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Ghost between us.

Author: Delight
last update Last Updated: 2025-07-27 21:05:06

‎Tides moved the war room in a weird halfway-to-the-moon light, making the glass accidental reflections of steel. There were the flares of a lighted fire, and its shadows danced uneasily on maps, scrolls, and the stiff figure of Xavier.

‎He was standing with his arms crossed behind his back and looking at the border map as though it contained answers to some questions he had not dared to pose. His physical form was here, motionless. Yet war was not in his mind, territory disputes and patrol shifts were not what was occupying him.

‎They had at her.

‎Larissa.

‎A zombie, a flesh-resurrected ghost. A name that rang reminding him like a scar in his chest.

‎He had chiseled her right out of his life as sharp as a knife when he knew that it was his only hope to save her.

‎And now--now his wound bled anew.

‎The door which was behind him creaked open.

‎It was a voice, low and sweet as melted winter-honey, and it said, saucily, You have been dodging me.

‎He made no turn. "I have been busy."

‎Selene had strolled in like a queen and then a storm. Her cloak was one of black velvet, over which there was nothing but a silk bodice that rested on her body in a way that almost felt like temptation. She left behind the jasmine and blood roses scent.

‎She was entering the room slowly and her presence filled the room.

‎"You always say so when you are afraid of meeting me, she mumbled. Or when you are deep-hiding something."

‎"I am not concealers." he spat

‎What then is it? Eves are all talking, Xavier. A whiff of secrets is the blood in the water to the council.”

‎She went around him as a feline, and stopped at his side.

‎The story is, she will be back. Larissa.”

‎He bit his jaw.

‎Heard it said… you were to get married to her.”

‎With a slight turn in the head he replied. "Yes I am."

‎With a parting of her lips there came the bitter laugh which was not laughing after all.

‎"There, consequently, she said  She is rejected by you. She disappears. I have stayed by you years--faithful, enthusiastic, merciless where I had to be hard. and now here comes creeping crawling back and you give her the crown?"

‎"This is no crown, he answered with clipped voice. It is war armor."

‎Hissing, she said, "Don t tell lies to yourself. or to me."

‎She moved in between him and left her chest against him. "How do you remember the nights, that you called my name? The manner in which you glared at me when I came back out of fight? When after we had gotten each other to forget that outside this door the world exists?”

‎ Xavier said nothing.

‎Slowly Selene ran her fingers up his chest, across the line of muscle set there by years of fighting. ”I was yours,”she said. It is because you made me feel it."

‎And he said, with a grip on his words, "you were part of the mission."

‎she put her lips close to his. “No… I was yours, Xavier. and you knew it.”

‎Her hand was moving to his neck, her body was against his. He heaved,--only once--but made no effort to get away.

‎It was a velvet and venom voice of Selene. She does not mean as much to you as she would mean to me, Don pretend. She did not stay here. She never bled by your side.

‎Xavier clenched his teeth. "What you are  doing is crossing a line."

‎She smiled very slightly. "Or am I reminding you what real power is like."

‎She kissed him.

‎It was hot-blooded --home-like. Fire against fire. And one second Xavier did not resist. A moment of instinct, of memory, of rage mingled with lust--and then he thrust her away and was breathing hard.

‎"No", snarled he.

‎Selene fell blindly staring in surprise.

‎"I will not be played with said Xavier Not you, Not anybody."

‎"You so much did not object to being played with the night before you took me to you bed?"

‎"It was a mistake" Xavier

‎Her complexion grew dark. "A mistake you did more than once?"

‎Turning, Xavier looked savagely away. But more than the furiousness -- it was guilt. It was a curse to him of guilt.

‎ "would you not want to know why I rejected her? He said abruptly in a cracking voice.

‎Selene narrowed her eyes, the air in that room changed.

‎"She was my mate. I felt her, I knew it. I could feel it in the bone, in my so... soul.”

‎The facial expression of Selene wavered.

‎"She was hardly nineteen, A girl full of dreams. She believed that the mate bond was security and eternity. However, at the time I was a weapon. War built. Moulded by blood, and duty. I did not know how to love somebody soft.”

‎Weakly his voice fell into a whisper.

‎"Whenever I'm with her I feel completely human. And if I should keep her that closer , the council would tear her apart to reach me, we had enemies— then and even now—  you of all people should know that, there are people who would have grabbed her just to see me burn. What I did therefore was the one thing that would keep her away.”

‎His eyes were shut. "I rejected her, that is the only way she would run.”

‎ A pause.

‎"None of that was done to hurt her, he added almost to himself. Still I knew I would. I had to make her feel that she was not good enough.”

‎Selene gazed, and was tongue-tied in disbelief

‎"You see loyalty as fire. As power. She became my silence. My peace. I could not allow her to be my point of weakness with them.”

‎"But now you bring her back", said Selene in bitter tones.

‎"I never did want to stop wanting her,  he said . And I must have her . Not as my companion--but like as my equal. The type of Alpha that will not recoil at his scars I gave her.”

‎He bent her eyes on his hands.

‎"She had got over what I had done to her. And I give her the truth.”

‎There was a dead tone in Selene inquiry. "She will break the pack. They will never forget what you did and  said  to her. The way she ran. She was weak, Xavier!”

‎"she survived it", he answered voice become cold as ice

‎Selene came still closer, anger in her voice. "You bring her here and i swear she will not last a moon."

‎He looked at her with a deadly gazed eyes.

‎"Don't step on me, Selene. You had slept on my bed but you will never touched my  soul.”

‎Her covering broke. "Well, she did?. After this long a period of time?”

‎"Yes, Larissa did" he said  simply.

‎He moved towards the door, the room was choking with repressed speech. But just before the leaving he stopped, eyes fixed on the floor.

‎"Then: I was nearly tempted to give way to you. That disappoint me more than you will ever imagine."

‎He slammed the door behind him

‎And Selene was standing singly in the firelight, panting with rage, with any dignity stilled in the gullet.

‎She stared at the moon.

‎And vowed that Larissa will should never put on the title.

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  • THE ALPHA'S BARGAINED BRIDE    The Luna that never was

    I can feel the wetness of the wall-stones in my bones. I had not been out of the corner of the cell in hours. I was in pain because my limbs ached, my back screeched in pain and my head was hurting due to the cold. My body was returned to a tight circle, I was enshrouded in arms and knees with open eyes just staring at the wall of the cell . I was not even able to cry. I had lost all the things- tears, dignity, hope.I overheard them at the open bars. The guards. Whispering. Laughing.One of them, with a sneering voice, said “so it had always been true, she was trouble. The beauty and style--all a pose. Guess she flattered him with her sugary eyes to get the man to sleep with her.”“And the way she was found…” another “snickered–Indecently and naked!. A real whore in the robes of Luna.”The laughter between them followed and rebounded off the stone walls and pierced my stomach. My fingers clenched tighter around my arms. I chewed on my lower lip very hard and tasted blood and tried n

  • THE ALPHA'S BARGAINED BRIDE    when trust breaks

    Larissa POV**The sun was already high, striking gold rays of light, in my room. I was in front of the full length mirror, straightening up the fabric of the emerald gown that I was supposed to put on during the Moonlight Harmony Ceremony. It was now almost a month since I had been received as a Luna, and, in spite of the shades of the past still remaining, the atmosphere between Xavier and me had become quite gloriously harmonious--even sweet. He was more than my friend.I never saw him smile so much as he did in the last weeks. And he would gaze at me as though all the light his world ever needed had come to me. That was enough to make me feel that all those pains endured by me were worth it.This was a special ceremony tonight. It was a solemn ceremony in which the Alpha and Luna came into the full moon to bless the pack. I had heard it referred to by the old ones as the night when destinies are matched. I was in awe of whether or not I was always destined to be here, but now I fel

  • THE ALPHA'S BARGAINED BRIDE    Not his to break

    Larissa POV Warmth.The first thing I experienced upon waking up was that. My face was lying against something solid but soft. The steady rhythm of a heartbeat against my ear supported me in telling it that I was in Xavier chest. My arm had an exported ownership around me and even in sleep; he held me as an anchor.His smell, wild pine, fresh earth, something darker, trickled into my skin as it was a part of me.I did not want to move away. Not now. Not when he was breathing steadily, his lips closed saving a little, an unusual softness on his normally closed face. I indulged a self indulgent moment and cremated him in silence.Then his hand walked slowly over my naked back. “how long you are going to pretend to be asleep?”, he said in a husky voice.A blush came into my cheeks. “You must have known?”“You had a circle drawn on my chest,” he smirked and still kept his eyes closed.I give a gentle laugh. “You're warm.” “You are warm also, he turned and drew me beside him. And mine.”

  • THE ALPHA'S BARGAINED BRIDE    shelter in his Arm.

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  • THE ALPHA'S BARGAINED BRIDE    When Alphas Bleed.

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  • THE ALPHA'S BARGAINED BRIDE    The Binding and the Storm

    Larissa’s POVThe air was heavy—so heavy it pressed against my lungs, thick enough to choke on.I stood before the mirror, barely recognizing the reflection staring back at me. The ceremonial dress clung to my body like it had been sewn from my own skin. Deep crimson silk shimmered over my curves, a golden sash knotted tight at my waist, the emblem of the Nightfang Pack gleaming like a wound. My hair was pinned up, too neat, too delicate, with traitorous strands curling around my temples as if mocking me.Behind me, my mother hovered like a ghost.“You look beautiful,” she whispered, her voice scratchy with emotion. “I never imagined it would be like this.”I didn’t turn. Didn’t blink. Just stared into the glass as though I could unmake it all by sheer will.“Neither did I.”A silence settled—uneasy, heavy—until she broke it.“I failed you.”The words stung more than I expected. I almost flinched.“You left me,” I said quietly. The mirror didn’t reflect tears. Only steel. “When I need

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