The Scent Of Tranquility

TALIA'S POV

"You weigh a tonne." I tease and the man resting his head and chest on me chuckles but doesn't move. The waves of his pitch-black hair look like a glorious mess and I couldn't resist the urge to bury my fingers in them. The thick strands feel incredibly soft against the skin of my hand.

I am laying on his massive bed, courtesy of my sister spending another night in my room. I am however grateful that I am here instead of alone in that spacious room. At least my mate's scent is doing a good job of lulling my nerves so I can sleep.

I had a headache immediately after my argument with Taylor which left me feeling like a wreck on the inside. She didn't say a single word to appreciate everything I have for her or our mother. All she cared about was revenge which I have had enough of.

Luckily Michael chose to stay with us. Which is better than if he followed our mother back to a house that no longer looks like what we left behind. And starting off again will not be as blissful as Taylor thinks it will be. I just hope they will come back to us if it doesn't work out. But until they do I will have a lot of sleepless nights and headaches unless I make this one my new bed. Evan's scent can soothe my overwhelming emotions every night until I overcome the heartache.

"You know you weren't any less angry the first time I found you, right? You were scared of me and sent me away, remember?" He attempts to rationalize my sister's harsh and disrespectful behaviour for the fiftieth time.

It's true I was sceptical at first about his willingness to help me and I kept suspecting that it was another trick that he and his mother had come up with to lure me into a trap just like she did to my mother.

"But I believed you when you saved Michael." I point. "Taylor on the other hand demands that I leave you even after you saved her own life. She has no sense of gratitude." I argue and suddenly start feeling furious again.

"Your sister has been through a lot. She was in the blink of death when we found her. Surely you can understand the amount of mental trauma she has been through and see that you wouldn't be at all eager to forgive anyone." He argues back.

I had taken all that into consideration even before I went to see her. But I wasn't expecting her to accuse me of desiring my mate's wealth and loving the chance of becoming Queen more than my own family.

"She said I should have taken Alpha Jason's deal and he would have saved them all. How meaner can someone -"

"She is too young to understand that marriage isn't as simple as living in someone's palace." He points.

I sigh feeling overwhelmed by all the contradicting thoughts. Evan's long fingers gently stroke my left cheek in the most alluring way and I feel my eyes instinctively closing.

I can have the best of dreams in his embrace. It's sad that the nightmare of real life will carry on at dawn when I won't be breathing in his scent every passing second.

"We shall have a party to welcome you in this palace at least two days from now. You don't mind, do you?" He says and I gasp in astonishment.

I have never been the centre of attention at any party and I don't think I would enjoy it. At least I didn't stay long enough in Red Moon pack for Alpha Wilson and his council to set up the party to welcome me.

"Do we have to throw a party for every other reason? This palace is my home already."

Evan sits up on the bed and looks straight at my face with an apologetic expression. "I am not a fan of parties either. But royal parties are never set without a good purpose."

I nod even though I don't fully understand. "What will be the purpose of this one? I am sure it isn't about welcoming me in your palace when we are already sharing a bed."

He once again chuckles, straightens then lays beside me. "We need to identify who our true allies are. A party with an open invitation is the perfect event to do it. Anyone that thinks we are not werewolves and don't deserve to rule over their kind will not show up. I also promised Alpha Miles that I would publicly recognise him as a friend and our biggest ally. There is no better place to do it than in such an event that Alphas from other packs will attend." He explains.

I agree that we need to know who we can trust and which other alphas loathe our existence. We are definitely not werewolves and probably don't belong to the moon goddess.

Deep inside I feel like I have a connection to a very righteous and powerful Goddess. One that owns the essence of life itself. It worries me that if people ever suspect that we are creations of another Goddess their attitude towards us will completely change. Evan was however born to be a king and he is the perfect embodiment of the role.

We are still figuring out how much power our Goddess has allowed us to have. It may take us a long time before we fully understand who we are and what we are capable of doing.

It's safer to keep it all a secret for now for the sake of maintaining peace between everyone else and us. Maybe a day will come when they will see that we want the best for them and resenting us is unreasonable.

"Okay. . . finding allies sounds worth a day of discomfort and feeling out of place," I say shrugging my shoulders in acceptance.

"I won't let you feel uncomfortable. And you cannot feel out of place when you look a dozen times more beautiful than any noble lady." Evan comforts sitting up again before leaning down to kiss me briefly on the lips. "I got something perfect for you to wear. It's quite elegant but a lot more exquisite than you like."

He flashes a smile as he rolls out of bed and reaches out into one of the drawers of the dresser a few steps away from the bed. He takes out what looks like a golden necklace and comes back to sit by my side.

"Your face doesn't need jewellery to look attractive, but wearing this for the sake of it will give you the confidence you need." He holds out the most dazzling, shimmering necklace I have ever seen. When he first took it out of the drawer I did not notice that it has tiny, silver beads between the larger golden ones.

It's indeed too exquisite and the attention it will attract isn't something I want to have. I know my features will stand out in any crowd with or without the eye-catching necklace. I will however wear it because every noble lady that will attend the party will of course be wearing their expensive jewellery. I don't want to look out of place.

"Thanks so much," I say and smile back at him. "I will now look like the gold digger my sister claims I have become," I say and we both chuckle.

He goes back to laying by my side, looking even happier than I am. Happy is an expression that is rarely seen on his face. But it slowly fades as he starts to look thoughtful again.

"The King's council will have to convene tomorrow and decide on the right sentence for my mother, Rose and your father. I doubt they can endure the hunger and thirst anymore."

My stomach churns for some strange reason. I am not concerned about any of them but hearing about the King's council and their sentencing kind of makes me sick. It is the same group of idiots that didn't seem to think on their own before agreeing to everything that their King suggested.

I wish our mother was here to decide the fate of her former husband herself. Only she knows well why he was so bitter and crazy. She refused to talk about him even after I informed her that he had kidnapped Taylor.