"You?", she gasped in shock.

"Shh, don't be so loud!", he whisper-yelled back at Noelle, not wanting to garner any attention. He pulled her wrist towards him as gently as possible, hiding her from the guests.

"Michael you can't be here", she whispered softly, being as nice as she could, though internally, she was angry. She banished him and his wife from the Kingdom, how could he go against the rules. How did he break in? How did he not get caught? So many questions ran through her mind as he breathed heavily, as if he had run a mile.

"Listen to me. I know that I'm not supposed to be here, but I just need to explain. I had no involvement in what Iris did last time she came here, I even told her not to, and to give you some space. She didn't listen to me. She went with her heart when she should've gone with her head. I understand you may not want to see me, but I need you to know that I love you, more than anything in the world, even if you don't love me, which is completely fine. You don't know me after all. Please rethink your decision, I'll give you all the time and space you need but I can't live without seeing my daughter. Please", he pleaded with her, explaining everything as quickly and quietly as he could, and Noelle felt nothing but guilt by the end of his speech.

She had banished him for his wife's actions.

She made him suffer for something he didn't do.

Evil

She could feel tears in the corner of her eyes, doing the last thing Michael expected her to do.

She threw her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest. Bewildered and eyes widened, he hesitantly placed his arms around her, careful not to squeeze her too hard, although he wanted to so badly, since this is his first hug with his daughter. He himself began to tear up, overwhelmed. It was such a small gesture, yet it meant so much to both of them.

"I'm sorry da- Michael. I didn't know, I-I just-"

"It's okay, you don't need to explain yourself", he reassured her.

Michael didn't miss the fact that she almost referred to him as 'dad'. He wanted nothing more than to be called dad, but she probably wasn't ready yet, as he respected that.

"I-I want to know everything, w-where I come from, w-what happened. Can you tell me please?", she asked hopefully and he nodded, embracing her tightly once again.

"Baby?!", they heard a frantic voice yell.

Easton

"F*ck, I need to leave", Michael whispered, pulling away from his daughter.

"What? N-no, don't go yet", Noelle begged, her bottom lip quivering at the thought.

"I have to, he'll kill me if-".

"Noelle?", they heard his voice again, but this time, he was right behind Michael. Michael turned around, taking a few steps away from the brooding, younger man. "The f*ck are you doing here?", he asked angrily, ready to pounce at the man who broke his queen's rules.

"Easton, it's fine. I want him to be here", Noelle defended Michael, standing beside her mate. "He shouldn't have to suffer because of Iris's mistakes, he deserves a second chance", she explained and Easton looked down at her adoringly.

So pure, he thought to himself.

"Whatever you want love, but we'll need to have a long conversation", he said and Michael nodded, smiling at his daughter, to which she returned the smile. "Oh, and I'm not doing this for, I'm doing it for her", he added, causing Noelle to give him a light slap to his chest, and a chuckle from Michael.

"Fair", he responded.

They walked together back into the great hall, Nathaniel giving them a strange and angry look, to which Noelle mouthed: 'I'll explain later'. He nodded at her silent message and continued to converse with the men and women at his table.

"I'm going to leave, I'll be back later", Michael announced and Noelle tilted her head to this side, wondering why he wants to leave.

"I don't think many people want me here, I'll come back though, don't worry", he added and she nodded sadly, giving him one last hug before running back to Easton's arms.

"Wanna carry on from where we left off?", he whispered in her ear seductively, sucking on her lower earlobe, and trailing kisses from her ear to her jaw. She giggled at the tickling sensation.

"Easty! People are looking", she said in between giggles, placing her dainty hands on his chest and slightly pushing him away, even though she wants to continue just as much as he did.

"Fine, but when this is over, you're all mine", he gave in to her wishes and she blushed deeply, looking down at her shoes. "Aww, don't be shy babydoll", he teased and she gave him an angry glare, but to him, she looked like she was trying to be angry, but ended up looking adorable.

"Easton", they heard a female voice, to which Easton rolled his eyes.

Whoever this is better have a damn good reason for ruining our moment, he said to himself.

"You refer to me as Count or King, where have your manners gone?", he spat out to the random female with bleached red hair and black eyes. The tall woman' eyes widened at his harsh words.

"I just wanted to welcome back the queen we've been waiting so long to meet again", she spoke once again, sounding as fake as ever. "I'm Quinn, nice to meet you", she held her hand out for Noelle, and she shook it.

"Nice to meet you too", Noelle said sweetly. Quinn squeezed Noelle's hand a little tighter than expected, but Noelle thought nothing of it.

"It's funny, you didn't care what I referred to you as a few years ago", she said, speaking to Easton. He looked at her strangely, not understanding what she's on about.

"Remember, we were 16, my house?", she spoke with a clear motive.

He finally knew what she was talking about. Noelle put her head down nervously, not knowing what to say.

"Mind if I talk to the Queen?", she asked.

"Absolutely f*cking not."

"Of course", Noelle said after Easton's dismissal. He gave her a look, silently saying: 'what are you thinking'. She gave him a reassuring smile and ushered Quinn towards a vacant area of the hall.

"So...", Noelle began awkwardly.

"I'm sorry", Quinn apologised quickly, leaving Noelle confused. "I'm going to tell you something, and you're probably gonna hate me for it, but Easton will kill me if I say it to him, and I can tell you are more understandable", she rambled.

"Hey, it's okay, calm down and start from the beginning", although wary, Noelle had to help her in order for her to understand Quinn's cryptic words.

"When a vampire turns 16, they find their beloved. Of course, Easton found you a little earlier, but on my 16th, I didn't find mine. I was livid. I silently hoped that it was Easton, and that you and him were just a mistake", she admitted and Noelle's eyes widened, but she kept her calm like the true queen she is. "I wanted him so bad. He has everything, the looks, the money, the whole Kingdom resting on his back. Everything. I wanted to be the queen."

"So I thought taking his virginity will make him more likely to accept me as his queen, though not his beloved, I would still have him. I know, my logic was stupid, but I was 16, young and dumb."

"So what did you do?", Noelle asked calmly, albeit her blood beginning to boil.

"I drugged him."

"You what?!", Noelle yelled out, louder than expected, not able to keep in her rage.

"I put drugs in his drink to make him high, and not sober, and... it worked. He turned into a different person, and then, it just happened", Quinn spoke with a regretful tone. She didn't need to elaborate, Noelle knew what she was talking about.

The whole time Noelle didn't speak to Easton because he participated in sexual activities, and now she found out that it was never his fault to begin with. It feels like a stab in the heart. Someone from their own Kingdom betrayed her, chose her own desires over anything else. How evil could someone be to almost ruin a relationship like that?

"How many times did this happen?", Noelle seethed.

"Three times", Quinn answered, a look of remorse etched on her face. "I'm so sorry."

"I-I think you should leave now."

"But-"

"I said now", Noelle ordered and Quinn sighed in defeat. She bowed her head and left with tears in her eyes. Noelle always sympathised with people, but she found it hard to do so at this moment. Every time Easton had sex, he was drugged. He didn't do by his own will, but because he was under the influence and unstable. Quinn took advantage of him, and just the mere though of that brought tears to Noelle's eyes.

"Why are you crying love?", she heard Easton's voice from behind her and she rushed into his arms. He sighed sadly, and pulled her away from the hall, and walked her to their bedroom.

"Talk to me, what did that b*tch say to you?" he spoke softly, gently caressing her bare thighs in order to calm his beloved down.

She explained everything she knew in as much detail as possible. Noelle did not stop crying, and her words came out shaky and stuttered. Her whole body was shaking and she could not forget what Quinn said, her words replaying in her mind constantly, digging a deeper whole in her heart each time she recalled the dreaded thought.

Easton couldn't believe what she was saying either. He couldn't believe one of his people would betray him like that, and take advantage of him. He felt his heart sink. Strangely though, he felt relieved know that he knew that he didn't willingly have sex with Quinn, but it still didn't overshadow the feeling of betrayal.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you. I should've known something was up the second Axel told me you didn't wait for me. I know you better than anyone Easton, I should've known!", she cried even more, putting the blame on her, as per usual. Easton pulled her even closer in his arms, if that was even possible, and shushed her to ease her nerves, kissing her delicate hands and the crown of her head until her cries turned into sniffles.

"This is all in the past now, Quinn will be punished accordingly. Don't blame yourself for any of this baby, it's not your fault, nobody's but hers. Shh, I don't want you to cry anymore, seeing you cry hurts me more than anything. How about we take this dress off, get into our pyjamas and cuddle all evening, that sound good babydoll?", he asked and she nodded, kissing his cheek.

He carried her to the walk-in closet, placing her on the floor.

"Do you want me to undress you?", he asked, seeing how tired she was. She nodded.

He carefully unzipped her dress, allowing it to fall to the ground. Her body was now on complete show, all she was wearing was a black, dainty and lacy pantie and matching bra. He smothered her in kisses, from her face all the way down to her stomach, admiring her beauty. He left hickeys everywhere. The sound of her quiet whimpers and moans made him hard as a rock, but he pushed those feeling aside, he just wanted her to feel comfortable.

"You're beautiful, my love", he whispered, capturing her lips in another kiss. Their lips moving slowly and gently, not rushed or lustful, just loving.

"You're pretty too", she responded, pulling away and making him chuckle.

"Wanna wear one of my shirts?", he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Can I?", she said while craning her head to face him properly, hurting her neck in the process. He laughed and cupped her cheeks, kissing her face all over.

"You're so adorable, you don't need to ask", he said, picking her up, her legs wrapping around his waist, and walked to his closet, taking a random black T-shirt and placing it over her beautiful body. They finally laid in bed together, with Noelle on top of Easton as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"You never have to worry about anything when you're with me. Everything will be okay", he reassured her and she kissed his chest tiredly.

Seeing her almost asleep, her lips stuck in a pout, he couldn't help but run his thumb across her soft, bottom lip. Her mouth parted slightly, and he stuck his thumb inside her mouth, allowing her to suck on it. He could feel his member growing at the feeling of her tongue subconsciously swirling around his thumb, and wondered what it would feel like around his-

Stop

"Goodnight Elle", he whispered, kissing her forehead.