The Crown's Entrapment

Clara didn't know what else even happened after that one kiss. Her body tingled all over, and there was that undeniable feeling of fulfillment and longing overtaking her senses.

Everything else mattered little to her. All that did was that Gilas was currently walking beside her, his hand wrapped around hers as they toured the small square where the festival was taking place.

[You're even holding hands with him now?!] Sheba joyously laughed. [Seriously, can you even tell me that you don't like him?]

[It just feels natural in a place like this,] Clara weakly scoffed, her cheeks still red from the rush of emotions still running through her nerves. [It's just platonic hand holding. Nothing more, nothing less.]

[How can you deny him even now?] her wolf laughed at her. [With every second that you're holding his hand, the more we're starting to feel the Mate Pull between us. And here I thought you said you didn't want that Pull to dictate your senses.]

Clara inwardly bit her tongue in begrudging acceptance. There was no use anymore. As much as she'd like to say otherwise, she was really enjoying the feelings currently running through her chest. It felt fulfilling... endearing... It was as if she was being made whole from being incomplete, and she didn't even know that was the case before they met.

"What do you want to do, Clara?"

She was taken out of her musings when Gilas suddenly turned to ask her something. Still, as much as she wanted to avert her gaze, she couldn't help but notice his handsome face and the sensation of their hands holding through the cold winter night air. They were sharing a bit of body heat that way, and it was very distracting for her reasoning.

"I... I thought you had something planned for us," Clara meekly replied.

"Well, I did, but letting you see the paper lanterns was as far as that plan went," Gilas admitted with a chuckle. "We're kind of free for the rest of the night."

Clara blinked, her mind too busy trying to reset itself before she replied. "How about some souvenirs then?"

"And food as well," Gilas finished her thought, having caught her drift as he pondered. "We still have dinner for later, but we can sample a few dishes here and there."

Nodding, Clara let Gilas lead the pace as they went from stall to stall, buying a few knickknacks on some while also sampling some street food from the others. It was like a carnival. Then again, they were in the middle of a festival. She really should've expected something like this to happen.

"Oh, what's that?"

Clara quickly turned to where Gilas was pointing, noticing the rather busy stall by the side of the road. There were many people lining up for it, and from what she could see, it was some kind of game where the challengers would have to shoot down a paper lantern to receive a prize.

"That... looks like an archery range to me," she nonchalantly replied.

"Exactly," Gilas grinned. "And I just so happen to be beside the best archer currently in this town."

She blushed at his words, the compliment to her skill somehow having the same effect as him complimenting her looks. Still, he had touched on her pride as an archer, and she knew she just had to prove his words right.

"I'll take that as a yes to you participating in the booth then."

Her eyes widened. How did he-

"You look cute with that look of determination on your face," Gilas smirked. "And you do know that we already have a Bond between us, right?"

"O-Oh..." Clara blushed. Had her control slipped again for the wall between them to go down? "I guess I forgot..."

"It's fine," he chuckled. "Let's go clean that stall out then."

Once more, Clara found herself being dragged along for the ride as Gilas took her to the archery stall. There, she saw the numerous prizes up for grabs, including a massive plushie that just screamed at her to come and take it.

"Here. I already paid for it."

She blinked as her mate gave her a loaded bow. It hadn't even sunken in yet that she was doing this, and yet here he was dictating her actions.

Somehow, she didn't mind it one bit.

"Not even a warning, huh," Clara chuckled as she drew the bow with a swift motion. "Watch and learn..."

With a deep breath, she aimed her shot and struck true. Her arrow flew swiftly, hitting the target right in the bullseye.

"We have a winner!"

Again, Clara didn't even know what was happening when Gilas pulled her closer to his side. He then gave her the massive plushie, forcing her to hold onto it with both arms as they quickly moved away from the stall.

"What... What just happened?" she couldn't help but ask.

"We were getting swarmed," Gilas explained. "And you looked overwhelmed all of a sudden. I just thought that you were getting uncomfortable under all of that attention."

Huh?

Clara frowned as she turned to look back at the stall. Sure enough, a lot of people were cheering for her success, and some of their questions about her skill were even audible to her despite their considerable distance.

"Are you alright?"

Clara quickly nodded. "Y-Yes..."

She couldn't help but let out a small sigh. She didn't even notice all of those people cheering for her back there. Their voices didn't even register. In fact, the only voice she heard back there was...

"Say, shouldn't we get Mother a gift from the festival?" she voiced out.

"I suppose you're right," Gilas nodded at her with a smile. "Thank you for reminding me."

And just like that, she felt her chest tighten as Gilas talked to her with that amazing voice of his. She was pretty sure she didn't think that way of his tone back then, but now...

Even as they turned to another stall to buy Shila a gift, her gaze was trained solely at Gilas. His voice echoed between them as he talked to the stall vendor, and it was the only thing in the world she could focus on right now.