LYALL:
Uncle Kendrick was waiting in the living room when I came out of Aria's room. Serene must have gone to bed, I could tell, as she was an early sleeper.
As soon as I stepped into the room, he turned to look at me with a smile on his face. I recognised that smile anywhere. That meant he had something to say and that he was displeased.

"Uncle, I'm really sorry I left the dining table in a hurry. An emergency came up and I had to quickly attend to it."
"Hm," He nodded and looked around. "An emergency that didn't shake this palace? I didn't hear guards running or boots thudding. There were no growls or blood stains around. How important could this emergency be that it had you leaving the dining room and disrespecting your guests?"
I didn't have to tell him anything. He didn't have to know and as much as I respected him and his judgement, this was my business. It was my secret to keep and it didn't matter if he was close to me. It was going to be really hard to tell him that this was my business but I could at least try.
"It's my business, Uncle Kendrick," I smiled. "Palace business, I mean. It's not something I should be talking about, that's why I have decided not to say anything about it. I hope you don't mind?"
Of course, he didn't mind. I read his expression. Raised brows, thinned lips and a grim line in between them. My statement had upset him. But he smiled and nodded.
"Of course, I understand. You're King now and there are certain matters that shouldn't be revealed to just anyone, even if they are family."

He patted me on the shoulder and smiled before walking away. As soon as he left, I plopped into the settee behind me and sighed in relief.
"So you left the dining room and disrespected everyone there just because of that thing you call your mistress?"
I looked up to see Sheila. She'd blocked the candlelight illuminating the room, her silhouette falling on me. "I thought you were going to be too busy glaring at my aunt to notice. So you did notice?"
She blinked a few times. "And what has she got to do with this? I asked something else!"

"I really don't have the energy to go back and forth with you tonight. I've had a long day and all I need is sleep."
She laughed. "Alright then. I'm sorry for bothering your tired self. Uhm, why don't you come up and lay in bed with me?"
"I'd rather sleep on this couch than sleep while you watch me." Her eyes widened. "Oh, you think I didn't know? Have you also forgotten who I am? I am the Alpha of all Alphas. There's nothing I wouldn't sense so you better mind the way you move around. I don't find you creeping on me while I am asleep, funny."
"Goodnight." She muttered and walked away.
"Lay your hands on Aria again," She froze in her tracks. "And you wouldn't like what I would do. Just leave her be. She's done nothing to you."
As soon as she hurried away, I stretched out and laid back on the settee before sleep overcame me.
The next time I woke up, it was midnight. I could tell from how silent the Palace was and how loud the nightlife of nocturnal animals outside had sounded.
Aria.
She was the first to come to mind and I knew I needed to see her. It didn't matter if she was mad at me.
Climbing out of the chair, I made my way to her room and knocked, hoping she would be awake. When no answer came, I decided I was going to go by myself. But when I tried to twist the knob, I found out that the door was locked.
Was she really going to avoid me forever?
I had to find a way in. I knew I was being stupid right now and that I needed to give her space but I didn't want to. I couldn't be away from her for this long. What if something bad was happening and I didn't know?
Fostering on that delusion, I decided I couldn't wait any longer. I went outside and made my way over to the other side of the Palace where her room was.
There were no guards in sight and that was because I had them dismissed so I could go up to Aria's room. I did just that, climbing with ease and supporting my weight on my hand and soon enough, I was standing close to her balcony.
And hell, there she was, seated in front of the balcony and staring into the stars, her body wrapped in a silk shawl.
I didn't care if this was going to scare her so I just made my way up to her, jumping in at the same time she pushed to her feet.
I caught her before she could crash into the door, pulling her into me and staring directly into her eyes. "You nearly fell."
"And you scared the hell out of me!" She pulled away, glaring hard at me. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you scare me like that?"
Sighing, I raked my fingers through my hair. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to do it. Why are you glaring at me? Don't you miss me?"
"I don't. I made it clear to you. I don't want you around me. Is it so hard for you to understand?!" She yelled.
I clamped my hand over her mouth. "Stop yelling. You'll wake people up."
She pried my hands off her mouth. "Let me go! Can you go back to where you came from, please? I don't want to be around you. You keep doing this. Do you know how much you've drained me? I can't take this anymore so I want you to leave me the fuck alone!"
"I can't," I sighed and raked my fingers through my hair as I kept pacing from one side to the other. "I can't leave you alone no matter how hard I try! I understand that this is really shitty but I want you to know it's only you I want! I can't do without you even if I wanted to. You're up here in my head and with every decision I make, I feel bad that I have to put you through this. I don't know how many times I am going to try to make you understand that all of these are out of my reach. That no matter how I try to make you see that I want you, it will never be enough."
Her lips wobbled as I spoke and a tear streamed down her cheek. Reaching out to her, I wiped her tears off and sighed. "Because I want everyone to know that you belong to me and I to you. It's not so easy watching life pass me by when I know I should be with you. That everyone should know that you belong to me. It's so hard, you know that, right? I want you so badly but with the way things are going, I don't think I can take that anymore. I want everyone to know. I want to be your Luna. I am your mate."
I grabbed her by the cheek and pulled her close to me. "Yes, you are mine. You are mine and mine only and promise I am working towards making that possible. Have a little patience for me, will you?"
"It's hard," She sighed. "It's hard when I see that woman have you when you belong to me."
Smiling, I kissed her on the lip. "I belong to you, Aria. Body and soul."