The Crown's Entrapment

At Grant Manor, Midnight Pack Territory

The days passed by, and Calypso was honestly content with his current lot in life. With Lia by his side, his duties to the Midnight Pack almost felt enjoyable as she made sure to double-check everything he did despite his constant reassurance to her that she didn't have to. It was almost to the point that he was half-tempted to just let her do all the corrections for him just to save himself more time, but then, she'd probably just berate him for being lazy.

[She's a difficult one to please,] Axel chuckled.

[But she's so worth it,] Calypso eagerly chuckled back. [She never does things half-way. Even in bed.]

[Especially in bed,] his wolf agreed.

And that was yet another thing he truly loved about his mate. The constant sex was amazing, and he had half a mind to think that Lia was actually starting to match him even at his worst. She was constantly improving, and as she had consistently proved every time they did the deed, her insistence on having control was slowly starting to swing his way. Granted, she was still very much guarded despite their new agreement to never hide anything from each other, but the fact that he could feel her emotions now was more than worth it for him to play her games.

'She's always keeping me on my toes,' he excitedly thought. 'It's… It's thrilling…'

Shaking his head, Calypso did his best to wipe away the growing thoughts of Lia's body forming in his mind. He still had work to do, and that all started by being the best brother that Lena could ever have.

[You really should start trying to balance your time around more though,] Axel suggested. [I can feel our mate's irritation at you growing even higher than normal.]

[It's fine,] Calypso chuckled. [She understands.]

It was simply required of him, unfortunately. Lena was still new to the whole Pack, which meant that he had to teach her a lot of things just to help her fit in. It also didn't help that he just received a message from the Queen to keep an eye on their other unannounced guest in the form of Master Kasper. The wizard was as eccentric as he was tricky, and he was thankful that his Lia was capable enough to keep the man occupied whenever they met.

'Only Lia has the bluntness necessary to keep that man away from my new sister,' he inwardly hummed. 'She never minces her words.'

[Still, we already know that she's still capable of being ruled by her emotions,] Axel pointedly reminded. [Lia might be more cold and calculating than most people, but she is still our mate, and we should give her a bit of attention.]

Calypso shrugged as he went about his business. Currently, he was helping Lena out by giving her a few chores related to running the Pack. It wasn't much, but it was enough to start introducing her to a bit more work to allow her to start pulling her own weight. It also helped in keeping her away from that wizard constantly stalking her.

"Am I doing this right?" Lena asked him from behind her own desk.

"That's good," he nodded. "Just make sure to run the numbers again to make sure they're correct."

His sister beamed. "I'll do my best!" 

He leaned on the nearest wall as he watched Lena work. It was kind of fulfilling teaching her. It almost felt like he was teaching a child at times, which led him to imagine what it would be like to teach his own kids in the future.

'To have Lia bear my pups,' he dreamily wondered. 'They'll probably be as beautiful as her…'

[Or be as cold and vindictive as her as well,] Axel chuckled. 

He shrugged. Truly, that was something that he was eagerly looking forward to. But for now, he had to teach her how to access her hybrid wolf-woman form. It was just about time for him to meet her outside, and-

"Calypso."

He raised an eyebrow at the sound of his mate's voice. Well, that was fast. "Do you need something, Lia?"

Turning to his mate, Calypso quickly noticed her colder than usual attitude. She had considerably thawed around him, but she was still easily capable of shunning him if he pushed her buttons wrong.

"I thought you were supposed to teach me how to shift to my hybrid form," she coolly stated. "You're late."

Calypso froze. Looking up at the nearest timekeeper, he frowned as he noted that it was barely past noon. In fact, it had only been a minute since the hour had passed, and he distinctly remembered that he did indeed promise that he'd give her some time today.

"I was just about to go to you," Calypso reasoned. "I'm barely over a minute late."

"You're late nevertheless," she coldly scoffed. "And as you know, I don't like having my time wasted."

[She's pricklier than usual,] Axel noted. [She might be jealous.]

Quickly confirming his wolf's observation through the Mate Bond, Calypso inwardly clicked his tongue as he found himself looking at Lena to excuse himself.

"I'll be alright, Brother," Lena sweetly smiled at him. "You can go ahead and do your other duties."

"Thank you," he nodded before looking at his irate mate. "Shall we then?"

Aurelia rolled her eyes at him before wordlessly leaving the room. Calypso quickly walked up to her side as they made their way outside.

"Look, I'm sorry I'm late," he sincerely began. "I just had to make sure she got things right is all."

"I know," she grumbled. "But that still should've been within well your calculations. I know you can keep your time, Calypso, and it should be easy for you to estimate how much time it'll take for you to do your duties and be a brother to Lena."

[She's really jealous, and I'm sure she hates feeling like this too,] he inwardly grimaced as he felt her simmering negativity boiling beneath their Bond. [I can tell she knows she's being irrational, and we both know how bad she can get if she thinks she's not living up to her own standards...]

[It's a testament to her will that she can keep herself this controlled,] Axel remarked. [But it's as I said. You should spend more time with her. She's clearly missing you even if she doesn't act like it.]

Calypso nodded to himself. Their Bond said as much. He didn't need confirmation that he needed to step up his game before she truly had a reason to be angry at him.