"I am busy," he said curtly.

"Oh!" her reply was laced with despair. "Actually, father has again called for another round of party – a formal one. He wants to announce that our wedding has been postponed."

"You don't need a party for announcing that," Daryn was so furious at her games.

"I know! I told him the same thing, but he insisted that he must announce so that the pure bloods don't get negative vibes about this alliance. Everything has to be politically correct, you see…" her voice trailed off. It was in fact Maya who wanted the party to announce it, so that every pure blood saw her depression and it would gain her sympathy. This would further create pressure on Daryn.

"I am not coming!" he replied in a clipped tone and disconnected the call. Running fingers through his hair, he got up from the bed and knocked on the bathroom door. "Open up Dawn."

"No!" she shouted back from inside. "Go back to your darling!" She had heard every conversation they had, thanks to her heightened sense of hearing. "Go back to the pure bloods who want you to be with her and who want to kill me!"

Shit! "You are being kiddish," he said leaning on the door.

There was no response. After a while, suddenly the door opened making Daryn stumble a little. Dawn peeped out. Her face was wet with water and red with fury. She brushed water from her face and said, "I am not the kid here. Go and make up with her. She called you darling. Her father wants to make her look like a victim!" And the door closed with a loud bang. She was so furious with Maya, with him and with the world in general.

Daryn leaned on the door again and shook his head. All his lovers were crazy about him. They did whatever he wanted them to. He dominated every aspect of his relationship with them. If he wanted to sleep in a different bedroom, they would comply. If he wanted certain food, they would go out of their way to learn cooking and make it for him. They loved to please him, suck up to him and hang on his arms at every given opportunity. One of them went crazier by stalking him everywhere. He took her to Europe. He was appalled by her unusual behavior in which she asked him to whip her if he liked to but let her stay next to him, he got a restraining order against her. And the worst case was when one of them wanted to get plastic surgery done so that she appeared perfect in his eyes.

And…

Here was Dawn who revolted at every step. Got angry easily. Didn't submit to him. She infuriated him. It was as if she wasn't afraid of leaving him. And he was in constant fear that she would drop him like a hot potato one day. But she was his mate. She wouldn't do that, right? He placed his hand on his chest to calm his heart that pounded so hard that it was trying its best to leap out of the ribcage. He loved her madly, crazily, hopelessly. He tried his best to stay away from her, but did he succeed even for a day? His life was messy without her. "Dawn…" he called her again with sadness. Still no response. So he kept leaning against the door with his head resting on it. "Don't be mad," he murmured hoping that she would listen through the splash of water.

She came out after a while wrapped in a fluffy peach towel. He watched her walk inside the bedroom as he stayed fixed on his spot looking like a puppy waiting for the next order. She turned to look at him, her lips were pressed in a thin line. She ambled to him and hugged him.

He was taken aback because he thought there would be more fight. Instantly, he wrapped his arms around her. Oh thank the wolf spirits! "Baby, please don't get angry with me," he lamented like a smitten lover.

"Is it wrong to want to kill Maya?" she murmured.

He cupped her cheeks in his hands and kissed her. Was she jealous? Yay! "You are crazy, you know?" he said with a shaky laughter. "And so stubborn."

She kissed him on his chest, on his tattoo. "Well, that is better, because the day I will become possessive about you, you would want to hide from me."

A smile flashed on his handsome face. "I will wait for that day." He couldn't even imagine the possibilities when she would claim him as his mate. His mind went to gutters.

"Okay, now get out of this room," she said and pushed him out. "I need to change plus if Cole wakes up, he would be scandalized."

Daryn pressed his lips hard. Was there no way to have her alone in the house? "That reminds me that why don't we change his school now that he lives in this area?"

"Hmm, maybe after he finishes this grade," she replied. She wasn't sure how long will all this last and she knew that Maya would give her a tough time ahead.

Daryn went up to his bedroom and wondered when he would get her in there. His bed seemed empty without her presence. He got ready quickly and as soon as he was about to go downstairs for breakfast, his phone buzzed again. He picked it up in one ring. "What is it Neal? It better be good. I am fed up with Maya's shenanigans."

"Brad has sent an invitation to all the pure bloods about a party on Sunday to announce the postponement of your wedding."

Daryn rolled his eyes. He gritted his teeth. "What do I do? I don't want to go."

"In my opinion, you must go."

"What?" Daryn shouted. Just half-an-hour back Dawn reacted madly when he talked to Maya on the phone, if he would go to the party, she would leave him immediately with bag and baggage. "Are you mad?"

"No."

---

Dawn had laid the table by the time Daryn arrived. The smell of food wafted through the living room. Lemon ricotta pancakes with chicken sausage and maple syrup awaited him to dig in. She was surely a great cook. At this rate he wouldn't get a chef.

Cole was at the table checking his wristwatch. He observed how Daryn ate breakfast eagerly. Then he turned to Dawn who walked out of the kitchen with more sausages and said with hesitation, "Dawn, I have a school trip coming up for which I have to deposit thousand dollars."

"Okay," she replied. "But that's a lot. Your school is robbing."

Daryn stopped eating. What a perfect opportunity to be alone with her. "A thousand bucks is nothing!" How could she even think like that? "How long will you be gone?" he asked excitedly.

The siblings narrowed their eyes at him.

He took a deep breath and bit his lip. "I didn't mean like that." He cut a piece from the sausage and ate it slowly. "I mean you can borrow from me."

Silence.

He gulped. Both the brother and sister were too stubborn.

Dawn broke the silence. "It's okay Cole, you can go. The outing would be a good change."

Cole smiled, got up and left for his school. While going he made a gesture with his fingers at Daryn saying that he had his eyes on him.

When he was gone, Daryn breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Dawn and said, "Babe, I would like to take you to a party with me on Sunday."