Chapter-35. I’ll fall
[Xanthea]
Opening the door of Raven's car, I stepped out.
Gasping, I gaped, transfixed at the Glass palace.
The multistorey palace was made of transparent glass. Glass palace was especially built to keep all the vehicles owned by the triplet alphas.
I unconsciously stepped off the road onto the kerb and then stepped closer to the glass wall. My legs seemed to be wandering all by themselves. Beyond the glass wall stood the opulent collection of vintage cars, royal cars and luxury cars parked next to one another in what looked like an endless line.
For a few seconds, I couldn't believe my eyes. The sublime feeling pounded through my veins, giving a spike to my blood rushing faster in my body. I had never felt this humbled before. It was literally the heaven of cars.
A valet dressed in a black suit rushed beside Raven and stood with a bow.
Raven handed him the car keys.
"What wheel would you want us to get you, Alpha?" asked the valet.
"None. I'll get it myself," Raven said, looking at me.
I tried to restrain my expressions, but the palace had cast a spell on me and there was no way to escape its allure.
The wealth of Virgo pack. No. The wealth of all the packs combined in the Earthly realm didn't stand a chance against the wealth of the Infernal pack.
Nikolai had a collection of over ten cars in the Virgo palace as well. But comparing it with the Glass palace, his collection would look completely trivial. Like a toy house.
Nothing could be compared to this.
Every other wealth in the world would look like a mockery before the triplets' wealth.
The lightning of the palace, the ambience, had my heart thumping in my throat. And once again, I was lost somewhere beyond the glass walls, in a trance.
"Don't forget to breathe, omega," Raven had slight amusement in his tone.
I gulped hard at his words, realizing that the awe in my heart was reflecting on my face clearly.
It was impossible to take in the entire Glass palace in one glance.
Raven stepped closer to the entrance of the palace and I quickly followed him, breaking into small sprints to keep up with him.
As I entered the Glass Palace, I couldn't help but feel like I had stepped into a futuristic museum. The shiny cars, adorned in a multitude of colors, were displayed on a marble floor that gleamed with an intricate lighting design spread across the floor and ceiling. The vastness of the space made it seem as though I had stepped into an entire city.
"Now, now. Don't get too aroused. Your heartbeats are literally screaming in my ears," Raven's voice broke my trance.
I lowered my gaze, biting my lower lip.
They weren't rich. Billionaires? Trillionaires? If there was a category beyond these in the Earthly realm, it would be an insult to them. They could buy the entire mortal realm and not even care to look at their bank balance. Wait! Do they even need a bank balance? They must own the bank itself.
I let out a sigh, feeling the temperature of my body rise even more.
To explain their wealth status, a new word needed to be created.
With the kind of money I earned in the Virgo pack, I couldn't even buy myself a bicycle without having to worry about the EMI or loan. It was almost impossible to find a job when I left the palace.
I felt a bitter burn rise in my chest. The embarrassment from the night they visited my house amplified a thousand times as I walked further into the Glass palace.
I stole a glance at Raven, who was busy on his phone. The staff around us stopped in their tracks and bowed before him, and I was sure he didn't even notice them.
My eyes met a few staff members before they bowed and, out of habit and utter awkwardness, I bowed back.
"If you love bowing so much, I can make you bow in a lot better positions," Raven said nonchalantly, his eyes fixed on his phone screen.Têxt belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.
I felt a tingly flutter erupt in my belly at his words. Stiffening my body, I straightened my spine, trying hard to not blush.
"Better. The only ones you need to bow before are your husbands. No one else. Get that in your head." He stopped walking.
I stopped beside him. He skimmed his eyes from his phone to me.
"You have created a soul pact with us. That means something. That makes you something," he said, holding my gaze.
What? What does that make me?
I yearned to ask this question, but didn't.
"I am s-sorry, alpha..."
He lifted my chin, making me look into his eyes.
"Being our bride already puts you in an important rank. And let me make this clear: you hold a rank, a status, but not the power or rights. So, if not for yourself, then for that rank, always hold your head high," he said, leaning closer to my lips. "Don't embarrass yourself again. You can do that for me, can't you, little omega?"
"Yes..." my eyelids flickered to his lips and then back to his eyes as I swallowed subtly.
"Good girl." He placed his hand on my hair. His fingers brushed against my neck as he scooped the strands of hair that had covered the hickey.
I could feel the weight of his gaze. His breaths feverishly brushed against my skin. Turning around, I looked away, releasing the stalled breaths in my lungs.
The moment I tucked his hair behind his hair flashed in my mind, and I shut my eyes.
I felt his hands run up my hips.
"I told you not to get aroused. What are you thinking, little omega?"
"N-nothing..."
"Wanna know what I am thinking?" He almost kissed my earlobe as he spoke. "All the ways I could take you on and inside all these cars. In the backseat, in the passenger seat, in the limo, on the bonnet just like Ezra took you," he pointed towards a car. "Remember?"
I peered at the car and then looked away, drawing in my brows. I didn't want to remember anything about that night. I wasn't even sure if I was ready to see Ezra again.
"Or do you want me to take care of you in front of everyone here?" He whispered in my ear, and I felt his words strangle my heart and its erratic beats. "Demons are much more receptive to the sweet scent of arousal than mortal werewolves." His hand slid over my crotch. "So control your pussy in the public. She can drip wet and make all the mess she wants in private."
00000
I stepped away from him, breathing heavily. Losing his touch, I clenched my skirt into my fists.
Damn it!
Why? Just why am I like this suddenly?
This time, even the dazzle of the Glass palace wasn't enough to distract me.
That's when my eyes went on the glowing words flashing across the glass wall like a watermark - eZ-Ace
I covered my mouth with my hands, peering at the manufacturing until automated by robots with a number of staff members assembling the car parts behind the glass wall that separated us. "Ez-ace..." I mumbled. "The name..."
"Yup," Raven said, standing beside me and I looked up at him. "Ezra owns this company of futuristic tech and stuff. All the vintage cars you saw earlier were my father's. Glass palace used to be our father's car collection palace. It wasn't a glass palace back then. It was more like a giant garage. But this is also where Ezra began his tech madness and it turned into something that you see today. Making it Glass palace was also his idea. He loves transparency and tech, so he combined them both."
"I-Is he... here?" I asked hesitantly.
Raven tilted his head, a smirk playing across his eyes.
"You want him here?"
"I thought maybe... he was here because of the company..."
"Just because we own something doesn't mean we'll be taking care of it day and night. A company this big can function all on its own, with or without its founder." Raven looked towards the camera. "But to answer your question... Ezra may or maybe not be here. I don't know. He may or may not be watching us right now."
My eyes snapped towards the camera.
Was he?
"Anyway, let's speed up, shall we?" Raven merely tilted his head towards one staff member.
The staff instantly brought us two hoverboards, as if they had been waiting to be commanded to do so.
Raven deftly boarded his hoverboard.
I anxiously looked at the hoverboard.
"I-I can walk..." I said.
"No, you can't. We have a long way to go. Get on..."
"I have never driven... this before... I'll fall..."
Raven stretched out his palm. "Take my hand and trust me a little."
"I don't even know how to ride a bike..." I said.
He replied with his silence, his gaze sharply fixed on me. I understood he wasn't taking a no for an answer.
00000
Reluctantly, I placed my hand in his palm, and he wrapped his fingers tightly around mine.
"Now slowly stand on it..."
I lifted my feet to place on the hoverboard when my courage gave up.
"Alpha, I'll fall..."
"I won't let you... come on."
He merely glanced at the staff that still stood close to me and they immediately backed off. It seemed as if even they feared I'd fall.
Taking a deep breath, I held his hand tighter and tried stepping on the hoverboard.
After a lot of trial and failure, I finally stood on it. My legs were all wobbly, but clasping both my hands in his, he supported me, riding on his hoverboard while facing me. "Now slowly shift your body weight forward..." he instructed.
I did as he said and the hoverboard moved forward. I smiled, feeling a little more confident than I did before.
"I am doing this..." I said excitedly.
"Concentrate," he said sternly, and I concentrated on riding it properly.
Maybe he sensed it when I was more confident. Letting go of my one hand, he rode beside me.
"Now... I'll let go of your hand," he said, and I panicked.
"No... please don't-"
But he had already let go of my hand.
I stretched out my arms, thinking I would lose my balance now that his support was gone. But I didn't. He kept instructing me whenever I did something wrong.
I didn't know where or what I was heading towards, but I began enjoying the exhilaration I got from riding the hoverboard independently. So, I sped up.
"Don't go so fast. Slow down..." he warned. "There's a turn ahead! Slow down, omega!"
I tried, but the turn was right ahead.
Shit!
"Xanthea!"
I tried to stop it, but lost my balance.
In that split second, I thought I was about to fall down when his arms effortlessly seized mine and he pulled me off my hoverboard.
My feet hovered in the air as my hoverboard crashed against the wall.
His arms wrapped around my waist as I collapsed against his firm muscles.
He made me stand on his shoes as I clenched his shirt into my fists, hugging him tightly. With a deft spin of the hoverboard, he brought us to a halt.