"Fate can only do little"
***
ELMA.✿
"I would like someone kind, soft and nurturing," I began finally finding my voice after the deafening silence that sat between us.
"Kind and nurturing," The moon goddess mused, her voice sounding as though she was jotting it down and taking notes. I could not help but feel tempted to turn and look.
'Be careful, you don't want to push your luck,' I sighed, warning myself
"But at the same time, merciless and aggressive," i mumbled, more to myself, hoping that she had not heard me.
I was fully aware of how contrasting my demands were, but oh, it lit up a fire inside me. I hadn't thought about this properly before. This was the first time I was thinking about my likes and dislikes in a person.
More like I was finally given a chance to voice out my hidden emotions and to a safe person, the moon goddess would not judge me, right?
Otherwise, I generally dated whoever I found mateless, and that was a minuscule population that was constantly vanishing. So I didn't really ever have a choice. I went with whatever I got, and that always ended up in me being dumped and feeling hurt.
"Aggressive," The moon goddess muttered, a strange infliction in her voice. I didn't pay much attention to that and continued.
"I want someone who will treat me like I am the most fragile thing on this earth, but at the same time, I want them to be rough and overly possessive with me.
I want someone who would let me be myself but, at the same time, call me out on my shit and set me straight whenever I cross any line.
I want someone who praises but punishes me, too.
I want someone who burns for me but at the same time cannot live without me.
I want someone who craves me so much that it'll hurt them
to live without me for even one day.
I want someone who sees my best and worst and yet accepts me with an open heart.
I want someone who makes my heart flutter, with thousands of butterflies, and my pussy ache every time I look at them.
I want someone who supports me no matter what.
I want someone who will follow me to hell if that's the place I wish to go.
I want someone who's so damned obsessed with me that their only goal in life is to please me, pleasure me, and make me quiver with need every time they touch and look at me because my need for them is their only source of sustenance.
I want someone who makes me laugh every day and makes me cry with pleasure every night for the rest of my life.
I want someone who is generous and giving, but they are greedy when it's their turn to derive pleasure.
I want someone who worships me like their life depends on my blessings but at the same time ravages me like they own every part of me.
I want someone who loves me so much that I feel so full every fucking time,"
I was still surprised to feel the presence of the goddess behind me when I was done speaking. I thought she might have left in the middle because no one had any time for a crying camilla like me, but she was there, listening, and it gave me some sort of comfort.
It'd be okay if I didn't end up getting what I wanted, but for once, I was glad that I was able to get the all off my chest instead of just burying it down and only wishing. At least now, I knew that I had asked even if I didn't end up with it.
"Hmm... that's quite a lot," the moon goddess commented, a hint of something unreadable in her voice. I tilted my head to the side to listen more closely to her. "But I hear you,
"Thanks for listening," I sighed deeply.
"I will see what I can do," She told me, her voice hardened all of a sudden, "But I am afraid there will be a condition,'
I froze.
A condition.
Of course. What did I expect? That I could just summon a goddess and ask her for a mate, and that will happen all like that? No. Everything came at a price.
"What condition?" I inquired, struggling to get my nerves into a ball.
"It's simple but might not be easy for you.." she trailed off, her voice somewhat unfocused. "Whatever I must give you, you shall accept without a question,"
I found her words strange. Everyone accepted their mates. I had hardly heard of rejections. They happened, but they were quite rare, and for a moment, this made me wonder if I would end up being one of those unfortunate select few who end up getting rejected.
Suddenly, my heart ached. No. I wouldn't be able to take that.
Every relationship I've ever had so far has always ended bitterly for me. Whether it be friends, family or my couple of boyfriends. Everyone always left me. What was the guarantee that my mate wouldn't? The idea scared me.
Why cannot I just catch a break for once? What did I do to deserve such pain and loneliness?
"I will accept my mate," I told her sternly, earning a mocking laugh from her. At that moment, I wondered if I was doing the right thing by asking her to pair me. I didn't miss the cruel tone in her laugh. Was this her way of giving me new sources of pain in my life?
"You must keep your word," She stated darkly, taking a step closer to me. A chill ran down my spine. The energies oozing out of her subdued my senses and threatened to overpower me. I felt so weak at that moment that without realizing it, I dropped to my knees.
"I..I will," I breathed, feeling light headed. In response, she laughed that mocking laugh out loud until the voice echoed throughout the woods. The night air suddenly turned so chilly that it made me shiver. Black dots were starting to appear in my vision while the rest of my body started to feel weaker.
I collapsed on the floor, my head hitting the ground and pain seared through my head. My body seemed to be growing colder with every passing second, but at the same time, it felt like I was burning.
I had never experienced something like this before. As my consciousness continued to fade away, I felt the presence of the goddess lingering around me.
"Sleep my child," I heard her whisper as I swam in darkness,
"Get all the sleep you can before they find you,"
They? Who was she talking about? What did she mean by that? I wish I could ask her that, but it was too late already.
Elma’s POVThe morning air was cool against my skin, sharp enough to wake me fully even after another sleepless night. I kept my gloves tight on my hands, boots laced, mask in place. Every movement was calculated, every breath measured, as if the fragile rhythm I built could keep me from shattering.But then I felt him.Roshan.His gaze found me before I even looked up. It always did. That steady, unrelenting weight, as if his eyes were hands stripping me down layer by layer, searching for the weakness I fought to hide. I told myself I hated it…hated him…but the lie trembled inside me, unsteady. Because what I really hated was the way my stomach twisted, the way heat curled low inside me, when his suspicion touched me like fire.He didn’t look at me like Ridwan did. Ridwan’s eyes were gentle, warm, as if he wanted to cup me in his hands and protect me from every storm. When I thought of him, I remembered the river…his closeness, the way his voice had burned when he whispered try me. T
Roshan’s POVSleep was a luxury I hadn’t tasted in days. Not because of the summit’s endless politics, or even the looming threat of traitors lurking in shadows…but because of her. Elma.Her name slid through my thoughts like a blade, sharp enough to cut. I didn’t trust her. Couldn’t. Every instinct in me screamed that she was hiding something, yet every time my eyes found her across the fire, my wolf stilled. As if she belonged there. As if she had always belonged.It infuriated me.I wasn’t like Ridwan. My brother carried his heart too close to the surface, his wolf too eager to believe in softness. I had seen the way he looked at her by the river, his eyes caught in that pull he couldn’t explain. And I had seen the way she looked back…hesitant, frightened, but alive. Alive in a way that made my chest tighten.I gritted my teeth and turned the thought over like a stone in my hand. If Ridwan was reaching for her, then it was my duty to pull him back. To remind him of what was at stak
Roshan’s POV The dawn did nothing to quiet my thoughts.I hadn’t closed my eyes once through the night. Instead, I circled the camp like a restless wolf, every muscle wound tight, every sense sharpened to a blade’s edge. My boots crushed dew-soaked grass. My lungs pulled in the cold air, but it never cleared the fog in my head. My wolf prowled beneath my skin, snarling at shadows that weren’t there, snapping at ghosts it couldn’t reach.But it wasn’t the camp I was guarding. Not the warriors, not the border, not even Ridwan…though I should have been.It was her.Elma.Even when she wasn’t in sight, I felt her. Like a thorn lodged too deep in my flesh to pull free. Small, almost invisible, but aching with every step I took.Ridwan tried to act as if he wasn’t unraveling last night, but I saw it. I always see it. The way his eyes followed her like he’d been starving and she was the only thing that could feed him. The way his hand lingered when he touched her, soft, steady, almost rever
Elma’s POV Sleep was a stranger.Even when I forced my eyes shut, exhaustion clawing at me, I felt them. Both of them. Roshan’s suspicion coiled around me like chains, cold and unrelenting, tightening every time his gaze lingered too long. Ridwan’s gentleness clung to me like a ghost of warmth I couldn’t shake, even when I wanted to. Especially when I wanted to.It was maddening.For years, I had perfected the art of silence. I had taught myself how to become a shadow, how to weave masks out of lies and wear them until I could almost believe them myself. Every move I made was calculated. Every glance, every word, every step—measured and controlled. I was a weapon disguised as a woman, honed by loss, sharpened by rage.And yet… after only a single week in their presence, I was unraveling. Thread by fragile thread.I sat cross-legged in my tent, the canvas walls holding in the thick weight of the night. My gloves muffled the tremble in my fingers as I traced the edge of the dagger rest
Ridwan’s POVSleep never came.I lay in my tent with the darkness pressing in on me, the weight of my brother’s words still echoing. You hate that I touched her first.He wasn’t wrong. But it wasn’t the whole truth either.It wasn’t about touching her first. It was about what I felt when I touched her at all. The way her wrist fit in my hand like it belonged there. The way her pulse jumped beneath my thumb, fast, uneven, betraying the calm mask she wore.The way my wolf had gone silent for one suspended heartbeat—then roared to life like a storm breaking free.That wasn’t chance. That wasn’t coincidence. That was bond.But Roshan was right about one thing—she was hiding something. Every time I looked into her eyes, I saw shadows deeper than she wanted anyone to see. Secrets coiled tight. Pain disguised as strength.And the pull I felt toward her… it terrified me.Because if she truly was what my wolf whispered she was… then the Goddess had cursed us.⸻I left camp before dawn, restles
Roshan’s POVThe night did not end when we left the forest.It followed me.Every step back to camp, every breath I drew, every flicker of moonlight through the branches…I carried her with me. Elma’s eyes, defiant yet trembling. Her voice, edged with steel but threaded with something softer. Her scent, sharp and sweet, that clung to me long after she had walked away.My wolf prowled beneath my skin, restless, growling in my head. She’s hiding. She’s ours. Break her open. Take the truth. Claim her.But I couldn’t. Not yet.Ridwan walked ahead of me, Elma at his side. His hand no longer held hers, but I still saw it…how easy it had been for her to let him touch her. How natural it had been for him to reach for her. My jaw clenched until my teeth ached, but I said nothing. Not there. Not then.Because if I spoke, I wasn’t sure whether I’d be speaking as Alpha… or as a man unraveling.We reached camp near dawn. The fires had died low, the sentries nodding to us with questions in their eye