***Aubrey's POV***

I woke with sore calves, and aching feet. I hadn't danced like that, ever! It was so much fun. I can't wait to do it again.

"Good morning, sunshine!" Darius cooed.

"Mmmmm, good morning handsome." I hummed.

Darius had his arm around my shoulders and I was snuggled up to his side.

He bent down and captured my lips in his kiss.

"I have morning breath" I giggled while holding a hand over my mouth.

"Wolves don't get morning breath, silly girl" he chuckled.

He moved his fingers into my hair and dragged me on top of him, stealing my voice with his tongue.

When he pulled away, I leaned up to admire his blinding smile.

"I suppose wolves don't get morning wood either?" I cocked my brow at him.

He had a very noticeable tent pitched.

"Only when they have the sexiest creature to walk the earth laying on top of them" he winked.

"Then why are you hard?" I giggled.

"Aubrey, you are too humble." He laughed.

"I will take your word for it." I promised.

We laid there for a few minutes, him massaging my scalp with his fingers and me drawing lazy circles over his chiseled chest.

"What's the schedule today?" I asked.

"I have some cases to handle in the human realm." He said.

"What kind of cases?" I asked curiously.

He sighed deeply. "I have to punish the vile."

"What do you mean by punish?" I asked, concerned.

"Well, you know how you are the Angel of Compassion?" He started.

"You will bring much needed balance to my wrath." He continued.

"So I am Yin and you are Yang?" I guessed.

"Actually, that's a brilliant analogy." He congratulated.

"I am the Angel of Judgement. In the human world, as I am sure you are well aware, the justice system often fails. So it is my duty to give offenders appropriate consequences." He explained.

"Do you always hand out death sentences?" I questioned.

I knew he had to kill. I understood his position. But, I hated believing that he couldn't spare anyone.

"No, parvulus. Only when the crime is far too corrupt. If I come across someone who cannot be reformed, it is my job to stop their depravity." He qualified.

"You execute the serial killers, murders and pedophiles?" I asked.

"Yes." He stated.

"You said you kept an eye on me for the last 18 years, right?" I clarified.

"We all did." He confirmed.

"You knew what my sister's dad did, huh." I stated. It wasn't really a question.

"Unfortunately, we had our suspicions." Darius concurred.

"I figured." I sighed.

It was embarrassing to know that they had witnessed me being so weak. I wished for so long to be strong enough to fight him off.

"What is it you are thinking, my angel?" He worried.

"I wish you didn't know that." I cried.

"Why?" He begged.

"It's embarrassing." I admitted.

"Why?" He asked again incredulously.

"I didn't stop him." I confessed.

"Aubrey, look at me, now" he ordered softly.

I looked at his beautiful face and saw so many emotions: hatred, anger, rage, and most prominently adoration. The last one confused me.

"You should not have stopped him. He should never have touched you in any way other than love. He hurt you on every level. This is on him, not you." He chastised.

I stayed silent. I knew why he felt that way. But, I had a hard time not feeling guilty. Maybe I had done something to encourage it.

"You are not at fault. You were an innocent child. Ultor is upset that you are blaming yourself." Amare scolded me.

"It's hard not to feel guilty." I whispered.

Darius pulled me into his lap and looked into my eyes.

"Explain" he demanded.

"I always question when he decided he wanted me. What had I done to encourage him? Why did he choose me? I'm not feeling sorry for myself. I just wish I knew why." I wondered.

"You are guilty. You are guilty of having something that he wanted. Your innocence. He was a sick and disgusting human who envied something he had no right to desire. You need to understand that you did nothing to drive him to his lust. He was wicked. You were a child and he stole that from you." Darius was fuming.

"Okay. I promise I will try not to feel guilty." I promised.

I don't know if I'm capable of letting anyone shoulder the blame. I have always carried the brunt of the burden. It was my nature to overthink everything. I had a habit of scrutinizing myself.

"Baby, you are too good for your own good. I love that about you. I just can't watch you carry anxiety over things like this anymore. You are an angel, literally." Darius corrected.

"Did you just say you love me?" I smiled.

"I did. I do. I love you with my whole existence. You are everything that is right in my world. I can not begin to show you how much I love you." He confirmed.

"I love you! I love you! I love you!" I kissed him.

"Love yourself too, Aubrey. You are worthy. You are amazing. You deserve to love you." He encouraged.

"You make me believe that." I whispered.

"Good!" He awarded.

"Can I ask you a question?" I said.

"Anything" he promised.

"Did you punish him, my tormentor?" I questioned. I just needed to know.

"I did. After years of watching idly, the Deities finally gave me permission. But, I wasn't allowed to give him the death he deserved. I gave him cancer, so he still had time with Anya. I knew you cared deeply for her and I wanted to make you happy. He had to be punished. You understand that, right?" He explained.

"Thank you." I breathed.

"I'm sorry if I disappointed you." Darius apologized.

"No, I am not disappointed in you my handsome King. I am disappointed in him." I declared.

"When my mom brought him in to our lives, I saw a hero. I believed he would love us like his own children. I just knew he would take my mom's pain away. When he turned out to be anything but the savior we needed, I couldn't understand. I still don't. But, I forgive him. I can't imagine the demons that had free reign in his soul. I feel bad for him. He stole his own happiness with his sins." I bellowed.

"This is why you are a chosen one. You take all the hell and torture and turn it into something beautiful. You see everything for more than it appears. I am so proud to call you mine." He adored.

"I am the lucky one. I may have had a bad lot in my human life, but I would relive it every day to be where I am right now. You are my heart. I adore you. I have so much! I feel like I could never be deserving of the love and friendships I have found. I am blessed." I professed.

"Oh parvulus, you are the physical embodiment of Agape, the highest form of love. You are exceptional." He defined.

"You're bias" I teased.

"Maybe a little, but I recognize value." He crooned.

We got up and prepared for our day.

"I'm gonna train with Bryan, right?" I confirmed.

"Yes, but he will not hurt you." He comforted.

"I'm not afraid of Bry-Bry" I laughed.

Darius busted out laughing.

"Bryan is gonna lose his shit when you call him that." He cackled.

"I know!" I clapped my hands giddily and let out a wicked laugh.

"I wish I could see that." He gleamed.

"Oh, you will" I smirked.

I went to the closet and put on my Nike Pilates pants, a heavy duty sports bra and a running tank. Then I threw my hair into a messy bun and grabbed my socks and trainers.

***Darius POV**

This girl right here.... I swear to the goddess. Her ass looked so damn tempting in those spandex pants. I wanted to smack it, bite it and lick it.

"Baby, are you trying to get me to stay." I whined.

"Not on purpose, why?" Aubrey asked innocently.

"You're killing me sweetheart." I admitted.

"What did I do?" She asked.

"That ass tho, those pants just make me want to cuff you to the bed and bury my face between your legs." I purred.

"Cuffs? Hmmm. That could be fun." She hummed.

My dick was a fucking pillar of chromium.

I wanted to bury myself between her cheeks and make her moan my name.

"Time to go" she giggled.

"Yeah, this should be a brilliant day" I humphed.

"Stop whining, we can play later." She winked.

"Promise?" I begged.

"I'm yours!" She growled.

She was not helping my cause!

"MINE!" I roared before smashing my lips to hers.

I might have gotten a little aggressive. I tasted the sweet metallic minerals of her blood as my canines pierced her lip.

"You bit me!" She playfully shouted.

"Sorry" I fake apologized while grinning and rubbing the back of my neck.

"You look like a devilish teddy bear." She patted my cheek.

"I'm a wolf not a bear." I scowled.

"And I'm an Angel. But, I let you call me kitten." She reminded me.

"Let!" I scoffed.

She glared at me sexily and nothing innocent was racing thru my mind.

"Let's go before I ravage you." I warned.

"Promise!" She winked.

"You are my kryptonite." I kissed her.

<<<<<<<<<

We successfully, made it to the kitchen to grab breakfast. How? I'm not even sure!

Every bone in my body was begging me to claim her. She was just too fucking luscious.

"Bry-Bry" Aubrey squealed as she ran to him and hugged him from behind and kissed his cheek.

"Ugh" he rolled his eyes.

"Don't complain, you know you love me." Aubrey teased.

"What's love got to do with it?" Bryan whined.

"You don't see Jax whining" Aubrey stayed.

"Of course not Aubear!" Jackson laughed while kissing Aubrey's head.

I was amused. They loved each other so much.

"What's the commotion?" Ethan questioned, as he strolled towards the breakfast table.

"Bryan is being a crybaby" Jackson deadpanned.

"Oh? Is Bry-Bry upset?" Ethan mussed Bryan's hair.

"I can't fucking win!" Bryan cried.

"Nope" I said popping the P.

"Aubrey, did you know we used to call Ethan Chip-" Bryan started.

Ethan clamped his hand over Bryan's mouth in a blur.

"Ethan what are you scared of?" Jackson laughed.

"Don't!" Eathan begged.

"Chipmunk" I barked out with a laugh.

"Awe!!!" Aubrey squealed.

"My besties: Jax, Bry-Bry and Chipmunk" Aubrey cooed.

I was doubled over laughing at this point. Aubrey was riding their asses like a jockey.

"Stop laughing Sexy" Bryan ordered.

I rolled my eyes and glared.

"He sure is" Aubrey purred.

"Told you paybacks a bitch" Aubrey jeered.

"Remember that during training" Bryan pledged.

<<<<<<<

***Aubrey's POV***

Bryan wasn't kidding! He worked me like a mule.

He started off with a five mile run. Then we had to do an obstacle course. He made me weight train and stretch.

I was sweating profusely and I couldn't peel my shirt from my back.

When I thought he was done abusing my body, he made us practice tactical training.

He was a drill sergeant.

"Bryan" I pleaded.

"Oh now it's Bryan?" He smirked.

"I'm tired." I whined.

"We're just getting warmed up." He snickered.

"Please" I begged.

"Go get a shower Aubear, you reek." He chuckled.

"Thank you!" I jumped on his back and rubbed my sweat all over him.

"God you're such a brat." He swatted at me.

"I'm your brat tho" I laughed.

"Hurry up, I'm taking you for a massage." He promised.

"Really?" I squealed.

"Alpha's orders!" He admitted.

"God I love him!" I squealed.

"Aubrey?" Bryan asked seriously.

"What?" I asked confused.

"Does Darius know you love him?" He asked sheepishly.

"He told me this morning, and I reciprocated." I explained excitedly.

Bryan looked at me like I hung the damn moon.

"This is awesome." He stated excitedly.

"Bryan when you get your mate, she is gonna be one lucky bitch!" I cheered.

"You think so?" He asked seriously.

"I KNOW so!" I confirmed.

"Thanks Aubear." He hugged me.