hapter 12
CARINA
My eyes widened as I felt his hot, minty breath against my skin.
“Umm..no,” I said. “I was just Mmh. I was
What was I doing?
“You were?” he asked, a small smirk playing on his lips.
“Nothing,” I quickly said, avoiding his gaze before acting to stand up. However, before I could even move an inch, he held onto my wrist, locking me in place.
My breath hitched as I looked at his teasing face. Then, I pursed my lips. It seemed like he was enjoying teasing me these days.
“Falco,” I said, trying to take my hand from his grip.
“What?” he asked. “Answer my question.”
I clicked my tongue and decided to be honest. “I was just observing your face,” I said. “You look pretty tired, but as you slept, you looked peaceful. I missed seeing you like that,” I muttered the last statement, hoping he wouldn’t hear it.
“So, if you want,” I continued. “You can take the bed. I’m fine here. Your couch is probably softer than the bed I have back in
“So, you weren’t leaning in to kiss me?” he asked, acting like he didn’t listen to my previous statements.
“Do you feel awkward?” he suddenly asked.
“Falco,” I said, feeling confused where the conversation was heading.
“We can’t let that happen,” he said.
I tilted my head to the side. “What do you mean?”
“We’re going to be visiting the council tomorrow to get the necessary permits for our wedding. We are going to be interviewed, and I’m sure they’d test our relationship, too.”
“They do that now?” I muttered.
“Hmm,” he said, nodding.
At this point, he was still holding onto my wrist, but we were too lost in the conversation to notice it.
“Like I said before, there has been a lot of instances of divorces among werewolf couples. The council does this to ensure that each marriage would actually last.”
“I see,” I muttered.
“So, we can’t appear awkward in front of them. Otherwise, the marriage might get delayed, and consequently, the Luna coronation would also be postponed.”
“Got it,” I said, feeling determined.
“I think you’re actually heading in the right direction,” he said, causing my eyes to widen when he suddenly leaned in.
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11:40 Mon, & Mar
Chapter 12
“Wait, Falco
I closed my eyes since his face was centimeters away before I condid even process what he was doing, 1 packeted my lips in case he really decided to kiss me.
However, I felt his warm lipe against my cheek instead.
1 continued to close my eyes as his lips lingered there. I didn’t know how many seconds it lasted, but it definitely wasn’t
brief
I felt like I couldn’t breathe through it all. However, I was also comforted. The slight tingle in the area where our bodies touched made me feel safe.
Then, before I could savor it even more, he moved away and let go of my wrist, making me feel cold once again.
“There,” he said, going back to his position and closing his eyes, acting as if he didn’t just kiss me.
“I think that would be enough for now. Let’s hope there are a lot of couples in the council tomorrow so they’d have no time for an in–depth interview,” he casually said.
Meanwhile, I still sat frozen on the floor, slowly reaching my hand to the part where he had kissed. I could still feel the ghost of his lips on my skin, causing my cheeks to redden.
“Falco,” I said, glancing behind me. “Please take the bed.”
He sighed. “Don’t argue with me more, Rina. Take the bed. I’m only respecting my mom’s decision to have the two of us stay in one room together.”
And just like that, I felt like a bucket of ice–cold water was poured all over my body. With that, I stood from the ground and walked to the bed, sitting on the edge of it.
Right.
He was doing this for the pack.
“I really shouldn’t stray too far from reality,” I whispered.
“Remember what I said,” Luna Selene said through the phone.
“The council is smart, and they can detect when a couple is faking their relationship,” she and Falco said at the same time, causing me to stifle a giggle.
Luna Selene had been worried all morning about our interview, and even when we were already on our way there, she continued to give us some advice.
“You’ve said it a million times, Mom,” Falco said. “We can handle it.”
“I’m just saying!” she exclaimed. “My friend’s son, who is head over heels for her girlfriend, wasn’t granted the permits!”
“That’s because they weren’t mates,” Falco sighed.
“Well, if you keep acting like you do with Rina, then-”
Falco turned off the phone before his mom could finish her statement. My eyes widened. “Can you do that?” I asked.
“I’ll deal with the consequences when we go back home,” he muttered, focusing on the road once more.
2/3
11:40 Mon, 3 Mar M
Chapter 12
+13)
I looked to the side to look at the blurry scenery. We were on our way to the council’s quarters. It was four hours away from our town, so Falco decided to drive there.
The ride had been silent for the most part, but I wished we had spent more time talking about the story we wanted to sell to the council.
I was already pretty nervous as it is since our relationship wasn’t real. It was a contract marriage.
“We’re here,” he grumbled, turning the engine off as we parked in front of a huge building that appeared to be worth a billion dollars.
There was no doubt–the council was rich.
I pursed my lips, placing my hand over my heart to calm it down, even for a little bit.
As we got out of the car, however, my heart raced even faster when a woman began to cry to who seemed to be her partner.
“Why are they so thorough these days?” she exclaimed. “We’ve loved each other for seven years, but they still don’t believe us! What do they want us to do? Fuck each other on the table?”
3/3
