Chapter 5

I asked Dax about that day.

Wasn't he afraid Mother might, in a fit of rage, just kill him?

Dax merely told me that if he couldn't protect his darling, he'd be living in shame. He'd rather die.

I pushed him onto the bed, urging him to call me "my darling" a few more times, but he refused. With a flick of his body, he turned back into a black wolf.

I found myself petting him even more freely...

After Dax's direct intervention for Delilah that day, her relationship with Finn had significantly improved.

Three months flew by.

Whispers circulated throughout Our Order that while the Second Daughter, Delilah, might be overbearing, she was incredibly generous to her Spirit Mate.

Countless Empowering Relics were piled upon Finn as if they cost nothing.

I jokingly asked Dax if he was envious.

Dax wrapped me in his arms, his grip firm and possessive. "Rowan, do you take me for a rich boy's simpleton son? Without a true Apex opportunity, all those Empowering Relics will just make that carp a pretty face with no substance."

I burst out laughing, wrapping my arms around him in return. "How do I know you're not just all talk and no bite?" I whispered teasingly.

Soon, I wasn't laughing anymore.

Dax was certainly living up to his wolfish nature, and my waist was definitely sore!

A few days later, my mother suddenly summoned me to her room.

This time, I carried a short dagger with me. Dax noticed it and nudged me with his large black head, accompanying me into the room.

Delilah was perched in my mother's lap, her eyes smiling as she watched me.