The Cursed Heir

Incompatibility

They went their separate ways, Lyra not bothering to change out of her sophisticated outfit for the class. She had no intention of doing anything besides observing. After all, she was the Lady Lebonair and she had been training ever since she was able to walk and talk. If there had ever been one thing that her parents had agreed on, it had been that she should have all the ferocity of a warrior, should she ever need it.

Entering the gym, Lyra was met with the intoxicating, woodsy scent of her mate. His scent overwhelmed her senses and she closed her eyes for a moment before she walked over to a bench to sit, with Nathan at her side. The gym was more crowded than her other classes had been so it was easy for her to avoid Nicholas’ eyes. He stared at her with his arms crossed, looking at her with a mixture of curiosity and scrutiny.

She knew he was coming over to her and so leaned towards Nathan and spoke quickly and quietly so that only he could hear her.

“Under no circumstances are you to leave me alone with him, no matter what he says.” She told him and he nodded.

Nathan was more reserved than Michael, despite having known her for longer. His father was a close friend of her own and they had known each other since childhood but even then he had been a man of few words. In some ways she preferred this to Michael’s bubbly personality, with Nathan she felt no obligations. He knew her well and he let her go about her business without question which she had never appreciated as much as she did now that she craved privacy above all things.

“Lady Lebonair.” Nicholas bowed his head respectfully as he stood before her, though his eyes flickered toward Nathan with a frown for a moment.

“Mr Laurent.” She nodded to him, meeting his ice blue eyes and feeling her wolf relish under his gaze.

“Were you not aware that this is a training lesson?” He asked, eyeing up her high heeled shoes.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” She asked, raising an eyebrow at his blasé tone, unused to being questioned such.

“Your attire is not compatible with the lesson; will you be changing?” He asked, again speaking to her as though she were any student.

“I prefer to observe.” She smiled politely, though her tone was cool.

“And in the case of an attack, will you also choose to observe?” Lyra’s eyes narrowed at that, she didn’t appreciate him speaking to her like a child in front of the whole class.

She stood, reaching into the concealed holsters of her pants for two Swiss knives she often kept on her. Along the sides of the room there were dummy’s typically used for boxing purposes. She stared into her mate’s eyes, only glancing at the dummy furthest from her. Her classmates were doing warmups to the right side of the gym, a safe distance from the knives she sent whizzing towards the dummy. The first knife flew into its neck, followed by another one in the heart.

“I think I’ll be fine, should we be attacked.” She smiled again, sitting back down.

“Good shot.” He told her, turning towards the class.

Something about the interaction was dissatisfying for Lyra. She wanted more from him, more conversation, more praise, more attention. Against her better judgement she kept her eyes on him as he directed her classmates. She felt something she had rarely felt before, jealousy. Watching her mate interact with the girls in the class, helping them reposition their stances and even smiling and applauding them. She tried her hardest to keep her face neutral but couldn’t help frowning as he stood a few metres away, behind the girl who had gawked at her in her room a day earlier. Her body pressed against his as he repositioned her to strengthen her attack.

Unable to watch she stood, walking over to the figure which her knives were still buried in. She callously pulled them out and turned back to Nathan, the other students slowed down and moved out of her way she walked through the gym. Nick was standing near the bench she had been sitting on, but she trained her eyes on her guard.

As they crossed paths he reached a hand out to take hold of her elbow. Immediately Lyra felt sparks running through her, she wanted to be closer, to be in his embrace but she forced a frown on her face.

“What are you doing?” She demanded, pulling her elbow away and taking a step back.

“You should watch where you’re walking in those shoes.” He replied, jerking his head towards the ground she had been about to step on. There lay a small puddle of water, probably spilt from one of her classmate’s bottles.

“I assure you I can walk just fine.” She said in a cold tone, stepping over the puddle and sitting back down next to Nathan.

Beside her, Nathan could practically feel the frustration radiating from Lyra. He knew Nicholas was her mate, hence why she was so bothered by the way he interacted with other females before her. More than that, he knew Lyra was a capable actress and that she would never allow it to show. If he had not known her behaviour so well, he too would assume she was apathetic towards him. It did not make sense to him why she was so adamant in her denial, surely after everything she had been through finding her true mate was some consolation.

“Do you remember when Annabelle punched you in the face?” Lyra interrupted his thoughts.

“Yes unfortunately I remember it quite well.” He suppressed a smile at the sound of that name.

“Well I must confess, it was me and Jason who rear-ended her car. We let you take the fall for it because she liked you so much we thought she wouldn’t care.” She laughed fondly at the memory.

“You must think me quite the inadequate guard to believe I didn’t know that. You two snuck out the night before to see the sunrise on the beach, you came back around seven and thought Michael and I were none the wiser.” He rolled his eyes, smiling a little too.

“You were there?” She blushed a deep red at the thought of Michael and Nathan watching her and Jason’s intimate moments.

“We kept a distance so as not to disturb you.” His face lost the smile as he switched back into stoic bodyguard mode.

“She still asks about you.” Lyra said, in a matter of fact tone.

“What does she ask?” Physically he didn’t react but she could see she had peaked his interest.

“If you have found a mate, if you ever ask about her.” She shrugged, watching him frown a little.

“And what do you tell her?” He asked curiously.

“Only the truth.” She replied, watching him think over what she had said, before he nodded and they sat in a comfortable silence once more.