_________________________________________________________________________________________________~ Lilac's POV ~ _________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Little mates, can we not join you as well?" Octavius' voice rang in my voice. My eyes turned to face his. They were glowing a deeper shade of blue.
I gulped nervously. I was frozen on the spot as I watched Mason trembled underneath me. "Are you alright, Lila?" Mason's golden eyes found mine. He was flustered, but the trance we were in seemed to fade away.
We just kissed, didn't we?
Ah, he's still looking at me for an answer. His golden eyes looked worriedly at me.
I tried to speak, but no letters came out. I settled for a nod instead.
"O-Orion, how dare you?" Mason gently placed me aside. My hands landed on the ground as Darius held my shoulders, stabilizing me.
My lips felt warm and tingly, where Mason had just kissed me. I definitely looked like a tomato right now.
"Are you okay?" Darius asked. I nodded, letting my hair fall freely, to cover my face.
Orion pulled out his tongue mischievously, teasing Mason, who was furious but embarrassed. He started to chase Orion around, while Orion just teleported a little further away every time Mason caught up to him. "I dare you to stop right there!"
Octavius sighed. "That dumb head!" He knelt down in front of me. "Are you alright, little mate?" He asked, removing my hair from my face and touching it. I sighed in relief as I leaned into his touch, which felt cool on my warm skin.
"Can you get up?" Darius asked. I looked down at the ground as I let my hair once again cover my face, and Darius retracted his hand. I shook my head, not looking away from the ground. It seemed so interesting for some reason.
Darius placed his hands under my arms and picked me up like a child and placed a hand under my butt as I hugged his neck. I rested my head on his shoulder. As if I wasn't even embarrassed at what happened. I just wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out again. I buried myself in his neck, completely facing it.
Octavius giggled loudly, and Darius joined him as I felt his body vibrate. I hit Darius' chest in protest.
"Looks like our little mate is embarrassed." Octavius joked.
"S-stop!" My muffled voice came out weaker than I expected. I squeaked like a squirrel. Why do I just keep embarrassing myself today? I should probably not talk. Humph!
"You are adorable, Lila!" Darius spoke, kissing my hair. Great, now I can happily die, hopefully in peace. I snuggled closer to his neck.
I peeked through my hair and watched as Orion appeared next to us with a Mason piggybacking on his back. "Let's go watch something." Orion laughed. Mason's face looked tired but remained red regardless.
"I won't let you off if you ever do that again." Mason tried to hit Orion as he smiled nervously. "Yes, yes. For sure. I won't do it."
"Now, shall we go home?" Octavius whined. "I want to shower and get out of these sweaty clothes."
"Sure!" Darius joined in as we walked towards the dorm. I looked above Darius' shoulder and watched the stars. They were twinkling vividly, reminding me of our star gazing trip.
My thoughts shifted back to our kiss. My first kiss was with Mason. He was so gentle yet passionate. I couldn't shake off my thoughts about the kiss. I kind of wanted to kiss him again, but I needed to restrain myself.
Does he love me?
"Lila..." Mason's voice rang in my head as he mind linked me.
My head tilted as my eyes found his. He smiled brightly at me. "I love you, Lila!"
It was such a sincere gesture, but it filled my heart with warmth till the brim. I began to tear up. How much I longed to hear those words from my parents, but I received nothing. Yet here I was, crossing over dimensions, and Mason told me that he loved me, loved me for who I was, despite everything I was.
In that moment, the title "cursed child" meant nothing to me. I knew I was anything but that. I was blessed with such lovely mates, and Mason and Darius love me for me.
But did I love Mason and Darius?
I looked at Mason, but he was whining at Orion, saying his butt hurt from falling down earlier.
Oh, I see.
Maybe he didn't expect me to say it back. Maybe he doesn't care about how I feel for him. Thinking back on it, neither did Darius ask me, even though he confessed. My heart saddened dropped at the thought.
"I know what you are thinking, Lila. But I will wait for you. No matter how long it takes. Because I will be with you forever. After all, we are going to spend an eternity together." His voice rang in my mind when I least expected it.
So, that's what it was.
It wasn't that they didn't care about me, but they were going to wait for me, even if it took forever. In fact, they did care a lot about me and what I wanted to say, but they were willing to wait for me. For me to fall in love with them? A person who wasn't considered a human for so long had two people who warmed her heart. I don't care much about the mate bond, but I felt such joy and happiness fill my heart as Mason said those words to me.
These past few days have been truly unreal. The world that had been drained of colors just like my life was starting to fade away, being replaced by heartwarming memories. It felt like the walls that I had built all these years to protect myself were breaking down, one at a time. These men were the reason behind it.
The tears that I was controlling so far started rolling down as I buried my face into Darius' neck again, clutching onto his shirt.
"Lila!" Darius paused, worried.
"That bastard. I knew it! I need to punch some sense into him." Octavius yelled.
I felt Orion respond nervously. "Hey, let's calm down here. I did trick them, but I won't do it again. Besides, I was using my powers as they stared into my eyes, and it happened by mistake."
"Then you should make sure to hide those powers and vicious green eyes!" Mason yelled.
"Lila, are you alright?" Darius asked, worried.
"Yes!" I wiped my tears with the back of my sleeve and replied, smiling at him. "I-I want to eat dinner with you all. I'm hungry!"
His smile warmed my heart as the wrinkles on his forehead smoothened.
"In that case, what should we have for dinner?"
"Umm... pancakes?" I suggested.
"Sure. Anything you want!" He walked us toward the dorms. Octavius followed us, glaring daggers at Orion.
"Look at how the situation turned around with one sentence from Lila. Ah, I'm so jealous!" Orion whined.
"Oh yeah? Talk about yourself. After all that you have done today!" Mason jokingly clung onto Orion's neck, choking him.
He gasped for hair, asking for forgiveness.
I giggled, looking at them interact as their attention shifted towards me.
"Ah, forget it. I will spare you this time! For Lila's smile." Mason left his hands around Orion's neck.
Orion caught up next to me. "Goddess, please save me. I know I did wrong, but I swear never to do it again. Please forgive me, or else these monsters won't let me survive the night. You cannot let this poor demon be thrown alone into Hell. There are so many demons out there who have a bounty on my neck. So, please, my goddess..."
Monster? He was the real demon here. "I already forgave you. You silly person!" I interrupted him as he sighed in relief.
"My goddess, I will worship you forever." He made puppy eyes that were about to tear up at me. "Thank you, goddess! You are the best!"
"See, our Lila is such a kind and forgiving person. We are only letting you off this time." Octavius chided Orion.
He smiled nervously and thanked me repeatedly, despite my attempts to stop him. I caved in, eventually basking in all the compliments.
These men were just adorable.
After having some dinner, we were seated lazily on the couch watching some TV. We had changed our clothes and were in our pajamas. I like the clothes that they bought me. The white night gown I was currently wearing came up to my knees and had full sleeves with a bow in the front. It was very comfortable. Mason had helped me braid my hair all the way down to my waist. It looked so pretty. While the guys had different coloured sweatpants and shirts. I realized after staying with them for a while that Mason loved yellow, Octavius loved blue, Darius loved red, and Orion loved green. They said it was related to their energy or aura colours, which I could see.
A knock sounded on the door, throwing us out of our boredom.
I went to go open the door. Octavius stood next to me. "Let me open it. It's alright!"
I nodded and went back to sit in my spot.
Octavius opened the door to be greeted with a big fluffy white coloured dog with striking blue eyes that pounced on him and licked him. "Good to see you, Max! You are as healthy as ever!" He laughed, joking.
"So cute!" I gasped, covering my mouth.
Octavius laughed, patting the dog as it wagged its tail excitedly. "Nice to meet you too, Max!" Max licked Octavius' face in return and his attention towards us.
He puffed his chest up and entered the room, walking towards us.
"Max!" Mason called his name as he ran and jumped on him. "Good boy!" He patted his head.
"There's a letter on his ankle!" Orion spotted. Mason swiftly took off the little ribbon that tied the envelope to his ankle.
Max sniffed the room and walked towards me. His electric blue eyes found mine as he wagged his tail excitedly, taking slow steps to approach me.
"Max!" I tested his name out as he pounced on me and started licking me. He sat next to me on the sofa, gentle to not put his weight on me.
I giggled as I felt all the sloppy kisses on my face. It felt ticklish. I touched the fur on his back as I felt how soft it was. His body melted into my hand. He then licked my hands, too. After some time, he calmed down a little as I gave him chest pats. Sitting next to me, he was taller and bigger than me, too. He was like a big bear that I could just hug forever.
Did I mention he was fluffy?
Darius reached out to hold my hand, but Ruth growled at him, showing his sharp teeth. Darius backed away. He slouched on the sofa, crossing his hands. "Mutt gets all the attention."
"Ruth, he is family!" I spoke to him. "Don't do that!" His husky ears dropped as he looked at me sadly.
"Okay, more head pats for you?" I suggested.
To that, his tail wagged excitedly. I giggled as I gave him head pats and saw his ears relax and his eyes closed, enjoying the head pats.
"Does he understand our language?" I asked in wonder.
"Yes. He can communicate with us freely." Orion responded.
"How?"
"Well, after pups reach maturity, they will take a human form." Octavius was the one to respond this time.
I nodded. "So, he hasn't reached maturity yet?" I asked, still patting his head as he relaxed into it.
"He will in a few days." Mason responded.
Orion came near me as he patted Max's back.
Max laid his head down on my lap and snuggled close to my body.
"I can't believe that I'm jealous of a dog!" Octavius groaned.
Everyone else groaned with him, agreeing.
I giggled at them. They were so cute and weird at the same time.
"Ah, it's a letter from Rose for you, Lila!" Mason spoke, breaking the silence. "Here!"
Taking the letter from him, I opened it.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Dear Lila,
I hope this letter finds you well.
I met Max in the city on his way back to the Academy and decided to send the message this way. He has grown up to be so adorable, by the way.
I will get straight to the point. My mates and I are planning a week worth trip to the shores of Aldrich city. There are going to be mountains, lakes, forests, rivers, and oceans to explore and visit. So, I was wondering if you wanted to come along with your mates with us? We are planning on leaving tomorrow morning using the train at Ragnarök city since it would give us time to spend with each other. It is a one-day trip to go there, and we have already rented out two luxury suites. One for us and one for you and your mates.
It would be great if you would like to come with us. We will be waiting for you all at the train station in the city, tomorrow at 9 AM.
P.S. I'm looking forward to spending our vacation together. I love you and miss you.
Your best friend
~ Rose
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After reading the letter, I looked up to see my mates staring back at me.
"Well, what does it say?" Mason asked a little annoyed, given his relationship with Yukio.
"Umm... it says that Rose and her mates are going to the shores of Aldrich city tomorrow. She already booked the train tickets for both of us and was wondering if we could go with her?" I asked them.
To be honest, I wanted to go so badly. My eyes sparkled brightly to look at them with puppy eyes. This trick worked a couple of days ago. So, it should work even now.
"City of Aldrich, huh?" Orion thought loudly. "It's a pretty safe city. Besides, no monsters are known to show up there."
"Since we are just going to be lazing around these days, why not just go for some adventures together?" Octavius asked. Alright, one down three more to go.
My gaze shifted towards Darius, who looked like he was analyzing my expressions. After some thought, he replied, smiling, "Fine by me!" Two more to go.
"Anything for you, Lila!" Mason responded immediately. I couldn't help the smile on my face.
I turned towards the only person who hadn't responded yet. "I will go. But what can I get in return?" Orion asked cocking his head to the side.
I looked at him confused. "Well, what do you want?" I asked feeling giddy about the trip.
"Hmm... I'll have to think about it." He looked like he was in thought and then his face lit up. This can't be good. "Will you give me a kiss?"
Everyone's head snapped to his. "A-A k-kiss?" I gulped.
"Yeah!" He replied confidently.
"Okay!" I replied smiling at him mischievously.
"Max, can you please move aside for a bit?" I looked down to see his fluffy coat. His eyes glistened and ears drooped but he nevertheless groaned and shifted aside.
"Thank you!" I replied to him as I watched his ears perk up at my response.
I got up and walked towards Orion. The others watched the dram unfold intently with their mouths hanging outside.
I motioned for him to come closer with my finger. He did so obediently with a sly smirk on his face.
I went on my tippy toes and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. Giggling, I rushed back to my room and shut the door. "I need to pack!"
"Lila, that wasn't a kiss!" Orion grunted in frustration as I heard his footsteps come closer to my door.
"Well, too bad. Looks like you will have to wait!" Mason giggled in the hall. I could feel Orion's eyes roll as he went to his room to pack.
I heard laughter as soon as the door to his room shut. Atleast, I presume so.
I couldn't stop the giggle that slipped passed my lips either.
This trip is going to be fun and crazy! Now, let's get packing.