?

　　I quickly averted my eyes from his frame, looking around the room as though it was the most interesting thing I have ever seen. “Um… I am so…” I stuttered, not sure why I was getting shy when I had seen him shirtless before but the idea that he was completely naked under that towel was making me a little coy.

　　“Ah. Are you here for your nightly duties?” he asked, sounding as smug as ever.

　　“I could come back later…” I ignored his statement and said instead, still not daring to look at him.

　　Isaiah was silent but I could hear the rustling of clothes. “Why? We are husband and wife now. What’s the point of being shy?”

　　“Ah, well—”

　　“Could you stop standing like a buffoon over there and shut the door already?”

　　“S-Sure! Sorry.” I said as I nudged the door shut but then I could hear his footsteps getting closer to me and soon, his intimidating presence was looming over me. I peeked up at him, praying hard that he was dressed and thankfully for me he was.

　　He now wore a simple tunic and lounging trousers, his hair was still wet from his bath as the water droplets travelled down to the ends of his hair and onto the tiles below. He observed me for a second, looking down as I had wrapped the robe around me while simultaneously hugging myself with my arms. I knew it was a defensive stance but Isaiah was not making it easier for me as his stare quickly turned into a glare.

　　I then cleared my throat. “I could leave if you don’t—”

　　“Who’d you pick last night?” he asked.

　　It was rather funny to me how the first time Augustus and Isaiah cared to ask was about who I picked or why I picked them. It was as though they wanted to find a reason to instigate an argument or perhaps it was just sheer curiosity on their part.

　　“…Augustus.” I answered honestly, knowing that Isaiah was the type to keep pushing until I answered him instead of avoiding the question.

　　He let out a booming laugh as though I had told him the funniest joke. “I thought you’d pick that playboy first instead of the bookworm.”

　　“…Augustus said the same thing.” I muttered, still not used to seeing Isaiah laugh or smile even if the things that come out of his mouth were insults.

　　“Because it makes sense. He is the most experienced in this department. But it looks like you chose him last. Why’s that?”

　　“No reason. Really.”

　　“Hm. It has nothing to do with what happened to your debutante party?” he asked, leaning shoulder and head onto the wall with his arms crossed as he peered down at me.

　　“No,” I replied, maybe a little too quickly.

　　“So, why are you here? Did the bookworm fail to please you.”

　　I frowned, wondering if these alphas were purposely doing this or if they truly had not heard the words I said whenever he gathered for our short meetings. I understand that it would be hard for me to get pregnant if neither of us are in heat but I failed to understand why they don’t see the purpose of intimacy between married couples. Could it be that I have been worrying about my first time for no apparent reason at all?

　　“I’m here because I want to spend time with you.”

　　Isaiah furrowed his brows. “What bet did you lose?”

　　“What?”

　　“Be honest now, why are you actually here? You were with the Ghost Prince last night and now you come to my room? I’m starting to feel like a concubine even though you clearly stated that we are not.” I wanted to explain to him that I was only doing this to stop any rumours from forming but he was not letting me speak. “I’m not going to be your personal sex slave just because we are married. So, leave.”

　　I watched as Isaiah straightened his posture and was about to reach for the door. I had a feeling he was about to dismiss me from his room and I could not let that happen. “I did not sleep with him.” I blurted out, causing him to stop halfway to the door handle.

　　He turned to me, those dark blue eyes stared down at me. “What?”

　　“I did not sleep with Augustus…I mean yes I slept in the same bed but we did not do anything. I’m going from husband to husband because I need people to know that we are…intimate.”

　　Isaiah looked at me as though I was speaking a foreign language until he finally sighed. “Why didn’t you just say that this was just for show?” he asked as he scratched the back of his head. I wanted to counter and tell him that he started accusing me before I could even get a word in.

　　“Sorry.” I said instead just to speed up this process.

　　“So all you want is to stay the night so people would think we are genuine, right?”

　　“That’s right.”

　　He then waved me off as he went towards the bed. He sat at the edge of the bed and without even waiting for me to get to the bed as well, he blew out the lanterns. The room was engulfed in darkness in a blink of an eye and thankfully for me, the curtains were wide open, letting in the dim moonlight to seep through. I walked ahead, pausing just before I walked past the sofa.

　　“Do you mind if we slept on the same bed?” I asked since he was not really vocal about us sleeping in the same room. “If you are uncomfortable with that then I could sleep on the sofa,”

　　“Do whatever you want.” He said without an ounce of care as he got comfortable on the bed.

　　“You’ll get ill if you sleep with your hair wet.” I added as I walked towards the empty side of the bed, the moonlight shining directly on me. “You should at least dry it.”

　　“Are you nagging me right now?”

　　“I’m just stating a fact.”

　　“Keep your facts to yourself, little princess.”

　　“It would be troubling if you were to get ill, Isaiah.”

　　“Hm.” Was all he said as he stared at the ceiling. when the bed dipped as I got on, he turned his gaze to me. Now that I was not pulling my robe to cover me anyone, Isaiah could clearly see the provocative nightgown I was wearing underneath. I pretended to not notice that he was looking down at me. “You know…” he started.

　　I froze, immediately overthinking what he was about to say as I was still halfway trying to get on the bed. Was he about to change his mind? Did he not like to share a space with someone? Or perhaps did he not want me around since he despises me so much. But no amount of overthinking could make me foresee what was going to happen next.

　　“The one thing I hate the most on this entire planet are liars.” He declared. I opened my mouth but did not know how to respond to that, especially when it sounded as though he was accusing me of being one. It was such a sudden and unexpected thing to say after all and it got me wondering if I had lied to him before but none came to my mind.

　　“I do not understand.” I admitted.

　　Instead of using his words, Isaiah reached out and grabbed me by the collar of my robe, dragging me slightly closer to him. My hands fell to the bed sheet, gripping onto them as though I could stop him from pulling me any closer to him.

　　“You said you did not have sex with Augustus.” He said, voice growing irritated by the second.

　　“I did not…!” I blushed at how casual he was talking about this topic.

　　“Then why do you have that mark on your neck?” he pointed it out.

　　When he was staring at me earlier, I was confident that he was looking at my body but it turns out that he had noticed the love bite Augustus left as ‘evidence’ that something happened last night.

　　“That’s just—” I genuinely wanted to explain to Isaiah everything because there was no reason for me to hide anything from him now.

　　“Enough of your lies!” he snapped, the anger in his voice was truly frightening. “All you omegas are the same. You only ever want one thing.”?

　　Isaiah was strong, I knew that from the moment I met him but the fact that he could easily pull my body down onto the bed in a blink of an eye was something I never imagined would happen. His hand from my robe slid to my neck as his thick, calloused fingers wrapped around them. My hands were quick to grab onto his arm, attempting to pull him off of me. He was not strangling me, he was merely holding me down onto the bed but holding down my neck but that was enough to kick in my adrenaline.

　　“If sex is all that is occupying in that omega brain of yours then so be it. But just know that I won’t go easy on you.” He admitted, before parting my legs with ease and positioning his body between my legs. I could not move, pinned down with his large and strong frame. I could not do anything to look into his darkened eyes and at that moment, I felt genuine fear rousing in me.