Chapter 19 - MadeGarrenAlora looked at me as if I had a third head. I had sensed her magic before, a few times in my life, actually. It was old, much like my own, and extremely powerful, but it seemed she either didn't know that or had enough control over it to make it seem that way. My guess was the former of the two because if she did understand the full potential of her magic, she wouldn't be here right now, or at least I wouldn't have been able to detect her. But it wasn't just her magic that intrigued me. It was Alora herself. Since becoming some form of deity myself after the whole Ryuu fiasco, I had been able to detect everyone's essence. It told me what they were, dragon, werewolf, vampire, and so on. But with her, I couldn't see it; I had never encountered that before. And when I took the bruise to my ego by asking Balthazar about it, he said he didn't know either.Though, I called bullshit to that because as much as I didn't like to admit it, Balthazar did know everythin

Chapter 21 - LostDamonI couldn't believe we were actually doing this. Trusting a thief and a pixie to help us, but I had to get back that ring and the only way to do that was to give Alora what she wanted. "We go in together. No tricks got it." I bade "Got is, Princeling. No funny business, or you'll punish me." The way she said it made me tense. I could hear the double meaning in her words, another way to get me going, even if she didn't mean it. Balthazar and Drabek didn't even try to hide their smirks, and she flashed them a smile. "I mean it," She rolled her eyes at me in response. "Are you going to hand over Helga or just keep chastising me like a child?""Watch your tongue, Pirate. If we didn't need you, you'd already be dead." Apollo warned. Alora didn't miss a beat; her silver-tongued mouth always seemed to run hot when she felt threatened. It was one of the many things I noticed about her the past couple of days."But you do need me, Poppet. So until you have that ring,

Chapter 23 - Friction Damon"Alora," I muttered, trying to get her attention. She looked at the small shack before us, but her eyes were far away again. Her mind had clearly wandered back to whatever haunting moment she relived earlier. Her shoulders were tense as she got lost in whatever she was thinking about and despite all my better judgement, seeing her like this bothered me. It reminded me of all the times I got lost in my past. All the time, I needed someone to pull me out of those memories but found myself alone.I gritted my teeth, my hands flexing as I gave her another minute to come too. Her hands started to tremble, and I cursed as I stepped forward and forced her to look at me. My eyes connected with hers as I called her name again. "Alora," I snapped. Her pupils dilated before she gasped for air. She blinked a few times, her long lashes sweeping across her freckled cheeks. Her breaths came out heavy as she tried to ground herself again. Her pink lips slightly parted a

Chapter 25 - Split decisionDamonI kept my focus on Alora's palm as I worked at cleaning out the bits of gravel that had embedded themselves into her skin—making it seem like it needed more focus than it did as I tried to ignore certain things about her. Like how perfectly her small hand fit into mine. Or how soft her skin felt against my fingers, despite the callouses she had from years of working to build them from practicing with a sword. Or how she would slightly flinch if I moved too fast despite her trying her best to hide it.Her sweet scent of cotton candy and candied apples brought me back to my favourite moments as a child. Heck, even before my mother passed, I enjoyed the Solstice festivals. I had always loved the excitement the celebrations brought to the kingdom each year as a new season began.It was strange how right now, in this moment, despite everything that was going on in my life. How calm I felt being here with Alora. I had always enjoyed the freedom that came wit

Chapter 27 - ExposedDamon I was a piece of shit, that much I was sure of. I had always prided myself on having great self-control; I never crumbled under the pressure of my desires, not even when I found my mate. I was patient and never rushed her to accept me. I would have taken a friendship with her even if it killed me, just to be close to her.But with Alora, it was different. She got under my skin so easily. Her aura was all-consuming, constantly pulling me in and having me wage war with myself. So when the thought of kissing crossed my mind again, I gave in. I needed to sate my craving to taste her lips. It was too much, though, I knew it would be, but at the moment, I didn't care. Until the image of my mate's face crossed my mind, and all I saw was the disgust as I betrayed her. The flashes of her battered and bloodied body lying on the floor pulled me away from my temporary bliss and immediately snuffed out Alora's thoughts. I had left Alora in that room without explanatio