Jamal Kunis POV
"Why take the children along?" Conrad asked.
"Methis might be a young girl, but she is still a mother."
Conrad's face broadened with a smile. He knew where this was going. "And there is nothing a woman likes more than her children." He patted me roughly on the shoulder.
"She'll do anything for them. Even come back to the wolf realm."
"I like the sound of that. Do you wish to call a council meeting on this one?" Conrad asked.
"No. I hate the sound of old lads debating over matters that concern them not."
Conrad took a bow and walked out. "You are a good man, my friend!" he called back as he made his way out.
***
I waited till it was well into the night before I broke the news to my children. Though I tried my best not to make it obvious that we were going in search of their mother. I let them stay up a little later than they were used to hoping the intoxicating effect of sleep that they weren't used to could act as some buffer to make the news easier to break. I began with the easiest she'll to crack. Summer.
Summer was in her room with her toys when I entered.
"Bed time," I said.
"Can I stay up a little later?" She asked.
"No can do, cupcake7," I replied.
"Please," she pleaded but her pleading was cut short by her own yawns.
"You see. Daddy knows best." I tucked her into her bed and pulled out a children's book and begun reading. When I saw she was finally worn out, I stopped reading.
"Is that the end? Why did you stop, Daddy?" she asked me. "Is that the end of the book?"
"I want to tell you something else." I leaned closer to the carbon copy of Methis.
"What is it?" She almost sat up in curiosity.
"We would be leaving the palace tomorrow."
"Forever?" The sadness of her question was evident in her tone.
"No, never. Just for a period of time. We want to go visit someone."
"Oh." Summer sounded relieved.
"Is that OK?" I asked as if I needed her permission to take her anywhere.
"Yes, Daddy," she approved.
"Alright. Good night." I kissed her on her forehead before patting her head. I watched her go to sleep before I left the room.
Next Autumn.
Autumn seldom came out. He was often glued to his books and whenever he spoke, you would know that he was not just playing with the books as I once thought he was, he was actually reading them.
As expected, Autumn had a large book propped up on his bed when I walked in.
"Autumn, it's bed time."
He did not even protest. He closed his book, placed it carefully on the table and tucked himself into bed.
Seeing this, I just decided to tell him about our movement tomorrow morning straight forwardly. "We'd be leaving the palace tomorrow morning."
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"We are going to visit someone."
"Who?" he asked again.
"I'd tell you in the morning, but get ready your things before then. I'm I understood?"
"Yes." He turned in his bed and closed his eyes.
I switched off the light and shut the door behind him.
Now that was out of the way. It was now onto the next phase. Having to actually meet Methis again.
Methis Delis POV
“You are a slender one,”
“If you wish to withstand me, you have to put in the calories more and more.”
“The servants would prepare every meal you desire so you can add as much weight as you desire. My strength is too great for this slender body”
I tried to open my eyes as the voices became more intense in my head, louder than I could bare. It was my memory haunting me but I was trying to make it stop. The reactions were almost instinctive.
“Please don’t,”
“Why?”
“If you don’t mind. Since I am just a surrogate rather than an actual wife can it be possible that you don’t have sex with me and we use other methods?”
The memories were flooding in with pictures now. I could see the outline of the Lycan King as he towered over me and I laid on the bed underneath him. He wanted to do the deeds that night but I was too scared to do so. After all, it was my first time.
“…according to the contract there is provision that we do it this way.”
“Please.”
“It was my stepmother who sold me I swear…”
“I will not ask politely again,”
“Did you not read the contract?”
“PLEASE!” I awoke abruptly. I was perspiring all over like I had never done before in my life.
It was the middle of the night. I had fallen asleep on my couch last night but that was not where I found myself when I woke. I found myself on the ground with sweat all over my body.
Even now as I laid awake, I could not rid myself of the images that kept on appearing in my head of just how brutal my first days at the werewolf realm was. It was nothing funny at all, it was everything frightening. My eyes bled with tears as I tried my best to comport myself. I was shaking, crying, begging for mercy from no one in particular. I just wanted something to rid me of my fears now.
I remember vividly that not all the days there were bad days, in fact, most of them were good, but trying to ponder on those ones were as hard as passing a human’s head through the eye of a needle. I tried to think of the good, but the good was too feeble in my mind my brain was not too sure they even existed to begin with.
I crawled up from the floor and sat back in my chair. How much longer did I have to endure before it was finally morning and I had to leave the house again.
Usually, in times like this, I always looked forward to the morning time because it was a time I knew that I would be free from thoughts. A day in my life was bustling enough for me to begin to think of anything else and I loved it that way. It was only during idle moments I was able to ponder on things like this. If there was nothing to do, I would fill in my time with something else. Anything to keep my mind off the thoughts that disturbed me.