The Crown's Entrapment

Rushing himself, Darius finished up his duties quickly just so he could check on Xen in the library. But by the time he arrived, he found out that she had already finished studying and had gone out with Jayra.

Not letting her absence slow him down, he followed her scent and ended up walking towards the training grounds.

It was true that she was with Jayra, but Darius's eyes fixated themselves on Xen with a loving smile. However, those smiles didn't last long as soon as he noticed that Xen was smiling beautifully towards a particular direction. She was blushing hard, and she even had this weird reaction of her touching her face while bashfully smiling.

Following his mate's gaze, his face burned, nostrils flaring up as he barked aloud, "That's enough for today! Continue with the training tomorrow. Everyone get dressed! Dismissed!"

Stunned by his sudden appearance, his men were too puzzled to notice their king's glare. At his orders, everyone immediately headed off and dispersed from the area like lightning. Only Bartos remained, who approached Darius with a wrinkled forehead.

"Sire, is everything alright?" Bartos asked.

Darius didn't answer as he promptly closed the distance between him and Xen, the latter of which was whispering to Jayra and asking if they were even allowed to watch the training.

"No!" he annoyingly answered. He even reiterated his words when Xen turned to face him, "No, you're not allowed!"

Seeing him in front of them, Jayra quickly bowed her head to him and said, "Your Majesty... I was in here to pick up Bartos. Now that he's here, the two of us should leave and give you and Princess Xenia some privacy.

Darius simply nodded as Bartos and Jayra escaped the scene, leaving his mate to his mercy. Already, he could see how Xenia's face glowered as she glared at Jayra's retreating back.

"Seriously, Xen? I checked on you in the library, but apparently, here you are ogling at my men!" Darius scolded.

[Stop scaring her!] Zeus scolded him.  [Look how pale her face is getting!]

Darius ignored his wolf's protests. He was expressionless as he squinted his eyes on Xen and questioned, "You're even blushing and smiling beautifully while watching those naked men. Are you infatuated?"

[Don't try and stop me,] Darius growled at his wolf. [I'm annoyed at how she's ogling other naked men. Meanwhile, she would always look away whenever I'm naked?! Why?!]

He unknowingly swept his hair with his hand as he waited for a response. The corners of his eyes remained wrinkled as he anxiously waited for Xen to speak.

"I-It's not like that," Xen tried to explain herself with a stutter. "I'm not b-blushing because of them... It's j-just that..." She trailed off. She tried to smile at him to reassure him or something, but she looked far too weird doing it.

"So what is it, Xen? Why are you blushing and acting like you're daydreaming about those naked men! Why are you even here?!"

Darius didn't let up as he fired off one question after another. Despite Zeus trying to stop him, he couldn't help but show how upset he was at that moment.

Xen touched her face and mumbled, "I wasn't aware I was even doing any of those. I mean, I'm probably looking at them, but my eyes weren't actually at them..."

Darius shrugged at her response. Her alibi was too flimsy, but he really didn't care anymore. Turning around, he said, "Follow me. We'll be having dinner together. And prepare yourself, because I'll have a lot of questions for you later on to see if you truly studied those books well enough. Pray that you don't make a mistake, or else be prepared to be punished!"

*****

Xenia followed Darius from behind with her head slightly bowed down as she continued biting on her lower lip.

'Should I tell him that I'm thinking of him even if my eyes seemed to be looking at his men?' she wondered to herself. She didn't even think that thought made sense if she ever spoke the truth like that.

Letting out a long sigh, her eyes darted towards Darius's hand. He would usually hold her hand while they were walking, but he wasn't doing it at the moment.

'Is he that angry? Possibly even jealous?'

She pondered on his reactions. Eventually, she came to the conclusion that he was jealous. That was why he was so mad with how she watched those naked werewolves moving and flexing their bodies like that.

'Yeah... That made sense...'

The corners of her mouth quirked up before she then suddenly grabbed Darius's hand, holding onto it firmly by interlocking her fingers between his. Almost immediately, his body stiffened. He halted from his steps and turned at her with raised eyebrows.

Feeling slightly smug, Xenia ignored his expressionless face and explained, "Please don't be mad. I'm really telling the truth here. I'm not ogling at those werewolves. I'm actually thinking about something else at the time that made me blush. It might look like it, but I'm definitely not blushing at those naked werewolves."

"Then who is it that you're thinking about then, huh?" Darius asked with a lifted brow, making Xenia nibble on her lower lip.

There was a moment of silence as she contemplated whether or not to tell the truth.

"Who is it, Xen?" Darius repeated with a frown.

"It's err... You..." Xenia bashfully admitted, her eyes moving down to the ground. "I just thought how those werewolves were nothing compared to your majestic body, my King," How embarrassing. She would even bet that she was glowing red as a ripe tomato right now too.

She inwardly seethed. This was all Jayra's fault! If she hadn't brought her there, then she wouldn't have to feel so embarrassed now. She couldn't even look at Darius now despite the fact of how curious she was to see his reaction to her confession.

"Wha-"

She was jolted out of her own stupor when she suddenly felt Darius's arms link around her waist, pulling her closer to him in one swift motion. Xenia unknowingly raised her head to look at him, gulping at how intense he was currently staring at her.

Fluttering her lashes, she fumbled out, "Uhm, what are-"

Her remaining words were left unspoken as Darius quickly pressed his lips against hers. With a small breath on her lips, he then murmured, "You better be telling the truth, Xen. Because if not..." His lips then brushed against her. His eyes were now open, gazing intently at hers with dilated pupils.

"W-What?" she confidently murmured against his lips.

It was amazing. She couldn't believe that they were being intimate like that in an open area for everyone to see, but who cares? She was way too distracted with Darius nibbling her on her lips like it was candy.

"If not... then I'll parade my body in front of you to drool at instead, and I'm dead serious about it," Darius murmured with a pout.

*************

A/N: Xenia's EQ is improving don't you think? I guess Jayra's books did some wonders to her EQ. She's becoming more aggressive too. Sometimes you just need some good and direct advice and enough knowledge on things... lols