122

"Wake up, sleepyhead," Zikur whispered as he hovered above the queen, his lips an inch away from hers. He would have let her sleep some more, but the sun was set to rise an hour from now, and he needed her out of his room before the servants began walking about.
Dogara pried her eyes open, widening them when she saw him. She slapped him and pushed him off. Zikur stood up with a groan, massaging his cheek.

"You fucking slapped me!" he yelled, looking at her.

"And I would do so again if you don't fucking keep your distance," she snarled. "What the hell are you doing in my son's room?"

Zikur chuckled. "Your son's room? Baby girl, you're in my room."

"What? How did that..." she trailed off when she realized that he was right. She was in his room. How did that even happen?

She exhaled sharply before saying, "How did I end up here? I was in Sia's room, so how did I get here?" she asked, pulling her robe tighter across her body.

"I don't know."

She raised a brow. "Zikur, if you're lying to me, I swear I'll...."

His sudden appearance before her shut her up. "I have never lied to you, Ogra. Even back then in the cell when I told you I would support you and the baby, I wasn't lying."

"Yet you disappeared," she whispered, eyes down. "When I needed you the most, Zikur, you were not there!" she cried out, wiping away a stray tear.

"Your brother is to blame for that."

"Half-brother," Dogara corrected. "And what does Hanos have to do with you abandoning me when I needed you?"

"Your brother came to me at night. He said a lot of things. He offered to turn me. I knew that becoming a vampire would strengthen me and make it better for me to cater for you and our son, so I accepted his offer."

"And then what?" she asked, eager to know why.

"I was a newbie, and it wasn't safe for me to be around you. So I went with your brother and stayed with him until I learned how to control it. By the time I returned, you were gone, and so was our son," Zikur explained.

"You should have come sooner," Dogara cried out. "If you had come sooner, I would never have married Thjis."

"Then you wouldn't be a queen," Zikur whispered.

"I would have been a lady, with my half-brother as king. I would have been happy!"

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"Your apology won't change shit," she muttered. "I'm queen now, and nothing would ever change that. Not even Avetha's obsession with my husband."

Zikur chuckled. She glared at him. He coughed. "Sorry, I just...you don't appear concerned."

She laughed. "Concerned? Zikur, he's the king. He could sleep with the whole world for all I care, but he's still and always would be mine."

Zikur bristled at that. "Even if he could infect you with an STI?"

Dogara chuckled. "It's funny that you think Icelanders can have STIs."

"Well, if Eloive can be dyslexic and Izal down to an arm, I think yes. Icelanders can have STIs."

She glared at him. "Don't you ever mention my family's disabilities again. Eloive is my son, and so is Izal. They might be slightly disabled, but they are my sons, and I would die for them."

Zikur admired her motherly affection for her sons and wondered if she would ever administer that same treatment to Novgorod. "What about Novgorod?" he whispered. "Would you die for him too?"

She remained silent. He chuckled bitterly. "Of course. I forgot that your motherly affection does not extend to our son."

"He's your son, okay?" she snapped, annoyed. "Your son, not mine. Giving birth to him doesn't make me his mother. It just made me generous."

For a moment, Zikur wondered what his fingers would look like on her face. Shaking away the thought of slapping her, he walked toward the mini-fridge in his room and pulled it open, snatching a blood bag before closing it. He wasn't hungry, but the taste would keep him calm.

And he needed to be calm, to not be a Thjis.

Dogara eyed him as he ripped open the bag, sucking the liquid contents with his eyes closed. If someone has told her that the lean omega she knew would become a vampire, she would live in disbelief.

"Why didn't you return after you could control it?"

Her question had him scoffing. "Returning? That was never an option. Your brother made sure of that. He knew that coming back to you would make all of my training go to waste. So he did everything in his power to keep me away from you. Unknown to him, no matter how great his power is, it can't keep me away from the mother of my child."

"Yet it kept you away for three centuries."

Dogara whispered just as Zikur opened his eyes to look at her.

"Two actually," Zikur corrected as he disposed the empty bag. "And you can't blame me. Someone had to take care of Novgorod and train him."

"And it had to be you? Let's face it, Zikur. Your kind hates werewolves. You despise them, lycans as well. The only reason why your kind puts up with mine is because Hanos and I are related."

"You're right about that, Dogara. I..."

"You've never called me that," she whispered, cutting him off. "It has always been Ogra, but never Dogara. Have I really upset you so much that you wouldn't dare call me by my nickname?"

Zikur's sigh was one of frustration. He didn't understand this woman. One day she'd hate the name and the next, she'd want to hear it. What exactly did she want? He pursed his lips and turned to the minibar to avoid encasing her in his arms.

"You need to leave now," he murmured, pouring himself a neat glass of whiskey. "Thelia would be here any moment from now, and you don't want her to find us like this."

Dogara's brows furrowed. "Thelia? What the fuck would that Fae be wanting in your room?"

He sipped carefully before answering. "I should be asking you the same, after all you're an Icelander and the queen."

She frowned. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"You've been swearing a lot lately. You must be horny," he muttered. "Are you?" he added, facing the queen, wine glass in hand.

Dogara's cheeks flamed hot as she pulled her robe tighter across her body, hiding her hardened nipples from view. But Zikur would always see, and she hated him for that.

"I'm still waiting," he murmured, eyeing her. He knew the answer, but he still wanted her to voice it out.

"So am I. What business do you have with Thelia that has to be settled indoors?"

"I never said it would be settled indoors," he answered, setting down the empty glass on the counter before approaching the queen. "You were just assuming things, Dogara, and it's only jealous women that assume," he murmured, placing his hands on the wall behind her, on either side, his eyes searching hers. "So are you?"

She glared. "I'm not jealous. I just don't want you around that Fae."

"So you're possessive," he concluded. "You shouldn't really be possessive of what is not yours, Dogara."

She looked away. "Take me to my room."

"What?"

"Teleportation is a prized skill for your kind, isn't it?" she asked, facing him. "Then take me to my room."

"If I do that, you'd be with him once more," Zikur whispered.

"That's correct. Do you know why? He's mine, just in the way that I'm his," she said, flipping her hair so he could see Thjis' mark. "Now take me to my room."

He eyed her. "The servants are not yet awake, so you should be able to make a clean escape."

She gaped at him. "What?"

"You heard me right, Dogara. Leave here at once."

She was shocked. "But...but..."

"But nothing. You have only twenty minutes before the Fae shows up, so I suggest you use your time wisely," he said, walking away from her.

"Zikur..."

"The clock is ticking, Dogara. Get out."