The King's Return

22. I'VE MOVED ON

MAYA'S POV

It's been a long time since I heard that name. He gave me that name when I was a kid, mom told me that he never wanted to call me Maya but called me Amaya instead.

I loved the name, to say the least, Amira and Sebastían would tease me with it whenever Julían wasn't around. They could tell when I missed him.

I would deny it at first but I soon realised there was no use, I missed him and there was nothing wrong with that.

Ever since he rejected me, they stopped calling me by that name and I think they just didn't want to see me sad and I was grateful.

Every time I hear that name, Julían's absence becomes unbearable. I looked at Amira and she still wore that expression she was wearing when she said sorry.

She knew he was coming but didn't tell me. A little warning would have been nice, especially from my best friend.

"I was about to tell you that he is coming here, I swear. It's just that I wasn't expecting him to be here soon. When Sebastían told Logan, I wanted to come but I was also late for the party. I'm sorry."

It was like she could read what was going in my mind. Now that she is mentioning it, she did say that she wanted to tell me something before Julían showed up.

"I'm so sorry coming here unannounced Amaya. I know you don't want to see my face and I was hoping I wouldn't meet you like this. I'm sorry."

That voice usually made me do things that I didn't want to do but today, it has little to no effect on me. The keyword there being little, he will always have an effect on my body.

"Your sorry means absolutely nothing to me. I've moved on like you told me to so whether you apologise for coming here or not has nothing to do with me.

"I don't care if you come here any time you want because it has nothing to do with me and if you were hoping it would affect me then I'm sorry to disappoint you.

"I have a party to attend so if you'll excuse me..." I left them standing there and made my way to the entrance of the castle.

I'm not going to let him see how his rejection hurt me, I would rather die. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going so I bumped into someone.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't loo- Sebastían?" He looked so surprised that he saw me.

"Maya, hi."

"What are you doing here? I heard you're the king's prisoner but I didn't know royal prisoners attended royal parties." I fake smiled at him.

"Look, I know you're angry with me and I'm sorry. I know what I did was wrong and I'm already paying for it but please don't be upset with me for long. You and Mira are the only best friends I have."

"Are you being serious right now? Sebastían, you used me to get to Amira and you also hid the fact that Amira was angry at you because you decided you wanted to be more than friends with her.

"I helped you because I thought she was just busy to talk to you and I didn't think much about it. I don't even know why I forgave you in the first place."

"Look, stop blaming me for what happened between you and my brother. He made the decision on his own, I wasn't part of it. I know that since he is here you're going to be angry at me again. I shouldn't suffer for my brother's actions."

There is no use talking to this guy. Even now he still thinks I was angry at him because of what his brother did. I was making peace with the fact that Julían rejected me but he came and gave me hope, making me believe that Julían was going to come back to me.

"Look, I didn't invite my brother here. He just wanted to see me and I couldn't lie to him when he asked me if you are here or not.

"And as for the party, I asked His Majesty if I could attend since my brother is coming here and he agreed. I promised Julían that I wasn't going to get into trouble here and if he learns that I caused trouble, he's going to kill me."

I couldn't argue with that, Julían hates people who break their promises and his trust. It has been like that ever since I could remember.

Sebastían is stupid though if he thinks Julían will not find out what he did. Julían knows that Sebastían, Amira and I have been inseparable ever since we were kids.

He will know eventually and I know Amira is very bad at pretending, she won't be able to pretend as if everything is going well between the three of us. I'm not going to pretend as well.

"If your brother wants to kill you, there's nothing I can do to help you. It is a family matter and you will resolve it as a family, leave me out of it." I fake smiled at him again and left.

I've had enough of these two brothers for the day, I don't want to talk to either of them.

I have a party to enjoy!

AMIRA'S POV

I have to give it to my friend, she can handle herself pretty well. I was scared she would be too upset when she sees Julían here and go back to her room and cry herself to sleep.

I have been replaying Julían's shocked expression when she gave him a piece of her mind. I could tell that he wasn't expecting her to be brave like that when she saw him.

Maya has always been a different person in Julían's presence. She would do things we never knew she could do and would always put him first, before anything else.

She didn't know where the world start or end whenever he was around and it has always annoyed me. Sometimes I would even wish I was a boy and also older than him so that I could beat the hell out of him.

Funny I know but it's true. I know he didn't ask Maya to be like that but I still hated that he could do that to her and none of us knew they were mates since Julían never said anything until Maya found out for herself the day she shifted.

What made the situation even worse was that he knew that she was his mate before Maya could even walk or talk.

I still don't know why he rejected her though and I don't think anyone knows except for him because even Maya doesn't know.

I don't think it is because he doesn't love her. Julían loves Maya, maybe even more than how Maya loves him and that says a lot.

Maybe the age gap is the reason, I will never know.

"I'm sorry for everything. I think coming here was a mistake. Tell Amaya that I'm sorry and Bastían too, I don't think I'll be able to see him." What?!

"And where do you think you're going?" He was making his way back to the car. "Don't tell me that you're chickening out, Mr Martínez." He stilled for a moment and then turned back.

"What do you mean?" He furrowed his brows.

"Don't play dumb with me Julían. You think I'll buy the story of you coming here to see your brother? Please, I may be young but I'm not stupid."

"I still don't get what you mean."

"You didn't take a flight all the way from Spain to England, Manchester to be more precise because you wanted to see your brother. You came here for her."

"She doesn't me here and I'm not going to provoke her by staying. I've done a lot as it is and I won't be able to live with myself knowing she is upset because of me.

"What I want is nothing compared to what she wants and I know right now that she doesn't want to talk to me or see my face so I'm going to make things easier for her, I'll leave." Men!

"If you weren't older than me I would've said you're an idiot." He seemed surprised that I said that. "This is not the first time you're doing exactly the opposite if what Maya wants.

"First, you didn't tell her that you're mates. You waited for her to shift so that she could find out which was selfish if you ask me.

"Second, you rejected her the moment she came to you. You have no idea how happy she was when she realised you were her mate, she couldn't wait for you to come back from work.

"She kept telling herself that maybe you had your reasons for not telling her the truth and that no matter how betrayed she felt, she would give you the opportunity to explain why you did that.

"I thought she was crazy, I kept telling her that you weren't worth it and she wanted to eat me alive. You hurt her the same day she found out the truth.

"You're doing the same right now. Maya has worked so hard trying to forget you but even after all this time, she isn't able to do that." And I don't think she ever will.

"I don't want to cause her any more pain than I had already. I'm done hurting her."

"If you leave right now, you'll be doing the opposite of what you just said." He looked like he was in deep thoughts before he looked at me again.

"I know you're doing what you think is the best for Amaya and me but I think it is better if I go to a nearby hotel until she cools down." Is he being serious? To prove his point, he walked towards the car.

"Julían Martinez, I swear to the Moon Goddess, if you move an inch more..." I stopped talking when he turned back to look at me. His eyes were full of surprise.

"You're mated to the king..." He looked at me curiously and then when his eyes went to my neck, I knew what he was looking for. Logan's mark.

"You're not bearing his mark and yet you're already almost as powerful as him. I was wondering how you became so bold when talking to me but now..."

What does he mean by that? How can I be powerful like Logan? We haven't mated yet and I have never known that a king's mate can acquire some of his power let alone be considered just as powerful as he is.

"Amor." I felt his presence before he spoke. He wrapped his hands around my waist and planted a kiss on my right cheek. "You're okay?"

"Your Majesty." Julían bowed his head acknowledging him.

"Who are you?" From the sound of his voice, he hated that Julían was talking to me.

"Julían Martinez." He kept his head down and I know Leo was making him do that because this is not the Julían I know. He is not an arrogant asshole but this is not him.

"Ah... So you're Julían." He looked at me and smiled.  When I told him about Maya and Julían, he volunteered to find a dress for Maya which was almost similar to mine.

When I asked him why he did that, he merely told me that Julían would have to be a fool to not notice how happy she is in her life without him and that he wanted to see how jealous he's going to be when others set their eyes on her for the rest of the party.

I have to give it to him, he knows what he is doing because I've seen how Julían looked when he saw Maya.

"You're welcome to my pack. You're Sebastían's brother and since he is our guest, that makes you our guest too.

"I will have someone prepare a room for you. We have many free guest rooms in the castle, you can choose any room you want.

"Meanwhile, there's a party inside, so you can enjoy yourself for a while. Excuse us." He led me back inside.

"What are you planning, my king." I hate that mischievous smile on his face because it means he is up to something.

"What are you talking about Amor? I'm just happy today, it's my little brother's birthday after all." He kept smiling.

"Why not give him a room in the pack house?"

"Where your friend stays?" He stopped walking and looked at me.

He's right, it's a bad idea. I still don't understand why he was smiling though.