Chapter 5

As Dario had promised, Cecilia came to fetch his damsel in distress and silently escorts her to the west wing of the massive castle.

Apple wore Dario’s shirt and his spandex shorts. She didn’t feel safe in her own clothes and wearing his gave her some sort of secure feeling. She wouldn’t disappear in Dario’s clothes, and if she did, he’d find her and bring her back.

“So, why am I here?” Apple asks as she notices how sweaty the king is. She looks around the gym with a puzzling look on her face.

“To blow off some steam.” He says. “Come here,” he urges her closer to him and Apple obediently nears Dario with a slight frown. “What’s wrong? You’re feeling confused.”

“The lights are on, and you’re able to see me.”

“I rely on my senses.” Dario pulls Apple flush against him. “You’re trembling. You miss me?”

“Yes.”

She says truthfully and slams her lips onto Dario’s parted ones. She pulls away and turns her head. “I hate when you do that.” Dario breathes out against her neck. He could feel her blood move through her body. It sounds like a soothing melody that could lull him to sleep.

“We didn’t come here- how will I blow off steam?”

“I have a challenge…”

“I’ll pass. I don’t like challenges.”

“This one is easy. You have two quests, if you win, you’ll get ice cream and a tour around the castle. If you lose, then I’m the winner.”

“Okay, so what do you get?”

“I’m still deciding.”

“Fine. What are the quests?”

“Number one, pick me up.”

Apple snorts. “How am I supposed to pick you up? Have you seen- I mean have you met yourself?”

“Just do it, Apple. You’ll see, once you try, you won’t want to stop.”

“Okay,”

“Oh, and you have twenty seconds.” Apple hesitantly looks at the king and then tries picking the giant up. Right before her time is up, she tries gasping for air.

“How heavy can one person be? What do you eat? Iron? Steel maybe?”

Dario chuckles. “Quest one failed. The second quest is quite simple. Fight me.”

“Oh, I’m ‘bout to go ninja on you! Gimme some!” As she surges forward, Dario grabs her arm and twists it behind her. Apple screeches.

“Okay! You win!” A sickening feeling of lust pools in Dario’s stomach. “So, what am I supposed to do?” Apple asks after regaining her pose. She stood only a few inches away from Dario but could still feel the heat that suddenly radiated from his body. Apple gulps, “I think I’m tired.” She fake yawns and stretches.

“I admire the fact that you wear my clothes. They look perfect on your body, but I must say, I wonder what they’d look like in a pool next to your naked, always trembling form.”

“I should really get back to my room now. I really got a chance to blow off some- steam…”

“You’re not going to run from me, Apple.” The lights dim down a notch which makes Dario see his mate almost clearly. He slides his fingers against her thigh and lifts the shirt up. Dario slips the shirt off Apple’s trembling figure. She shivers when his fingers play with her bra-strap and he slides it down her shoulder. “You’re vulnerable beneath my touch. You’re perfect, Apple.” Dario’s canines extend and he slides them against Apple’s neck, preparing her for his mark. “But everyone needs to know who you belong to. Mate,” he murmurs, and the word vibrates through Apple’s body like a wave. He sinks his teeth into her neck and Apple cries out in pain. She slacks against Dario’s body and he catches her limp body.

Mate, Onyx howls out happily.

‘Mine, all mine.’

.

Apple wakes up to a thrumming pain that invades her neck.

She groans out and sits up. “You’re awake.” Apple’s eyes dart towards Dario who stood near the window, his back turned towards her.

“You bit me,” Apple says as she slides her finger over the bite marks on her neck. “Why did you bite me?” she gets up from her bed and slowly stalks towards the king. She touches his arm but retracts her hand from him as a spark course through her. “What have you done?”

“I marked you.”

“What do you mean? You only mark your mate. And- no, I cannot be your mate.”

“What makes you think you cannot be my mate?”

“I’m a commoner, Dario! Commoners cannot have high rankings. What have I done? I shouldn’t have come back with you.”

“You’re scared of me,”

“Obviously! You bit me, Dario. You marked me!”

“I saw you in my dreams last night.” He murmurs while staring out the window. Apple’s mood suddenly shifts and she backs away from him. The king looks at Apple over his shoulder.

“And?” She asks bravely, suddenly halting in her steps.

“I never knew angels existed.”

Apple’s breathing hitches in her throat. “Stop it,”

“You’re breath-taking.”

“No, I’m not. I’m leaving.” Dario turns around and looks at Apple. “You can see.” She gasps when she sees Dario’s black eyes staring into hers. “Why? How c-can you s-see me?”

“You need rest. And keep the mark out of the sunlight, you don’t want it to be infected.”

“Dario,” Apple calls out and Dario turns around. “Say it.”

He smiles as he stalks towards her. He wraps his arm around her waist. “Mate.” He murmurs against her lips.

.

“Where’s Fredericko?” Apple asks Cecilia who sat with her in the garden. Cecilia barely ever spoke to her and getting to know her would be a great starting point.

“He died,” Cecilia says as she slides her finger over a rose.

“What? How?”

“Alpha King murdered him. Fredericko fell in love with you, and had to go, so the only noble thing to do was kill him.”

“Oh,” Apple says as tears well up in her eyes.

“Don’t cry for him. Fredericko has always been a traitor. And Alpha King has always spared him. But this time, he decided that he cannot do it anymore. So, he killed Fredericko.”

“He’s harsh.”

“No, he loves you, and doesn’t need competition.”

“I doubt he loves me,” Apple says with a nervous laugh.

“He marked you. It looks beautiful. After a few days you’ll feel it.”

“Feel what?”

“Feel the emotion. It overwhelms you.”

“How do you know?”

“I read a lot. I can lend you one of my books.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll pass.”

“Apple,” Apple looks at Dario who slowly walks towards her and Cecilia. “You’re dismissed.” Dario says and Cecilia bows before leaving. “Apple,”

Apple looks at Dario and shuts her eyes as her mark starts throbbing. “Dario,” she greets and looks away from him.

“We need to talk.”

“About?”

“There’s a royal meeting happening, and my presence has been requested.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Tonight.”

“Tonight? And when will you be back?”

“Roughly in November.”

“That’s three months.”

Dario engulfs Apple’s hand in his. “Apple, I will be back. I promise.”

“What if something happens to you?”

“Nothing will happen with me, Apple. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“You murdered Fredericko.”

“Yes, he fell in love with you and I couldn’t allow that. I’d kill myself if that were to happen.”

“But I wasn’t in love with him.”

“He would’ve taken you away from me.”

“I wouldn’t have gone with him.”

“Why not?”

“Because you are the one I’m interested in.”

Dario slides his thumb over Apple’s cheek. “Apple,”

“I still cannot believe you’re able to see me.”

“I have to go now; I have to prepare for tonight.”

Dario gets up and his hand slides out of Apple’s warm, shaking one. “Dario,” she says lowly, her eyes watery. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll come see you tonight before I leave. Don’t sleep.”

He leaves Apple sitting in the garden.

He lied, he didn’t have a meeting to attend, he needed to stay away from her. Onyx so badly needed her close to him, and Dario didn’t want to suffocate her.

“Alpha King,” he turns around and looks at Amadeo, his second in command.

“Yes?”

“Should I assign my wife to be with the Queen until you return, Alpha?”

“Yes, ask Sha-Sha to move into her room. I don’t want her to be alone.”

“Very well then, Alpha King. Oh, and in which room is the Queen?”

“The Queen is in my room, Amadeo.”