The Crown's Entrapment

Gilas came back as early as he could to Keen Manor. Together with a few Ebodian Mages, he was determined to help in clearing out some foreign objects found in the manor that they strongly believed to have some dark magic in them. They also had to get rid of some packages that clearly came from Helion, knowing that they just might be too dangerous enough to handle without someone skilled enough to deal with them.

But while that was one of the reasons why he wanted to get home early, that wasn't the main reason why he was trying to go back as quickly as he could. It was actually because there were now two people in his life waiting for him at home that were too important for him to ignore. Now that there were no longer any restrictions in place for him in going in and out of the house to see his Mother, he couldn't help but smile at how things ended well for him… Not to mention how he also had Clara in his life now.

"Mother, where's Clara?" he inquired as soon as he arrived and saw that only his mother was there to welcome him and the mages.

Hearing his question, his mother excused him from the rest of the guests. Pulling him away with just enough distance, he creased his forehead when his mother replied to his question.

"She's been working nonstop so I let her rest for a bit. She's probably in your bedchamber right now, Son," his mother informed him. She then deeply sighed as she added, "I do hope that with Nasser gone, you can freely do whatever it is you want. You can finally have a good and genuine relationship with Clara and create a good family together… Something that I've failed to give you…"

Gilas shook his head as he smiled and pulled her mother in for a warm embrace. "Don't worry, Mother," he reassured her as he gently stroked her back. "Clara and I will definitely create a big family… with you by our side."

Sighing, his mother gently pushed him away and hopefully said, "I'll take that as a promise then, Son. Alright? Let's fill this eerie manor soon with waves of laughter and joy."

Gilas smiled and nodded. "I'll go see Clara now, Mother," he remarked. "Can you go and assist our Mages to the chamber where Nasser's suspicious possessions are in for me?"

His mother nodded, willingly leading the Mages along to their tasks. Meanwhile, Gilas simply watched his mother's retreating back, sighing as she left with the mages to go deeper into the manor.

[You do get what she meant, right?] Ham pointed out. [That waves of laughter and joy meant having grandchildren running and playing around loudly in every corner of this manor…]

Gilas didn't bother to comment back as he quickly made his way towards his bedchamber. There, he saw Clara lying on the bed, clearly exhausted from all of the work she just did.

[Looks like she's quite exhausted,] Ham commented.

Taking his cue, Gilas walked towards the bed and carefully sat down on the edge of the bed. He then stared at Clara, noting that she looked to be in a deep sleep. From what he could recall, King Darius wanted to see her tomorrow together with Calypso so that they could discuss her plans on transferring her position as the Alpha of the Midnight Pack to the latter. There was just so much to do, and Gilas wanted to wrap things up soon so that he could finally move on to pampering his wife nonstop.

[Ah, you're making me laugh,] Ham snorted. [I do believe that you still can't fully call her your wife since the Mate Bond isn't complete.]

Gilas simply smiled at that thought before following it up with a deep sigh. There was nothing he could do about that for now. So instead, he just drowned himself in Clara's beauty like he always did when he had the opportunity. It wasn't like it was every day that he would have the opportunity to just stare at her like this for a long time.

"You're so beautiful.."

Gilas's eyes lingered as he stared at her lips, and he didn't even notice how he was already leaning down towards Clara. All he could think about was that he wanted so badly to have a taste of her lips for the second time. These lips hadn't stopped haunting him ever since he had kissed her the first time, and he just couldn't have enough of it.

Her scent also didn't help with his self-control. It did nothing but urge him to press his lips against hers, to feel her soft lips against his. But before he could seal the deal, Clara suddenly stirred, snapping him back to reality as he quickly moved back just in time for when she opened her eyes.

"You're back," she sluggishly murmured as she looked at him, clearly forcing herself to sit up on the bed as she rubbed her eyes.

"Ah, yes. I brought the Ebodian M-mages to clear out N-nasser's things…" he stuttered.

Clara frowned. "Are you alright? Why are you so red?"

"Ah, this... It's nothing… It's probably just the cold weather," Gilas quickly waved off, immediately changing the topic to run away from embarrassment. "By the way, the King wants you to be present at the castle tomorrow to talk about the Midnight Pack and your plan to give away your position to Calypso."

[Hahaha! Why are you so afraid of getting caught?] Ham mocked him. [It's not like you're stealing a kiss from her. After all, like you said, she's already your wife!]

Gilas could only gulp in embarrassment. He didn't want Clara to find out how he had sneaked in on her just for that kiss. It was a good thing then that he was still able to put a wall against Clara despite having already marked her. Surely, there was no way that she would bother to mark him back because that would mean that they'd no longer be able to put up a wall between each other's thoughts.

[Who knows? Maybe she would end up marking you too,] Ham shrugged. [She can do it just to know every single detail of what you're thinking and feeling, you know?]

"Have you watched Nasser's past? I mean, have you seen the whole details of it? Clara suddenly asked, taking him back to reality.

"Yes," Gilas nodded. "Why?"

"Hmm…It's just that I'm wondering why he would remain quiet about you marking me," Clara pondered. "Well, he could've informed them about it to disqualify me early before I could even fight in the final twelve."

"It's because I'm his last pawn, Clara. And he knows how important you are to me," Gilas explained. "I told him that if he went against your plan in joining till at least the last final, then there was no way that you'd trust me to even keep your bargain with me pertaining to the Midnight Pack…"

Nasser was just too greedy of a man to just leave his conquest with just one pack. He would ensure that he'd be able to conquer as many packs as he could get, and the Midnight Pack was one of his major targets.

"Besides, seeing you die in the tournament will benefit him more, Clara," Gilas weakly remarked. "I already marked you, and it's enough of a reason to stake my claim in the Midnight Pack once you're gone."

There was a sudden silence that settled between them. A beat passed, and Gilas broke it first as he suddenly asked, "Can I ask you a favor?"

Clara blinked at him, and he knew that she was taken aback by his words. Yet, she asked, "What is it?"

"Can we act like a normal husband and wife in front of my Mother?" he hesitantly asked. "I mean, can we be more intimate and showy around her? I strongly believe that will help my mother to cope more easily with how tragic things had happened in her life…"

Gilas held his breath as he waited for Clara to answer… There was no stopping him from his plans in seducing his mate now…

[Now we're talking!] Ham excitedly beamed.

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