+Chapter 42+

The guest was a severe-looking important werewolf who eyed her suspiciously as he sat across from her, distrust in his eyes.

Mari had to fight the urge to roll her eyes, here she was, clearly held captive by both Kings but somehow it was her fault she was there. She really didn’t want to be here, she wanted to be in the privacy of her room, decompressing, and maybe trying to escape again because she had no idea how she was going to face Lucien and Kade after tonight.

“What is this important matter you needed to discuss with me, Sir Bonnin?” Kade asked a few minutes into the meal, clearly impatient to have the sour-faced man gone.

Sir Bonnin huffed, shooting another disproving look at Mari before speaking, only this time she didn’t notice because Lucien and Kade had their hands on her bare thighs. Her face had a dusting of sultry pink as she tried to focus on eating.

His disproving stare shifted to Lucien who stared him down, laid-back but lethal. That was enough for him to focus on his silverware, finally speaking. “I’ve managed to capture a Shadow but regardless of our tactics, we failed to kill it.”

His words snapped Mari out of her arousal, making her eyes go wide in shock. Although, she was supposed to be able to kill off Shadows, she had never met one. She didn’t even know what they looked like other than they were huge fearsome monsters - she still had no idea how she was supposed to kill one.

The hands on her thighs stilled, both South and North King clearly affected by this new piece of information.

“I’ll make arrangements to take over custody of the Shadow,” Kade said levelly.

Sir Bonnin nodded approvingly, seeming to have only two ranges of emotions, approval and disapproval. “Very well, Your Highness,” He agreed, rising to his feet. “I’ll let you know if there have been any changes.” He tagged on, walking off without another word.

Mari turned to Kade with concern in her eyes, wondering if she had any role to play in this, only for him to lean forward, capturing her jaw in his free hand. Mari gasped, finding it difficult to focus on the topic of the Shadow when Lucien was digging his fingers in her thighs and she was gagging on Kade’s tongue.

She might not be a citizen of either country but she felt like the Shadow was far more important than them trying to eat her alive, she didn’t protest this any more than she did the first time though, letting the pleasure wash over her.

“After dinner,” Kade murmured against her tender lips before focusing on his food like nothing at all had happened.

Mari had to lean back against her high-backed chair to catch her breath, straight dark brown hair falling back to reveal more of the heated skin of her face. She could hardly focus on the meal, much more work up an appetite to eat.

Thankfully, Lucien took his hand away and she could feel a residual warmth where he held her. Now she could focus on the food somewhat, her thoughts were divided. She was still very concerned about the Shadow but she wouldn’t get answers until after they were done eating. She could also feel the remnant of their touches, their fingerprints, and kisses branded on her skin.

Mari didn’t remember emptying her plate, she turned to Kade with focus in her eyes when she was done. “What going to happen to the Shadow.”

“You’re going to kill it,” Was his casual response.

Mari felt her jaw drop, “What?”

“It’ll remain in captivity, of course, think of this as a test run.” Lucien chimed in, sipping from a glass, his plate remaining untouched.

That thought didn’t ease Mari’s worries one bit, if anything it only created more worries and questions. She rose to her feet with intentions of returning to her room and mulling it over, only to get tugged down onto Lucien’s lap, burning alcohol filling her mouth.

Mari instinctively swallowed, tasting the tart wine on Lucien’s tongue - she should have known that they wouldn’t let her go so easily. Really, how was she supposed to focus on killing Shadows if they kept pulling stunts like this? Did they forget she was a criminal?

Fortunately, Lucien let her go when he had his fill, leaving her panting, the alcohol warming her up as much as the kiss had. “G-Goodnight,” She said shakily before hurrying out of the dining room.

She half-expected to be snatched up by another King and when that didn’t happen, she stopped on the hallways and leaned against the wall to catch her breath. *What the hell had just happened?*

She was going to get so see and kill a Shadow in a few hours but somehow that wasn’t the wildest thing to happen. It took a lot to top that, which was exactly what hooking up with both Werewolf Kings did.

Mari made her way to her room in one piece, grateful that she didn’t bump into any servants, she had no interest in holding a conversation in her current state. As a matter of fact, she didn’t want anyone to even get a glimpse of her.

As soon as she was in the privacy of her room, she got rid of her clothes and immediately went to clean up, only looking at the mirror when she was done. Mari gaped at the fogged-up mirror, clutching a towel over her boobs. *Had she looked like this at dinner?* No wonder Sir Bonnin kept shooting her disapproving looks.

Her neck and shoulders were littered with a variety of hickeys and bite marks, and tomorrow she would have to wear skimpy clothes to face the Shadow. Maybe she should actually try to escape…

*How did everything come to be like this?* Today had started harmlessly, as harmless as her new life as a witch could be and now she didn’t have a name for it. *Would she ever get her quiet life back? Did she even want it back?