fingers froze as they played in his hair… "Noooo…" H-he wasn't supposed to find that out.
Ronak snickered, which made me feel tremendously better, and he wrapped his arms around me. "How do you always find a way to soothe my anger?"
"It's my job to soothe and heal while you get to protect and attack." I giggled. "I think it's the perfect combination." Ronak kissed my neck, which made me giggle even more. Yeah… I think I even liked Ronak's possessive, scary side. At least I knew he would protect me no matter what… I just had to rein him in a bit when he took things too far. My obnoxious nickname at the guild was right. I feel like a demon tamer when it comes to Ronak.
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I was feeling so much better after getting some food and water in my system. Ronak was right. Plus, the hot bath was delightful. I apologize for complaining about the size of our tub. It's amazing. The perfect vessel to soak away my woes. "Remind me to never drink again." I groaned as I flopped face-first onto the sofa.
"Aww, but you're a cute drunk." I quickly sat up and stared at Ronak. So there was something he was hiding!
"What does that mean?!" Oh, gosh! What did I do that Ronak thought was cute?
He smirked as he flipped a page in his book. "Mmm, that's for me to know and for you to never find out. Though you said something rather upsetting…"
My eyes went wide, and I scurried to sit next to Ronak. "W-what does that mean?!"
"It's not my fault you don't remember. Try not to drink so much next time." My eye twitched, and I wanted to wipe that obnoxious smirk off his face. That's not fair! You can't just keep secrets like this!
I was on all fours on the sofa, and I kept leaning closer and closer to Ronak's face while staring at him. As I got within touching distance of him, he turned and blew in my face. Ack! He resumed reading and ignoring me, so I decided to take drastic measures. "That's quite the loose collar you have there," I grumbled before lunging forward. His shirt was rather loose and flowy with a wide, deep 'v'. The marks I gave him the other day were still visible but quickly disappearing. He didn't even care that he had them. If anything, it was like he was flaunting that I bit him. This time, I aimed for the middle of his shoulder so they wouldn't be visible in most outfits.
Like a vicious animal, I struck and sank my teeth into Ronak's shoulder. I wasn't sure why I got such a euphoric reaction when I bit him, but I did. He grunted, and the book dropped from his hands onto the floor. He pulled me into his lap, but it hardly deterred me from what I was doing. It felt like we were making out as he pulled my shirt down from my neck and bit me.
Between the taste of his skin and the strong smell of delicious cherry wood pheromones, I was becoming incredibly turned on. My hands ran across his wide chest, then up and over his shoulders. I didn't care where I left marks; I just wanted the rush I was feeling to never stop.
Ronak was barely biting my shoulder at this point and was breathing heavily. He mentioned before that he got a strange feeling when I did this. Maybe he was feeling incredibly turned on as well.
A strange desire possessed me. I sat up and leaned over Ronak's shoulder. I wasn't quite at the right angle, but I would make it work. I ran my tongue over the back of Ronak's neck, and he grunted. Heh, cute. I opened my mouth wide and chomped down on him.
It was like a strange piece of our puzzle had been completed. A wave of happiness hit me, and I felt good, like I finally knew that Ronak was mine and only mine. I pulled away from him with a gasp as the strange sensation passed. I caught sight of his bond mark and froze. "R-Ronak…"
I pulled his shirt back and stared at the part of the mark I could see. His golden mark had now been paired with a red design that outlined and accentuated the gold. D-did his mark get… bigger? Even the gold seemed more expansive… I kept pulling at his shirt, trying to see more, but I yelped as he grabbed my bottom.
"What are you doing back there?" I sat back down on his lap and saw that his eyes were mostly closed except for a sliver. His breath was still a bit ragged as well. Gosh, he got all sorts of worked up. "Did you just try to mark me? You little brat. You're not an alpha."
"I-I don't think I tried…" I pulled his shirt collar to the side, revealing even more red and gold that was covering his chest. "I-I think… I succeeded…"
Ronak opened his eyes and looked down at his chest, then up at me. "What the hell did you do?" He pulled his shirt up and over his head, tossing it aside. I gasped as I saw that the new design no longer just stopped along his pecks. It traveled all the way down his sides. I curiously ran my finger along the design, but yelped as Ronak grabbed the bottom of my shirt. "I want to see if yours has changed."
"W-warn someone." I held my hands up against my chest as if I was hiding something, and Ronak scoffed.
"I've seen your body countless times. Why are you embarrassed now?" Because you just tried peeling my clothes off as fast as possible!
"Y-you startled me. Here…" I got off his lap and turned around. My mark was originally along my back with only a little in the front, so I was curious to know if it had changed. I pulled my shirt over my head and held it against my chest.
"Holy, shit. The fuck did you do?" His finger touched my back and ran along the design. "It even goes down your arms now." I turned my head and sure enough, the swirling pattern wrapped around my arms, going almost all the way down to my elbows. I yelped again as Ronak unexpectedly pulled my pants down on one side. "Heh, it's on your butt now. Yours is primarily gold. You only have red in the center of your back." He poked me where the red was, and I shivered from his cold hand.
"H-hey!" I pulled my pants back up and threw my shirt back over my head.
"Why won't you let me see your body?" Ronak slid forward and wrapped his arms around the tops of my thighs as he rubbed his face against my back.
"Because you're just going to do something inappropriate and I feel like there are more pressing matters to address…"
"What's more pressing than your adorable body?" He reached his hand up my shirt, and I swatted it away.
"Y-your eyes…" I had gotten a quick glimpse of his eyes as I turned around, and I needed to see if I had just been seeing things. Ronak unwillingly released me, and I turned around to look at him.
On the outer edge of his pupil was a golden ring… His eyes were still the dark crimson, but with an attention-grabbing golden ring around his pupil. I had caught a quick glimpse earlier, but I just thought I was seeing things… This is crazy…
"Your eyes look normal…" Ronak said as he blinked. "What did you do to me now?"
I grabbed Ronak's cheeks and leaned forward. "Your eyes are so pretty. They have a gold ring in them now."
"Huh?" Ronak's expression turned puzzled, and I let out a little yelp as he picked me up. He hauled me into the bathroom with him, and I watched as he gawked into the mirror. "What the hell did you do?" He had set me down and was learning forward across the sink as he stared into the mirror. He even shifted his eyes into their demonic form, and sure enough, his elongated cat-like eyes still had a thin golden outline around his pupil.
"I-I don't know!" I said with a squeal. My eyes looked normal. It was only Ronak whose eyes changed. "I didn't do it on purpose! I-I got too wrapped up in the moment!" I didn't notice until Ronak was right next to me with his clawed hand outstretched, but hovering above his hand was none other than a red bubble. It gently popped as he poked it with a claw, and the two of us shared a stunned look. "I-is that… my light orb spell?" Except… it wasn't exactly doing a very good job at producing light… It cast a creepy red glow onto things before it popped.
"I think… I can use all of your spells now…" Ronak blinked a few times, and his hand slowly turned back into its normal fingered state. "How crazy… Can you use mine?" Huh? He wanted to know what now?
I turned my attention to my own spell knowledge, and sure enough, it felt like something had changed… "Ummm… I-I don't know… maybe?"
Ronak grabbed my hand with wide eyes, and I flinched. "Let's go investigate." What? Was now the appropriate time for this?! Ronak apparently didn't care because he hauled me out of the bathroom and into the closet. "Put this on." He said as he threw my training clothes at me. O-okay…
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Ronak was handling this a lot better than me. I was feeling far too shocked and embarrassed about my actions. J-just what did I do?! Ronak was using creepy, demonic versions of my spells like it was completely normal. "How the hell do you not worry about falling to your death?" Ronak asked as he stood on a blood-red platform that was a few feet off the ground.
"I-I did fall a few times when learning how to space them properly… but like…" It was so hard to focus as Ronak produced a bunch of creepy red bubbles that looked like they were oozing red mana. "I can heal myself…"
Ronak leapt from the platform, and all the bubbles floating around popped as he stopped channeling magic to them. "Does that mean I can heal now, too?" He waltzed over and held his hand against my still sore cheek. It was pretty cute, but to no surprise, nothing happened. "Hmmm… I guess I don't have access to all your spells…" Can't say I'm too surprised. Healing magic was exclusive to light magic.
"I have to admit that I'd be pretty offended if you were able to heal after how many years I spent learning how the body functions." I probably would have passed out from shock.
Ronak scoffed and pulled his hand back. "I'm only interested in healing you anyway. I couldn't care less about other people." That's not surprising either… Like a fascinated child, Ronak wandered a bit away from me and kept using my spells. He created a bloody-looking shield and then morphed it into two crimson wings that looked like my secondary shield. He even made two halo blades and hurled them at a poor training dummy. As the flat disks easily slid through the straw, the training dummy burst, causing the straw to go everywhere. "Neat." He… was having too much fun. "How do I put stuff into storage?"
I puckered my lips slightly as Ronak stuck his arm into the air and waved it around obnoxiously. It felt like he was mocking me, so I walked over to him and brought a pillow out of storage. "Stop it, you brat!" I said as I smacked his chest with the pillow. "Stop mocking me!"
Ronak's grin was incredibly obnoxious as he stole my pillow from me. "I'm just trying to learn how to use my new spells." Ahuh, sure. With a red flash of light, Ronak shoved my pillow into his own storage. "Guess it's my pillow now."
"G-give it back!" I whined while trying to grab his now-empty outstretched arm. He had me clasped rather tightly against his chest, so it's not like I could reach.
"Don't want to." He quickly released me and childishly ran away. I started to follow, but stopped with a scowl.
"I'm not playing your games!" It's not like I could win. Ronak always made sure he won. I let out a little scream as Ronak snapped his fingers and appeared right next to me. He wasn't as practiced, though, and ended up almost taking me out as he stumbled forward. "Watch out!" I squealed as he pulled me against him.
"So that's why you used our bed as a landing zone for a while. That is rather disorienting." He got quite the concerning look in his eyes as his hands wandered down and squeezed my bottom.
I let out a squeal and swatted his hands away. "Th-there are knights still around, ya know!" Granted, very few were around the training field. They sort of scattered when they saw Ronak and me.
"Mmm, you're no fun. Why aren't you trying out any spells? Can you not use mine?" Ronak was still cheekily grinning as he took a step back. Great, now he was going to use that spell for evil.
I awkwardly looked away and scratched my cheek. "I-I can tell that I can use them, but it's like they're locked. I only have access to one spell right now." But I was pretty freaked out to even try using it.
"Is it my hellfire spell?" Ronak knew I didn't like that one, but it wasn't the one causing me hesitation.
"No… It's your trueform spell…" When Ronak told me about his transformation spell, he said he didn't like using it all that much, but ever since our first little romp in the sheets while he's been transformed, he uses it a whole lot more often. Seems he's not as shy as he was. I, however, was a bit hesitant to turn into something strange…
Ronak looked like an excited little kid. "You want your pillow back… don't you?" What? H-he was trying to use that as leverage? I mean… I did want my trusty soldier back. How dare he take a prisoner of war? Ronak was keeping a watchful eye on our guest bedrooms to make sure I wasn't stealing any more pillows. Not that I thought we needed eight guest bedrooms and five empty kids' rooms. Couldn't I have some of the pillows?
"Wh-what if I look weird?"
"Mmm, I doubt it. You're far too pretty." Ronak pulled my pillow out from his storage and waved it around above my head. "I'll give this back after you transform."
I wasn't sure if I even believed him, but I slowly nodded my head. I guess I'll try. It's not like I'll be permanently stuck in that form, and if I don't like it, then I don't have to use that spell… I let out a little sigh and took a step back as I let my mana envelop me.
I… didn't feel that different… I slowly opened my eyes and watched as Ronak dropped my pillow to the ground. Even his mouth was hanging open slightly in shock. "A-am I ugly? Why do you look so shocked?" I felt normal… I even held out my arms, and they looked the same as before. No claws or anything. Even my feet were… feet… The only thing different was that I was wearing some white robes… Huh?
That was… until my shadow caught my attention. It was hard to make out, but there was definitely something bulky behind me. Even more shocking, I was able to stretch them out and move them around as they had always been a part of my body. D-did I have… wings? A-and what's that odd ring?
I was about to turn my head and investigate, but Ronak finally jolted back to life. "You're… an angel…" Ronak managed to find his words as I played around, stretching my wings out, then bringing them in. It was incredibly odd how natural it felt. Ronak stepped over the pillow and approached me with an outstretched hand. It was kind of cute seeing him so flabbergasted. "You even have a halo." Ronak gazed up above my head, but when I tilted my head, I didn't see anything… Ronak snickered and pointed down to my shadow. "It sort of moves with your head."
"So… I'm not a demon?"
"No…" Ronak's eyes were cutely wide as he continued to take in what I looked like. It was sorta killing me not to be able to see for myself, but I had plenty of opportunities in the future. "It's rather fitting, though."
"I-I think I can use your spells now." I tilted my head to the side, but became distracted as Ronak drew me even closer. Gosh, he was still way taller than me. How was it fair that he got taller when transformed, and I didn't?
"That's nice…" The look in Ronak's eyes was awfully concerning. I didn't have a chance to react, though, because he grabbed my wrist and snapped his fingers.
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I let out a yelp of surprise as we crash landed onto our bed. "Ronak!" A little warning would have been nice! Why did he even- oof! Ronak needed to work on that spell, pronto. He completely landed on me and smashed my wings down, which wasn't exactly comfortable. I'd rather have a brick land on me.
Thankfully, Ronak sat up rather quickly, but the hungry look in his eyes was only growing. His eyes shifted, and before I knew it, he had completely transformed, wings and all. It did feel a little ironic that Ronak was a demon and I was an angel. It was a little too spot on if you ask me. "Holy fuck…" He mumbled. "I think I left your shit pillow on the training field… I was too distracted." What? Nooo! Not my pillow! A-and you call this distracted? You're honed in like a beast ready to kill! This is the complete opposite of distracted!
Ronak leaned forward, pulling me in for a kiss. It was sorta cute how turned on Ronak had gotten over a simple set of wings and a halo that I couldn't see. His claws desperately tugged at the sash around my waist like I was a present just for him. Gosh, I wasn't even wearing underwear under this thing?! I rubbed my thighs together shyly as Ronak stared at me.
"Your mark goes all the way down to your thighs…" Ronak said as he rubbed the tops of his claws down my leg. Sure enough, my mark curved from my back at my waist and decorated the sides of my hips and thighs. If anything, it made my slender body look even more feminine.
What I found surprising was Ronak's mark. Usually an inky black in his demonic form, his new mark had golden outlines and a striking new red lacing around it that really accentuated the new design. Huh. His mark was really jagged and masculine, while mine was lacey and feminine. Guess they're supposed to be that way… "Your mark is pretty too." My face was steadily turning pink as Ronak's eyes took me in. Wh-why did he have to strip me naked for this?!
"Not as pretty as yours." Ronak's hands started to rub my inner thighs, and he got a cheeky grin on his face. "It almost feels wrong to deflower an angel."
I couldn't help but slightly scoff. "That hasn't stopped you yet."
"Mmm, how could I resist such a temptation?" Ronak leaned forward, and his fangs grazed my neck as he pulled my lower back towards him. He didn't bite me, but I wish he had. Gosh, and he didn't need to rub against me. I was already aware that he was incredibly turned on. "Heh, your wings flutter around when I tease you." Th-that's because you're making me all hot and bothered. "I wonder how they'll react to this." Ronak scooted back, and fear jolted through me as he leaned down. B-be careful with your fangs!!
My thighs and wings twitched as Ronak completely engulfed my dick in his mouth. Gah! It feels so weird when he swishes his tongue around like that! I sat up a bit and nervously grabbed Ronak's hair as if I'd be able to stop him if he got too rough. Playing with his hair only made him even more excited, though. D-does he really have to make such embarrassing slurping sounds? My hand slipped from his head and ended up grabbing his horn. Ronak let out quite the grumbling growl, which made me flinch rather hard. Gah! I-I needed him to stop right now! I-it was too much! I-
Ronak pulled away from me and gulped down what I accidentally sprayed into his mouth. The big weirdo only seemed pleased, though, which was gross. "Did you like the feeling of me growling?"
"I-it tickled!" I whined as I covered my face.
Ronak laughed and leaned up to kiss me. "I really should do that more often. You're so adorable." M-more often?! I can't handle you doing that more often! Despite being slightly grossed out, our tongues ended up playing with one another, and I wrapped my arms around Ronak's neck, drawing him in. He went to pull away from me, but I ended up getting dragged along too. Ack! His eyes slowly trailed up, and he let out a slight chuckle. "Oops. I didn't realize that your halo was a physical thing." Ronak tilted his head to the side as he tried to remove his horn from the center of my halo. He was doing a bad job, though, and ended up pressing our noses together in the process. I was pretty embarrassed, but Ronak was all smiles as he finally freed himself. "There we go."
"You dork," I grumbled at his dumb smile. My chest was starting to get pretty warm. H-he can't smile like that. It makes him look far too handsome. I didn't want to go into an induced heat, but it was so hard not to. My body desperately wanted Ronak like it had been longing for it for a long time. The temperature inside my chest just kept rising and rising. His pheromones weren't helping either. Something about him being transformed made him smell like the best cherries you've ever eaten. Sweet with a ton of tartness that makes you want to spend all day climbing the cherry tree for more delicious fruit.
"Micha?" Ronak called to me as I let out a desperate whine. He watched me for a moment as I desperately squirmed between his legs. "Are you… in heat right now?" He leaned down and sniffed me, so I tried putting even more pheromones into the air. The mixed smell we produced was completely intoxicating. Ronak faltered for a moment before looking up at me. "We're trying not to get you pregnant, remember?" My brain was not processing what he was saying, even in the slightest. I was so desperate that I reached a hand down to help alleviate the feeling, but Ronak's hand snatched mine up before I could touch myself. "You're making this really hard, Micha."
He clamped his eyes closed and tilted his head back while he held my hand hostage. I let out a sad whine and continued to squirm around. The flames were in full force inside me, and he was driving me insane. My alpha was right there! Why was he ignoring me? Doesn't he want me too?
"Micha, you need to calm down." Ronak released my hand so he could pinch the bridge of his nose. "We… we can't… I…" Ronak snapped his fingers, disappearing from our room.
I let out a loud, agitated cry. What?!
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Ronak
Fuck! Fucking hell! "Sir?" The dungeon guard looked horrified to see me transformed and barging into the holding cell area, but this was an emergency.
"I need… ability tranquilizers… hurry!" I easily let myself into a cell as the knight rushed off. He shouldn't have had too far to go because we kept a pretty large supply of the disgusting things down here.
The dungeons were just that. Dungeons for criminals that sat beneath the barracks. These days, they were mostly empty because of the many knights we employed, but we'd occasionally have people down here. There'd even be a few permanent guests after next week.
The sound of running feet could be heard as three knights returned with tranquilizers. "What now, sir?"
I let out a rather loud growl as I felt myself start to lose control. I shook my head, but the feeling didn't change. Shit. Did my actual rut get triggered early? "Use on me… rut…" I snarled. "Don't stop… until normal."
The knights were looking extremely hesitant as they listened to my request. My growling probably wasn't helping either. "Pardon me, sir, but-"
I let out a loud snarl like a beast and launched myself at the bars between us. The knights were standing far enough away that my claws couldn't reach them as I angrily swiped at them. They needed to hurry. I can't keep myself here much longer. Not when Micha was so upset.
One of the knights wised up and twisted the disgusting canister in his arms. He launched it through the bars, and the three knights took off down the hall. With a loud pop, the canister exploded, and my senses went haywire.
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Micha
No matter how loud I cried out, Ronak wasn't returning. I want alpha! I slapped my hands against the bed repeatedly as I became more and more upset.
Why leave?! Actual tears were starting to form in my eyes as I looked around the room. I got off the bed and pulled my robe closed as I wandered upstairs. No alpha… I wandered all the way downstairs. No alpha… I even checked both bathrooms and the closet before sadly crawling back into bed. "Where alpha?!" I sadly whined.
There was movement on the stairs, and I excitedly sat up. Alpha? Whoever it was went racing down the stairs, so I sat up and went after them. They were awfully fast and ended up making it out the bedroom door before I could.
"Alpha?!" I wailed through the door as I pounded my fist on it. I tried the handle multiple times, but I couldn't make it budge.
"Sorry, my little lord. I was just trying to check on you. You have to stay in your room, though." Oh… not alpha…
"Alpha, where?" I whined as I sadly slid down the door and plopped onto my butt. I brought my wings in close like a protective bubble around my shoulders.
"My lord is protecting you from himself…" I let out a sad wail.
"Alpha no like?"
"My lord likes you a lot! Don't say that!" Olivia sounded rather panicked as she talked to me through the door.
"Then where?!" I asked as tears began to fall down my cheeks again.
"I'm sorry, little lord. I can't tell you where he is." No! No, no, no! I want! I want him so much!
I started pitching an absolute fit, but no matter how much I panicked, Ronak never appeared. Eventually, I wandered back up to the bed as the heat continued to grow in my chest, but there was no one to help put out the fire. It was awful. Worse than any other heat I had ever experienced. I was desperate for an alpha to help me, but mine was missing. Completely unfair.
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"Little lord, you really need to eat." I peeked over at the stairs and saw a tray of food being slid onto the floor of our bedroom. I let out a loud, angry cry and huddled the blankets closer to me.
"Alpha me want!"
"He'll be back really soon, but you have to stay in your room."
I was feeling… irritated. Extremely irritated. I unburrowed from my blankets and snapped my fingers, appearing down next to the bedroom door. I tried the handle, but it was locked. I let out another frustrated cry as I heard footsteps on the stairs. I snapped my fingers once again and took off down the hall following the faint scent of pheromones.
"Little lord! Come back!" Olivia called after me as she chased me down the hall.
"No! Alpha!" I made it around the corner and burst through Ronak's office doors, but… "No alpha?" Gerard was standing next to Ronak's desk, sorting through paperwork, and he looked rather shocked to see me.
"Little lord, what are you-"
"Gah!" Olivia finally caught up to me and grabbed my hand. "Little lord! You can't leave your room. My lord won't know where you are when he returns."
"Alpha?!"
"Yeah, alpha returning soon. You need to return to your room." I glanced between Gerard and Olivia suspiciously but nodded my head. I shook my hand free of Olivia's and snapped my fingers.
"Me wait," I grumbled as I snuggled back down into the blanket heap I created.
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Dungeon Guard
"Sir, we're running out of tranquilizers." I nervously reported to Margrave Tian, and his brow furrowed. Don't glare at me! You're not the one stuck in a dungeon with a deranged alpha that looks more demon than man!
"It's been three days… I requested more to be sent over from the other margraves, but they haven't arrived yet." Margrave Tian had started monitoring the Archduke's situation, but things were looking dire. We had to toss one in about every hour, and our stockpile was starting to run bare.
"Then… what are we going to do?!" I sure didn't want to be anywhere near the Archduke when he escaped. I knew alphas were intimidating, but the archduke was far worse; it was like having a magic beast trapped in the dungeons. Thankfully, the tranquilizers sedated him, but he looked miserable. I didn't like knowing that I was helping to essentially torture our archduke.
"I'll send a knight on horseback to meet the incoming delivery, but it's been a few days… He should be calming down…" I had to nod my head and salute before walking away, but I was rather concerned. The crew wasn't going to like that answer.
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"What?! He just expects us to hold out until more get here? That could be a day or two!" Ezra glared at me like it was my fault that we didn't have more tranquilizers. Snarling could be heard in the distance as the Archduke started to get his bearings again. Crap, we're going to need to use another tranquilizer. There was a small crew of us betas down here handling the situation, but all of us were getting pretty nervous.
"Doesn't the man have an omega? I thought alphas calmed down once they got an omega. Why do we have to deal with him during his rut?! Isn't this his omega's problem?!" Taggert glared down the hall that the Archduke was located in, and I let out a bit of a sigh. I knew the guys would be upset because of my report.
"If anything, he's gotten worse… I thought he was irritable before when going through a rut, but… now he's straight up violent…" Sage was the only female knight of our small crew. I knew she accepted this job because she was less likely to run into the Archduke. She hasn't expressly said anything, but I know he intimidated her. Hell, he intimidated all of us.
"Look, I'm just the messenger. If you want to go tell the margrave what you think, be my guest. The archduke ordered us to keep him down here until he regains consciousness, and that's what I'm going to try to do." They didn't look excited, but the three of them nodded. Probably because they were frightened of what the archduke would do if we failed. Trust me, I sure didn't want to find out what would happen if he escaped that cell.
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Ronak
Holy fucking hell. I wasn't sure how much time had passed, but this was the worst experience I've ever had. I'd rather be a little kid again and have the shit beaten out of me. At least that had breaks in between. This was relentless.
I heard the sound of muffled voices, and I glanced up at the four knights watching me from afar. "Ya think he's starting to come out of it? He's not transformed anymore…"
"His eyes look a lot less blurry…"
"I don't particularly want to risk it…"
I held up my hand and saw that it had reverted to my normal hand. My head was so dizzy, though, and holy shit, the smell made me want to hurl, but there was nothing left in me to get rid of.
One of the knights cautiously approached, holding another tranquilizer, but I held up my hands in defeat. "Stop."
"Are you back to normal?" He asked with suspicious eyes.
My breathing was labored, and I was struggling to focus. "Shut the fuck up." I snarled. Oh gods, this scent was driving me insane. How could something smell so foul? I wanted nothing more than to bury my nose into Micha's hair- Micha… "How long has it been?"
"Ugh… four days, sir!" So long? Why the fuck did my rut last so long? It's never gone longer than two days…
I managed to make it to my feet, but I still couldn't access my mana. "Unlock this fucking thing." I coughed and covered my nose, but even my hand smelled like the tranquilizers. There was no goddamn relief to be had.
"Yes, sir, right away, sir!" Oh, how nice it would be to be a beta and not be able to smell this shit. The knight scurried away and returned with a set of keys. His hands fiddled with them nervously, but he managed to get the cell unlocked.
I wasted no time pushing past him and rushing down the hall. Four days?! Micha starts getting sick after three. My own head was too much of a mess to discern his emotions from mine. The best I could do was rush to him as quickly as possible.
"Sir?" I made my way from the dungeon and squinted in the bright sun. I was, however, able to make out Margrave Tian holding his nose as he drew near. I didn't have any damn time for him.
"Not now." I snarled. I didn't give two shits about what he had to say. I needed to get to Micha.
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The situation was far worse than I had feared. When I made it up to our room, I found Micha buried under some blankets. "He's been like this for the past day," Olivia said as I went about unburying him. "He hasn't really eaten much, and I've barely gotten him to drink water."
"Why didn't you try harder?!" I snapped as I pulled the last blanket away and revealed Micha. His wings were gone, and he was curled up into a ball. I felt his forehead, and he felt cold and clammy. Shit, he's normally so warm to the touch… His porcelain skin was even slightly gray…
"Did you… want me to force feed him?" No… I didn't want you to stress him out more, but… I also didn't want him to starve himself for four days.
I gently brushed Micha's cheek, and he flinched. He blinked a few times and shrank back away from my smelly hand. Oh right… I forgot that I still reek of those goddamn tranquilizers. I thought Micha would at least look at me, but he let out a little grunt and buried his face into the bedding. Huh? What sort of response was that? Shouldn't he be relieved to see me?
I tried putting pheromones into the air, but my senses were still messed up, and the light scent I produced was getting muddled with the smell of tranquilizers. "Keep an eye on him, and have Gerard bring a warm water bottle. I'm going to go take a shower."
"Yes, sir," Olivia said with a nod. Damn it! Damn it, damn it! This is all my fault!
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"Here's the soup, porridge, water, and juice that you requested." I waved my hand, and Gerard disappeared in a flurry of red mist. "Micha… please look at me. I have some yummy food… I even told the chefs to put an extra two scoops of sugar into the porridge for you." I leaned down and whispered into Micha's ear, hoping to elicit a response from him. I was putting out pheromones like crazy to help alleviate any symptoms he was having, but he still hadn't stirred a ton.
Micha's eyes blinked open, but he still wasn't looking at me. "Alpha mean." He grumbled. It was clear how dry his throat was because his soft voice sounded hoarse and scratchy. What sort of response is that?
"I'm mean?" I scooted down so I could lie with my head directly across from Micha. He was still avoiding looking at me, so I reached over and brushed his bangs from his face. "Micha… I didn't want to leave." Trust me. I'd rather have stayed and had an enjoyable time making him cry out in absolute pleasure, but… "I had to leave because my rut and your heat started." I gently poked Micha's nose. "You don't want kids yet, remember?"
Micha puffed up his cheeks, like he typically did when he was mad, and rolled his head to the other side so I couldn't see him. "Me no want kids with alpha anymore! Alpha mean!" What was this odd childlike behavior? Was… Micha still under the effects of his heat?
His words might have been childlike, but they stabbed me like a jagged knife through my heart. I scooted a bit closer to Micha and reached out my hand to touch him, but he flinched away when my finger brushed against his side. "Micha…"
"No touch, mean alpha! No touch when wanted! No touch now!" He made a rather adorable grumble sound like he was trying to mimic an alpha's growl, but his throat was so dry that it sounded really bad. Fuck, he doesn't need to twist the knife around like that… I didn't want to leave… Had I known he was going to act like this, I would have stayed and just dealt with the consequences.
I wasn't just going to tolerate this behavior. Absolutely not. I sat up in bed and quickly threw a leg over Micha before he could roll away. He was facing down against the bed, but it didn't matter. "I wanted to touch you so badly. So badly, in fact, that I tortured myself for the past four days for your sake. Does that not matter?" Thankfully, the soap took most of the godforsaken, disgusting ass scent off of me, but every once in a while, I'd get a disgusting little whiff of residual tranquilizer smell. Micha let out an angry little grunt, so I leaned down and bit his shoulder.
"Meanie!" He angrily squealed as I sat up.
You're going to think I'm mean when I'm done with you!
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Micha
My brain was still pretty fuzzy, but I was starting to register what was happening.
"Eat!" Ronak snapped as I hesitated to eat another spoonful of porridge. He was sitting next to the bed in a chair, but I refused to acknowledge him too much. Just looking at him made anger swell in my chest.
I opened my mouth and accepted the food, but I wasn't sure if it was actually helping the situation. I felt absolutely disgusting, and I was extremely irritated. My body was sweaty, and yet I was shivering from head to toe. I tried to move, but it seemed that Ronak had wrapped me up so tight in a blanket that I couldn't even move my arms.
Ronak put another spoonful of porridge next to my mouth, but I clammed up my lips and tilted my head away. "Eat." He demanded. I shook my head but flinched as Ronak slammed the bowl of porridge back down onto the tray next to the bed and picked up a glass of purple liquid. It didn't look like a potion, but who knows. Ronak brought the glass over and forced the metal straw through my lips. "Drink." He snarled.
I didn't want to, but my mouth was pretty dry. The moment the liquid hit my mouth, though, I got pretty excited. It tasted delicious! Perfectly tart with plenty of sweetness. I practically drank the whole cup; it was so good.
Ronak pulled the cup away from me with a huff as I finished drinking. I wasn't sure what had him all frustrated, but I was still feeling pretty mad at him. Why care now when he didn't care a while ago? He left me to be absolutely miserable- I accidentally got a proper glance at him as he turned back around with the bowl of porridge. He looked… upset. Like the closest I've ever seen to Ronak looking like he was going to cry. "Eat." He snapped at me.
"I don't want to," I grumbled as he held the spoon up to my mouth.
"You haven't eaten in four days! If you don't eat every last drop in this bowl, then I'm going to hold your mouth open and pour it down your throat." I shivered from his threat and opened my mouth. I… haven't eaten in four days? That much time had passed? "I should have just spent my fucking rut with you. Should have gotten you pregnant and been done with it." He grumbled under his breath.
Wait… his rut? Like the real thing? Is that why I felt so out of control? That wasn't just triggered… that was my real heat cycle?!? It was so intense… It's never been so intense before… I thought it was just because Ronak wasn't near… Ack! A spoon came up, and Ronak forced it into my mouth while I was lost in thought.
I still felt pretty irritated, but I chose to become a willing participant as Ronak fed me. Honestly, I didn't want to know what he'd do if I kept putting up a fight. I guess I felt better having food and water in my system.
Ronak stood from the chair he must have brought up from downstairs and moved around so he could crawl into bed with me. I thought for sure he'd wrap and arm over me and pull me close, but instead, he turned, pressing his back up against my arm. Wh-what? No snuggles? My arms were wrapped up so well that I couldn't reach over and poke his back. I went to voice a complaint, but stopped myself.
Strong pheromones started to flood the air, and I instantly felt tired. There was an ever-so-faint, odd smell mixed in, but I really enjoyed the scent of cherry trees. So tart and woodsy.
My eyelids started to feel heavy, and I knew I wasn't going to stay awake much longer. N-no fair… You can't just… force me… to go to sleep… like this…
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The first thing that I realized upon waking up was that I felt a lot better. I wasn't shivering, nor was I sweating. The second thing I realized was that I was pressed up against Ronak's… back? A bit of annoyance shot through me. Really? His back isn't half bad, but not waking up with the delightful view of his chest and being wrapped up in his arms upset me.
The blanket he had wrapped me in had come loose, so I went about sliding over his side and wriggling my way between his arms. I looked up at him and froze. He looked so sad…
I let out a sad whimper and snuggled against him. I… was still a bit annoyed that he left me in that state, but… now that I was thinking with a clear head, I understood that if he was going into rut, he had to leave. We had discussed this prior and set a plan… He… didn't actually follow through with his bad idea… did he?
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Ronak
Huh? I drew my arms in and realized that there was something squishy in them. I opened my exhausted eyes and saw that Micha had passed out after wiggling his way into my arms. I thought he didn't want me to touch him…
I shifted slightly, and Micha flinched. He grabbed hold of my shirt, and his golden eyes popped open. He seemed a bit disoriented, but at least he seemed to have a bit of color in him now. He was so pale earlier.
I thought for sure he'd scowl at me as he glanced up at me, but he didn't. I moved to pull away from him, but he simply grabbed hold of my shirt even tighter. "Where are you going?!" Was he fully conscious now?
"I'm simply doing what you asked and not touching you." I went to scoot away again, and Micha started to panic.
"I-I never said that!" Tears started to form in the corners of his eyes as I looked away.
"Yes, you did." I tried to move again, but just ended up tugging Micha along with me.
"I don't remember saying anything! I-I was just mad because I was left alone…"
"Oh, I'm aware that you were mad. You only called me a mean, bad, and terrible alpha multiple times." Micha flinched with each word that he used to describe me. "Why don't you really tell me how you feel?" I moved to roll away, but Micha let out a squeal and pulled himself to sit atop me. This is oddly brave of him. Never has he been so bold.
"I don't think that!" He squealed. "I like you a lot!" I gritted my teeth and glared at him. I had been stabbed, poisoned, and abused so many times that I had lost count, yet the only wound that really hurt was the non-physical one Micha inflicted upon me with his words. Did he really think that backtracking was going to fix anything-
Micha seemed to have quite the fire lit in his eyes as he leaned down and kissed me. It wasn't his usual soft, tender kisses, and it wasn't like any of the kisses I'd steal. It was shockingly rough. Every fiber of my being wanted to kiss him back, but I resisted the urge. How did he expect me to believe him? He was just like all the other trash in my life…
A wet drop fell onto my cheek, and I looked up to see Micha's eyes overflowing with tears. "I was upset because I wanted you. I wanted you so badly! I wanted your hands to touch me, a-and I wanted to make l-love with the alpha that I like! I don't remember what I said, but you need to listen to what I'm saying now!" Micha released my shirt and grabbed hold of my face. Tears were still falling from his golden eyes that were trained on me, but I couldn't bring myself to look away. "I-I love you, you dummy! I was mad because the alpha I love left me when my body craved him the most!"
He… what? Did Micha say what I think he said? His face was incredibly flush and panic was swirling around inside of him as I looked up at him. He let out quite the squeak as I pulled him down against me and rolled to my side. I really am a dummy. I can't believe I questioned whether or not Micha liked me.
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Micha
Ronak pushed me down, and as if mimicking my actions, he grabbed my face. He, however, leaned down and went about licking the tears from the corners of my eyes. "Stop crying." He said in a soft voice. "I can't take any more damage to my heart in one day."
I let out a pleased whimper and wrapped my arms around his broad chest. I-I can't believe I admitted it, but it seemed like Ronak wasn't upset with me anymore. "I-I'm really sorry."
Ronak let out a sigh and flopped down beside me. He wasted no time pulling me into his arms, which I loved so much. Hehe, I really did love Ronak's arms around me. "When I was finally able to come back, you looked terrible. Then you said such mean things… Now you're crying and saying the cutest things… What the fuck am I supposed to do with you?"
"S-snuggle me." I sniffled through the tears. Ronak scoffed and nuzzled his nose down into my hair.
"I can do that." He mumbled. I… don't really want to know what I said to make Ronak look at me like that… Tears still stung my eyes. He glared at me a ton in the dungeon before he marked me, but never has he looked at me like I was… abhorrent. I know I hurt him, but that look he gave me hurt a lot, too. I… never want to make Ronak look at me like that again. It was awful…
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Thanks to Olivia and Gerard, we got another meal and were starting to feel a lot better. I also forced Ronak to take a bath with me. When I complained about a slight stinkiness wafting about, he told me about what he forced his knights to do. I was horrified. He thought that simply not eating and pitching a fit was bad? He basically tortured himself for four days! I didn't even let him pick up a sponge. I took it upon myself to make sure Ronak was squeaky clean. No stinky tranquilizer scents left behind.
"Did you talk with Margrave Tian?" I asked as Ronak returned to our room. I wasted no time drifting over and clinging to him like a needy starfish. This alpha is mine! I'm not sharing for the rest of the evening!
"Yes, yes. I listened to him nag me about how reckless my behavior was." Ronak grumbled as he hauled me up the stairs.
"Didn't they… go on a hunting trip?" I thought Ronak was going to stop at our bed, but he passed that and headed up the second flight of stairs.
"Yeah, they made it back during the second day."
"How did it go? Were they successful?" I wasn't sure what they were hunting, but I was rather curious.
"They brought back plenty of meat to fill their bellies for the winter, so yes, yes, it was successful." Ronak plopped down onto our massive oversized pillow and went about making himself comfortable. I added the finishing touch by pulling our new blanket up and over us.
"You make them hunt for their own food?" I found that pretty surprising. I thought one main part of why commoners wanted the opportunity to join the knights was to get free access to decent meals. Did things work differently here in Ebonhold?
"They even have to work in the greenhouse if they want produce to eat." Ronak gently closed his eyes, and his hands went about rubbing my back and sides.
"You don't just buy food?"
Ronak snickered and slightly pinched my side. "Do you not remember me telling you that there are about five hundred knights and sixty esquires working for me? Each grown man who's expending all their energy eats about a silver worth of food every day. If I were to pay every knight's eating expenses on top of their wages, not even Elutra would keep me afloat. That's why the other three dukes don't have large militaries. I, however, get the pleasantries of having to guard most of the empire's land and borders. Thus, I need a way to feed all those hungry knights I need to employ. I don't see anything wrong with using a monster hunting expedition as a way to bring extra food in, and if a knight isn't using all their energy in a day, then they should be able to help out around the barracks or greenhouse. I pay decent wages for what I expect out of them."
"I… wasn't judging…" I didn't want Ronak to think I had opinions, because I didn't. I was simply curious as to why he functions the way he does. He's so different compared to other nobles. "You're pretty clever, Ronak." Ronak peeked at me, and I gave him a cheesy grin. "But did you think I wouldn't notice?"
Ronak's eyes opened all the way as a smirk formed on his lips. "You noticing hardly matters. I simply need my fill of you." Ronak gave my bottom a really aggressive squeeze as his smirk widened.
I reached up and pushed my fingers through his hair while giving him a perturbed look. "Two can play this game." Ronak eventually released my bottom and leaned back as he let me play with his hair. Pft, it was so cute how much he liked it. "Is this helping you get your fill of me?
"Mmm, my idea would have been fun, but this is nice too…"
"You were probably thinking something dirty," I grumbled under my breath.
To no surprise, Ronak heard me. "We're engaged and bonded. Making love isn't dirty."
I stopped playing with his hair long enough to pinch his nose. "No, but it's all you think about." Ronak was constantly trying to drag me off to bed. To be slightly fair, between all the drama and chaos that's happened since we came here, we actually haven't been getting into that much trouble. We were actually being rather mellow compared to how we behaved at the capital.
Ronak brushed my hand away from his face and gave me a soft glare. "That's not true." My eyes almost instantly narrowed. Not true, my butt.
"I may not be able to sense all your feelings, but you should at least remove the smirk from your lips when lying to me." That only made Ronak grin more. Yeah, that's what I thought.
"Mmm, you should say it again now that you don't have tears in your eyes."
"What?" I had an inkling of what Ronak wanted… b-but I was pretty embarrassed about what transpired between us. I can't believe I cried all over him again. Especially while admitting something so embarrassing.
Ronak brought his hands back up and started roughly rubbing my sides as he wiggled his hips. "I want to hear you tell me how much you want me and about all the things you think are so dirty. I'd better act them out for you so we can really determine if they're dirty or not-"
"Gah! S-stop it! What is wrong with you?!" I quickly covered his mouth as my face was completely engulfed in flames. Was he trying to see how red he could make me?!
Ronak easily removed my hands, and rich laughter began to fill the air. I was jostled slightly as Ronak reveled in happiness. This big meanie. I can't believe him. I thought he wanted me to tell him that I love him, not that!
A pleasant silence fell between us as the sun started to set at the tops of the mountains. Gosh, the view was breathtaking from here. "You're still leaving for two days, aren't you?" I asked as I watched the sky turn a beautiful honey gold.
Ronak let out a soft sigh and brought a hand out from under the blanket to gently rub my cheek with a finger. "Yes. I, as the archduke of the land, need to see this through to the end." I knew that would be his answer… It didn't upset me or anything… I was simply worried.
"You won't tell me about your trip, but I get a sense it's going to be a bit risky… Please be safe… You won't have me there to heal you, so don't do anything dangerous."
"I just have to remove some rats from my dukedom, and once that is done, I will be by your side for the entire winter." I had a bad feeling about these rats he had to remove. I got a foreboding sense that I knew what it was he was referring to, and I decided that it was better off being in the dark. This was the difficult part of running a dukedom that I would prefer not having any part of. It was quite the necessary evil if you asked me…
"You'd better come back to me in one piece. Not broken or in tatters. You'd better have made all your plans thoroughly…" I glared down at him, but the fluttering in my heart was making me rather nervous. I-I didn't want him to leave. "I wish you would just take me with you…"
"I will not." He reached his hand up and gently covered my eyes. "You don't deserve to see others' evil. Your soul is as pure as freshly fallen snow, and I wish to keep it preserved like that. My soul is tarnished and is willing to carry the burden that has been placed onto me."
"Your soul is not tarnished…" Ronak pulled his hand back as one of my tears rolled down his hand. Our eyes met, and another big tear rolled down my face. How dare he talk about himself like that? He was far from perfect but… "Nor do you deserve to carry such a heavy burden by yourself." I grabbed his hand that was still wavering in the air and pressed it against my cheek. "Please rely on me at least a little."
Ronak's hand opened, and he gently caressed my face. "You might not realize it, but you've already relieved me of some of my burden… I was alone and unhappy ever since I can remember. I might not have checked the boxes in the correct order, but ever since meeting you, I've found joy in my life. You're my sunshine that might love sweets a bit more than you love me, but you have made each day a new adventure." The tears that had welled in my eyes disappeared as I listened to Ronak's gentle voice. How is he always able to say such things… It's terribly unfair…
"I-I don't love sweets more than you…" I mumbled into his hand and shyly glanced down at him. "Y-you see… while it hasn't been a long time… I'm afraid you've shown me too much of your gentle side and… e-even when you get mad and punch people… I know that you're always going to be there to protect me. You might have quite the demonic side to you…" I chuckled as his eyes watched me curiously. "But, it hasn't stopped me from… falling for you. You big brat, you've gotten your way…" Ronak pushed up from his resting position and engulfed me in a kiss. His lips were warm and inviting. Yeah, this is why I fell in love with you… I-I didn't realize you had a gentle, caring side to you at first, but now that you've shown it to me, I just can't get enough.
"I love you so much, Micha." He whispered as he pulled away from me and sat up even more.
"I-I love you too…" I mumbled before his lips pressed against mine again.