Novel Square
Chapter-65. The control(18+)
[Asher Xipher]
"You don't even come close to the dirt they walk on. Ezra. Asher. Raven. They are my husbands. They are my demon lords! And they are never going down!"
A small smirk played across Raven's lips as he peered at Xanthea on his phone screen.
I arrived at the Aile castle a few minutes ago, but Raven had been here for a while monitoring Xanthea and Ezra using his butterflies that were invisible to mortal eyes in the mortal realm. I looked at all the gifts placed on the table. It looks like Ezra had bought her a new phone and a laptop.
"You look proud of her," I said.
Cocking a brow, Raven lifted his eyes off the screen and scowled at me.
"Why will I be proud? This is the bare minimum she should have done for herself long ago," he said. "Moreover, after today, it might be a pain in the ass to control her."
"Is that so? Maybe I misinterpreted your smile," I said, lying down on the couch.
"I will be proud of her when she gets her healer's license and then she can help me access the forbidden knowledge you have been trying to hide from me with all your power," he said.
I shut my eyes, replying with my silence.
I heard him scoff, and then he concentrated on Xanthea again.
'You wanted them to accept her just enough so that they don't kill her. They have gotten attached enough. They have linked their personal twisted goals with her. Raven wants her for the research and Ezra needs her to heal himself. It's time you pull their reins before their attachment turns into an obsession.' Icifer, my demon wolf's warning, echoed in my head.
I replied to him with my silence as well.
Icifer was getting impatient because of Xanthea, but everything was under control. I wasn't going to pull any reins until she got pregnant.
Taking a deep breath, I sat up on the couch, stretching.
"Can I have a look as well?" I asked Raven.
"Suit yourself," he said.
"Thanks," I said and sat on the chair beside him.
Raven's butterfly flew out of the dining room. Ezra was pacing right outside the door.
"He... looks anxious," I said.
"Of course he is. He has been disturbed ever since Xanthea snapped and began devouring the food as though she might as well cannibalize herself," Raven said. "Hmm."
Given Ezra's childhood struggles with eating disorders, such a reaction wasn't surprising.
"By the way. Her stepmother revealed something interesting about her mother," Raven said.
"About her mother?" I looked at Raven.
"Looks like our little omega has a far more interesting origin than we thought. Freya Plath isn't her mother's real name. She stole someone else's identity," Raven chuckled, contemplating me. "Oh," I said.
"Oh? That's the most you can come up with after such a revelation?"
Was I supposed to act surprised when I wasn't?
"You don't seem much bothered by it, either," I said.
"Well, I don't really care who her mother is. I wanted her mother's books and stuff, and Xanthea has it all stored in her brain. She'll be much more useful to me than her dead mother's identity," Raven said matter-of-factly. "Makes sense."
I looked at Xanthea as she walked out of the room and shut the door roughly behind her.
She stood before Ezra, taking deep breaths.
From the rhythm of her breaths to her heaving chest, I could easily tell she was scared. Her fingers twitched because they were cold and numb. The way she trudged closer to Ezra, she was trembling from within, barely standing. Her facade of strength wasn't convincing.
Overall, no improvement
But maybe Ezra had a different opinion.
He waited for her to walk to him, and then he pulled her into his embrace.
His brows knit as he smiled, kissing the side of her head.
"You did well, angel," he said, stroking her back. "You did so well."Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.
Icifer retracted himself in the depths of my mind where he couldn't see Xanthea wrap herself around Ezra.
"Alpha..." Xanthea whispered.
"Ezra's fine, baby," Ezra said.
"What is this? Some kind of cheesy high school romance?" Raven let out a grunt.
"I think.. I might be a... little drunk," Xanthea said, burying her face in Ezra's chest.
"It's ok, rest a little," Ezra said, picking her in his arms.
"She barely had a few sips of wine and she's already drunk. Typical omega trait," Raven remarked.
Atticus looked at Xanthea and then at Ezra before he bowed.
"Have a safe trip back home, my lord and... my lady," he said.
"You sure know how to read the room, Atticus," Ezra said.
"I have a feeling you might not need another bride, my lord," Atticus said.
Narrowing my eyes, I stared at Atticus.
"There's still time, Atticus. Choose your sides wisely," Ezra said. "No soul suffers in vain. For some, it's forging for the future and for some, it's karma for their past. And you must never pity the latter because their suffering is punishment for their own sins."
"If I may, I would like to apologize to her highness Xanthea on behalf of my realm. We failed her as a society and as much as I would like to cover this up, unfortunately, it's the truth of today's society. The weak suffer and often by hands that were meant to protect them. But I hope and pray that she finds a better home in your realm, my lord," Atticus said.
Ezra let out a dry chuckle.
"My realm is far more unforgiving than yours. And I don't think a soul like hers would be able to find a home there, either. But you can pray. At least your prayers will be answered by someone. We don't have that luxury," he said before walking through the corridors of the Virgo palace to the entrance.
He was about to put Xanthea in the car when she said.
"Are we going back?"
"Yes," Ezra said.
"Can we not go back, please?" she said in a slightly slurred tone, holding his gaze.
"What the hell is she playing at now?" Raven frowned. "Bring her back, Ezra!"
"When we go back..." she whispered weakly. "Are we going to go back to how we were before?"
Ezra peered at her, hesitation clear in his eyes as he looked away.
"The game's over, right?" she asked in a crestfallen tone. "So we should stop pretending to be in love, right?"
"Not that crap again!" Raven ran his fingers through his hair.
"Can you stay?" she said in a quivering voice. "Can you please stay for a little longer? I don't think I am ready to let go of you... yet."
Ezra's eyes softened as he gazed at her.
"I am here, angel. As long as you want me," he whispered to her reassuringly. "Even when we go back, I don't think we'll be able to go back to how we were after everything that's happened."
"Really?" she looked at him with hopeful eyes.
"I promise," he kissed her forehead, making her sit in the passenger seat. "Now get some rest, darling love." He teased her.
Xanthea blushed. Grabbing his tie, she pulled him into a kiss.
Raven disconnected from his butterfly and began texting Ezra. It was because of Ezra's advancement in the communication channels we could text and call through the realms.
"I am telling you, he is going to have a solo sex with her, he isn't responding," Raven got up, pacing across the room as he tried to call Ezra.
"He won't have a solo with her," I said.
"Huh! How can you be so sure?" Raven asked sternly.
"I know Ezra well," I said.
"You know him? You should say you control him well."
"You like to complicate simple things. Just turn on your butterfly surveillance and see what he does," I said in a relaxed tone.
Raven threw his phone at me. With the swift motion of my hand, I caught it inches away from my face.
In less than a minute, he teleported out of the Infernal realm.
I turned on the surveillance on Raven's phone and watched.
Ezra won't have solo sex with her because he won't let anyone have sex with her right now. Not even himself. He knows she is emotionally and mentally drained. So no matter how much he wants it, he won't allow her to be physically drained. At least until he calms her down and silences the voices in her head. He will give her time to recover. And for that, he will take her somewhere she could find peace.
And there was only one such place left.
I was right.
Even with Xanthea's insinuations, Ezra tore himself from her and drove out of the Virgo palace.
Xanthea dozed off almost instantly.
Ezra looked at the empty backseat of his car.
"I sensed your butterflies earlier," Ezra said. "Aren't you too eager for the sex night, Raven?"
Raven's figure carved out of nothingness on the backseat.
"I just stopped by to check on you guys," Raven said, folding his hands across his chest. "By the way, where are you taking her?"
"Somewhere she'll find peace," Ezra said.
"It's past 9:09. She should be in the Aile castle performing her duties. She can rest after that until dawn. In case you are forgetting, she starts her college tomorrow," Raven said.
Ezra glared at him through the mirror of the car.
"I know," Ezra said, looking at Xanthea who stirred in her seat.
"What's wrong with her?" Raven asked.
"She's just drunk," Ezra said.
Raven knit his brows, analyzing Xanthea closely.
Ezra pulled over outside a graveyard. When Ezra said he was taking her to the Virgo pack, I knew exactly where their excursion might end - her mother's grave.
Ezra draped his coat around her shoulders and back. In the state of drowsiness, Xanthea visited her mother's grave. Her weariness seemed to have disappeared for a few seconds as she looked at the forget-me-nots and jasmines I had planted around her mother's grave.
"Asher..." she whimpered, bringing her hands over her cleavage before she broke into tears, allowing her emotions to bleed out.
They stayed there for a while, giving Xanthea space and alone time with her mother as she prayed, getting to her knees before the grave.
Ezra and Raven stood on either side of her.
Xanthea got up. She stumbled, losing her balance when Raven caught her.
"Alpha... Raven?" she blinked, narrowing her eyes then she sneaked a glance around, probably looking for me.
"So, you finally noticed me, huh?" Raven said, grabbing her attention again.
"Alpha, I am sorry... there was a lot on my mind," she sniffled, licking her dry lips. Her eyelids drooped with guilt.
Raven lifted her chin.
"No need to get so depressed about it, little omega. I can see you enjoyed your trip. Now it's time to come back home, enough fooling around for the day. Both of you," he said, skimming his glare to Ezra.
Raven made her sit with him in the backseat while Ezra drove them back into the Infernal Realm. After a half-an-hour drive, they arrived at the parking lot of the Aile Castle.
I put aside Raven's phone, hearing their footsteps approach the room.
All my senses ignited. Wild sparks flooded into my bloodstreams as Xanthea's unfathomably intoxicating scent drifted into the room even before her arrival.
My body's reaction to her presence kept getting more and more visceral, but this was far more maddening than any I had before.
Icifer lunged forth, pulling me to my feet as soon as Ezra entered the room with Xanthea sleeping peacefully in her arms. Clenching my fists, I pushed him back.
I observed Ezra and Raven. Her scent didn't affect them like it affected Icifer.
Do their wolves not sense it?
Can't they tell... she is going into the heat?
'Of course they can't! She is not theirs! She's mine!' Icifer growled. 'She is my mate!'
Ezra gently laid Xanthea on the bed and reluctantly pulled himself away from her.
Xanthea's turned to her side, and the dress slipped slightly off her breasts.
"She looks a little uncomfortable in that dress," Raven sat beside her on the bed. "She'll be able to sleep much better without it."
'Get them away from her,' Icifer commanded, his agitation intensifying with every second.
Raven untied the strings on her back and the dress loosened around her voluptuous body.
"Raven, just let her sleep," Ezra said, taking off her heels.
His words were clearly at a war with what truly darkened his eyes as they raked over Xanthea's body as Raven slowly undressed her.
I wonder what it means when a lust demon holds back his lust for a woman.
"Of course, I won't wake her up, Ezra. You know I am a gentleman. I'll just fuck her in her sleep, so that she sleeps better," Raven said. "Don't you know orgasms help women with their beauty sleep? Our little omega deserves it, craves it, needs it, too. Don't you, Xanthea?"
'Fuck you! I'll do it myself,' Icifer tried to take over me again, but I didn't allow him to. 'Damn it! Let me take over! Asher! I won't share her with them in her heat. It's distressing to even see them touch her right now!'
I calmly sat back in my chair, allowing Icifer to only take over my eyes.
"Alpha..." Xanthea invitingly moaned out in slumber.
And it seemed as though her one moan had weakened all of Ezra's resolve to keep himself away from her.
Loosening his tie, Ezra got up on the bed.
Raven smirked. "Go on, Ezra. Let's see how many thrusts it takes to sober her up completely."
Xanthea sensually curled up her knees, clenching her thighs together as Raven played with her breasts and nipples. Ezra parted her knees-
Icifer looked away, rage burning in his soul. His claw dug into the wood of the chair. I forced him to look at them again.
'Let's make two things clear, Icifer. One, I am the one in control. And two, no one can know Xanthea is our mate. So watch them fuck her in her heat. That will be your punishment and the reminder. You can be possessive all you want, but only when I allow it.'