The Crown's Entrapment

Aurelia sighed as she looked out the window of the carriage taking them to their new home in the Midnight Pack Territories. With Calypso seated in front of her, they made slow progress as her belongings made it hard for her to justify just telling her mate to transform and take them to their destination in half the time it would take for them to do it by carriage. And besides, rushing things now would most certainly make some of the more delicate glassware she was bringing with her snap in half before she could even scream at the people handling them.

Really, she had no trust that her more sensitive belongings would survive without her guidance. No matter how much Calypso or the servants told her that they'd be careful, she was sure that something would break the moment she took her eyes off them.

"You know that my men will do their best to be careful with your belongings, right?" Calypso joked as he watched her look over the other carriage traveling next to theirs. "Really, you don't have to stress yourself over this."

"Who says I'm stressing over this?" Aurelia scoffed. "I'm just making sure that nothing goes out of place in regards to my belongings. I have my whole workshop setup riding inside that thing, and I refuse to let even a single beaker go out of place."

After all, she refused to go and buy replacements for things that would undoubtedly take more than a week to commission. The glass implements she had alone would take almost two weeks for skilled glassmakers to create exactly to her specifications. And the costs alone would be astronomical if not for her own generous salary that befitted her position as a healer.

"Lia, calm down."

"I am calm," she snapped back. "Don't tell me I'm not calm."

[You do know he can literally read your emotions now, right?] her wolf reminded her.

Aurelia huffed at the reminder. Thankfully, she had her wits on her when she woke up again that morning. She remembered that having a Bond meant that her mate would be able to read her mind, meaning that she had no privacy over her own thoughts at the moment, which only made her even more irate than usual.

[You're stressing out really bad,] her wolf scoffed.

[As if you're not stressed yourself,] Aurelia scoffed back. [You're my other half. Surely the thought of your privacy being invaded chills you to no end.]

[I at least know that the Bond you two have is still incomplete,] her wolf rebutted. [Calypso won't be able to hear our thoughts yet, but he can still feel your emotions which, I must admit, is already kind of scary.]

Aurelia rolled her eyes at her wolf. [At least we're in agreement.]

Looking back at her mate, she could tell that the man was up to something as he leaned in and placed a hand over hers. His palm was warm on the back of her hand, his fingers almost brushing against her leg as he stared at her.

"Come on. Take a deep breath," Calypso reassured her with his annoyingly-soothing voice. "Nothing's going to go wrong."

"I'll only think that once we've reached our destination and have seen to all of my belongings myself," she nonchalantly replied, doing her best to remain unaffected even as the warmth from his touch made a tingle run down her back. "Do know that the contents of that carriage can cost a year's worth of wages if it's ever destroyed."

"You know that's something we can easily replace now," Calypso chuckled, his touch getting warmer somehow as he leaned closer to her. "I can easily get them replaced. Just say the word and I'll even have spares ready for you."

Aurelia fought the urge to blush as Calypso's face hovered almost just a few inches away from her. She did her best to keep her breathing steady, her heart hammering inside her chest even as her expression refused to change to his whims. She knew that he knew exactly what he was doing, and she refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her being affected by his actions.

"I'll keep that in mind then," she offhandedly scoffed, turning her gaze away from his deep eyes in exchange for observing her belongings. "Perhaps I'll empty your coffers yet with a few custom commissions."

She gritted her teeth as she stole a glance at her mate's expression. Already, she could tell that he was pleased with her response even though she was being as cold as she was to him back when they first met. Truly, he was reading her emotions like an open book no matter how hard she tried to suppress them.

[There's no use trying, isn't there,] Aurelia inwardly grumbled.

[Unless you completed the Mate Bond then we can at least activate a wall against him,] her wolf calculatingly replied. [Not that we should be seeing as he's our mate, but a bit of privacy wouldn't hurt.]

Aurelia didn't know how to proceed from there. Sure, the fact that the man had been constantly touching and pampering her ever since they became a thing didn't help the burning feeling within her, but she was the kind of woman that would like to keep her cards close to her chest. Even to her closest confidants, she never divulged every thought she had in her mind, and she was pretty sure she could say the same for her mate.

"You know I'll do anything for you," Calypso almost whispered to her, his smooth voice echoing within the carriage. "If anything that belongs to you won't survive the journey, I'll be the first to scold the man in charge of moving your stuff."

"I won't doubt it for a second," she scoffed as she rolled her eyes at him.

Aurelia couldn't help the faint blush that formed on her face the moment she turned away from him once more. Somehow, even those few words of his made her heart skip a beat. Truly, this was becoming a problem.

[Is it really though?] her wolf asked. [Also, you're still planning on keeping me a secret from him, yes?]

[You know me well enough to know my answer,] Aurelia replied. [I refuse to let this man toy with me so easily. Even if he is my mate.]

Already, she could tell that this was the start of yet another phase of her battle against Calypso's advances. She wasn't going to make it too easy on him too. Not by a long shot.