Maddy stared at her guard. The girl had remained selectively mute for nearly a week out of fear. Lily was nowhere near as patient as her older cousin and was trying all she could to make the young soon to be Queen break and talk.
Maddy could feel herself breaking at the show of emotion going on in front of her. Lily had lost it. She had not had much patience to begin with. Holding out for even a week for Lily was surprising.
The guard slammed her hands down on the bed. "I can't let you keep doing this Maddy! Can't you see what you're doing to my cousin!? Your mate! He can barely do anything. In every meeting his mind is not present. All he ever does is stress. Sometimes he passes out during meetings because he stays up multiple nights straight just watching you and running around the room panicked and afraid someone will hurt you or that you will wake up and possibly hurt yourself! Is this what you want? Please Maddy just say something! Please I am begging you!"
Maddy felt herself shaking and dripping with tears at the revelation. She had had no idea of what she was doing to her mate. He had held up such a strong front in front of her. He had been so reasonable and kind even though she had been so unreasonable.
"I never wanted this."
"You never wanted to be Queen so you resorted to driving us all to insanity?!"
"No. You wouldn't understand. I'm trying to protect him. I don't want Xavier to get hurt," Maddy said softly, her voice cracking from her tears.
"How is this supposed to help?!"
"I-I didn't expect him to be so... so kind and perfect. I can barely hold myself together Lily. I am going insane. I spend most of my day every day remembering those words on that paper. I expected him to abandon me. I thought he would have. He will anyway when I tell him," Maddy sobbed, unable to hold it in any longer.
"Maddy what's wrong? What are you talking about—"
"The brick. There was a note attached to it! There was a threat on it. They threatened me. They threatened him. If the coronation doesn't stop they won't kill just me but also him. He— I have never gotten close to anybody before... not as close as I have gotten to him. I don't want him to die because of me. I was just trying to distance myself. I didn't want it to hurt as much for him. I wanted to run away. I wanted to protect him!"
"Maddy you need to tell—"
"NO!! H-he'll leave me. I have out him in danger and I kept secrets from him. There is no way he could wa—"
"Maddy calm down. The only way anyone could harm him is if they had you. That note was only trying to scare you. They wanted you to try leave so they could take you— Maddy stop shaking. It's okay just breathe and calm down," Lily said trying to calm the woman down.
Maddy was shaking and sobbing. Her mind was blocking things around her out again. It sometimes did that when she was stressed in a personal way. It was doing that again.
She should never have said anything.
She should have expected such a thing to happen.
She did not know how to let out her emotions.
Before Xavier and Lily, she had had no one. She had kept everything in.
Expressing herself was new.
"Maddy please stay with me. Don't go mute again. Please Xavier needs you. Please I have sent a guard to call him. He will be here soon. Please," Lily pleaded, holding the human in her arms.
The name rang familiar. It sounded nice and warm.
Warm arms grabbed her.
Her name was repeated again and again.
She leaned into the warmth, gripping it in the dark.
The warm arms held her close. "Its okay Maddy. You don't have to be afraid. I am here."
The slow whisper of the nice voice made her slowly open her eyes, blinking them.
She looked up at the lycan King, he was smiling over her as if she was the most precious thing in his world.
She had tried to push him away for two weeks yet he did not hate her.
"X-Xavier," she whispered.
"Are you feeling better Maddy?" He asked her seeming to be trying with all his might to stay calm.
She could see it in his eyes though. There was a puppy-like excitement in them. Was he that excited for her to be speaking his name?
"A little bit... thank you," she said.
"Now that you are in a more stable state, the coronation plans," Lily said.
Xavier growled, his arms clutching his Queen to his chest.
"Mine," he growled out.
"Xavier? What's going on? You're holding me too tight. Lily what is happening?" Maddy asked panicking.
"Maddy whatever you do, do what he says," Lily said.
"What do you mean do as he says. When do I ever do what anybody says?!" Maddy exclaimed struggling.
"I mean that is if you want to leave your room soon. He probably won't let you out until he sees it fit. He's a lycan, not a human Maddy. He's just unwilling to share for the time being, you could say," Lily laughed.
Xavier growled at the female lycan and walked out her room holding his own slightly confused and very much struggling female in his arms. His hand made sure to close the grip on her, making her escape impossible, although her attempts were amusing.
She swallowed hard as the door was closed and locked behind them. The key was put up, far out of her reach. Not that it was too hard to do that when she was pretty small for a young adult of her species.
She squeaked as she felt the bed beneath her. He had dropped her onto the bouncy surface.
"Sooo Lily says I must obey your something? What exactly is going on? Is this because I have been pretty distant for the past week. If so... I am really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you—"
"You are so cute little mate," he said running his nose up and down her neck.
Maddy held felt her breath stuck in her throat. His soft touch made her suddenly feel strange. He was acting strange and speaking strange as well— a little like when she had ran away from the bath when she first arrived.
"Are we just goi— EEK!!!" Maddy squealed as the tip of his tongue touched her skin.
"You are far more innocent and precious than you like to show my little mate. Why don't you just relax for once... hmmm? I'd like to see what you are really like," he said slowly and gently.
The human squirmed about as she felt his warm breath on her skin.
Maddy laid back on the bed. She had to calm down. Her heart was racing so fast.
"Very inexperienced aren't you?" He said playfully.
She was failing to maintain a straight face. "Not true. I've kissed before. I've kissed you before. More than once."
He smiled, he could hear the small stutter in her voice, he loved it. "Adorable. Now relax sweet little one. I love playing with you like this. I deserve it though, I have been needing a little relaxation and it seems you have too."
She frowned. "Playing? This does not feeling like playing."
She was sure what they were doing was not playing. She had no real memories of playing but it seemed to be a word more fit to a child than to herself.
He shook his head. "Its not playing, not entirely. It doesn't matter what we call it. Just see it as bonding between us. I want you to get used to being my mate."
She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I've been your mate for a few weeks. I'm pretty sure I am well used to it."
"You are only used to me being around you Maddy. The mate bond is not just being friends or companions. It is a little more than that. Lily has her ways of preparing for your coronation and I have mine. Once you are coronated, you and I will need to appear more intimate. We will need to start at least becoming a little bit more.... —don't look at me with those eyes Maddy. You're making me not want to corrupt that pure little mind of yours."
"My mind is not pure and it is not little," she fought back shooting up to sit up.
"You keep telling yourself that," he laughed, messing up her hair.
"So why are we doing this? Why did Lily tell me to obey you no matter what? She made it seem like you are suddenly dangerous. It certainly seemed that way though, the way you carried me off growling and screaming 'Mine!' So are you gonna tell me? I don't really know much about your kind still or this whole mate stuff."
"That was nothing. She just set me off a little. You had been hurt seconds before. I had just finally gotten you back. She had tried to take you from me. She was a threat to me. So I took you out of the situation."
"A threat? But she's your cousin. She wouldn't harm me."
"No. I just needed you more than she did. I have not gotten anytime with you. I am your mate. I deserve to have most of your time and after all the pampering you have been getting you owe me all the time in the world," he said kissing her nose.
The lycan watched with a smirk as her entire face grew many shades more red and pink.
Her head dipped shyly, making him smile widely.
"And you say that you aren't cute. I need to have you painted like this," he said.
"Wait what?" Maddy exclaimed, her cheeks becoming a bright flustered red.
She then started stuttering and fumbling over words as she tried to speak out something but she didn't even know what to say in response to him. Was there any sort of logical response? For once in her life she was too taken back to mask her surprise and feelings with sarcasm.
She didn't even know why she was acting the way she was. Why was her heart racing so fast? Why was she suddenly feeling hot, like really really hot? Was she sick? It didn't feel like she was sick... but at the same time it did. Her heart was bouncing around and her cheeks were burning, it didn't seem so good.
She felt very confused, did she want him to see her flushed face. Should she hide it behind her hands? Why did she want to hide it? Why did she feel shy and nervous? The sick feeling felt more like shyness and embarrassment but she was not familiar with those.
"I-I think I'll have a shower," she said, pretty sure some cold water would cool her down and give her time to process her weird bouncy thoughts.
"Uh a yes. Wait— alone or...."
"Go ahead. Do you want me to come with you? I don't want you to be alone if you still feel scared about the threat," Xavier offered out of concern.
She shook her head. "I'll be fine."
"Are you sure? You can't just suddenly be fine after being—"
She ran into the bathroom and slammed the door and locked it before he could finish. "I am absolutely fine!"
She let out a relieved breath of air. Finally she was alone. She glanced to her left into the mirror. Her cheeks were rather red, perfectly complimentary to her still racing heart.
She poked her cheeks wondering if that would make the redness stop. It failed.
She sighed and turned on the shower and waited for it to get at least a little warm. Although she considered it logical to have a cold shower to turn down the redness she also hated to start the shower cold. She considered herself to have become like those cats in the alleys, the ones that always hissed and ran when the cold rain touched them.
She took another glance at herself, she couldn't help but smile at the still unfamiliar face. She didn't want to be vain but she couldn't help staring. She looked absolutely beautiful. It had only been a few weeks and she already looked completely unrecognizable. Almost completely unrecognizable.
Slipping off her dress, she could still see her ribs and the few scars and bruises from the street and the stitches from the Arena wounds. With the dress off and her hair down she looked a little more normal but still nothing like the girl she had seen in the reflection of mirrors in shop windows. That girl had been covered in dirt and grime with long hair had never seen a proper wash. She had worn ugly rags and masked her emotions as well as she could.
The current her was already so different. She was loved and pampered and had someone who believed in her despite how she was. He still cared for her even though she was an absolute mess. She struggled to show emotions at times, she had little understanding of his world, she was rough around the edges and she was selfish. She had never learnt the value of love or kindness, those had never been taught to her.
Yet there was still a man on the other side of the door. A man who seemed rather determined to love her.
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Next Update: Tuesday, 29 September or if it gets lot of love, I may decide to update earlier.