Chapter 26
Chapter 26
Kyson POV Her awkwardness was adorable, although also slightly annoying. Not her, but you could tell how uncomfortable she was doing everyday mundane things that should be normal to anybody.
And she always stood, like she was waiting for orders or waiting for me to ask her to do something unless I forced her to sit. It was beginning to irritate me. At least she put the clothes on, but now she was standing at the door with her eyes straight ahead, hands behind her back. We just bathed together, yet she was still trying to be my servant. Like it was uncomfortable for her to be herself, or maybe she isn’t used to being herself and only used to the version of what everyone wanted her to be. It was like watching someone who is institutionalized.
When the knock sounded on the door, I knew the car was ready. I watched her move to open it before standing back in her corner as if she could blend into the bookcase. She shitted her weight from one foot to the other. My Beta walked in, noticing her and looking over at her. He knew she was my mate. He also knew my struggle with her to be a person and not a d**n slave that answers every whim, I even mutter about something, and she is moving to clean it or fix it.
Even when I got her out of the bath. Ivy got dressed and raced around cleaning up the mess I had made the night before. Even after telling her not to. Muttering about it was her job to clean. I shook my head and let her go about whatever she was doing. Even when I tried to help, she would get to it before I could.
It got to the point, I was trying to race her. I managed a few things being quicker on my feet than her. But I could see it bothered her that I was doing tasks bestowed initially to her like she thought she would get in trouble if someone walked in on me cleaning my own room.
“Morning Ivy,” Damian says to her, and she bows respectfully, baring her neck to him.
“Morning Beta,” She answered politely. Damian scratches his neck awkwardly while looking at me. l knew it also irritated him that she used his title, especially since she would outrank him once she figured
out I was her mate. S**t, she will probably overpower me. I don’t think I could deny her anything. However, the chances of her actually ever asking for anything I was starting to realize were very slim.
A growl escaped me when she addressed him, and she jumped, not expecting it. Her eyes instantly dart to the floor. I click my tongue before Damian’s voice flits through my head as he mind-linked me.
“I thought you two were on the same page,” Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.
“So did I, but she still insists on being my servant. She has stood there for 10 minutes now,”
“But I could have sworn you were in the bath with her this morning,”
“Yep,” his brows furrow.
“Did you have a fight?”
“What? No, I think it’s just how she is,”
Grabbing my phone and wallet, I toss them to Damian, who catches them, putting them in his pocket.
“Maybe she thinks she is your s*x slave or something,” Damian offers, still using the link.
“We didn’t have s*x,” I answered.
“Ivy, come. We are leaving,” I tell her and she nods, following a few steps behind us down the hall. Damain stops waiting for her to fall in line with me, but she also stops.
“Ivy,” I call to her. She looks at me, and I motion her toward me before grabbing her hand. She glanced at my fingers linked through hers. Her entire body tenses as she looks at the guard who paid no attention whatsoever, just like they are trained to do.
“My-” I growled when she went to address me. I knew she was going to protest me touching her in public as she kept glancing at the guard, who was well aware of who she was to me. I was pretty sure the entire castle knew except Ivy and Abbie. How they hadn’t figured it out yet was beyond me. I noticed instantly when she tried to gently pull her hand from mine, and I didn’t allow it.
“They won’t hurt you. You are doing nothing wrong,” I tried to reassure her, but she was frozen in place like lvy was waiting for someone to scream “Off with her head” for merely being near me. I was fuming at how timid she was. Damian had been complaining all week about Abbie being the same. He said it was like she was mute. She even managed to scare him a couple of times with how quiet she was.
Her heart raced when I yanked her to me, crushing her petite frame against my chest. I pressed my lips hers quickly, and she startled, glancing around before I used the calling.
One tiny little perk of being a Lycan man. I have used it on her a few times, and she still hasn’t realized what it is and why it calms her, but it only works on our mates. I used to laugh when my sister would get all worked up and be a blubbering mess or a screaming banshee from the pregnancy hormones. Until her mate would start purring, I think he could sway her to do anything when he used it.
I didn’t understand the need to use it, but I found I did it without even thinking with Ivy. It was odd to me whenever I witnessed it. I couldn’t understand how it worked. I had asked about it but now with Ivy. I understood it and why it was called a calling. It was like a sedative of sorts that only a mate could use to subdue their other half. I am sure it was used for more barbaric situations like with my mother.
My father was a good king and father, although I know my mother wasn’t his mate. It was an arranged marriage and she refused him when they married, declined to be marked by him. Neither wanted to marry, but once he marked her, that was history, and I often watched growing up how she always seemed calm around him. It wasn’t until after they passed and I saw my sister and her mate that I understood why my father always purred when my mother was near.
Ivy hadn’t been marked, and when I first did it, without her being of age, I couldn’t exactly be hundred percent positive she was my mate until I realized the calling sedated her. It could only be used on mates or those marked and taken as mates. So I knew without doubt like we suspected she was in fact, my mate, or it wouldn’t have worked without me marking her.
Ivy pressed closer, seeking me out, her body turning languid in my arms as I pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. Her tongue played with mine, and I smiled against her lips before letting her go but not her hand. Her face flushed pink, and she glimpsed around, but Damian just nodded and smiled at her. The guard stared straight ahead. She turned, looking toward the stairs, when she suddenly took a step back. I followed her gaze to see Ester. Ivy tenses and moves awkwardly, moving behind me slightly.
“Ester, what are you doing here? You don’t work on my floor anymore,” I tell her. I didn’t like the way she was glaring at lvy. When her gaze turned to me, her entire demeanor changed swiftly.
“My King, Clarice wanted to know if you were ready to leave. She packed some lunch for your drive,” Ester tells me. I nod to her, but Ivy wouldn’t even look in her direction or step out from behind me.
“Is Ester not her friend?” I asked Damian through the mindlink.
“I haven’t seen them together,” He answered simply. I nodded and tugged on Ivy’s hand. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and I glanced down at where she stood slightly behind me, staring off vacantly at the wall.
“You may go, Ester,” I said without looking at her, not taking my eyes off my mate. Maybe she felt awkward because Ester is a servant like she used to be. Or I hope she used to be. I don’t want her waiting on me anymore, but getting that habit to stop was becoming a challenge.
“The King dismissed you, Ester, on your way,” Damian says, and I heard her footsteps as she rushed off down the stairs.
“You don’t like Ester?” I asked Ivy, and she looked at me before shaking her head.
“No, she is fine. I just don’t know her very well,” Ivy answered when the guard cleared his throat. I glance at him. So does lvy, and he nods to her. Clearly, something was going on I wasn’t aware of. I would have to find out when we get back. But something told me she was lying. That didn’t sit well with me, and if she kept it up, she would learn one way or another not to do it again.