The Crown's Entrapment

Meanwhile, Calypso and Aurelia remained stuck inside the cave. Calypso couldn't find a thing inside to cover himself up, so Aurelia ended up giving him her coat just so he could at least cover up his lower body. Still, as he moved to partially clothe himself, he also noticed how much she was shivering from the cold weather.

He gritted his teeth upon seeing how uncomfortable his mate currently was. They couldn't afford to make a fire since the enemy might track them down using the smoke they would generate, which meant that they had nothing to keep themselves warm beyond the clothes on their backs.

Well, that and their own body heat. He wanted to scoop her up into his arms in that instant to try and keep her warm, but knowing Aurelia during the short time that they'd been together, there was no way that she would allow him to cuddle her with how aloof she was to him.

[Maybe try a different approach?] Axel suggested.

Like him, his wolf was anxious just watching their mate shivering like this. Still, his wolf had a point.

"Come here. I can make you feel warmer, Aurelia…" Calypso directly offered.

As he expected, Aurelia simply threw daggers at him with her sharp glare.

[I told you to try a different approach!] Axel scolded him.

Calypso chuckled and added, "What are you thinking? You're a physician, right? So you should be well aware of how warm I am as a werewolf. You're half-human, and your body won't last long in this cold weather, Aurelia." He pleadingly sighed, "I need you alive and healthy once we get out of this cave come dawn. You haven't even eaten enough. So please…"

Calypso could starve for weeks without it affecting his strength and agility all that much, but the same couldn't be said for his companion. He was afraid that Aurelia would get sick the longer this went on.

"You should take a sip of my blood. It'll help you avoid feeling famished despite the hunger," Calypso insisted. "Please don't take this suggestion negatively just because of my reputation with women. I'm telling you now that you're not like any other woman to me, Aurelia…"

Aurelia didn't say a word. Instead, she simply lifted an eyebrow at him. She was so feisty…

He let out another frustrated sigh as he continued, "I need you to be strong so that you won't slow me down when we escape. For goodness sake, I don't take advantage of unwilling women. I'm just offering you warmth so that both of us can get out of this place safe and sound."

Of course, Calypso didn't mean what he said about Aurelia slowing him down in her current state. Hell, even if that was actually the case, he would still make sure that his mate was safe from harm. Despite it sounding disrespectful, he still felt like it was the right choice of words to counter Aurelia's stubbornness.

A few moments passed when he lifted his head, Aurelia was now before him as she pensively looked at him. She was shivering hard, and Calypso fought the urge to smile as he opened his arms wide. Slowly, she buried her body into his chest, letting his arms wrap around her small frame in a warm embrace.

Feeling her snuggle into him like this made him feel like he was in heaven…

Only now did he understand just why werewolves always went haywire around their mates. It was because he was now experiencing the same feeling ever since he met Aurelia. It was only too bad that she seemed to be more human than a werewolf. She wouldn't be able to feel the Pull the way he did, which meant that he would have to up his efforts in proving himself to her and winning her over.

Time passed, and they cuddled each other for warmth against the cold. Slowly but surely, he felt Aurelia relax her body around him. He couldn't care less about how his body was practically on fire right now. He was burning with a great desire for her, but once again, the torture was all worth it.

"So warm," Aurelia murmured against his chest.

He inwardly cursed. If only she knew just what exactly was going inside of his corrupted head right now… He could only sigh in resignation. At least she was being kept warm. All that was left to address now was to avoid her starving to death.

"I'm thirsty…" she weakly murmured.

Without a second thought, Calypso bit into his wrist, his blood flowing from the wound as he then put it on Aurelia's lips.

"Drink…" he commanded.

Hesitantly, Aurelia sucked on his blood. He groaned in pleasure as the sensation of her lips against his skin sent shivers all over his body. It was unexplainable. He could only growl in great heat, doing his best to suppress himself from attacking the meal before him. He was getting too aroused, even as he felt Aurelia's tongue licking his wrist.

'Oh, dear, heavens…'

He didn't know how many times he chanted those words in his head as if his life depended on it, but it probably helped as he kept himself under control away from his own urges and instincts. It was harder than he imagined, and he was practically biting his lower lip so hard that he started tasting his own blood.

Eventually, Aurelia released his wrist when she thought that she had quenched enough of her thirst, giving him some reprieve from his urges.

"When did you learn magic?" he suddenly uttered, trying to keep himself sane by diverting to a different topic in an attempt to clear his lewd thoughts.

"Katelina taught me some minor spells that I can handle during the time we spent together," she explained, a hint of suspicion gracing her tone before she let go of it. "She said it can come in handy in case of emergencies, and I couldn't agree less. She's from the Kingdom of Zion after all, so she's well-versed in magic and spells."

She then added, "Do you think Helion's army is still out there? What's your plan come dawn? Do we just leave this cave and run for our lives?"

Calypso chuckled. "Do you have a better plan then, milady? I'm all ears for it…"

He could feel Aurelia's heartbeat, and it took him a while before he noticed that it beat in the same manner as his… That wasn't normal. Was it because she too was being affected greatly by his body against hers?

He smiled at that revelation.

"Can't you just send signals and messages through wolves in the area?" Aurelia asked.

"I already did. I've sent a message about this attack back to the kingdom, but I can't send them information about our current safe haven here," Calypso replied.

"Helion's armies were always accompanied by a black witch, and they have the ability to extract information from wolves, making it risky to share too much information using them. Besides, by now, I'm sure that our King had already sent an army to our aid. Knowing that I'm confident that it'll be safer for us to come out tomorrow."

If his calculations were right, then there should already be a battle going on right now outside their cave. And hopefully, by dawn, their army had already wiped out the enemies in favor of facilitating a total search for their location.

"Rest for now, milady. You'll need all the strength," Calypso insisted, murmuring into Aurelia's ear. "I suggest you sleep and get yourself comfortable. No matter what, I'll keep you safe…"