Chapter 80: The Friend Zone is Sexy

Clarice stood still, the small dart resting heavy in her trembling palm.

She stared at the brawl unfolding in front of her. The roars of her husband and the pained snarls of her firstborn son shook the very foundation of the garden.

She had to make a choice that no woman should ever have to make. She had to choose between her son and her husband...or, in the primal reality of a beastwoman’s soul, between her son and her fated mate.

Clarice closed her eyes for a second. She took a deep breath, steeling her resolve.

She gripped the dart tightly and rushed forward into the fray.

With a desperate cry, Clarice swung her arm down, stabbing the thick needle of the dart directly into the thick, black scruff of Beralt’s neck.

The Dreamy Kim worked terrifyingly fast.

Beralt let out a loud, confused yelp. He staggered backward, his massive black paws suddenly clumsy and uncoordinated. His movements slowed to a sluggish crawl. He turned his head to look back at his wife, his dark eyes wide with bewildered betrayal as his massive form began to rapidly shrink.

Beralt shifted back into his beastman form, collapsing onto the ruined grass.

Daemus, chest heaving and fur matted with blood, immediately shifted back as well.

Blair gasped, her hands flying up to cover her face, though her fingers splayed wide enough to peek through. Her face burned a brilliant shade of red.

Both men were completely naked.

They were both very muscled, panting, and covered in scratches and deep gashes from the fight. But as Blair watched, horrified and fascinated all at once, the shallow wounds on their bodies were already beginning to knit themselves back together, healing right before her eyes.

The absurdity of the situation struck her. Everyone in the garden except for her and Luna was naked, and no one seemed to care.

Clarice rushed to her husband’s side, dropping to her knees. She gently cradled Beralt’s head in her lap. The King didn’t speak; he just stared up at the shattered glass ceiling with a dazed, empty look in his eyes, completely lost to the potent drug.

"Leave us," Clarice ordered softly, not looking up at her son. Her voice trembled slightly with the weight of what she had just done. "We will talk about this in the morning."

Daemus didn’t say a word in response. He walked over to Blair and took her trembling hand in his.

Without looking back, Daemus led her away.

As they walked, Blair couldn’t help but steal a quick glance over her shoulder. Luna was already moving to help her mother lift the dead weight of the King. But the look on Clarice’s face... it was an expression of pure dread. Blair was dreading the morning, too, but Clarice looked like a woman who had just signed her own death warrant. She had betrayed her fated mate, and the consequences would undoubtedly be severe.

Out in the hallway, Kyana and her parents were huddled together. The moment Daemus walked out, naked and covered in drying blood, Yennifer and her husband practically scrambled aside, pressing themselves flat against the walls.

Blair kept her eyes glued firmly to the floor, praying for the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

Daemus stopped.

His silver eyes locked onto his ex-girlfriend.

Kyana’s eyes darted everywhere across his nakedness.

"I am telling you this again, Kyana," Daemus stated, his voice low and exhausted. "I am not interested in you."

Yennifer was quick to jump to her daughter’s defense. "How dare you!" the blonde beastwoman shrieked. "How dare you reject my daughter for a human!"

Daemus ignored her, keeping his focus solely on the younger ginger beastwoman.

"I will admit that I was a bad boyfriend to you," Daemus continued, his tone softening just a fraction. "But I want to make it absolutely clear. I never cheated on you."

He let out an exasperated sigh. "Kyana. Eyes up here, please."

Slowly, hesitantly, Kyana lifted her gaze. She met his intense, silver stare.

The moment their eyes locked, Kyana’s heart skipped a beat.

He was breaking up with her. He was standing right there, holding the hand of another woman. He was rejecting the future of their packs. And yet... her heart was beating so incredibly fast. The raw, alpha dominance radiating off him was intoxicating. She watched Daemus’s lips move, but the blood roaring in her ears made it almost impossible to register the words he was saying.

"We can be friends," Daemus offered softly. "If you want."

Kyana blinked, snapping out of her trance. A slow, gentle smile spread across her lips.

"Okay," Kyana agreed smoothly. "Friends."

Yennifer opened her mouth, her face purple with fury, prepared to unleash a tirade of insults upon the Wolf Prince. But Kyana gripped her mother’s arm firmly.

"Give it a rest, Mom," Kyana ordered quietly.

Daemus offered a small salute to Kyana. He turned and walked away down the hall, pulling Blair along behind him.

The second Daemus was out of earshot, Yennifer exploded.

"You idiot!" Yennifer screamed, slapping her daughter’s arm away. "What are you doing?! There is no wolf in this world better than Daemus! We even killed your fated mate so you could be with him! He is going to be the next Beast King, how can you just throw that all away!!"

"Calm down, Mom," Kyana commanded, her voice dropping into a deadly serious whisper. "Daemus and I will be together."

She took her mother’s trembling hands in her own and caressing them soothingly. "There is a very fine line between friends and lovers. I would get nowhere being his enemy right now."

Kyana smiled, a dark, wicked glint flashing in her eyes. "Don’t worry. I’ve got this."

She pulled her phone from her pocket. She tapped the screen a few times, sending the video she had secretly recorded of the royal family meltdown to her mother’s phone.

"I want you to share this with everyone," Kyana instructed coldly. "I need you to play the bad guy for a little while."

Yennifer looked down at the video playing on her screen. The anger melted from her face, replaced by a slow, sinister smirk.