章節 13: Lilac.

Maybe if she knew how hard it was for him to bite down the urge to just sink his teeth into her pale skin awaiting to be marked, she wouldn't be tempting him as she did.

But in a way, she has helped him realize that she isn't the one for him. How she doesn't want him as her mate. And how she has looked down on him.

Severo never wanted to be like what he was now. But he is not gonna change the things she has written about him in the lines of her mind either. He won't change a thing. He won't justify his side and let her look through the real Severo. Because he knew he didn't deserve anyone long before. He doesn't wish to be a burden to anyone.

Severo doesn't want her to be confused by pity as love when she chooses him as her mate.

And he can't spend his rut with her, he doesn't think he can do that. It's not because she isn't heavenly enough to swab away all of his traumas. It is the thought of using her that hunts him down.

Yesterday was the first day after so many horror days of his rut he woke up to a living, breathing, human lying beside his side. Even though he might sound ridiculous, he is afraid one day he will wake up to the lifeless body of hers.

"Your thoughts are echoing through the walls, Your Highness." Severo's head snaps to the door to his chamber, a smile curls his lips as his eyes fall on him. How long has it been?

"Ken!" He rose to my feet. "When did you return?"

The lavender irises of Ken's sparkle as he bestows him a smile. A smile that he didn't know he was missing.

"Did you finish your rut all good? You don't seem as traumatized as you were before after all those ruts." He gives Severo a curious look as he slips inside. Throwing his arms around Severo the moment he was at his arm's reach.

"Ah, I missed you." Ken lets out, burying his face into Severo's shoulder, the scent of lilac, sweet and crisp, invading his nose and soothing his nerves.

"I missed you too," He says. He just didn't realize just how much until he had him here in his arms.

Ken has always been here with Severo. A person that he always relied on after his father. A person that Severo shares every secret with. Ken knows him like the back of his hand, and loves him for all his flaws and shines.

"My mother finally moved back here. I don't know how long it would take before I lose my mind so I threatened her that I would come back here even if she doesn't. That place is horrible. So was the man she was with." Ken sighs as he retreats his hands from around him.

A chuckle slips through Severo's lips. He missed him. He missed this.

"Let's sit in the garden because I have a lot to tell you. It is suffocating me." He takes Severo's hand in his and walks out of the door. "It has also been a while since we saw the sunset together."

Just as they were walking out of the front yard to the garden, A voice halted them. A voice that belongs to Reyn, Severo's half brother.

"Ken, when did you get here?" He sounds so stunned as he walks further toward Ken. He ignores Severo's presence completely like all the other times but when his gaze falls on their tangled hands, he stares at Severo. And in Reyn's eyes, he witnessed a gleam of envy.

"Oh, This morning," Ken answers, his eyes flickering up to meet Reyn's for a mere second before he starts walking to the garden, yanking Severo with him.

"What is it?" He asks Ken once they were at their spot in the garden. Ken lets go of Severo's hands and sits on the silver chair near the flower bushes and says, "He always makes me a little nervous."

"You sure it's a little?" He sat beside Ken as he gave him a look that he perhaps doesn't enjoy because he pushes Severo back as he rolls his eyes so hard that Severo almost thought his eyes won't be normal anymore.

"Well, I'm so sure." Ken says, his gaze challenging Severo to tease him further.

He sigh, "Whatever you say, I will pretend that I believe."

Ken punches at his shoulder, bringing out a laugh from Severo as he straddles him and chokes him by fastening his hands around his neck, "Don't get too cocky, Your Highness." He hisses at him playfully.

Severo was about to tackle Ken down when he felt those eyes on him. Those pale blue ones. She stands across from them, a little far away but the resentment flickering through her orbs is unmistakable.

When Ken notices that Severo was not fighting back, he looks over his shoulder and pursues his gaze. Micah rushes through the bushes hastily, her golden hair swaying in the wind.

"Ken, did I tell you that I found my mate?"

"What did you say?!"