(From Demetrius''s Perspective)


    Last night was harder than I thought. Sleeping on the same bed as hers, also while her leg unconsciously touched mine, it was like trying to endure the hardest pain possible. As a result, I could not sleep at allst night.


    "My king, is something wrong?" Kenzo, the Beta asked. "You look tired."


    "Do I?" I red at him.


    "Not at all, my king," he quickly said.


    Perhaps I truly looked pitiful. But it should not go on like this. Even if I cared for my wife a lot, I should not be like this in front of others. Or it might lead them to think that she was my weakness and they would try to harm my precious delicate wife.


    It was true that she was my weakness. If I found out anyone tried to do something bad to her, I would give them the most painful death possible. And if anyone tried to take her from me, perhaps they would need to think of a way of making artificial werewolves since there would be almost none left to serve them.


    It was almost ten. I had finished my work quickly as I was going on a date with her. Suddenly the familiar scent filled my nostrils.


    As expected, there was a knock on the door. Being a king and an Alpha had many advantages. As she was my mate now, just like other werewolves could not smell me, they could not smell her either. That was why no one could tell it was me or her if we did not show ourselves.


    "Who can disturb Your Highness now? Should I punish..."


    "Don''t talk uselessly," I said sternly. "Only one person can enter my study without asking for permission and that is my queen. You better keep that in mind if you don''t want me to pull out all of your furs to sew a sweater for my wife."


    "Please forgive me, my king. I shouldn''t have said that," he bowed.


    "Then get the hell out."


    "Yes, my king."


    He bowed and left. The moment he opened the door, the scent became stronger. "Greetings, Your Highness."


    Even though I could not read her thoughts anymore, I knew that she was thinking about what to say in situations like this. If she asked me, I would tell her just to ignore.


    "Oh, hello. Is the king inside?" she asked awkwardly. It made me want to tease her about it, but since that beta was here, I could not talk to her as I wanted to.


    "Why the hell are you still there?" I barked.


    "Apologies, my king. I''m leaving."


    He truly left this time. "Aren''t you going toe in, my wife?"


    "Oh... Y-Yes," she mumbled as she stepped inside. "Are you in a bad mood?"


    "Why do you think so?"


    "I mean, you yelled at him just now," she muttered clutching her dress.


    "Oh that," I chuckled. "That''s my regr mood. Don''t worry about it. Those pigs..."


    "You have a foul mouth, Dem."


    "That''s reserved for them," I said. "Anyway, are you ready to go now?"


    "Uh-huh. But if you have any work now..."


    "I don''t. Ipleted them early. So shall we go now?"


    "Okay."


    "By the way, my wife, do you know how beautiful you look today?"


    She blushed. Today she was wearing a silk ck gown with flower drawing on her chest in golden color. The identical ring as mine shone in her finger. There was a ck stone on top of the ring. It was a ck gemstone in the shape of a diamond. It was the most valuable gemstone in my world and also the rarest as well.


    There were only three of them left. It was said that those gemstones were left by the Moon Goddess herself.


    This gemstone was called ck Tear. Our family had two of them that now belonged to me and my wife. The other one belonged to King Ford of Trouvaille kingdom1.


    "You wore ck too," she muttered.


    "I always wear ck, my wife."


    "You wore a white shirt when you went to my house that night," she said.


    "Well, that was an exception. Truly saying, I did not think of taking my ck coat off. And Mother said that if I went to bring you here, I should not wear ck. I mean, she meant that you might get scared seeing the all-ck look. You see, ck hair, ck eyes, ck attire, ck aura... I have a frightening appearance," I said.


    "Pfft... is that even a reason?"


    "Of course. I don''t like the reason as well, but well, Mother is right. You might have gotten scared."


    "You mean you look scary in ck?" she asked.


    "Don''t I?"


    "Well, I''ve seen you in white and ck only. When you were in that white shirt, you looked good and handsome, especially with the sleeves tightening around your biceps and the first two-button undone... And in ck, you look even more handsome. I mean, the way you look in white, just multiple it with ten. That''s how you look in ck. Like freaking hot," she muttered impatiently.


    I could not believe my ears. My wife was always shy, then how could she talk like this all of a sudden? But to think of it, it was kind of good. Still, for some reason, I felt like she said those things louder than she intended.


    Just to prove me right, her smiling face suddenly darkened as panic struck her face. She pped her palm over her mouth and gasped.


    "What is it, my wife?" I asked teasingly.


    "I... I was nning to say that in my mind. I mean, I-I didn''t mean to...," she mumbled. She looked like a bright red tomato at this moment. So adorable...


    "Why are you embarrassed, my wife? I''m your husband after all. You can praise your husband all you want," I said. "To think of it, did you really think like that when you first met me?"


    "Who wouldn''t?" she pouted.


    "I''m d. And it''s also great to know that you think I look better in ck. Mother says I look like a tyrant in ck."


    "Well, you kinda do..."


    "That''s why I wear ck. I like to scare others, you know," I said. "Now shall we go, my wife?"


    She nodded. She had worn the ck cape I had brought for her. And her almost ck hair was tied up in a bun. Yes, she indeed looked like the queen of Querencia.


    There was a horse prepared for us. We did not shapeshift unless there was a war. That was why we lived like humans most of the time.


    She could not possibly know how to ride a horse. Because of that, I prepared only one horse so we could ride together.


    Usually, she would be shy and embarrassed about getting close to me and object sometimes as well. But perhaps horse riding seemed to trigger her panic as she did not bother to argue at all.


    "The horse is as ck as coal," she muttered.


    "His name is Jack."


    "He is beautiful," she said. I could see the clear excitement in her eyes, but she did not dare to go near the horse.


    "You can touch him. He won''t bite," I said.


    "I know!"


    Even though she said it, she was reluctant to get closer to the horse, forget touching. She was putting one-foot front and then again backed away the moment the horse moved a bit.


    "Come here. Give me your hand," I said, taking her hand. I ced her palm on the horse''s fur. She flinched, but I did not let go of her hand. In a moment, her fear seemed to subside as she did not flinch anymore and tried to back away. The horse seemed to like her too as he did not move much.


    "His fur is soft," she muttered.


    "Mine is softer," I mumbled.


    "Did you say something? I didn''t quite catch..."


    "It''s nothing. Just don''t rub him too much. He will get spoiled and would not want to leave your side."


    "Really?" she asked excitedly. "That would be cool!"


    "That would be a nuisance," I grumbled.


    "You''re really..."


    The moment we set out, she buried her head in my chest. Perhaps the speed was too much for her. Well, I did not slow down though... It was not like she was trembling. That was why I thought she would be able to get used to it in a while.


    "Is it too much, my wife?" I asked.


    "It''s too fast! I will fall!"


    "What am I for then? I''m holding you, ain''t I? Just try to look around, my wife. The air is fresh and so is the weather. And this speed will give you wings."


    "It''s dangerous," she muttered.


    "But isn''t it exciting as well? If you can feel it, then slow things will be of no use to you. And besides, my wife," I said, "Your husband is dangerous as well."