002 || His Ruin

AZAI

Ember. My Woman. My Ruin.

How it hurt to look at her.

She looked smaller than she should have. She was too thin and equally too pale, covered in bruises and scabs. Her dress hung off her small frame, stained with blood. I couldn’t believe it. She was really here.

I moved closer, savoring the way her breath hitched from fear.

My gaze dropped to her neck. My mark was gone. It had been burned off as if she'd tried to erase me.

Blinding rage consumed me. I reached out and grabbed her chin, forcing her face up. Her lips trembled. Those bloody lips. The ones that used to whisper my name and shower praises on my cock. Now they shook feebly.

"You really committed to it," I deadpanned. "Burning off my mark."

Her green eyes were huge, empty, and confused.

"I—I don't know what you're talking about," she whispered.

Liar.

I dragged my thumb over her lower lip, pressing hard enough to sting. She flinched.

"You expect me to believe this?" I asked softly. "That you forgot everything?"

She shook her head wildly. "I swear—”

"Don't," I droned.

I leaned down until my lips were at her ear.

"Don't pretend to be weak now, wife."

She gasped, pure terror shattering her faltering composure. I shoved her back, disgust stirring in my chest.

"I'll be very clear about something," I said, my voice flat. "The only reason you are still breathing is because I need you alive."

Her eyes snapped to mine.

"For our son."

She let out a tortured sound and collapsed to the floor.

"Our child needs your life force to survive," I continued, unmoved. "Every breath you take belongs to him. Not to you."

She crawled towards me, her hands clutching at my trousers.

"I'm sorry," she cried. "I'm so sorry. Please believe me—Azai—”

Hearing my name from her mouth again was almost enough to make me lose control. So, I stepped back and turned away.

"Guards," I said calmly.

Heavy footsteps echoed. The door jammed open, and hands seized her. She screamed as they dragged her upright, her fingers clawing for me, for anything.

"Please!" she sobbed. "Please don't do this—I'm sorry—I'm so sorry—"

I didn't look back.

I refused to let myself see her face as she was dragged away kicking and crying, her voice echoing down the corridor.

Mercy was a luxury she buried with our son. And I would not dig it up for her.

I moved closer to where Kora lay, brushing my fingers over his cheek.

His skin was pale as snow, his lips slightly parted as if he were only sleeping. I traced the curve of his face and the soft strands of his hair, memorizing him for the thousandth time.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I failed you."

My hand trembled as I brushed his hair back, the way I used to when he stirred in his sleep.

"I should have protected you," I croaked. "I should have seen it coming."

My jaw locked. Rage simmered inside of me, wrapping around my grief until I couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.

"I promise you this," I vowed. "She will pay. Every day she breathes."

There was a knock on the door. I didn't turn.

"Alpha," a familiar voice said carefully. "I heard... rumors."

I went still.

"The Luna is back."

My hand curled into a fist.

"Do not call her that again," I growled.

"...Yes, Alpha," my Zeta replied. "Still. I had to ask—aren't you worried?"

I finally looked over my shoulder.

"About what?"

"What if she's lying?" Kairos asked. "What if the amnesia is an act? What if she tries to finish what she started?"

I tensed.

"If she's faking," he continued, "then keeping her alive is a risk. Execution would be—"

"No. She doesn't get death," I said, rising slowly to my feet. "Death is mercy. Death is an escape."

I turned fully now, my fists clenched.

"She lives," I continued, "and she suffers. For years. For decades, if fate allows it."

My gaze darted back to the coffin.

"For as long as our son needs her life force."

Kairos hesitated. "And if she truly doesn't remember?"

I laughed. “Then that will be the cruelest punishment of all."

I rested my palm against the ice one last time.

"Take her to the lower wing," I ordered. "Strip her of every comfort. I want her alive, conscious, and afraid."

Kairos replied right away. "As you command, Alpha."

...

The fire in the study hearth had burned low, casting long shadows across the maps and ledgers strewn over my desk. I could barely hear the voices of the generals speaking. My mind wouldn't stop wandering.

Why?

Just why did she choose to bring me misery? How could someone change so much?

The scent of jasmine announced her before the door even opened.

Liora slipped inside, her blonde hair unbound, her silk robe falling to the floor. She was naked now, her pale skin glistening. Liora was the pack’s representative to the vampires. The only woman who could get away with walking into my meetings without permission.

"Everyone out," I said.

They rose immediately, filing past her in silence. Then we were alone.

When she reached me, she slid behind my chair, her fingers trailing over my shoulders, kneading the knotted muscle there.

"You're so tense, my Alpha," she whispered sweetly. "All this weight on you... Let me help loosen you up. Like before."

Her hand drifted lower, skimming down my chest, over my abdomen, until her palm pressed firmly against the growing heat between my legs.

My cock stirred beneath her touch, traitorously, remembering the nights she'd come to me during my ruts. She'd been there even when the beast demanded release and no one else could withstand it.

But I was in a foul mood.

I caught her wrist before she could go further.

"Careful, Liora."

She leaned down, her lips brushing my ear. "You should be more careful with her. Keeping that wench alive is dangerous. She's poisoned your mind before. She could do it again. Let me help you forget her. Let me remind you what real loyalty feels like."

Her fingers flexed, teasing. I felt the familiar pull of anger, grief, and raw need twisting together.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Alpha!" The voice on the other side was frantic and breathless. "The Luna! She's in critical condition. She's dying."

I was gone before Liora could speak. Ember's death would mean that I would lose my son too. I couldn't let that happen.

I burst into the cell, finding her on the filthy stone floor. She was curled in on herself, her body wracked with violent tremors. Sweat soaked her thin dress, her skin gray. She moaned in agony, writhing as if her insides were on fire.

The healers hovered, their faces pale.

"Poison," one of them stammered. "Voidroot variant, laced with wolfsbane essence. She's... she's begging for death.”

Ember's eyes—those green eyes that once looked at me with love—found mine through the haze. Tears streamed down her face.

"Kill me," she rasped, her voice broken. "Please... Azai... just end it. I can't—I can't—"

Why should I feel sorry for her?

"Find the antidote," I said. "Now. She has to live."

I turned to leave, and in that moment, she moved faster than I had expected.

A dagger plunged into my thigh. I froze, the shock hitting harder than the pain.

The Bloodfang Dagger. The only weapon in existence capable of ending me.

And she had it. In her trembling hand.

I blinked slowly, realizing with a startling clarity that I had been far too lenient.

So, I ripped the dagger out of my flesh. She gasped, stumbling backwards. My hands tightened around the handle. Then I stalked towards her, blood thirst roaring inside of me.