Chapter 03

Zorina's POV

My palms slammed into the mud. I turned just in time to see one swipe it's tusk at me. Pain sliced across my arm.

I scrambled back, but they cornered me fast, forcing me against a tree bark. My back hit the trunk a little too hard, I choked out a gasp and dropped to my knees.

The boars closed in on me, their breaths steaming in the cold fog. 

The brown furred one lowered it's head, it's tusks poised for the final strike.

I tried to move, I really tried. 

But my limbs wouldn't respond fast enough. And so I closed my eyes, preparing to meet a death so brutal I had never envisioned it.

~

Blood dripped unto my skin, I couldn't see it yet, but I could smell it's texture. But it wasn't mine. A shriek, and then a clink, I opened my eyes and locked orbs with who was before me.

He had the semblance of a beast cloaked in human skin. Towering. Broad. Blood-slicked.

He had long, untamed black hair that fell like nightshade silk. His eyes were dark, but his irises glowed red with a light that didn't flicker.

Red, an unnatural eye colour that hinted at a distinct origin, especially in our world. A scar dragged down his left eye, rough and bold, carving into tanned skin that looked carved from stone.

But it wasn't just his appearance that shook me. It was the way he looked at me. It was the way he bent down to sniff me.

He held my head with his large callous palm and ran the bridge of his nose on my collarbone while I took in the scent of him.

"You are......." My eyes were wide, "My...mate."

I got up on my feet immediately, the forest itself seemed to disappear as I looked at him.

"Twenty five mateless years. seven mocked years and.... suddenly, in the middle of this empty space. I found you, just like that."

"The moon goddess has humour indeed." He responded, his voice sent vibrations throughout my body, it felt like I was staring at a shiny piece of sweet caramel. 

I observed his expression, he wasn't angry, he wasn't sad. It looked like he actually wanted me.

"You saved me from those boars.....thank you."

He nodded and stepped closer to me, grabbing my chin lightly and angling it to check for scratches.

"You are quite a sight for the eyes." He remarked. 

I knew he was complimenting my features, I had been complimented a lot, my reputation preceding me. But this compliment felt much more weighted. 

"You're not so bad.... yourself, Sir."

"Sir?" He cocked his brows, his fingers trailing my shoulder, inspecting my cuts thoroughly.

"Oh sorry, I...erm, it's...I was being official since I don't know you....."

"What's your name, mate?" 

My knees went weak as he intertwined his fingers with mine. Even if I was literally covered in boar blood.

"Z-Zorina" I cleared my throat, "Zorina Edgemont."

"My name is Lux Argevent, I am twenty seven, soon to turn twenty eight. I am the Alpha of Death's keep. A pack sealed off from beyond here."

It didn't really occur to me at first, but when it did I had to ask again.

"Death's keep, like THE death's keep. The one rumoured in myths?"

He shook his head with an amused grin, revealing his unnatural fangs.

"My pack is no myth. I assure you."

My fingers disentangled from his, I stepped back. Hit with a blow to the chest.

It explained his eyes, it explained his build, it explained his scent.

"You're, you're of forbidden descent aren't you?"

A sad smile formed on his lips. 

"I expected this reaction the moment I smelt you. You smell like someone who would naturally be from the other side of this terrain."

Not knowing what to say, I stood there in silence. The fog around me suddenly became thicker. The decapitated boars lay dead behind him, but something else was more haunting.

The fact that the moon goddess had further fucked things up for me.

My mate was half demon, Edgemont's saw half demons as outcasts. 

My father would never accept this. 

~

"Breathe,"

His hand was on my neck, urging me to breathe. We were in a secluded area, with less trees, less fog. It was a small lake, a calming place.

I had torn off the stained parts of my dress and washed my cuts clean in the lake.

He stole glances at me every now and then as we sat in silence, and I felt guilty because.....this bond wasn't.....it, it wasn't a bond my father or my people would be proud of.

Half of the people in Blade pack would be scared of him, they would fear him and.....that would be detrimental to our union.

"Are you considering rejecting me?" He mused, his chin resting lazily on his palm. 

My throat tightened. The word 'reject' hung heavy in the air,

I looked away, focusing on the ripple of the lake as my fingers trailed the surface. "It's not about you. I'm just weighing my options."

He chuckled lowly, the sound almost bitter. 

"But you aren't weighing them well. They're imbalanced and fueled by your worries."

I glanced at him. His expression was neutral, in thought.

"I've dreamt of you, you know," he said softly. "Before I even knew your name. I'd smell the fog and wonder if the moon was hiding something. Someone. You."

I swallowed hard. "You're everything my father's chatter warned me about."

"And yet here I am," he leaned forward, "not ripping your throat out."

I flinched.

"Sorry," he muttered, pulling back. "Bad joke. I've been alive long enough to know I'm the nightmare in every bedtime story. But you'll see me as more than that if you give me a chance to show you."

I hesitated, reaching for honesty. "You saved me. You didn't have to. And part of me...." I stopped, because saying part of me wanted to run into his arms felt like betrayal to my confused mind.

"I want to choose you," I finally admitted. "But those choices aren't just mine to make."

Lux stared at me for a moment, then slowly stood up. His shadow stretched behind him.

"Then I'll wait," he said. "Not because I have to, but because I want to. I want you to choose me, even if we are strangers."

He turned away, giving me his back for the first time since we met.

"I'll stay by the ridge tonight. If you come, I'll know you're ready. If not, I'll disappear before dawn."

He began to walk, then paused.

"Oh," he added without looking back, "don't bother lying to yourself. Your wolf already wants me."

And with that, he vanished into the trees.