Page 32

I called Mason into my office, not wanting to distress Veronica so soon after giving birth.

I set Noviana up with one of the maids for a tour of the gardens.

The poor she wolf nearly jumped when the blonde snapped her fingers and a lace umbrella appeared in her hands.

It appears the witch is very fond of keeping her flesh that milky hue.

Mason frowned a bit as he looked around the office, "is your mate nowhere nearby Bash? Ronny wanted me to invite her by sometime for tea as a thankyou."

"I don't think thats wise Mason, to invite a witch to tea."

"I agree," he sighed, "but she insists."

"She wont for long." I murmured, "as you know Noviana is a peculiar woman... and she knows things."

"It appears so, yes."

"Well. Earlier after your pup-"

"Angelique." He noted with a smile, as if I would have forgotten.

"Yes... after Angelique was born she said something."

That smile faded, "yes. It upset Ronny a bit but she understands that miss Nivara has a funny was of speaking now."

Funny way of speaking...

I thought of the way Noviana actually does speak, the occasional rhyme, nonsensical thoughts and always in a soft smooth voice.

She certainly does speak oddly but she always seems to have a point. "Yes but Mason, Nova claims that your daughter..." i hesitated, "is not long for this world."

"Not long..." his brows furrowed in confusion before he went pale, "what did she do?!"

"Nothing." I murmured, finding it hard to look him in the eye. "Nothing she did caused this Mason, these things happen, and often in our race."

He shook his head, growing more upset, "then she can fix it, shes a witch-"

"No." I cut him off, "Noviana will not fix Angelique."

"Why not?" He growled.

"The cost is too great."

"The cost?" He snarled, "I would give anything for my daughter Sebastian, name her price and ill give it."

"No..not the price to you Mason, to her."

"To her? What could possibly be so hard for that woman?"

"To save your child she would need to give up the ability to have her own."

He paused, briefly, "so you intend to take her as yours then?"

"Absolutely not."

"Then why," he began, "does it matter? If your not going to get the woman pregnant she-"

"Mason!" I snarled, "enough! Novianas body is her own and even if I wished to I could not force a woman to give up her womb."

"Even if you wished to." He snorted, "forgive me alpha but if you don't plan on getting her pregnant she doesn't need hers. The only other child she has would be witch or demon."

I grit my teeth, forcing my inner wolf to calm, "I am going to pretend you did not just say that in light of your trying day and this horrible news. Do not under any circumstance breech the subject with Noviana, it has already been discussed."

Without a word, mason left, the study door slamming behind him.

I sighed and leaned back in my chair, facing the window.

Amongst the vast garden, filled with the colors of various flowers and greenery, a small black dot making its way through. Pausing every few moments, likely to examine something, before that black umbrella began moving through the pathways again.

~~

This was absolutely dreadful.

Everywhere one looked it was one colorful bloom after another and very few of them had decent spell value.

Why Sebastian insisted I roam the gardens is beyond my understanding.

I could be at the temple of Luna at this very moment.

As a matter of fact, with my deal with the Beta I should be.

I paused in my steps once more, the maid stopping a few steps behind, "you."

She blinked, "uhm yes?"

"It is hot. I am dizzy, I shall likely faint without some sort of drink."

Without hesitation she scampered off.

I looked around the mass of flowers for the best possible exit from this maze before sighing softly and snapping my fingers.

I reappeared in Sebastians study, sitting on the edge of the large oak desk, "your gardens are dreadful."

He didn't even blink at my abrupt entry, "is that so? Most find them to be the highlight of the palace."

"Oh?" I questioned, "do they not see the dungeon or the armory?"

"No." He rumbled, "that is left off official tours."

"Pity." I murmured, examining my nails, "your gardens are severely lacking Alpha King."

"How so?" He asked, not at all curious.

I answered anyways, "well for a start, there are no flowers that Are useful in any decent spells."

"I see." He deadpanned.

"None of them survive by moonlight."

Another bland reply, "How dreadful."

"And no black dahlias to speak of."

His brow arched, "we have dahlias, I think. They are the ones with lots of petals that look a bit like a spikey ball?"

I blinked at him, "you sounded very uncultured and man like there."

"I am a king of a kingdom based entirely on combat, my skills are not directed towards flowers, thats left to whomever runs the gardens and often the alpha female."

"You have orange Dahlias."

"Okay. So we have them."

"Those are heinous."

The man rolled his eyes, "they are flowers."

"The black dahlia is my favorite non poisonous flower."

"Am I supposed to care about that?" The brawny man asked, looking utterly bored.

I found I disliked being dismissed.

So I amended the circumstance, snapping my fingers and a few murmured words, all was well.

We were no longer gazing at the atrocities of a multicolored garden in bright shades of every color ever imagined, but at a wide expanse of black dahlias.

The man frowned, "really Noviana?"

"My..." I sighed, "I can see why it is the highlight of the palace Sebastian."