The Broken Angel & Her Overprotective Brothers

"Why did you suddenly change your mind? Didn't you say that we will wait for the full moon night before merging these magical balls into my little treasures?" Emily asked as she watched Kaiden playing around with her spirit beasts.

Since the three snow foxes of hers mostly stayed inside their little magical realm, anyone around her barely got moments to spend with them, especially Kaiden. The only person other than her who had spent quality time with her spirit beasts was Shadow.

Besides, these little treasures of hers had grown up into big and strong foxes in the past couple of years. While Shadow was busy training her during her Academy years, he also made sure to train her spirit beats along with her. It was not only to make the three little treasures powerful and stronger but also to create a better understanding and bond between her and the three of them.

However, a spirit beast was considered nothing without spirit powers. From what Emily had learned, spirit beasts weren't born with spirit powers. That's why the elemental balls that Shadow had brought back with him were about to become the source of spirit powers of her spirit beasts.

What kind of spirit powers a spirit beast would possess solely depends on its master and their capabilities. Stronger the master and stronger their bond, the stronger their spirit beasts would be. 

Initially, Shadow told her that they would wait for the full moon night to merge the elemental balls into her spirit beasts otherwise it won't be easy to cast the spell. But now he had suddenly changed his mind, resulting in her current state of confusion.

When Emily got no response from Shadow, her attention shifted from Kaiden and her spirit beasts to the man who had been standing next to the huge window on the other side of the living room while he soaked the elemental balls into the moonlight. 

Standing up from the couch, she headed towards Shadow and came to stand beside him as she observed the slightly glowing elemental balls that the man was holding in his palm.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Are you... ignoring me?" She asked hesitantly when Shadow still refused to pay her any attention. He seemed too focused on the magical balls in his hand but at the same time, she felt like he was only pretending to be oblivious of her presence next to him.

Her words finally made Shadow turn his attention away from the magical balls. He looked at her while arching his left eyebrow as he asked, "Have I ever ignored you, Princess?"

"Mmhmm! You just did a couple of seconds ago." Emily blatantly answered while looking at him with a clean expression on her face.

Kaiden burst out into soft chuckles as he overheard their conversation but other than that he remained silent and continued to play with the spirit snow foxes.

Shadow passed a quick look in Kaiden's direction before he returned his attention to Emily. "I wasn't ignoring you. I was just trying to get some moonlight to penetrate these elemental balls."

Emily didn't believe him but she didn't pursue the matter anymore. Instead, she returned to her previous question. "So... Why the sudden change of plan?" She asked while pointing towards the elemental balls.

Shadow remained silent for a couple of seconds while he continued to stare at the shining balls before he finally responded to her question. "We don't really have to wait for the full moon night. As long as we can get enough moonlight to activate these balls, we can easily merge these with your spirit beasts." 

"Really?" Emily was still skeptical and for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to believe him. 

"Really. Don't worry too much about this. I and Kaiden will make sure that everything goes right tonight. We can't waste any more time if we want to stay a step ahead of our enemy." Shadow whispered back the reply as he closed his eyes for a couple of seconds and let out a deep sigh.

"Is something going to happen soon? Did you find out about something?" Emily found herself asking as the last sentence settled down in her mind, immediately making her think of those people who had been trying to catch her ever since she entered this city.

"Don't worry about these matters, Princess. There's nothing like what you are thinking. I just want you to start your practice as soon as possible but before that, we have to train your spirit beasts so that they can adapt to their..." Shadow trailed off when he suddenly found his face cupped between the warm palms of his Princess.

"What... What are you doing...?" He asked in a muffled tone while trying to get his face free from her hold. However, the young woman didn't budge at all. 

"Stop pretending and tell me what's going on with you. Why your eyes are taking over a dark shade? They are almost black. What's up with you all of a sudden?" Emily questioned as she became worried about the man who was also getting paler with each passing second.

This time, it didn't take Shadow even a second to get his face out of Emily's hold as he hurriedly turned away, covering his eyes with his hands.

Kaiden was beside them as soon as he heard about Shadow's changing condition. "Let me take a look." He said while trying to look at Shadow's face.

"Guys it's nothing. Don't overthink. Give me a moment and I'll be alright. This is probably because my powers are reacting with these elemental balls. It's nothing big..." Shadow tried to downplay the situation but, of course, it didn't work.

"Sire is like this because his hunger is getting out of control." A familiar voice suddenly spoke from nowhere and the very next second, the silhouette of a beautiful woman clad in all white robes appeared in the living room.

"Irene..." Emily recognized the woman as she had already seen her a few times in the past.. All that she knew about the woman was that she was one of the most trusted and loyal underlings of Shadow.