Thalia walked up to Azul, her eyes dimmed and a coquettish smile on her face.

"Lord Azul, good evening." She greeted, her voice dripping with seduction.

Azul didn’t look away from Anna. "Good evening." He greeted politely.

"How are you enjoying the party?" She asked, moving closer to his side, so close that their shoulders brushed. Azul stepped back, creating sizeable distance between them. Thalia hid her annoyed expression behind a smile. "I don’t see Mae anywhere."

"She’s not here."

Thalia bit her lip. "I didn’t think you’d be coming. You’ve never honored any of my invitations before."

"I don’t like parties. I’m here with my wife because she needs me."

hearing him refer to the Princess as his wife made Thalia’s skin bristle with barely contained rage. That evil woman didn’t deserve to be anyone’s wife! Especially not a man such as Azul. Princess Orchid didn’t deserve him, or any of her husbands at all!

"You know the Princess can handle herself fine on her own. she doesn’t need you keeping guard and missing out on all the fun," she said, dropping her voice and batting her lashes at him but he wouldn’t even look at her.

"I’m fine, thank you."

Thalia cursed under her breath. "Are you sure you don’t need anything at all?"

"No."

Thalia turned her eyes away from him so he wouldn’t see the hateful look in her eyes. If he even looked. Her heart fumed and she bit her lip till she tasted blood.

Seeing Azul was like seeing a blue moon, and she didn’t want to let this golden opportunity go to waste. Lately, her husbands especially Cael had been giving her a lot of headache. Thalia always wanted some of Princess Orchid’s husbands, after all that evil woman didn’t need any of them.

Azul was right on top of her list. Who didn’t want an insanely handsome Northern Lord built like a powerful mountain? Thalia was getting hot just by looking at him. His genes and hers would produce unstoppable pups! The Princess was just a stupid white cat, her only advantage was being the Orchid Beastbloom. Without that, she wouldn’t even have met Lord Azul, or even married him.

Gathering herself and further tugging down her gown, Thalia spun around faced him again.

"My Lord, there’s something I’d like to confirm with you," she said. He still didn’t look at her, his eyes focused on something in the distance. Thalia followed his line of sight and spotted Princess Orchid dancing without a care in the world.

That bitch! She has the gall to not only humiliate me but have more fun than me on my birthday?! What a stupid bitch!

"What?" Azul asked, a hint of annoyance seeping into his normally level voice.

Thalia leaned closer, as if she wanted to whisper a secret. "I heard from Mae that you’re going to divorce the Princess soon. I want to let you know that if you need a—"

She didn’t get to finish her words.

She couldn’t finish.

Azul turned to her. The glass in his hand shattered. His eyes were cold like a distant winter sky. Thalia gasped and stumbled back, stepping on her gown and crashing into a passing waiter. The crowd gasped and turned to her, some of them rushing to help her stand up. Shards of glass pierced her arms and her back, sending shockwaves of pain through her entire body.

Azul didn’t speak. But the look in his eyes made Thalia almost soil herself.

He looked ready to tear her throat out with his bare hands.

"I’m not divorcing my wife. Don’t ever say that to me again." He spoke, his voice hard as steel.

Thalia’s heart threatened to burst. She tried to reply but her throat was too clogged with fear to even breathe. She didn’t resist as her friends helped her up and led her out of the hall to get medical attention.

Azul turned away from the disgraceful woman, the encounter already wiped from his mind. He knew his sister had a tendency to talk too much, and he also knew she had too much friends for her own good.

His eyes found that of the Princess. She was staring right at him with a worried expression.

A smile naturally came to his face as their eyes met. He moved to raise his glass to her but found it in blood-stained shambles. Unbothered by the cuts on his hand, he took another glass and raised it to her as a distant roast.

She grinned back, raising her hands and waving excitedly.

Azul didn’t know when he chuckled.

He caught himself and quickly wiped the smile off his face. What am I even doing?

Meanwhile.

Kai was at the other end of the party. He didn’t see the ruckus with Azul and Thalia, as he was totally focused on Anna.

Glass after glass, he drank more and more alcohol.

He naturally had a high resistance to it, but tonight it seemed like the alcohol brought up every unpleasant emotion he had been battling.

He paced the floor, wondered out loud if he should just do it, then turned and looked for Anna in the crowds.

The bright lights hurt his eyes and made his head pound like a drum. The sweet taste of the alcohol made him want to throw up. The loud music grated on his nerves and added to his restlessness.

I need to know.

I must know. Today. It must be today.

He was going mad with uncertainty. The difference was too much. In his head, he contrasted the Princess he knew a year ago to the woman dancing a few feet away from him and the suffered was so glaring he winced and grabbed his head.

"Fuck. Fuck..." he murmured. He rarely cursed, only when his control was slipping.

The urge to shift into his beast form washed over him like a tidal wave, even though there was no water around.

He turned, ready to take a step towards the Princess when a smooth voice called from behind him.

"Mako. Is that you?"

Every vein in Kai’s body froze over.

Slowly, he turned around. The man stood behind him. Kai would recognize the jagged scar across the man’s face and the wicked look in his eyes from a distance.

The man stepped forward, a serene smile that didn’t reach his eyes etched on his face. "It is you. Goodness, how you’ve grown. I see the Princess must have—"

Red bled into Kai’s vision.

His body moved before he could command it. He lunged, tackling the man to the ground, raining blows on every part he could reach.

"You! You’re still alive?!" Kai chuckled, barely reacting as blood splattered across his face. He grabbed both sides of the man’s bloody face and yanked him up. "You have some nerve, Villis. Showing up here?"

Villis laughed. It was a hollow and unrepentant smile. "Ahhh I see. You’re still the violent little boy you’ve always been. No wonder you’ve—"

Kai slammed his fist into Villis’s face. Bone crunched and blood flowed from Villis’s broken face. Yet he continued to laugh.

Kai’s mind crystallized on a single thought. I’m going to kill him.

From the other end of the party, Anna heard the commotion and the heavy blows being exchanged. She didn’t think much about it until she heard Kai’s scream.

She rushed through the crowd, pushing her way through till she got to the site of the commotion.

"Kai!" She exclaimed, her eyes widening with horror.

There was Kai on top of a bloodied man. Anna didn’t waste one second. She rushed in and grabbed Kai’s arm, yanking him back.

"What’s going on?!"

"Your highness," the man who was on the floor sat up like nothing happened. He took out a black handkerchief and wiped his face. "Pardon me for looking this way,"

Anna frowned. But she didn’t have time to think about his reaction. She turned back to Kai. Her eyes softened and she cupped his face, raising his vacant eyes to meet hers. "Hey! What happened? Are you hurt? Kai? Talk to me!"

Kai raised his head and their eyes met. His fair skin was matted with blood. "You..." he whispered. His eyes were so blank she believed he wasn’t seeing her in that moment.

"You’re coming with me." Anna declared. She grabbed his wrist and dragged him out of the place. She didn’t know where she was going, all she knew was that she needed to get him out before something more catastrophic happened. Kai followed her, no hesitation in his steps.

When they were gone, Villis rose to his feet. Part of his face was clean of blood, but he couldn’t get all of it out. His nose snapped back into position and he didn’t even blink. Doesn’t she remember me? Why was she so cold? He wondered.

At a safe distance away, far from all the chaos and drama, Leon watched Anna drag Kai away.

He waited a couple of seconds till they were gone before he followed them.