LOGINSHERNEIL.
I fixed the ankara turban on my head for a final time, keeping my eyes fixed on the mirror. It's been so long since I dressed up, but today's occasion calls for dressing up even if I didn't really want to.I wore a long gown made from soft ankara material. The petal-patterned ankara in green and orange was made into a fitted long gown, with a slit on the back and a long sleeve with fittings. It brought out the shine of my dark skin. I tied the head gear into a simpI awoke with a loud gasp. Sweating profusely. My whole body ached. The gnawing empty feeling was still suckling at me."Oh, thank goodness you are awake! Thank you for fighting through that!" a voice hovering above me said. I sat up, the movement causing a sharp pain to pierce through me as I winced. I was still in the heated cell, my whole body aching. A throbbing headache. Fresh looking scars that were still oozing blood."Here, take this," the voice said again, before a water pitcher was pressed to my mouth. I gulped it down greedily, welcoming the wetness in my perched dried throat."Easy there. We don't want you choking yourself." the voice added, and with the sudden clarity the water had given me, I was able to make out the person hovering over me.The Keeper.I moved back, afraid she had someone waiting behind her with a whip."Don't be scared. I am only here to help. Mav has been making me do all those things to
SHERNEIL."Have you ever heard the stories about omegas who lost their sanity after being rejected by their mates?" Amara, as she had introduced herself to me a few days ago, said. We were sitting outside, under thick oak trees that were clustered in a small clearing. The moon hung above brightly, the stars shimmering up above while we both munched on the fruits laid before us."What stories?" I asked quietly, as I took a bite of the sour strawberry. "They are sad stories," Amara, my friend and also the fae queen, answered. "Most of them ended up losing their minds to nothingness. I say that if a man rejects you, simply reject him back and end the pain."Something pricked at my chest as she said that. Something odd. Something quiet. But it disappeared just as quickly as it appeared."Just like you should, now that you've finally found your real mate and have reached the right age."A mate. A partner. Half the part of me. One tha
Just like yesterday, we rode our horses quietly, until Lisa trudged her horse up to my side and broke the silence. "Asha says Hi," she mumbled, keeping her gaze up ahead. "Asha..." oh, her lycan. Damn, I completely forgot. To be honest, the only permanent thought in my mind was Sherneil's. "Uh, thanks?" I replied. Lisa chuckled, nudging me on the side with her leg. "She asks when she gets to meet your lycan." I sighed. "Not anytime soon, Lisa." She said nothing, and I went ahead to explain. "My lycan was injured a few years ago, which makes it impossible to shift at will. We did manage to get back a little of the power to do that when we had our mate. But right now, there's... nothing. Just... vast numbing emptiness." Wow! I sound like a broken record. But who cares? I am broken. On so many levels. "We will find her, Chuto. And we will save her. She is okay." I ho
MAVERICK."What are you doing here?" I hissed, crinkling my eyes as I looked over at Lisa, who was pulling a horse behind her, dressed in black leather pants and a top."Going with you, of course," was her simple reply."Says who? You are staying back, Lisa.""No, I'm not," she snapped, stopping before me and snatching the saddle I had been struggling to put on the brown horse. "I know my realm better than you do, and I know the Keeper and Mathilda even more. If you want to succeed on this mission, then you have to take me along.""It's not like you can protect us, so what is the point?" Khalil asked from behind me.Lisa ignored him, finished saddling the horse, then moved back. "I am coming with you, Chuto." Her voice was firm and hard. Her face expressionless under the golden light of dawn striking from behind the tall trees. "We are going to save her together. And you are going to be okay."I stared at her for a few m
SHERNEIL.Darkness had become my friend. A companion. A partner. I tried so hard to stay awake, to wait for a sound, for a sign that anything stayed close by. But none came. I had no idea how long it had been since I was locked in here. I had no way of counting the minutes, or hours, or even days. I hadn't eaten, nor drank anything since the last time I did before the attack.At some point, I dozed off. Probably due to the pain from the wounds inflicted on me by the Keeper's whip, or from exhaustion, or from the heat, which despite the stone Mathilda gave me, still burned through my tattered dress.But the sleep didn't last long, nor did it help. I was hungry. Thirsty. Sick. Yet, when I tried to pull at my emotions, to feel something moderately close to reminding me that my sanity remains, nothing worked. I was still empty.Without Robyn. Without Mav. Without Amadi.So I did the only thing I could. I counted and counted and coun
Tears rolled down her cheeks."I almost did. In fact, when I learnt about the Fiko forest and the curse, I went there and made a blood oath. I used my rage and theirs to throw my own curse. I bound myself to their rage, and vowed that I was going to help them get their revenge. Karima, whose ancestor was responsible for helping the Fikoans then, was my cousin, so I got all the necessary information needed. But when the time came for me to make the potions, I couldn't. With my ingredients sitting in front of me, right at the border of the Fiko pack, I met Talatu Victoria."She smiled at the mention of Mama."Talatu wasn't angry at me. She wasn't even mad. Instead, she asked if I was okay with her being Dakarai's concubine because she can't leave him. She told me that as his mate, I should be the queen and she was okay stepping down and giving me the crown. She told me how it had been three years since they got married, but she was yet to produce an heir. Ho
We walked into the grand house making small talk. I was glad we weren't having dinner at the pack house, I wouldn't be able to handle that. The memories have never left, and it would've been nearly impossible to pretend everything was okay sitting in that house. When I came back two years ago, Ma
"Huh?""You do know how to bake, don't you?" She asked."Uhh. Not really. I prefer cooking to baking. It isn't as precise." I answered, trying to make sense of what was happening. She wants me to..."Cool! You can sit and watch me bake, then," a small smile played on he
SHERNEIL. I listened as he told me about his banishment. About his first few months as he struggled with the pain of being banished, and all I could think of, all I could imagine, was how he had survived those gruesome years of pain. Here is the bottom line, this was the first time I was having a
My chest constricted at the sight of her tears, and I quit breathing for some seconds. "Who ever said anything about pity?" She swiped at her cheeks as her chin quivered. "Isn't it? It clearly shows it is, and perhaps, it may be because I told you I was on the spectrum. News f







