Mate. The word had clanged through him the moment her scent of jasmine had reached his nostrils, cleaving right through the grief and anger that had been eating away at him. The witch’s daughter was his mate. And she didn’t know or suspect anything. It brought a lot of things into question. What was a wolf doing in a horde of witches? Did she really know nothing of it or was she as deceitful as the other witches?
He had seen her bright eyes of turquoise blue. There was only stark clarity in them. She had not known what she was, or who he was to her. He had seen her confusion and he had known the moment she dismissed it, choosing instead to speak to him.
He couldn’t tell if it was a blessing or a curse, but he knew one thing for sure. He would never be with her. He would reject her the moment he got out of this cage. But he needed her now. She was the daughter of the Head Witch.
If anyone could help him escape from this miserable place, it would be her. He had seen the wariness in her gaze last night. She would not fall for his tricks so easily. She seemed bright enough and strong-willed.
Convincing himself that it was all for the greater good, he made a decision. He would use the mate bond to his advantage and coax her into setting him free, as well as his men. He would do whatever was necessary to get back to his pack. He would do whatever it took to give Ulrich a fitting burial, even if it meant spinning lies and deceiving her.
And she would believe him because he was her mate. She would never understand it, but she would succumb easily to his lies. Zayn didn’t care what that made him. A monster, one might call him. Good. For Ulrich, for the men he had led to death, for the pack he had to get back to, he would be the monster.
*****************
“What’s it like outside the mountains? I have never left the enclave,” Aerona said, toying with her braids. For three nights, she had snuck out of her room to meet him. She had no idea why she couldn’t stay away from him. Perhaps, it was his eyes.
He didn’t look at her like everyone else. He didn’t look at her like she was an outcast. He didn’t look at her like she didn’t belong.
When their eyes met, she felt like she finally understood the word ‘home’. He gazed at her as if he knew her like he could see through her exterior, down to rock bottom where she had shoved her most painful thoughts and experiences. He had listened through her deepest, darkest thoughts, and he had smiled, utterly amused.
She marveled at his musical laughter that bounced off the walls whenever she spoke. He found her amusing. He liked her company, she could tell by his rare smiles and the way his eyes lit up when she beamed at him.
“Perhaps, I will take you with me when I leave here,” he said and Aerona’s smile faltered at the sadness that flickered in his eyes. She wanted to help him reunite with his pack and family. She didn’t know much about him yet, but she really wanted to help.
Her lips pursed and she surged forward, holding the bars of his cell. “Perhaps, I could help you speak to mother. She will listen. But you must promise to apologize for what you have done and—“
She paused when she noticed the hardening of his eyes and the clenching of his jaw. He would never apologize to her mother. He would never plead his case. She understood that. He had lost too much in that battle to let it go.
But she knew Celeste. The only reason why she had left the man in the cage was that she wanted him to understand the gravity of what he had done. Her mother would set him free only after he had apologized to the community of witches and swore an oath never to attack them again.
She needed to get through to him to make him understand. She reached for his hand that was a few inches away from her and she jerked at the impact of their skins touching. It was like touching an electric eel. It zapped her, straight to her core and she backed away from him, eyes wide with confusion.
“Did you feel that?” she whispered, eyes searching his.
Rather than respond to her, he straightened, rising to his full length. Instinctively, she rose too, tipping her head back to truly look at him. He was several feet taller and more imposing. He stopped shy of the barricade and when his eyes dropped to her lips, her tongue darted out instinctively to moisten it.
His eyes followed the movement, and she could swear it began to glow with iridescent light. “Ari,” he muttered softly, reaching through the bars to cup her cheek. His touch sent delicious tingles through her and she held her breath when he leaned closer.
She wished the useless barricades were gone. She wished to touch him and understand what the texts said about being loved by a man. She was untouched. He was the first man who had touched her this way, and the only one who made her breath catch.
Butterflies scattered in her belly, causing her stomach to squeeze tightly as his warm breath tickled her skin. Heavens, she could die happily like this. Being touched by him was bliss. She wanted more. Needed more. She wanted his lips in places she didn’t know existed.
She ached and hungered for this man in a way that was beyond sanity.
“Zayn,” she whispered, rising on her toes to inch up to him.
His head lowered until their noses were touching. Aerona wasn’t sure she was breathing anymore. Her whole world was at a standstill, waiting for the touch of his lips against hers. Even the air had paused to bear witness to it.
Lower, his head dropped, avoiding the bars of the cell and her eyes shuttered as his lips drew nearer. She would have this. She could have this. She wasn’t betraying anyone by kissing him. She could—
Zayn pulled back from her so suddenly, it took a few seconds to wrap her head around it. She swallowed painfully as he said, “I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry. You should leave. I will consider what you have proposed. Thank you.”
He turned from her, dismissing her, and she stood there, aghast.
When she had gathered enough sense of self, she stormed away from the dungeon without a single word.
“Do not mention this again, Aerona!” her mother yelled and Aerona winced from the high-pitched tone. Celeste rarely raised her voice at Aerona. It was a first, and Aerona very well knew she had earned it. Even if Zayn was such an ass, she would try her best to get him out of the dungeons, and back to his home. He had said he was sure they had attacked his home in the passing, and it was why he had marched upon their enclave with his men. And she could understand that. She couldn’t imagine what she would have done had she been in the same situation. If she had a family somewhere out there—her true family—and she got wind that they were in harm’s way, she would go to the ends of the earth and back to get them back. “Mother. . .” Aerona drawled in a manner that usually worked when she needed something from Celeste, but the hardness in Celeste’s eyes didn’t crack a tiny bit. It remained, and Aerona feared that even she wouldn’t be able to move her mother. “He really i
If she had, then Aerona was a fool. He wasn't going to feel guilty for what he was planning, not now, not ever. His pack had not only lost women but men. Trusted warriors, friends and family.The witches of Earlham were going to pay with more than their lives. With rage controlling his senses, he walked past his bedroom, and into the open meeting hall in his chambers, and sat on the only chair there, which was a throne carved out of the finest wood. The rage was good, at least it would dull, and eventually eliminate all lingering feelings that wasn't meant to be there in the first place, he just had to find a way to eliminate the taste, her taste."Alpha Zayn, the Generals have been summoned. Is there anything else?" His omega asked."I need my wine this instant." He barked. It was really a problem, he couldn't think right if her taste still drowned his senses. This was madness."At once, Alpha Zayn." The omega replied and sped off his chambers.Few seconds later his Generals began t
"We cannot have her here." The first witch screamed."She should be banished." Another added, shouting louder than the first."Queen Celest, she is not one of us. We must burn her." The third shouted even louder than the previous two, igniting the rest of the witch community to chorus her last words."Burn her. Burn her. Burn her to the ground.""Quiet." Celest the Queen of the witches of Earlham shouted and at once the crowd went silent. She rested back on her throne, crossing her legs so elegantly as she looked at Aerona. Her daughter who now knelt in front of her throne with hands bounded with silver chains. Behind Aerona, the crowd of her sisters and followers stood, angry like a raging tempest ready, and waiting to swallow her foe. "We are not barbarians. We do not burn our own kind." Celest said."She is not one of us. She is not our kind. She betrayed our kind and freed those monsters." They all shouted. Celest rubbed her temple ad she heard their words. Aerona had really done
Zayn had two elements to his advantage. The first was hate, and the second was rage, and they both quickened the preparation he had to make. That added with the element of surprise that the Silver Crest pack possessed was above all their greatest asset, and he wasn’t going to let that go to waste. He had seen the way the witches of Earlham fought, he had seen their strength, and their capacity. They on the other hand did not know the full strength of his pack, and the wrath that came with that strength. Well, they were about to taste it soon enough. He had not a second to waste, before the witches got even the slightest whiff they were plotting their revenge, they should have finished their attack, and returned to the pack.He turned to his pack, looking at over a thousand wolves in their wolf form ready to do the needful to avenge those that they’ve lost. From friends, to lovers, to family. They all had their personal reason for this, but collectively they were doing this for the p
The pinning pressure of the monster laid off her shoulders, but Aerona did not still think it safe to open her eyes. “Stand up witch,” Her eyes shot open then. She knew that voice, even though she only heard it for a short time, she could recognize that voice anywhere, anytime. Sure enough it was him, and the monstrous wolf had disappeared. “Zayn,” She stood up immediately, and almost hugged him for that fact the she had just survived the monster that was attacking her. Then she remembered, it was Zayn that brought the monster, it was he who attacked her home, and instead of a warm hug, a hard slap landed straight on his face. “How dare you!” She wanted to slap him again, but he entrapped her hands, holding both her wrist tightly with just one if his hand. “You should be grateful that you are still alive,” Zayn’s coldness had returned, with full force. This was not the man she had fallen for, this was not the one she was hoping to marry. Mother was right, wolves are cunning and
Zayn came back to the silver crest, more than last time he abd his men had smiles on their faces, victory written all over them as they gloriously walked into silver crest pack.They had raided Earlham, they have defeated them and now victory was theirs, the men were excited that they had taken revenge on the misdeeds that the witches did to them, they have fought and successfully conquered.Most of the soldiers were able to get back their loved ones, and some could reclaim back their family but then they found solace in the fact that they had win against Earlham.The alpha, Zayn, was elated that he had taken the revenge of his best friend -Ulrich, and now his gentle soul could rest in peace.His got to the palace as the other pack members who had waited for the great warriors of silver Crest ran in accordance to go praise their alpha for having victory over the witches and bringing their heads as a symbol of their victory."Victory sier, we have finally gotten victory over the witche
Aerona was barely done with muttering hatefully at them, she was imagining how she'll destroy them, but she wasn't given enough time to imagine as they begun throwing things at her.She was thrown groceries, their shoes, and even stones at her."You witch, you deserve nothing other than death.""We hate you with all of our lives ""And we'll do nothing other than to see your end, right now and here." They all yelled as they kept on throwing things at her, while she tried to cover her face so she doesn't get hurt.They didn't care what they throw at her as they only wanted to see her die, the thought nothing of her other than hatred."You've made us loose our loved ones, you and your members have caused us our happiness, and now you deserve nothing other than death." "Death!"They yelled and cursed, they were pouring out their heart as all they wished for her now was death.Aerona tried to shade herself from the pains of the things they threw to her but she had no power to resist as
Aerona was dragged into the labor yard as instructed by the alpha, she was being pulled like some slave, definitely she was one so she was entitled to have the same treatments as a regular slave.Her hatred for Zayn had doubled, as she hated herself the more she thought of what she had done, she had saved a monster from the dungeons only to come and be treated as his slave.He has done so much hurtful things to her that, she only wanted one thing now, and that was revenge, she wanted to see Zayn suffer as much as she did, she wanted him to beg and plead as much as she did.She swore to the heavens to rip the alpha apart when she gets the chance to, she was going to make sure he suffered double of what she was suffering now.They threw her to the mud as she fell terribly. She was drenched in mud as she looked more like a pig. She could barely stand to her feet as she tried to get off the stench from her face."Get up you fool." The guard cursed kicking her terribly as she tried to get