Asher focused on teaching her to steady her emotions, block out distractions, and maintain perfect control. Although he did not pull the stunt from earlier again, Violet found herself far more conscious of his instructions and sensitive to every correction he gave.
Asher Nightingale Nightshade might be sweet with her, but when it ca to training, he was scary as hell. It was almost as if he beca a completely different person. If it were not for the small monts in between when he softened slightly, Violet might have believed she was dealing with a stranger entirely.
They trained until noon, until her muscles ached and her magical reserves were pushed to a limit she had never reached before.
And for the first ti, Violet realized her power was not the dangerous part, losing control of it was.
Exhausted, she began to trudge back toward their quarters, but Griffin, out of nowhere, carried her into his arms. Violet nearly scread. That had been sudden.
"You don’t need to." She wriggled in his arms. Wasn’t the whole point of the training to return to the palace looking badass?
Apparently, that didn’t matter to her mates.
"Baby Violet," Roman teased, pinching her cheeks. Unsurprisingly, her cheek was soft, still possessing a bit of her baby fat.
So adorable.
Violet playfully glowered at him. Nonetheless, she leaned further into Griffin and took a deep breath. That familiar warm blend of sun-soaked woods and deep amber, brightened by fresh citrus and spice, filtered into her nose.
Violet breathed it in deeper, filling her lungs with it until Thalia expressed her own satisfaction with a low growl that reverberated through Griffin.
Griffin halted imdiately.
Those beautiful warm eyes fell down on her, then narrowed, and finally darkened.
Violet saw the mont his wolf flashed through his eyes, and Thalia perked up inside of her, eager to et her mate.
"Okay..." Roman, who had stopped walking as well, patted Griffin on the back. "Unless we all agree to outdoor sex to assist Violet in her training, I’d say we make a move."
That roused Griffin from whatever trance he and Violet had been caught in. Their faces were so close they could kiss right now.
"Yeah, that was a close one," Alaric pointed out, scratching the back of his nape, redness spreading up his neck. He had felt it through the bond, and right now all the blood in his body had rushed to a certain area.
A blush crept up Violet’s cheeks and she cleared her throat.
"Maybe I should walk instead."
The instant Violet tried to move, Griffin growled a warning.
His eyes were glowing.
It was his wolf.
She couldn’t get off. His wolf needed this.
So she relaxed back into his embrace.
Even with his eyes still glowing, Griffin walked on, showing he was still in control. Although his beast was trying to tear through.
Mine.
It roared in his head.
Ours.
Griffin roared back ntally.
If the beast was going to be an insufferable bastard, then it needed to rember that.
No one noticed Asher falling behind them, quietly watching their backs. He understood the joke well enough, but he couldn’t feel it the way they did. It was small monts like this that reminded him he was still standing outside the bond they all shared.
Together they entered the palace. Except the mont they stepped through the entrance, all eyes turned to them.
It felt exactly like those cinematic scenes in movies where the main character and her crew walk in with that effortless, badass energy. Everything plays out in slow motion while everyone else just stares, unable to look away.
Except this ti it was Violet and her four mates. And true to the movies, no one could take their eyes off them. After all, it wasn’t every day soone was mated to four different males.
They continued walking with that sa haughty air until Violet suddenly asked, "Urm... guys, what’s going on?"
She could feel the sudden swagger in Griffin’s step even while he carried her.
And she had just witnessed Roman run a hand through his hair and fluff it slightly.
A Fae nearby nearly fainted.
Alaric casually tugged at his jacket with a cool, practiced motion, as though he had been born for dramatic entrances.
As for Asher, he had that tall, dark, and dangerously handso look going on. The kind that said I will destroy you with a single smoldering glance.
Violet felt like she had stepped into a movie. And sohow she had ended up playing the—unfortunate—rescued damsel.
Roman whispered so quietly it could have been mistaken for breathing.
"Don’t worry. Just go with the flow."
Apart from the slight crease that briefly appeared between her brows, Violet didn’t respond. Instead, she slipped into the role perfectly.
She began batting those long lashes at anyone who dared look their way, then leaned comfortably against Griffin’s broad chest as if to say yes, this is exactly where I belong. Comfy as a pillow.
It didn’t help that the palace was buzzing with activities with the whole re-construction going on in the palace. So Fae hovered effortlessly several feet above the ground, working.
Broken pillars floated upright as runes stitched the fractures back together. Shards of marble drifted through the air like obedient birds returning to their nest. It was a delicate process that required focus — until Violet and her mates stepped in. And that was when eveything went wrong.
One Fae hovering near the ceiling lost concentration and the chunk of marble he had been guiding dropped two inches.
A second Fae gasped.
"Hold the line!"
But it was too late with half the Fae distracted.
The sudden shift disrupted the magical alignnt holding the broken column together and the pieces slid apart.
As the column lurched sideways, the Fae holding the lower half panicked and shoved more magic into the spell. Which was exactly the wrong thing to do.
The lower half shot upward like it had been fired from a cannon. Three hovering Fae scattered as it soared past them and slamd into a floating ring of marble tiles being guided into place along the ceiling.
The tiles exploded outward and one of them struck another worker in the shoulder.
"Ow!"
The Fae’s spell flickered and which ant the decorative archway he had been repairing suddenly lost its support. The archway snagged.
A wave of magic rippled through the room as several Fae scrambled to catch it. Unfortunately their spells collided and the archway spun.
A stunned silence filled the hall as a massive marble arch slowly rotated in midair like a confused carousel.
Roman blinked.
"I think we just broke sothing."
Nearby, a group of Fae repairing a crystal chandelier had turned to stare at the commotion. Which ant the chandelier was no longer being stabilized.
It began drifting sideways and directly into a cluster of floating wall fragnts. The fragnts shattered. Like a domino effect, it was one destruction onto the other.
Alaric stared at the scene, dumbfounded.
"Why does this feel like our fault?"
Violet quickly told Griffin, "Quick. Let’s get out of here."
Like that, they took off while the Fae workers tried to stabilize the whole thing.
Behind them soone finally shouted the obvious.
"STOP STARING AT THE PRINCESS AND FIX THE CEILING!"
Yep, it was definitely their fault.
Griffin still carried Violet in his arms while Roman and Alaric hurried beside them, and even Asher picked up his pace behind them. The mont they slipped inside their room, Asher shut the door behind them.
For a heartbeat, there was silence. Then they all burst into laughter.
Violet dropped her face into her hands, laughing so hard her shoulders shook.
"Oh my gods," she gasped between breaths. "My mother is going to kill ."
Roman wiped at the corner of his eye dramatically. "Hey, that’s not our fault," he said, straightening his shirt. "We’re just damn irresistible."
Griffin snorted. "Tell that to the royal purse. Half the palace just collapsed again because you couldn’t stop preening."
"Excuse you," Roman said indignantly. "I was not preening. I was enhancing the mont."
That only made Alaric laugh harder. And then, a different sound joined them.
It was Asher laughing. Not the small amused huff they sotis got from him.
No. He was actually laughing hard enough that tears slipped from the corners of his eyes.
The room went quiet as everyone stared at him.
Asher eventually noticed the attention and cleared his throat, wiping at his eyes.
"What?" He gave them pointed looks.
No one said anything but the look they all shared spoke volus. It was good to see Asher like this. Relaxed and happy.
Violet smiled before clapping her hands once.
"Alright," she announced. "I’m going to bathe."
Roman’s mouth opened imdiately but Violet pointed a finger at him.
"Not happening, Roman."
He closed his mouth with a grin. "As you wish, my lady."
Violet shook her head, then hurried into the bathroom before he ca up with another antics.
Steam quickly filled the room as she washed away the sweat and gri from training. The hot water helped her relax and by the ti she finished, she felt normal again.
As she stepped out, toweling her hair, her stomach growled loudly. Violet grimaced. She was so hungry she could eat an entire cow.
She walked back into the room, fully intending to demand food from the guys.
But the words died in her throat because soone else was standing there.
Lila.
Violet’s steps faltered.
Lila’s expression was hard to read.
"The queen wishes to see you," she said.
Then her gaze shifted to the others.
"All of you."
"Shit," Violet muttered.
They were in real trouble this ti.
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