Chapter 10

VALERIA'S POINT OF VIEW

Aspro and I sat on my bed as he cleaned up the wounds Zariya had inflicted on me. I was too upset to even look at him or speak a word. A crazed spirit demanded I had a child with him or she'd kill the ones I held dear. What was it with people and wanting to hurt my family?

"Won't you talk to me?" Aspro lifted my chin so that I looked at him. "Hmm?"

"I don't want to." I stood up and stalked to the wall. "Please let me be."

"Valeria, I promise I did not know she came back for such a reason. If I had known-"

"Nothing would have changed." I cut him off. "Don't you see? She's going to hurt my family if I don't do what she wants. If I don't have a child with you like she wants me to, who knows who she is going to go after first? Maya? Or maybe Melody, because it'll be killing two birds with one knife."

"We'll find a way around this." He walked to me. "In the meantime, I'll talk to Mavros."

I met his eyes. "Why? What's he going to do?"

"If there's anyone aside from me and the elder gods who can give Zariya a run, it's him. I know he'll be more than happy to help."

"Fine." I said, agreeing with his plan. "What are you going to do with her?"

"I'm still trying to figure it out."

"You're going to have to figure it out fast." I turned away from him. "I'm not about to lose my life and leave behind everything I've worked for." I checked the wounds I had received from my crazy past self. "Thanks for the help. We'll talk about this after I'm done working out my confusion and anger."

"Sure."

I left the room and headed for the gym. When I received a call earlier, I was told an Alpha with news about Zariya wanted to see me. I rushed down here only to find the woman waiting in the living room. She had chased me up to my room, where her madness began. The strangest thing was, she actually resembled me. An exact replica, expect she had weird-looking skin. Mavros was right when he said she was a good fighter. She could definitely put me on my ass if I wasn't careful.

I entered the gym and shut the door. Only members of my household used this one, so there was no one here. Everyone was at the hospital, waiting for Logan to wake up. I started with stretching and then proceeded to jogging around. Father said it was good to warm up before getting into the major business. After I was done, I ran the treadmill for minutes, but I didn't feel any better. I couldn't get Zariya off my mind. Who would she hurt next just to get me to do what she wanted?

"You boring woman."

I almost fell when I heard Mavros' voice.

"What are you doing here? I thought I was a bore." I didn't spare him a glance as I continued to run. "Or have you changed your mind about me?"

"Oh, no, darling. I haven't. I still think you are a bore."

"Lovely." I was sarcastic.

"I came here because my brother asked me to keep a watchful eye on you and your family."

"And you agreed?"

"Well, duh. I'd hate for you to die."

He couldn't be serious.

"Why not?"

"You've rubbed off on me, Val." He got on the other treadmill. "Besides, I have other plans."

"Plans like wha-" I stopped mid-sentence when I saw he was bare chested. Wow. Just wow.

The corner of his lips curled into a smirk. Arrogant god.

"You've got a little spit on there," he teased. "Wipe it."

"You're arrogant."

He laughed. "Who wouldn't be with a body like this?"

True.

We ran for minutes without speaking a word to each other. It was a comfortable silence. When my lungs started to burn, I gave it a rest and just laid on the floor. That woman was still not off my mind. She was messing with my head.

"You've been distracted." He pointed out, coming to sit beside me. "What's wrong?"

I faced him, still on my back. "Did your brother tell you why he wanted you to come here?"

He nodded. "Because Zariya is after your family and he doesn't know what she'll do."

"Did he also tell you she was here, and that she attacked me?"

He shook his head. "That explains the bruises."

I sighed. "Zariya told me the reason she's after me."

"Which is?"

"You really don't know?"

"Would I ask if I knew?"

I pressed my lips. "Apparently, she and Aspro were going to have kids before they split her. She said she was fine with her punishment until she found out they had reincarnated her. That psycho is after me and my family because she wants Aspro and me to do what we had failed to do in the past. She wants us to have children."

"What?"

"I was surprised, too."

Mavros blinked, clearly annoyed, and a bit surprised. "Aspro didn't mention such a thing to me."

"Well, I have." I sat up. "I'm confused."

"You shouldn't be."

"And your reason is?"

"You won't be having a child with my brother. Never. I won't allow it. She's crazy." His eyes darkened. It reminded me of the look in Layton's eyes as he killed my brother. "That woman has to return to where she belongs. I can't have her ruin my plans."

What?

"Plans? You have plans?"

"Don't worry about it."

He stood up and left the gym without telling me where he was going to or what he was going to do. I followed behind him immediately, not at all bothered that I was hot and sweaty. This was the part I hated the most about exercising. The sweat and awful stench.

"Mavros?" I struggled to catch up with him as he took big strides. "Mavros."

He halted, and I almost ran into him. "What is it?"

I walked around him so that I could stand in front of him. "Where are you going to?"

He stared at me for the longest moment before speaking. "I'm upset, V."

"Okay?" I didn't know what to say.

"I'd like to distract myself from the anger before I do something dumb."

"I'm also upset." I admitted. "Zariya has ruined my entire day."

"Would you like to come with me?" he asked.

"To where?"

He only smiled. "Go up and shower. Wear something nice." He bent slightly. "Something sexy."

"I'm going to assume we're going to a nightclub since it's quite dark out."

"You're smart." He went behind me and pushed me lightly. "Come on. Go shower. When you're done, just say my name."

"Alright."

I jogged up the stairs and when I got to the top; I turned around. He wasn't there. Oh, well. I went into my room, showered and got into my clothes. I wore a cutout studded tassel design denim pants and a black plunge long sleeve body suit with a pair of black splicing bandage peep-toe high-heeled sandals. For my makeup, I did a thick line of eyeliner on my upper and lower lid and dabbed my cheeks with a rosy color to make me look livelier. My lips were an orange-red, giving me a classic look. When I was satisfied with how I looked, I felt a little of my anger and frustration evaporate.

I was ready to go. I didn't feel the need to carry a purse or anything. It would only be a bother. Carrying my phone would also be a distraction because I wouldn't get to have the break0 I needed to keep my mental health intact. I sucked in a deep breath when I felt myself get nervous. This was kind of like a date. Was it the same for him? Definitely not.

"When you're done, just say my name."

"Mavros." I whispered. "Mavros."

He appeared in front of me suddenly, almost causing me to fall when I stumbled on the heels, but he caught me before I could hit the floor. It was like a scene right out of a movie.

"You scare easily." He said, pulling me up. With his hands still around my waist, he said. "You look stunning."

"You," I swallowed, trying to calm the strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. "You look stunning too."

He stepped back to allow me to admire his arrogant self. His hair looked like the way it was from the night of the ball. Curly and wet-looking. He wore a white shirt and black leather jacket with black jeans that were ripped at the knees. He completed the look with black sneakers. This man or god was breath-taking.

"I try." He winked and held out his hand for me. "Come on. Let's go."

I placed my hand in his and let him guide me down the stairs. When we got to the living room, I turned to him. "We're taking my car."

He shrugged. "I'm not complaining."

<<<>>>

Loud music blasted through speakers as Mavros and I weaved our way through the crowd of almost naked females and tipsy men with our hands linked. The dull lights would have made it almost impossible to see the faces of the people around, but my kind of sight made it easy. I could see thick makeup, smell alcohol and cigarette roll off of them in waves. It was good for me, in a way. It made me forget about my problems.

When I lifted my eyes, I saw strippers gyrate to music on a low stage. Men whistled and raised their glasses in the air at them. I tore my gaze from them when I heard a man speak.

"Ah, Kris." A bartender held his hand out for Mavros when he saw us.

Kris? I perched on a stool and watched both men interact.

"Julio, my man." Mavros shook his hand. "How have you been?"

He could talk like that?

"Been stressed." He laughed as his eyes darted to me. "Who's the chick? She's hot."

"The chick," he rested his hand on my thigh, "Is my girlfriend."

He did not just call me his girlfriend.

"You do girlfriends?" Julio shook his head in disbelief and turned to me. "Miss, I don't know what you did to him but keep doing it."

I didn't know what to respond to his statement, so I said nothing.

"Julio, please." When I felt his hand go up and down on my thigh, my breath hitched in my throat. "V, what would you like to drink?"

"Gimlet, please." I responded, lowering my eyes to where his hand was.

Julio nodded. "Kris, the usual?"

Mavros shook his head. "I'll have something different today. Manhattan. I'll have that one."

"Alrighty." He began to prepare our drinks.

"Hey," Mavros touched my chin. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I answered. "I'm just surprised you could talk like you did."

He smiled. "I learned since I fell in love with this place."

Before I could stop myself, I found myself asking a question that would only make me appear jealous. "How many women have you come here with?"

He removed his hand from my thigh. Why'd he do that?

"Are you jelly?" he failed to hide the amusement in his voice. "Are you?"

"No, I am not." Maybe a little. "Just curious."

"Okay." His hand returned to my thigh. "I've been here quite a few times and I met some ladies here. They were really cool." He said, probably reminiscing about the good times. "There's one I can't seem to forget, though. Her name is Luna. She's tall, beautiful, has light brown hair that I can run my hand through all day long. Don't get me started on her body. It should be a wonder of the world."

I don't know why, but what he said worked me up more than it should.

"Dude," Julio slid our drinks to us. "You shouldn't be telling such a thing to your girl. You really are clueless when it comes to relationships."

Mavros didn't seem bothered by what he said. I wasn't his girlfriend, after all. Why should he care about my feelings? I mean, I left my kingdom to come out here with him and all he could talk about was some Luna girl.

He shrugged and took a sip of his drink. "She asked a question and I answered. I don't see how that's a bad thing."

"Excuse me." I got up from the stool and headed for the exit.

I expected him to come after me or apologize. Any gesture would have meant something, yet he didn't. Even after I got home, I changed and waited for him until I got tired. I didn't know who Luna was, but Mavros just made me want to see just who she was. How perfect was she? Damn, I hated all these thoughts.

When I gave up and decided to sleep, Mavros walked into my room. He stood at the entrance for the longest time, just staring at me.

"Are you coming in or what?" I asked, irritated.

I saw his shoulders visibly slump. "Why did you leave?"

"I wanted to."

He entered the room and shut the door behind him. "V, I'm not stupid. I know it's because of what I said about Luna."

I said nothing.

"I understand you're upset, but I don't get why you'd get upset over someone you don't even know."

Still refused to respond.

"Won't you say something?" he questioned.

I was about to respond when Melody's voice echoed in my head.

"Come to the hospital now. Logan is awake. He is acting weird, and it's getting difficult to contain him."

I got out of my bed and put on my slippers before heading for the door. "I've got to go. Something important came up."

I didn't let him reply because I left the room. Logan was more important to me than the issue with Mavros. Family comes first.

Always.