5

Tallula's heart thumped loudly in her chest as she stood at the entrance of the castle, together with Oscar whose hands were firmly interlocked with hers. Occasionally, his cold blue eyes would dart at her which did nothing to alleviate her nervousness." Remember, we must appear to be in love." she heard Oscar say as he leaned closer to her, his other arm gently wrapping around her waist.

She nodded, breathing in deeply as a result of the effect of his hand wrapped around her waist. It was the first gesture close to intimacy he was having with her after their wedding day, and she'd never expected it to feel this way. Warm, loving and pleasant. Especially since he had deprived her of knowing what it felt like to have an actual husband, not a make-believe one.

However, her reverie was short-lived when the sound of car tyres screeching into the open space of the castle filled the air. Her head followed closely behind the cars until it came to a halt, not too far from where she and Oscar stood."It's him," Oscar whispered."Your twin brother?" Tallula asked, her brows furrowing.

Oscar's response was a curt nod and for some reason, Tallula's heart began racing. She couldn't afford to mess this up, at least for the sake of her father who so desperately wanted her marriage with Oscar to work, but with the pangs of tension coursing through her, it seemed like the opposite was going to be the case. Oh, goddess.

Her eyes hovered on the car door until it opened and a man stepped out, bearing the same face as Oscar but with a different body build. Unlike Oscar who was extremely tall with broad shoulders and deep hazel eyes, this man, on the other hand, matched Oscar's height quite right but his shoulders weren't broad and his eyes were almond blue, like the ocean. He began to walk towards the two of them and Tallula could swear her wolf leapt, but she quickly discarded the thought as soon as it came.

As soon as he reached where they stood, Oscar smiled and said, "Welcome home, Zayne."Zayne.That was his name?"Hello, brother," Zayne responded, grinning widely at Oscar. But almost immediately his eyes darted to her and he seemed taken aback. His gaze returned to Oscar as he added, "And this must be Tallula, your wi-"

"My wife and fated mate." Oscar interrupted, snuggling Tallula deeper into himself and going ahead to plant a feathering kiss on her forehead first, then without warning, on her lips. She froze on hearing the word 'fated mate' spill from Oscar's lips and nearly pulled away out of shock if Oscar hadn't been quick enough to hold her steadily while deepening the kiss.

Revulsion churned in her guts, how was he able to kiss her after lying about something that was far from the truth?! Was he that desperate to score more points than his brother?

She stilled herself, fervently waiting for him to stop: and when he did, she managed to shoot him a curious glare before morphing her face back into the loving wife of a loving husband act she was being coerced into playing. But her glare only needed up making Oscar smothering kisses all over her cheeks with the brightest smile she had ever seen on his face. Fake. all fake! She screamed internally.

"Woah....what else did I miss? In the space of what?...three months?" Zayne glanced at her with a frown etched on his face.

Oscar chuckled, "Three months is a lot of time brother, at least for us. I'm pretty sure it's the opposite for the moon goddess who decided to bless me with a mate, yet again."Zayne simply shrugged, crossing his hands against her chest, "Indulge me then."

"Certainly. But first, we have to go inside, I'm certain you must be tired and need to rest after such a long journey."

Zayne rolled his eyes, "Rest can wait, brother, I've had enough of it actually, starting from my suite in Vietnam down to when I booked a flight and even on my way down here after reaching the airport."Oscar's lips curled into a pensive 'oh' and then he added, "I insist that you must rest first, Zayne, and I'm sure Tallula is on the same page with me, right?" Oscar glanced her way.

Tallula gave a stiff nod of agreement, her ability to speak suddenly deserting her like the sun once it clocked 6 pm. The two exchanged furtive glances at each other before Zayne said, "I guess I'll be seeing more of her then." His words were far-fetched from the tone of his voice, he sounded displeased, like he wanted the total opposite.

And she couldn't blame him – her father was who was to blame for giving her out like a commodity to a man in rivalry with his twin brother. A pawn. That was what she was and she had long accepted her fate ever since the day she accepted to marry Oscar.

"Thank you Zayne." she managed to respond, casting her eyes on Oscar so she could worry less about the pain of having a cruel fate.

But to her surprise that wasn't all Zayne had to say, he shook her hand and said, "If that's the case, then you're welcome to the family, Tallula."A slight shudder iced her spine, momentarily freezing her. The sensation was foreign, yet somewhat familiar like her body had been subtly waiting for it. How was this possible? She had gloves on! the perfect size and fit, so what was this?

She looked at Zayne and their eyes locked. It looked like he, too, had felt the same shudder judging from how he held her gaze with both his brows raised so high.

She was unable to look away, slowly drowning in his eyes with his hand still holding onto hers, until Oscar cleared his throat which gave her the ability to look away. And Zayne too, his hand free fell from hers with a low grunt. A still silence descended upon the three of them until Oscar cleared his throat again, saying. "Let's go inside."

With that, Oscar began walking into the castle, his arms firmly interlocked with that of Tallula as if she had plans of disappearing and he was trying to stop that from happening. Zayne followed closely beside Oscar until they reached the brightly lit castle hall. Servants were already lined up in their numbers, including Mary who curtsied and gave her a warm smile.

"Welcome home, Alpha Zayne." Mary chanted. The rest of the servants followed suit almost immediately until soon enough, welcome greetings thundered in the walls of the hall. Zayne only nodded and just waved dismissively.

"Set the dining table, a welcome feast will be held by dusk for Zayne," Oscar commanded and the servants immediately scurried out, some whispering, some murmuring. Immediately the last servant was out of sight, Zayne turned to Oscar, "A welcome feast, really?" his voice had taken on a hard edge. "I thought we both agreed not to spend money or resources recklessly, especially since the pack's finances have been–"

"The pack's finances have been doing okay, Zayne!" Oscar retorted, his lips pursed. "I've made sure of that and many other of the pack's assets since you went on your adventure trip to different parts of the world. And besides, why sound like the feast is for some random stranger, not you?"

Tallula could only stare at the two brothers, watching them cast daggers at each other with their eyes. She felt the brewing hatred slowly rising between the two like she had been told by Mary, even though their conversation was just about the pack's finances. Zayne stayed silent. Seconds later, he brushed his hands through his hair, murmuring. "We haven't spoken in months Oscar, a feast really isn't what I want or want to hear, brother."

Oscar's eyes narrowed, he knew what Zayne meant but chose to feign ignorance. "Whatever you want to hear will happen after the feast...your feast, brother," he said.

Zayne tore his eyes away from Oscar and began strutting out, taking the steps that led to the royal quarters. But just as he got to the staircase railings he turned and said, a smirk pulling the corner of his lips up. "I'll be waiting then."