MELINDA’S POV I sat on the floor, blinking my eyes in utter confusion. One moment we were in that gloomy, stingy cell and the next, I was here in this weird-looking cave with pillars that looked like they were made of glass. What just happened?I groaned, stretching my limbs. Why did my arms and legs feel so weak, as if every part of my body had been broken and restructured again?Looking around, my gaze landed on the girl, who was sprawled across the floor. She had passed out again, but a bit of color had returned to her face, making her look better. Crawling closer, I patted her face, “Hey… Are you okay?”Her chest heaved as she sucked in a deep breath through her mouth. Her eyelids fluttered and a single word left her chapped lips. “Water…”I licked my dry lips and swallowed; her mention of water flaring my own thirst. Getting to my feet, I looked around. Where was I going to find wat
Melinda’s POV “I think someone is here….” Oleander said, her body becoming fully rigid. She grabbed my hand, prepared to teleport us again. This was when I was hit with the familiar scent of lemon and mint.“It is my mate, Keith.” I said, extracting my hand from hers. “We are safe now.”There was a soft whoosh behind me. When I turned around, I found that Oleander had already disappeared. I had heard that witches don’t meet others unless absolutely necessary. Probably that was true.“Melinda,” Keith’s surprised voice echoed in the cavern, making my stomach twist into a knot. It had been so long since I saw him face to face. My heart thrummed erratically as I turned around and raised my head slowly to look at him; afraid that my heart would explode due to the impact.His face washed over with relief and his eyes sparked with joy, “Melinda, I have finally found you.” Rushing over to me, he grabbed me by my shoulders; his eyes raking over me from top to bottom. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
Melinda’s POVCrash! At some point, the door to my bedroom was slammed open. My gaze lifted to the doorway in hope. However, the next instant that hope was crushed when I saw Kain instead of Keith.Don’t get me wrong. I know Kain did this because he was worried about me. But, at this point, this wasn’t what I needed. What I craved was for a little understanding on Keith’s part.If he had just given me a chance to explain rather the outright judging me, I would have been content. I would have still chosen to keep Kramen’s action a secret and accept his hatred. But, I wouldn’t have felt so shattered.“Melinda…” Kain’s agonised voice fell in my ears. “Please, let me take wash and clean your wounds.”“Go away, Kain….” I rolled on the bed and turned my head to the other side. “I want to stay alone.”“I am sorry, Melinda.” He said in an obstinate voice as he scooted over and gathered me in his arms. “I can’t leave you like this.He carried me to the bathroom and set me under the shower, tur
Kramen’s POV Faster, faster… even faster…. I drove myself to increase my speed with every leap I took; probably in an attempt to outrun the grief that was threatening to consume me.My lungs burned due to lack of air and the muscles in my legs ached, yet I forced myself to accelerate further. I wanted to run fast enough to blur all my memories and erase all my thoughts.I had barely run a couple of miles when Thud! I slammed into the trunk of some wild tree. Pressing my palm against the rough bark of the tree, I bent over in an attempt to catch my breath.“She miscarried. I am sorry to say that the baby is gone.” The healer’s words flashed in my mind, squeezing my heart painfully.A deep, agonised growl erupted from my chest and I punched the trunk of the tree as hard as I could. The trunk creaked with the impact.The bones in my fist cracked, sending a sharp pain shooting through my shoulders. Clenching my jaws, I punched the trunk again and again. The pain searing through my arms a
CMelinda’s POV The chilly winds blew softly; hitting me with cold gusts as I walked along the garden. The icy sting of the wind numbed my body, reducing the ache in my heart to a dull throb.I blew into my cupped hands and rubbed them together. The relationship I shared with the triplets was forced by the hand of fate. There was nothing we could do out of our free will. We couldn’t even reject each other. This was probably the reason it bred distress and pain, instead of love and joy.Oleander’s words played in my head, “Going through a rejection is heart breaking. It leaves a void which never gets filled. Do you think any female will have the courage or tenacity to go through three rejections? You tell me. Do you have the courage to endure something like that?”From the time I had found out, I had three mates; my life had turned into a pit of fire, in which I was supposed to burn eternally. My eyebrows furrowed, and I rubbed the back of my neck thoughtfully. Could going through thr
Melinda’s POV “It’s just a drink.” Keith said as we walked along the path leading to the patio in the backyard. “We can as well have it inside the house. Why bother go so far?”“Please, Keith….” I said, drawing in a shaky breath. “Give me a bit of your valuable time.” My steps faltered, and I turned to look at him. “This is the last time. I promise I won’t bother you in the future.”“Do whatever you want,” he snapped, turning to look away again. There was a certain sting in his voice. “It is not like you will listen to me.”“Keith…..” Tears welled in my eyes and my voice got a bit choked. “Can I hold you hand?”He didn’t say anything but his fingers clenched into a tight fist in response. It was then I noticed the heavy bandage, “What happened to your hand?”“Nothing,” he replied a bit too quickly. Moving to my other side, he held out his left hand. “You wanted to hold my hand right.”“Hmm…” I ducked my head to hide the tears trickling down my cheeks. Biting my lower lip, I placed my
Keith’s POV My eyebrows furrowed as the stringent scent from the wine hit my nostrils. It seemed vaguely familiar, but where had I smelled it before? Clicking my tongue, I commented, “This smells very different.”“Does it?” Melinda poured some wine into the other goblet hurriedly and took a sip. “It tastes fine to me….”Seeing her flustered expression, I realised that she was the one who had spiked my drink.‘Seems like our mate wants the rejection to go smoothly, Jake.’ I projected my thoughts to my wolf. ‘She even drugged us…’‘So, what are you going to do?’“What am I going to do?’ I picked up the glass and downed the contents of the glass in a single draught. ‘I will give her what she wants.’‘Are you sure?’ Jake’s hesitant voice sounded in my head. ‘You know you will die once she rejects you, right?’‘I know…’ I picked up the bottle of red wine and gulped it down. ‘Since Melinda doesn’t want us and our baby is gone, there is no reason left to live, anyway.’‘But, you can try to
Melinda’s POV “Keith….” I whispered, raising my fingers to brush the surface of the cold mirror. I had thought that I would stop missing Keith after rejecting him, but… he still occupied my every thought.Even now, while I was looking at myself, I could only think about Keith, the way he looked at me when I asked him to reject me, his smoldering gaze when I climbed into his lap and kissed him.The good memories hurt because they stirred a deep longing within me and the bad ones hurt because of the stabbed me. A shaky breath left my lips. That is how it was probably going to be for the rest of my life.Drawing in a deep breath, I adjusted my hair and applied a bit of makeup. Today, I was going to compel Kain into rejecting me. But, before that I wanted to do something for him. I could never repay him for the warmth he had shown me, but I wanted to leave him with a pleasant memory.Pulling out my phone, I texted Kain, ‘Meet me at the Pergola in thirty minutes. I have a surprise for you