Chapter 17

**Nerissa POV**


It has been a few days now since Emily and I came to stay in the Underworld thanks to Warit. I have been in a state of shock ever since I met Allister and found out he was my second mate.
At first, Allister was reluctant to help us find my aunt, but at the end of our first dinner here, he agreed and I cannot say that I wasn’t surprised to hear that. I was grateful for any assistance if it would help us find our families sooner.
Every day that we stayed here, Allister was polite to us and attentive, but he was also distant and hard to read at times. It surprised me the first time I saw Warit tease Allister when we were all together at the table, especially since I saw how closed up Allister has been. I’ve noticed how his subjects feared him but also treated him with respect. No one dared to speak to him the way Warit does.

***
***Flashback***
We were walking outdoors as Allister showed us his land when we came across a little pond, but it wasn’t just a pond like Allister said, it was a well that connects his land with the outer-world, a passage of some kind.
Warit, being the goofball he was, ran towards the water well and took some in his palms, giving us a big, teasing grin.
“Warit! Don’t you dare!” Allister warned him, noticing Warit’s intentions. He giggled in answer to Allister’s warning. “I am warning you!'' As soon as Allister said the words, Warit ran towards him and splashed the water on him, soaking Allister’s shirt and face, rendering him speechless for a moment until his eyes turned into slits, focused solely on Warit.
“Uh-oh!” Warit said sounding amused when a growl came from Allister, whose hand had started to glow with his power, and I could see a small, ball-shaped fire appear in his palm. “Now… Now, cousin, play nice,” Warit told him, making Allister smirk as a small fireball followed after Warit, who screamed as he ran around the well. Warit jumped into the water and splashed it out from all sides making us all laugh at his silliness.
My eyes caught with Allister’s, making my heart race in my chest. It stunned me seeing him smile for the first time, he appeared much younger and more relaxed. He looked very attractive when he was like this.
As soon as his second-in-command, I found out later his name is Caleb, came and asked to speak with Allister in private, I noticed how his attitude changed from being relaxed a moment ago, to that of a now closed-off King. Warit, a kind, and sweet demon, continued to show Emily and I around while Allister tended to his kingdom. He introduced us to his people and friends. It didn’t surprise me that Warit was loved by so many. It was truly sweet to see him help the ones who needed a hand; he even played catch with some of the children. I missed such carefree freedom.
As soon as we got back to the castle, I couldn’t help but notice a few nasty glares that some of the females gave me, making me wonder why. Warit noticed my confusion as I looked at those females. He whispered into my ear, “They are jealous of you.”
I looked at him and raised my eyebrow. “Why would they be jealous of me?”
“Because you, milady, are with the most desirable male in this world,” he answered, winking at me.
A snort sounded behind our backs, making me jump slightly. We turned around and found ourselves face to face with Allister.
“Well, you dashing male, your mother is calling for you. I believe she said your Spiderman pajamas just came to her house as ordered,” Allister said, his face void of any emotion. His voice sounded normal, but I could see a little twinkle in his eyes that he had been trying not to show. Warit flushed red from embarrassment.
Allister looked over at me, silent for a moment. Caleb stepped up from behind him and spoke, “We should get going before we lose them, my Lord.”
Allister was silent for a second longer before he nodded his head, and they walked past us.
Warit scratched the back of his neck. “About that… I just like Marvel, that's all.”
Hearing Warit say that, for the first time in a long time, Emily and I laughed genuinely. We all retreated to our rooms after that, and I couldn’t stop wondering where Allister was going.

***Flashback over***
***

Warit called Emily and I to join him for a picnic and some fun. So I was in my room, getting ready to meet them outside. Since we arrived here, Allister and Warit have provided us with everything we needed, not only giving us shelter and food in our bellies but also clothes.
It was really generous of them and it was funny to see Warit act so shy when Emily kissed his cheek as a thank you for all his help.
I don’t recognize myself as I take one last look at myself in the mirror. I stood there in a summer dress with flower patterns on it, and not the gray, pale one I had been forced to wear for months over the last year.
I opened the door to my room and walked into the hallway, closing it softly behind me. I started to walk, passing by another room. I had no idea who was in there, but I could hear noises coming from inside, which made me slow my steps, curious to know what the commotion was about. Suddenly, the door opened, startling me, revealing a tall, red-headed female, who wore nothing but a robe. The sides were open, revealing a pair of red, lacy underwear. She closed it abruptly, covering herself, and glared at me with piercing green eyes that were burning with fire.
She took a step towards me, hitting her shoulder with mine as she passed me, and I heard her murmur under her breath, “Bitch.”
My eyes followed her retreating form, surprised when suddenly, I turned my head back towards the room I now stood next to. The doors were still open, and I noticed a tall, dark, male figure standing in the doorway, looking out into the hallway.
My eyes slowly moved from his tall legs, over his chest, and up to his face as they locked with two striking, ocean blue eyes that looked surprised as they stared into my own. My breath hitched and my eyes widened, noticing Allister standing in the doorway, silently looking down at me.
The realization finally came to me that the female had been in his room, naked. Looking at him, I noticed his hair was messy and his pants were low on his hips. There was no shirt covering his chest, giving me an unobstructed view of his upper body.
I couldn’t even ogle or admire his strong, chiseled abs or biceps as they moved slightly, his hands clenching into fists. The feeling of betrayal and jealousy rushed quickly through my body, making me want to go find the female and make her understand that he was off-limits.
He raised an eyebrow before rolling his eyes. “Oh stop that, woman… it is not what you’re thinking.”
Shocked by his words, and before I could even answer back, Allister closed the door. He left me standing there like a speechless fool as I looked in surprise at the now closed door. Uff that idiot! I thought to myself as anger boiled inside of me.
Turning away from his room, I rushed from there like hounds of hell were chasing me. I decided that I would not speak to him ever again. I was mad at myself that I even cared enough to let myself feel like I just did.
I learned my lesson once, how I could be so stupid and let myself feel again when both of my mates were the same.
I decided then to tell Emily that we were leaving, that the two of us would manage to find my aunt ourselves rather than have that self-centered, narcissistic idiot help us with our task. We had managed this whole time without him, we could manage some more.
Marching outside the castle, I saw Warit waiting for me, alongside Emily. The moment they saw me, they raised their eyebrows, likely seeing that I was in a sour mood.
“What happened?” Emily asked me.
“Nothing, I don’t want to talk about it,” I told her as I looked away.
Warit was silent for a moment, which was unusual for him, but after a moment he asked me a question that surprised me. “Does your change of mood have to do something with Allister?”
“He is an obnoxious jerk, and I do not wish to speak about him anymore,” I snapped, not being able to control my temper at the mere mention of his name.
Warit chuckled as he pointed to the front entrance of the castle. “You don’t need to speak about him since he is joining us.” My eyes widened at Warit’s words.
Abruptly, I turned around and saw Mr. ‘It’s not what it looks like’ standing on the porch, smirking down at me when he noticed me looking in his direction.
I frowned at him and turned my head so he couldn’t see how frustrated he made me. The sound of footsteps reached my ears as he slowly approached us.
“Finally, I thought that we would need a search party to find you,” Warit teased Allister.
I couldn’t help the snort that escaped my lips as I said under my breath, “He was too busy with the ‘oh nothing happened half-naked tramp.”
“Did you say something, my Queen?”
I looked up at him then, a sneer gracing my lips as I saw Allister arching a brow, looking at me with an amused expression on his face. “I am not your Queen, and even if I had said something or wanted to, you, Mr. ‘I know it all’, would just speak instead of me.”
Warit mumbled as he leaned closer to Emily, but I heard his words anyways. “We should have brought some popcorn.”
Allister snorted at my answer. “Does it bother you, my Queen?”
“You wish!” I retorted, turning my back on him and marching forward, hearing his chuckle follow after me. Warit rushed ahead to lead the way as we all walked, following the dirt path that led us into a field of lilies. There were white lilies combined with other wildflowers all around the meadow. Warit and Allister placed a blanket on the grass and prepared everything for a surprise picnic.
“Everything is ready, ladies,” Warit called to grab our attention. We were admiring the view as the smell of the flowers surrounded us.
Emily took a seat next to Warit, leaving me to sit in between her and Mr. ‘I know it all’. Seeing my hesitation as I frowned slightly, I noticed a smirk appear on his face, making me wish I could wipe it off of his face.
“Is there something wrong, my Queen?” he asked, amused and trying to hide the teasing in his voice but I could still hear it. I sat down and scooted as close as I could to Emily, ignoring Allister’s presence. Warit entertained us as he shared the story of this meadow and how he discovered it for the first time, but I couldn’t focus on him nor his story, not when Allister rested his long legs, sprawled out and touching my side.
Every time his leg would accidentally touch me, I would swat it away. He pretended as if he wasn’t doing it on purpose, but I knew he was trying to get my attention, and I was hell-bent not to give him any.
“Warit, why don’t you show Emily the Red lake?” Allister asked Warit, a hint of a demand in his tone.
Warit looked at him for a moment, confused, but smiled as he turned to Emily. “Would you love for me to show you the Red lake side?” She smiled and nodded her head.
I panicked as I looked over into Allister’s smug face, who was too happy for his own good. I stood up quickly and said to Warit, “I would love to see it too.”
Warit’s eyes went from me to Allister, who was silently observing me, sipping his drink, as if waiting patiently. “It is hard to reach and if Allister isn’t coming, it would be extremely hard for me to hold you both or maybe even carry you if needed.”
I looked back over at Allister who flashed me a wide grin. “If you want to go that badly, then I guess I will have to be the one to carry you, or is it that you are afraid to stay alone with me for a while?” His eyes held mischief and a challenge in them which made me huff and sit back down.
Emily and Warit left, only after promising that they wouldn’t be long, leaving me completely alone with this devil. He popped some grapes in his mouth while he silently observed me. I looked away, everywhere but at him, not wanting to give myself the chance to do something ridiculous like kiss him.
“You really are annoyed with me, aren’t you?” He chuckled as he asked the question.
I snapped my head in his direction and narrowed my eyes. “That would mean that I care and I don’t. All I want is to find my aunt which you promised us to help with, and yet all we are doing is wasting our precious time when she could be Goddess knows where.”
I heard him exhale as he massaged his temples for a second. “Nerissa, just because we are not wandering outside these lands in search of her, it doesn’t mean that I am not looking for her,” Allister said slowly, looking me in the eyes.
My eyes narrowed as I responded, “I could clearly see how busy you were searching for my aunt. I guess you thought that the woman I saw recently in your room was her, hm?”
Anger coursed through me as he silently watched me for a moment longer. Just as I thought there was nothing he could do or say to me, he surprised me. He laughed so loudly that I was left speechless and shocked as I just looked over at him. As his laughter slowly ceased, he let out a chuckle. “You are jealous.”
A gasp escaped my lips upon hearing his accusation. “How dare you!”
“Damn, you’re so hotheaded it’s so easy to tease you and so fun too,”
he told me as he moved closer, his face inching towards mine, making me lick my lips nervously as my heart started to race. “I told you, don’t jump so fast to conclusions, now didn’t I, my Queen?” He spoke so close to me that I could feel his breath as it tickled my lips.
I tried to clear my head in order to speak. “I-I… did not.”
He smirked at me as he peered down at my lips, which surely made my cheeks flush red. “Yes, you did, little tiger.” My mind was clouded, and I could smell his intoxicating scent wrapped all around me, it made me wish I could just let go and jump into his arms.
Blinking my eyes, I managed to ask, “S-so what if I was?”
He leaned closer, making me lean back a little as he spoke. “I told you nothing happened, and you should trust me, but I won’t deny that it is not amusing to see you squirm and act feisty when you are jealous.” His heated gaze fell down to my lips, making me hold my breath as the tension between us grew intense, but then he pulled away suddenly, giving me a sexy smirk and wink.
Anger rushed through me as I pressed my palms on his rock-hard pecs, trying to push him away from me only for him to wrap his arm around me and pull me closer as I lost my balance and fell down onto the blanket.
My eyes grew wide as my breath hitched. I didn’t dare move a muscle as his body pressed against mine, covering my entire being with his.
“Get off of me, you twat!” I yelled at him only to get a chuckle as a response.
“You are one feisty, little tiger,” he said as he lowered his lips closer to my ear.
“Yes, and I don’t just talk, I can bite too, so you better get off of me,” I told him, annoyed yet turned on by his advances.
A gasp escaped my lips when I felt his teeth graze the skin of my neck. He startled me when I felt his teeth bite me gently.
Pulling his head away from my neck, he looked into my wide eyes and said, “Don’t tease me, little tiger, or I will bite you back, but it seems you might even enjoy that now, wouldn’t you?”
“I… you…” I tried to speak but was too far gone by his proximity and actions. He chuckled but finally pulled away before he grabbed my hand and helped me up.
I felt embarrassed that I could not gather my thoughts, but thankfully he broke the silence. “Nerissa…” he started, taking a deep breath, “You have no reason to be jealous. I promise you nothing happened and if it did, you would have known.” I looked at him but stayed silent while he continued. “If I was cheating then wouldn’t you feel the pain of my betrayal?” A small smile appeared on his lips, making me realize that he was right. I completely forgot about that. The mate bond is a powerful tool. And Alexander was right. Thanks to our bond, I could feel if he had cheated on me or not. The pain of betrayal would feel like no other, at least that’s what I was told when I was young, and we were learning about the bond and mates and mating. The connection would be much stronger as we would not only feel the emotions of our other half but at the same time, hear their thoughts and be able to mind link with each other.
I didn’t think that my cheeks could get redder than they already were, but I was wrong. I wished that the Earth would open up and swallow me whole.
He chuckled like he could read my mind and said, “I know I made a promise, and I do intend to keep it. When I say that I am searching, I mean that. Nerissa. I have sent out some of my men to look for your aunt and find some clues. I am not risking going out and putting you in any kind of danger. After all, you are, first and foremost, my mate and my Queen. Your safety matters to me, so please, trust me.”
I looked him in the eye and noticed that he had let his guard down for the first time. He was letting me see how honest he was and how much truth was in his every word. It touched my heart that he of all the people would do that for me, so I decided I would give him a chance. I smiled and replied, “Okay, I will.”