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It was a promise Max could appreciate. “Thank you. Concerning Miss Delacroix and her choices, I think it’s better to talk to her in person.”
“This is exactly what we intend to do,” said Councilor Harington. “I think this is a good moment to wrap things up. Mrs. Avelyn isn’t feeling well, and I hate to see her like this.”
“We’re far from done, though,” said Redfur. “Personally, I now have even more unanswered questions than before.”
“It’s late, we’re all tired, and even if we stayed until morning, we wouldn’t get anywhere.” The bear-shifter stood up, and he was soon followed by Karl, Jocelyn, and Max, who was supporting Avelyn. “I hoped this would be easier to solve, but alas… we don’t always get what we want. We need evidence and more witnesses. We must do this right, and for that we need to track down as many of the wolves and foxes involved. It’s obvious we cannot avoid a trial, so, if my colleagues agree, we’ll part ways for now, and we’ll contact you next week, after we decide a date for the trial.”
The other councilors nodded in approval.
“Thank you for your time,” said Willamar and shook Max’s hand.
“And thank you for your patience.”
Avelyn felt like it took them forever to say their goodbyes and exchange the usual pleasantries. All she wanted was to take a hot bath and sleep for as long as possible.
CHAPTER THREE
The Trial
The Council decided the trial would take place in two months’ time, in September. This way, they had enough time to investigate further, track down the rogue wolves to bring them in as witnesses and offer them support, and, hopefully, find the Alpha fox-shifter and what was left of his two earths. That was another thing they were eager to shed light on: why would a three-tailed Inari have two earths under his command? There were many questions that needed answers, and everyone was working on them. Everyone except Avelyn. Max was doing his best to keep her away from all the drama, and he was succeeding. She knew the Blackmane brothers had endless meetings in either of their offices, but after a couple of failed attempts, she gave up asking them to join them. She truly wanted to help, and in the first few days after the meeting in London, she had forced herself to eat more, move around, and seem cheerful. Then, Dr. Stevens told her she was just endangering her health by forcing her body to do more than it could, and putting herself under too much stress, and if one day she fell down exhausted, she’d just make things more complicated for the whole clan. Avelyn had listened to him in silence, studying her dark red nails while he was giving her the talk, then agreed with him and promised she would try to relax, forget about the madness around her, and take care of herself and the baby.
So, Avelyn spent July and August reading, watching TV shows, and taking long strolls in the woods with Rosanna or other she-wolves during the day, and with Max in the evening, right before going to sleep. She was never alone, unless she was within the castle walls, where there were always werewolves around. But no matter how hard she tried not to think about the upcoming trial, there were times when she couldn’t help it. Panic would take a strong hold of her, and she’d spend hours sulking, staring at a book without reading the lines, or spacing out when Rosanna was talking away about everything and anything that came to her mind. Those were the moments when all she wanted was to be alone, with her own thoughts, no matter how destructive they were. Those were the moments when she looked around her, took in the garden, the library, or the woods surrounding the Schloss if she was in one of the towers, and got the dreadful feeling that it would all be taken away from her one way or another. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what the consequences would be if the Blackmanes were found guilty of anything. Would they take Max away from her? No, that couldn’t happen. It wasn’t possible. He had done nothing wrong. And what if they somehow found out about the cure and that she was a hybrid? Would they then take her away from her family to study her condition and see how her pregnancy evolved? And when her son was born, what would they do to him? No, she couldn’t think about these things… She couldn’t allow herself to be overwhelmed by questions which only seemed to lead to the worst answers.
As she was alone in the Crescent Tower, watching the sun setting behind the tall firs, Avelyn tried to ward those thoughts off. The gentle wind was playing in her long, reddish blonde curls, and she closed her eyes to better enjoy its soft kisses on her hot skin. At the end of August, the evenings were nice and warm, and Avelyn made sure she spent all of them in open air. Fall was already working on taking over the Black Forest Mountains and Schloss Blackmane, and soon it would be too chilly to stay up here, in the tower, wearing only a short sleeve dress.
She heard Max’s steps as he climbed the spiral staircase up to the Crescent tower, and she smiled to herself. He had been locked up in his office with Karl, Kevin, and Matt almost all day, but she had no intention of asking him what they had been talking about. She was dying of curiosity, of course, but she knew he wouldn't have told her anyway. He had promised that he would let her know if anyone in the Council announced if the Alpha werefox was found. “In an intimate relationship with Sabine…” Avelyn thought. “Why didn't the two of you just run away together and build a new life somewhere, far away from here?” It would have been better for all of them, but most importantly, it would have been better for Sabine. She had found her happiness and thrown it away on a whim, to take revenge, when revenge was the last thing that could have made things right. Avelyn almost couldn't believe that Sabine had hated her more than she had loved her Alpha werefox. Or, maybe, she hadn't loved him that much? Max's warm hands on her shoulders snapped her out of her thoughts.
“I knew I’d find you here.” He kissed the top of her head and started massaging her shoulders slowly, his fingers searching for points of tension, then working on releasing it from her muscles.
She leaned back against his chest and moaned in pleasure. Oh, how she loved feeling his strong hands on her body. It didn't matter where he touched her, as long as he never stopped once he started.
“How was your day?” she asked.
He sighed, and his arms went around her chest to hug her closer to his body. “It was okay, a bit exhausting. We’re not making much progress, but that’s nothing new. With the trial coming up in just a couple of days, the only thing we can do is try to relax and wait for it to just happen.”
She nodded softly, but didn’t say anything. She realized how safe she felt with his big, strong body pressed against her back, and she smiled again. As long as he held her in his arms, nothing else mattered. She let her head fall against his shoulder, and he immediately took advantage of this position and started trailing gentle kisses on the side of her neck. As he reached her collarbone, his kisses became more passionate, his teeth nipping at the skin, his tongue darting out to taste her. Avelyn moaned deep in her throat, and her hands flew back around him to grab his butt and squeeze it firmly. As he continued to kiss and nip at her neck and shoulder, Max started massaging her breasts and pinching her nipples through the soft fabric of her dress. She was in the fourth month of pregnancy, which meant that the baby would be born in two months, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have a bit of fun every night. Max was always so gentle and caring that she always felt comfortable in his arms.
“Mmm… Baby, what do you have in mind?” she whispered seductively.
“I think you can tell I’m quite hungry,” he said, then sucked a bit of skin between his lips.
“Then let’s have a late dinner…”
“You know damn well that’s not what I’m talking about…”
His hands traveled down her sides, rested on her hips for a second, then one of them went lower to press three fingers against her mound. Avelyn was already creaming herself with desire, her panties wet and ready to be removed. She closed her eyes and pushed her ass against his clothed erection, determined to enjoy every minute of their heated bodies teasing each other. Her pussy clenched, just as hungry for his cock as he was hungry for her sweet juices.
“Why do you always have to wear such long dresses? Don’t get me wrong, I love you in them, but they are such a pain when I want you out of them.”
“Baby, you have to work hard if you want something…” She laughed when he started pulling at her dress in an attempt to sneak his hand between her legs.
“This isn’t working…”
He gave up and turned her around to face him, then fell to his knees an
d pressed his nose against her mound, smelling her through the damp panties and offending dress. He was also taking his time to enjoy the beautiful, delicious body of his wife. Avelyn threaded her fingers through his black hair just as his hands went underneath her skirt, slowly traveling up her legs, briefly caressing her knees before stopping to draw small circles on her inner thighs. She released a sound between a moan and a giggle.
“You’re tickling me…”
