With the mood calm after the harmless jesting, Bryce, Skylar, Zaid, Tyler, and their advisors played a game of poker at the table. Eleanor and Tori observed them, while Sheila's eyes never strayed from the garden.
As Zaid tossed in another token on the table, he reminded Skylar across from him, "Don't forget to put a siren on Victoria before we use Betsy to attack her."
"I'll do that after she's released from the hospital," Skylar replied as another vampire played his hand.
Diagonally sitting from Skylar, Tyler interjected as if asking a million questions, "Are you out of your mind? You can't use your siren on Victoria just yet! That's breaking the Vampire Covenant's laws about killing Victoria before her votes. Unless your Coven is going to war with the Collins now?"
"Chill out!" Skylar carelessly chuckled to his overly exaggerated friend. "It's only in case Victoria wins her votes."
"Zaid is ahead of the game," Tori added, leaning her head against Bryce's shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her.
Just as a minion popped in after knocking, Tyler remarked in a mere mumble, "You all seem to be acting recklessly."
"Master, the cow has arrived," the minion informed Zaid.
Without turning to look at the minion behind his chair, Zaid instructed, "Good, give it to Betsy."
Before doing as he was told, the minion bowed his head and then he left to carry out the order.
"You bought a live cow!" Tyler exclaimed, thinking his friend was nuts.
"Betsy needs to eat," Zaid casually remarked, rendering Tyler speechless for a moment.
"The name Betsy seems more fitting for the cow," Tyler merely muttered as he picked up another card.
"Oh, I have to see this!" Tori cheerfully chimed in. "I love watching Betsy kill. Come watch with me," she excitedly insisted, nudging Eleanor's sleeve.
"Fine," Eleanor tiredly sighed as she stood. "Are you coming, Sheila?" she asked while crossing by the desk.
"No, I have something to do," Sheila quietly replied, keeping her eyes on the garden.
"Suit yourself," Tori responded with a smile before leaving with Eleanor.
As soon as Sheila veered towards the door, Tyler's sideways glance peeked at her, and he noticed that her mood hadn't changed. Still, she remained distant and cold towards him. Ever since the meeting ended, she had avoided his gaze like the plague.
Once she left, he announced, "I fold," placing his cards on the table.
As he got up, his friends faintly smirked at him.
"Good luck!" Bryce chuckled.
Everyone knew he was chasing after Sheila. Without a response, Tyler flew out the door, lightly closing it behind him.
Down the corridor, he found Sheila folding blue baby blankets over the couch in another room. Although he found it odd that she was folding blankets when Zaid had plenty of female minions to keep the mansion tidy, he had a hunch she was cleaning out of frustration. Every blanket she folded, he noticed, was blue, which the mothers had left behind for later use. Yet, Tyler also noticed she didn't touch any of the pink baby blankets, which foreshadowed a darker memory that had disturbed her mind.
"Are you going to talk to me?" Tyler asked smoothly, tucking his hands into his front pockets.
In a rather dull voice, Sheila responded while folding another blue baby blanket, "I have nothing to say to you."
With a loud sigh, Tyler approached her, gently grasping the blanket from her hands as Sheila turned away, looking towards the glass window. After draping the blanket over the couch, his height cast a shadow over Sheila's slightly shorter figure. Her eyes remained anchored on the window as Tyler gently moved her long, twilight-navy black hair over the opposite side of her right shoulder.
"I know you're upset with me," Tyler whispered into her left ear, and she sighed heavily, feeling his breath tickling her skin. Unfortunately, he affected her in a way that could not be denied in her heart.
Delicate kisses pecked her exposed shoulder, making her gasp with some pleasure, though there was a hint of annoyance in her breath.
"You need to stop," Sheila retorted, rolling her shoulder out of his reach.
Tyler smirked as she moved toward the wall and started placing baby toys in a basket to get away from him. To avoid her nastier temper, Tyler approached her again with some caution.
While she bent over to grab another baby toy, he muttered, "I know you're upset about your son."
"I am not upset about him!" Sheila snapped, harshly throwing the soft blue baby rattle into the basket.
In a huff, she faced the wall, holding back the unshed tears burning in her eyes. She breathed in, feeling Tyler's warmth encircling her figure. Her body stilled as his hands gently gathered her hair and swept the strands over her left shoulder.
"You don't have to lie to me," his breath tickled against her earlobe.
Weakened by his touch on her waist, Sheila trembled as he kissed along the side of her neck. Amid the tender touch of each kiss, the barrier she had perfected to shield herself from the pain tucked inside her heart began to shatter into fine pieces of glass.
Far too many times, she's regrettably shared Tyler's bed. By doing this, he untangled her deepest fears, secrets, and desires, which became a grave mistake on her part, especially considering he was an Alpha. A very dangerous and ruthless Alpha, at that.
Intimacy became the key to unlocking Pandora's box within her heart, so Tyler knew every sensitive spot and tickle that drove her insane. Out of all the enemies she's conquered, he was her greatest weakness: the sole ex-lover she could not shut out from knowing the haunting thoughts that plagued her mind.
"I... I don't want to talk about it... Mhmm..." Sheila breathed in a raspy breath as Tyler sucked on her earlobe.
She suddenly found herself swimming in a wave of pleasure that sent a trail of goosebumps up the curve of her spine.
Somehow, between the blissful tension stirring within her, she swallowed another breath and closed her eyes as Tyler's lips ravaged her neck with soft nips and nibbles along it. Although her body basked in his affection, his kisses did nothing to block the painful memories from flooding her mind.
Years back, in the ancient ages, she adopted an infant boy whose father abandoned him to drown in a river. Unable to bear offspring, she adopted the baby and claimed she would only raise him as a warrior and nothing more. At least, that's what she told everyone. But those closest to her, like Tyler, knew better than to believe what she claimed.
~~~
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