Chapter 1361: Family and Rivalries

Soraya’s attitude toward Roxanne, the Goddess and Cassiopeia differed slightly.

She respected them with the deep instinctive regard of a younger sister who understood exactly which women she probably should not treat and regard casually but with the deepest respect. She could tease Cassiopeia, certainly, because apparently nobody connected to Phei escaped that forever, but when any of those women became serious Soraya listened.

Cassiopeia had been particularly surprised by it.

Among Phei’s women, she was still his slave. Some were kinder about it than others, some barely cared about the distinction at all, but the position remained there, understood even when nobody bothered saying it aloud.

Soraya had never treated her that way.

From the beginning, she had treated Cassiopeia with the sincere respect of a younger woman toward an older sister, listening when she spoke, rarely questioning her and carrying that almost instinctive refusal to defy, disrespect or look at her the way others did.

Cassiopeia had found the whole thing strangely endearing.

It had caught her off guard at first.

Eventually, it had simply made Soraya very easy to love.

It had not taken long before Soraya became one of Cassiopeia’s favorites.

And because Cassiopeia and the female Demon had grown almost inseparable lately, being adopted by one had somehow meant being adopted by the other.

That was why all three women stood together tonight with an ease that made their strange little grouping look as though it had existed much longer than it actually had.

There was, however, one woman Soraya absolutely could not stand even though all others were her sister.

Victoria!

Unfortunately for her, Soraya stood directly in front of her.

Soraya was taller, which meant Victoria’s view kept falling onto the other woman’s exposed back every time she looked forward. The dress Soraya had chosen was long and elegant from the front but plunged deeply across the back, leaving nearly everything between her shoulders and lower back bare while still keeping the rest of her figure covered beautifully.

That exposed skin displayed something Victoria had spent the last two weeks becoming increasingly convinced was personally mocking her.

Phei’s Harem Mark!

Everyone knew what the intricate tattoo-like pattern represented. It spread elegantly across Soraya’s back, beautiful enough that even people who knew nothing about its purpose might have mistaken it for deliberate body art, while those who did know understood exactly what kind of connection it represented.

Soraya had made absolutely no effort to hide it.

In fact, Victoria suspected showing it off had become an agenda!

Every time Soraya shifted, the Mark seemed to have moved too subtly if anything with the muscles beneath her back, catching light differently and somehow becoming even more noticeable. Victoria had long since decided a tattoo should not possess the ability to look smug, yet there it was managing the impossible.

Soraya did not need to turn around to know Victoria was looking—

—that tiny curve that kept appearing at one corner of her mouth was enough.

Nastya, standing near Victoria, narrowed her eyes almost in solidarity.

A little farther away, Delilah looked toward Amber and Yuki. Amber returned the look first, Yuki followed, and all three shared the same helpless expression belonging to people watching an argument that had technically stopped but had not remotely ended.

Delilah still did not truly understand why Victoria and Nastya disliked Soraya so much.

Soraya was almost infuriatingly sweet when people were sweet to her.

She cared easily, defended people she cared about —namely Phei’s whole harem and the close family—instinctively and rarely started trouble without being given a reason. The original problem had simply been that she and Noor had gotten into Phei’s harem too easily.

One meeting.

That was essentially all it had taken.

Noor and Soraya had met him once on the shoot as his makeup artist and designer and somehow walked away already sliding naturally into his life, while Victoria’s first attempt at forcing things had nearly gotten her frozen to death. Her history with Phei made everything worse because she had once been someone who tormented him, and unlike Soraya or others, she could not simply erase that past by wanting him now.

All Victoria had needed was patience.

She had needed to soften herself, stop pushing every interaction and allow Phei to slowly become comfortable with the idea that she might someday be one of his women instead of someone trying to force herself into a future she had not yet earned are everything she’d done to him.

But Noor and Soraya had effectively skipped the entire queue.

The difference had been glaring enough to hurt.

But Noor’s quiet personality meant Victoria’s irritation rarely found much resistance there, but Soraya had absolutely refused to stand around being treated as though she had committed some unforgivable crime merely because Phei happened to accept her quickly.

Victoria made one comment against her and Soraya answered. Nastya joined Victoria and Soraya answered them both.

Before anyone understood how it happened, the disagreement had evolved into an ongoing rivalry between Soraya and the two princesses, while Noor escaped most of it because Soraya kept dragging every attack away from her friend.

Even tonight, the rivalry remained alive enough that people could practically feel it whenever Soraya and Victoria ended up within several meters of each other.

Roxanne noticed Delilah watching and leaned closer. "Don’t worry. They’ll outgrow it eventually. Some of the best friendships start with rivalry."

She glanced toward Melissa while saying it, and Delilah immediately caught the implication.

"They better," Delilah whispered back, fighting a smile. "Because your daughter and Maddie are eventually going to kick Victoria’s ass if she keeps antagonizing Soraya."

Roxanne did not disagree.

It did not matter that Sierra and Maddie had known Victoria considerably longer or if she was Melissa’s daughter and Delilah’s sister or Sienna. Soraya was Phei’s woman now, which made her their sister too, and both women had already made that position painfully clear to Victoria and Nastya—

If Soraya started something herself, that was one matter; which she never did—

If the two princesses continued poking her and expected everyone to side with them simply because of some old relationships, they were going to be disappointed.

Family had changed around Phei.

Blood had stopped being the only thing deciding who belonged to where.

Jade standing next to Lydia had heard enough of the whispered conversation from nearby to laugh softly, prompting Amber and Yuki to glance toward her before sharing their own amusement.

"It is funny," Amber admitted quietly.

Yuki nodded. "Mostly because they’re obviously going to end up friends."

The Origin Elf, standing near enough to hear them, looked less convinced. She still struggled to understand why anyone willingly entered these ridiculous rivalries over that cruel Dragon in the first place. From her perspective, Phei already had far too many women and somehow continued relationships without any of them showing any concern for the logistical nightmare involved.

The Flower Elf beside her found the entire thing significantly more entertaining and had been smiling on and off for most of the evening.

Among the men, Landon, David and Brian stood together near them was the Dragonkin and the male Elf, creating perhaps the most ordinary-looking section of the gathering until someone actually considered who was standing there.

The Moon Elf nearby looked almost painfully elegant in comparison. His long white hair had been tied back into a ponytail, fully revealing his elongated ears and refined features, while pale flowing robes descended from his shoulders in long graceful layers. His hands rested clasped behind his back, with his posture so straight enough that Landon occasionally looked toward him and seemed to reconsider whether he should be standing with more dignity himself.

The teenager never actually did anything about it.

Amongst Phei’s women stood other women; Rhea, Sharon and Halsey; Brian’s women with Cherry, Savannah (Savannah is David’s woman don’t forget) and Seraphine nearby.

Seraphine remained slightly quieter than the others, her stillness carrying that peculiar predatory refinement Vampires possessed even when they were doing absolutely nothing threatening.

The Undead Queen was conspicuously absent.

Nobody appeared especially surprised.

Dravenna stood nearer to the enormous glass wall than most of the others, dressed with her usual effortless elegance while one hand rested loosely around the opposite wrist. Her jade eyes had repeatedly drifted toward the night outside, though she had spoken considerably less than normal since entering.

That alone made several people suspicious.

Dravenna almost always had something to say.

Tonight, however, she seemed content allowing Melissa to occupy the center of things. Perhaps she understood better than most what Phei’s absence had felt like for the woman carrying his child, or perhaps she had simply decided that when he arrived, Melissa deserved to be the first person his eyes found.

Outside the towering glass walls, Paradise Island glittered beneath the night. Lights traced roads, villas, gardens and distant towers, while the dark water surrounding the island reflected broken pieces of gold from the city. Faint clouds moved lazily beneath the stars, and from this height the entire world below looked peaceful enough to have forgotten how many monsters currently lived inside it.

Melissa’s fingers tightened slightly around Maya’s hand.

Maya looked up at her.

Melissa gave her a reassuring smile, although Maya understood how carefully that calm had been assembled.

Two weeks should not have felt this long.

Yet there was another reason tonight felt different.

Something within Melissa’s connection to Phei had changed since Sienna had left.

There seemed to be more of him somehow, an added depth she could sense without understanding. The connection felt heavier, richer and strangely distant even though Sienna had assured everyone Phei was already returning.

Melissa did not need explanations right now.

She simply wanted him home.

The Maya’s eyes suddenly shifted toward the windows before she looked at Melissa. "He’s coming."