CHAPTER 34
AUDREY’S POV
I watched as the two guards carried the iron cage into the field and dropped it. The squirrel continued scratching against the cage, trying to set itself free. Oh, poor thing.
“Here you go.” Logan grinned at me, and I shook my head in disbelief.
“Do we have to do this?”
“Of course, we do.” He nodded in conviction. “We need to get our tricks ready for the coronation.” He chuckled, but I could see his struggle within. It became clearer to me that Logan was only using this as a form of distraction from his real problems.
Deciding I would be that distraction he needed, I played the part. That was the least I could do for him. Moreover I was a major part of his predicament, and it killed me every passing day that I thought of how helpless I was. I cared about Logan, but I was also scared to jeopardize the safety of my parents.
“Alright!” I grinned. “Should we freeze the squirrel with my stare?!” I yelled, expecting to get hyped up.
“Yes!!” He actually hyped me up in excitement. Okay, interesting.
I took a deep breathe and tried to lock out every other sound, pinning my gaze and attention on the little squirrel. I tried to feel the energy within, but was failing woefully.
I released a sigh of disappointment, after trying to invoke my ability for the sixth time.
“Arrgghh!” I yelled out in annoyance.
“Calm down.” I felt him behind me. “You haven’t practiced for over a month. You surely don’t expect it would be so easy. And if I heard you right, you were yet to explore this particular ability after you found out you possesed it.”
“Even at that.”
“Calm down. Let’s try again. How can I help?”
“You can’t help, I just need to access my energy in order to invoke it.”
“Okay. How about you start with something else to ginger you? How about a race?” He suggested, making me chuckle.
“You know we can’t. We need to be in our wolf forms.” I explained what he most definitely knew already.
“I know.” He nodded. “I may not be able to run with you, but Layla definitely can.” He pointed behind us, and I was surprised to see Layla there. I had no idea that she had joined us.
“When did she come here?”
“Over a while back.” She smiled warmly at me. “You were so focused on what you were doing to have noticed. So? Would you like a race? Though I have to warn you, I’m as fast as can be.”
“You haven’t seen me race, have you?” I gave my cocky response, and Logan chuckled in amusement.
“This would be more interesting than I thought.” He muttered to himself.
“What’s going on here?” We all looked up to see the king, Beta Justin, and a few other guards walking towards us.
“Audrey just challenged me to a race, father.” Layla chuckled.
“Ohhhh, I’m sure you are going to beat her to it, princess.” He encouraged Layla, who returned a cocky grin at me.
“You all are forgetting how strong my mate is.” Logan said in my defense.
“Trust me, we know.” Beta Justin replied. “But you of all people should know how light weight your sister is. No one has ever beat her in a race, not even me. Audrey may be strong and possess wonderful abilities, but when it comes to a race, Layla would definitely win.”
“Alright then! I suggest their actions do the talking.” Logan muttered .
***
***
LOGAN’S POV
“Come on!” Layla pulled Audrey and they walked towards the large stone at the other end of the field. It took them a few minutes to get there, before they went behind the stone to take off their clothes and shift. After some minutes, two wolves stepped out from behind the stone. Layla’s wolf had brown furs, and Audrey’s had pure white furs. Audrey’s wolf stood a good feet above Layla’s wolf. It was so beautiful, and I was undoubtedly mesmerized. It turned its gaze on me, and it felt like she was smiling.
“Dad, you sent for me.” I turned back to see Liam.
“Yes.” Uncle Justin smirked. “Your mate and Logan’s mate are about competing in a race.”
“Hmmm…” Liam raised his right brow in anticipation. “Interesting.” He muttered. “Who did you place your bet on?”
“My daughter in law, of course.” Uncle Justin boasted.
“Ohhh? I didn’t know this was about ‘daughter in laws’.” Father opened his mouth in disbelief. “For that reason, I’d place my bet on my daughter in law.”
Liam and I exchanged knowing looks between ourselves. There was no need to speak, because we both were definitely standing in support of our mates.
“Let the best man win then.” Liam shrugged.
Just then, one of the guards who had brought in the squirrel earlier on, walked to the middle of the field with a red flag in his hand.
“That…” He pointed at the far end of the field, where our target archery boards were. “… is the finish line. The first to get there, will be crowned the winner. Are you ready?!” He yelled out, and they both wagged their tails in response. He raised up the red flag and waited for some minutes, before bringing it down. Immediately, Layla and Audrey sprung into action.
I fixed my eyes on only one wolf, my heartbeat accelerating as her speed increased. I was shocked. It wasn’t as if I had doubted her abilities, but she was just too good to be true. Her opponent was Layla! Layla had never lost a race, yet Audrey had given her a great distance as they raced. Her wolf literally glided through the air. Goddess!
“Impressive.” Father muttered in a mix of disbelief and excitement. “She’s brilliant. Never seen one like her.” He broke into a wide smile. I couldn’t help the great feeling of pride that engulfed me. That was my mate over there.
I had half expected uncle Justin to look disappointed, but far from it. He was clearly stunned. Who wouldn’t? We all had never seen one like her. I felt so bad that such gifts and talents had been wasting away since she arrived the palace.
In less than a minute and 45 seconds, Audrey hit the finish line. Loud cheers erupted and everyone clapped in honour of the winner. We all laughed when Layla’s wolf playfully pounced on Audrey’s. I could tell Layla was impressed as well.
We waited for them as they went behind the stone and put on their clothes. When they stepped out, Layla held Audrey’s hand and they walked down to where we stood.
“Audrey, you’re amazing!” Father clapped in pride.
“Thank you, your majesty.” She bowed, trying her hardest not to blush. I also tried my hardest not to kiss her in the presence of everyone. She may not have a liking to public display of affection, and I didn’t want to spoil her mood.
“So what’s next? I feel like her highness still has more surprises in store for us.” Liam directed his words to Audrey.
“I believe she does.” I eyed the caged squirrel, before looking at Audrey who slowly shook her head in disbelief.
“No.” She whispered, probably feeling unsure of herself.
“Heyyyy.” I held her hand and flashed her my warmest smile. “I trust in your abilities. Did you see your performance a few minutes ago? You were great!” I whispered, and she blinked her eyes furiously. “Go on.” I gave her a small push.
Reluctantly, she walked towards the caged squirrel and squatted to its level. The squirrel had not stopped running around, but she remained in her position for a while.
“What is she doing?” Layla asked, and I simply shrugged. I had so much faith in her abilities, and I believed they would see it all play out by themselves. All of a sudden, the squirrel froze in a very funny position.
“What just happened?” Liam asked in shock. “Di… did she just do t… that?” He stuttered.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.
“Absolutely.” Layla replied, her mouth hanging open. “Wow.”
“Wow indeed. I’ve always heard about her, but it feels different seeing what she is capable of doing, so up close.” Uncle Justin muttered.
“Same here.” Father nodded.
“I did it!” She ran back to me in excitement. Immediately, the squirrel regained its ability to move.
“Why are you so surprised?” Layla asked in confusion.
“This is a newly discovered ability that she hasn’t really harnessed.” I explained.
“Ohhh!!” They chorusly responded.
“Yeah.” I gave a curt nod, before facing an excited looking Audrey again. “So love, what’s next?”
*
*
I looked at the other side of the table and released a small sigh as I watched Audrey try to focus on her conversation with my father, while they ate. It was so clear her attention was divided, because she couldn’t take her eyes off me and the person I was talking to. I looked at the lady beside me, and wondered why Layla hadn’t given me heads up about her visit.
“Your highness, do you want some more meat sauce?” She raised the bowl up to me, and I shook my head in rejection.
“No, thank you Leah. Don’t bother about me, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” She asked, and I nodded quickly, scooping a spoon of food and taking it into my mouth. By mistake, a few grains of the meal dropped on my shirt. Before I could clean it off, Leah hurriedly did so.
“Easy there.” She muttered, so focused as she cleaned my shirt carefully.
After we were done watching Audrey do her thing at the games field earlier today, we all returned inside to get other things done. I had gone to my study, hoping to wrap up a certain file work my father had asked me to take care of, after which I would return to our chambers and spend some more time with Audrey, like I promised.
I was shocked when Leah showed up in my study, just after I finished working. Don’t get me wrong, I was very happy to see her, considering the fact that I had not seen her for over a month. What I just hadn’t expected was for her to literally remain in my space for the rest of the day. I couldn’t push her away or ask her to leave, so I just had to stay in her company. She kept me engaged in several discussions and when I tried to leave, she suggested we went for a walk. We did go for that walk and before I knew it, dusk had fallen and we were being summoned for dinner. I had expected Leah to excuse herself and return home, but was further surprised when she insisted on having dinner with us today.
You can only imagine my shock when I got to the dinning room to see a disappointed looking Audrey staring at me. I had forgotten we were supposed to spend the evening in the library together. I took a seat beside her, and Leah rushed to my other side to sit beside me. Audrey on the other hand, turned to my father who seemed rather excited conversing with her.
Fot the rest of dinner, Audrey literally acted like I didn’t exist. At some point, I put my hand underneath the dinning table and dropped it on her thigh, trying to draw her attention, but she kicked it off. No one had to tell me to give her some space.
But then again, I felt she was way too angry over the fact that I didn’t stay in her company like we had agreed. Or was there something else that she was angry about? I was lost here. I sat patiently even after I was done eating, and watched as she continued her discussion about whatever I really did not care about, with my father. I tried signaling him to let Audrey go, but he acted like he didn’t notice my attempts.
“Goodnight Leah.” I muttered, then stood up from the chair and headed for my room.
“Goodnight my prince!” She yelled out her response as I walked away.
I got to our chambers and made my way into the bathroom. After a long day, I felt so sticky and could do with a cold bath. After soaking myself in the bathtub for some long minutes, I finally stepped out and wrapped a towel around my waist. Casually walking into the bedroom, I was surprised to see Audrey sitting on the bed.
“Hey.” I rushed out.
“Hey.” She gave a feint reply, before making her way into the bathroom.
I changed into a loose joggers and big t shirt, then sat on the bed. I patiently waited for her to finish up and step out of the bathroom, not ready to go to bed without sorting out this misunderstanding between us. She seemed to have taken her sweet time inside the bathroom, before finally stepping out 20 minutes later with the belt of her robe losely tied around her waist.
“Can we talk?” I asked immediately she stepped out, but she didn’t give me the benefit of a response. “Why do you always make it so difficult for us to communicate? I’m trying hard here!!”
“Then stop trying!” She suddenly yelled back at me.
“What?” I asked in disbelief. “I shouldn’t try to fix this? I lost track of time when I was supposed to be with you, and that’s it? You suddenly don’t want to make this work anymore?” I stood from the bed and made my way towards her. She turned and looked up at me, anger still dancing in her eyes. “Fine then! If you really cared so much about spending some time with me today, then you wouldn’t be this reluctant to clear up this stupid misunderstanding of ours.” I muttered in annoyance, before turning and making my way towards the door.
“Go on. Walk away.” She muttered. “Go out and be with her.” At her words, I slowly turned back and looked at her. I could see the tears that clouded her eyes, and I felt my heart breaking. What was she talking about?
“Audrey.” I called out softly. “What is this about?”
“You didn’t lose track of time, you had been busy with Leah.” She finally said, furiously cleaning away her tears with the back of her palm. I didn’t know how to feel after hearing her say that. Good? Happy? “I hate you for always making me behave so weakly.” She mumbled as she walked towards the bed. But I clearly heard her.
“Hey, come here.” I quickly pulled her by her arm, and drew her closer to me. I placed my hand under her chin and raised her face to me. Whilst she looked at me in utter confusion, I bent and captured her lips for a sound kiss. At first, she responded to my kisses, before weakly pushing me away. Not the slightest bit deterred, I held her chin again and pulled her face closer to mine. I kissed her once more and this time, she didn’t push me away. She released a strangled moan into my mouth, and it did unthinkable things to my mind. Before I could comprehend my actions, I was squeezing her ass through the robe she was wearing, and she sighed satisfactorily.
Seeing how much she loved my touches, my hands continued searching all over her body, taking as much liberties as its owner could let me. I could sniff the fresh smell of her vanilla scented body wash, and it only made me feel intoxicated. Goddess! I needed more.
Before I could tell what was happening, the back of Audrey’s thighs hit the bed, and she slowly fell back on it, pulling me down with her. The moment we hit the bed, her robe seemed to have shifted from its initial position, exposing her left breast to me. I swallowed hard, unable to make any other movement, until she grabbed my hand and placed it on her naked breasts. From the look in her eyes, I could tell we both wanted the same thing, and I wasn’t going to resist it any longer.