The Crown's Entrapment

"Thank you for informing me then," Clara sweetly replied, the sudden shift in her tone surprising even to herself. "I'll be sure to make myself presentable."

She couldn't help but blush at the sound of her own voice. There was something to be said about her efforts at being sweet. Sure, she could do it, but it sounded so wrong for her to try and force it.

"C-Clara? Are you alright?"

The blush on her face only intensified as she found herself facing a rather amused Gilas. He even stuttered when addressing her, his smile only making her sink further into embarrassment even as she resolved herself to keep up the sweetness.

'For Lady Shila… This is for Lady Shila…' she chanted to herself. 'She's been through enough for me to subject her to more problems…'

"I'm fine," she replied, her voice taking on a higher pitch as she cooed at him. "I'm just looking at you more closely at the moment."

…

...

The silence that stretched on only made her embarrassment grow further as Clara held her smile. She wanted so badly to scream and cringe at her own line, but she had already thrown it out into the wild. Her pride wouldn't accept anything less than to own it and live with the consequences.

Besides, she wasn't really lying. Her eyes were somehow glued to his handsome face, the subtle changes in his expression somehow making her feel giddy inside.

"I'm glad you say that, Clara," he warmly replied. "You look rather beautiful today yourself."

Clara let out a choked cough as she took both mental and emotional damage from the way Gilas just complimented her. She didn't know why, but it felt like her heart grew two sizes for a split second.

"T-Thank you…" she could only nod, her eyes briefly avoiding his gaze in an effort to compose herself. "And thank you for the breakfast. It's delicious…"

"You haven't even taken a bite yet," Gilas quickly pointed out with a smile.

Once again, Clara took mental damage as she chastised her own flustered behavior. What was up with her? It was such an obvious thing that she should've caught herself before her traitorous mouth went and uttered those words.

"Oh, then I'll go ahead and eat then."

Ignoring the way that her face burned with each passing second that Gilas looked at her, Clara went ahead and took a bit out of the meal in front of her. She had eaten his cooking before, and it wasn't surprising to know that she was indeed correct with her earlier sentence.

Then again, maybe she could edit her words to her advantage and let her gain some ground on this one-sided battle of compliments she was having with him.

"I stand corrected. The food is even better than I imagined it would be," Clara chuckled as she sipped on her glass of juice. "I have to say, I still can't believe that you're a good cook, Gilas."

To her own surprising delight, Gilas blushed as he went to scratch the back of his head. She couldn't help but smirk, having somehow gotten a one-up on his compliments.

"Thank you, Clara…" he weakly murmured.

Clara beamed. Her heart hammered in her chest as she watched him get taken down by her compliment. Not that it diminished the effect that his words had on her. She couldn't help but look at him more intently, taking in the way that he smiled with each word that she uttered.

"I'm glad you two are getting along now," Shila suddenly interrupted, her faint chuckles making Clara's heart soar. "But while I want to watch you two bond beyond the table, I'll have to remind you Gilas that you've already scheduled a meeting with the Pack."

And just like that, Gilas blinked in remembrance. "Oh, right. We have to hurry, Clara."

"V-Very well," Clara nodded, the sudden change in the mood taking her off-guard before she went and ate her meal. "And I just remembered that I have to meet my own pack to inform them of my leaving and eventual replacement."

[Hah! This might not be what I have in mind, but I approve.]

Sheba's sudden intrusion into her thoughts didn't even register as Clara matched Gilas's speed. They still had a lot to do, and it wouldn't be proper if they were both late for their respective meetings.

***

After all, was said and done, Gilas was feeling himself with how well breakfast went. Somehow, Clara was being more receptive to his advances and even reciprocated with her own sweetness which just made his heart melt in response. The urge to have her for himself only grew, and it was getting harder for him to keep himself in control.

[I'd say we just take her as is,] Ham suggested. [She's clearly ready for you now.]

[Not until she says she's ready herself,] Gilas quickly replied. [I won't falter now when I'm this close.]

Especially now that she was returning his advances, he could tell that it would only be days now before it happened. He just had to wait and continue seducing her…

But for now, he had to introduce her to his pack.

"To all hearing the sound of my voice, this is Lady Clara!" he announced, his voice unwavering as he gestured towards Clara. "My mate and your Luna!"

A brief silence settled across his pack before cheers erupted from his men. He nodded in approval of their reaction, thankful that they accepted her that easily.

"So you finally found your mate?!"

"You really are blessed!"

A few of his men hollered at her. Some even complimented how beautiful Clara was. A part of him almost growled at how they seemed to ogle at her, but he pushed it back down. It was all in good fun, after all, and it was better to have this kind of reaction than for them to somehow reject her.

"Hey, how come you two still don't share the same scent?"

But just as he thought they were in the clear, someone in the crowd just had to point out the obvious.

[You really should've expected this,] Ham scoffed.

Quickly coming up with an answer, Gilas replied, "We've come to an agreement. And that's-"

"We'll do it some time in the future," Clara suddenly replied, taking all the off-guard. "Us not doing it earlier was my decision, and I take full responsibility for it."

The suddenness of Clara's response took everyone present by surprise. Gilas himself didn't know what to say other than to feel proud of what she had done. He was more than ready to take the blame, but for her to just up and own it was something else.

"It's the least I can do, Gilas," Clara whispered to him.

Gilas could only nod. The longer this went on, the more he just wanted to break his promise and take her without a care in the world.

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