Ariana’s POV“What happened to you while I was away? There’s so much tiredness in your eyes,” He lifted my chin gently, meeting my eyes, “I can see your exhaustion, even though you try to hide it.”Guilt came over me and I found myself evading his eyes.Did he get to ask the questions?His palm cupped my cheek gently, pulling me in his arms, his tall frame crouched gently over me. “I worry I’ve failed, I worry I’ve failed you.”My lips pressed together, and tears gathered in my eyes. “I am… tired, a little bit.” My voice croaked and he held me tighter, “I’m here now, you can rest easy.”If not for his arms that held me I was this close to buckling and my body would have surrendered to my exhaustion.It was always so easy for me to surrender to his warmth. Yet somehow, that made me feel extremely pathetic but I stayed regardless.“Something is wrong,” He suddenly spoke.“What?” I pushed away from him.“We need to go in there.” He pointed towards the forge shed where Nero was currently
NERO’s POV“Nero! Patience!” My grandfather would always yell at me as a child and as I progressed in age, my reaction to that sentence greatly differed.I believe as you must’ve already guessed; for the worst.To be fair, at first, I did deserve it, considering I was a menace in the body of a small child.As the young and only grandson to the leader of the dwarf clan, I wasn’t the innocent, conveniently shy child that people would envision, considering my grandfather was sweet—at least the part they knew and I was accustomed to at the time.I was a mischief, or prankster, whichever you’d prefer to call it.I played pranks on children, and I derived joy in that, seeing their faces contorted in an expression they didn’t like nor could control. I enjoyed bending them in a cage of my own doing.My grandfather, terribly sweet—and loving—never minded my mischief.Thinking back now, his dream must’ve sucked whatever energy he had to reprimand an overly energetic five-year-old.It had alread
Ariana's POV"Are you trying to piss me off, Ariana? It's the third time already!"When I was wiping my bloody double-edged sword, my father was roaring at me, with something unreadable in his eyes."Calm down, your majesty." I said with a smirk playing on my lips, "If they can't beat me down, how are they worthy of marrying me?"For the happiness of my rest life, my father hosted Werewolf Power Contest: whoever could defeat me, the only princess of Warwick, whoever could be my husband.Unfortunately, none of them."Why are you always trying to win? You know you will not find a mate if you keep this up!" He was seething, spittle flying from his mouth as he spoke."And whose fault is that?!" I yelled back, eyes narrowing. "Whose fault is it that only the weakest Alphas appear at the contest? My father is the strongest Alpha of all continents after all!""Tone, Ariana, you're speaking to your father!" Mother chimed in. Her arms were folded and she stepped out of Father's shadows. "Arian
Ariana’s POVI resisted the urge to hiss at the arrogance in his tone.“I’ve heard of it before,” I snapped. “You are famous for mining ore.”“I see you’re well informed,” he let out a crooked smile. His black hair was fixed backwards, contrasting with his skin that looked like he’d never fought a battle before. “Harmonia’s ore is famous in all the kingdoms, but your beauty is so outstanding that I could hire the greatest goldsmith and give him the best ore to make an ornament for your head.”This man was so tacky! I held back a sigh. And for some reason, my father found him amusing.“That’s a way to put it, Damon,” Father laughed, taking a sip of his wine. “Ariana, would you show this handsome merchant around the palace? You too could get to know each other.”It was the second time Father was calling him ‘handsome’ and it didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t understand what was so mesmerizing about Damon. He was just like every other alpha I beat today, except that he wasn’t even one. M
Ariana’s POVIt felt like I had been dunked with ice water. I could not move. It was as though the oxygen to my lungs had been cut off. I must have been standing there for a full minute, eyes wide open and my feet planted in the ground.The sounds of grunts and moaning carried itself along with the mate’s scent. I could hear the voice that once called my name with tenderness, mouth profanities in her ears, thrusting even harder and whipping his head back in delight.And then his eyes caught mine. Seeing his face in full view gave no room for denial. My heart shattered.“J-Jasper?” I croaked out.Instantly, chaos ensued. He shoved the woman away roughly and jumped back with a gasp. His eyes were wide like he had just seen a ghost.“Why? You’re the only one stood by me against my parents, so what the hell I fought for these three years!?” I yelled.Disappointment, anger and pain made my eyes sting with unshed tears.“Ariana, I-I-I can explain…” He stuttered as he frantically reached for
Damon’s POVI frowned as I watched her go, pacing after her till I blended into the shadows. My heart was beating rapidly as I re-lived her feisty dark eyes and how they told me off.Surely the rumors of Princess Ariana of Warwick were true. I had seen women in their hundreds before, I have lived ten times the lifetime of the minstrels who walked the surface of all four continents. Rot in hell with the elementals? I bit my bottom lip, smirking at thin air. The wind and leaves rustled in response, they were laughing with me. Such a man had no place with my people.I was an elemental myself, born of pure blood elementals who were wiped out thousands of years ago. If I hadn’t found my way to the Kingdom of Warwick, I may have been sitting at my throne, watching the boring jester who poked fun at the absence of a mate by my side. I’d gotten tired to obliterating them, so I just let him do what he wanted. I did try. I walked through all the kingdoms in search of a mate, and desperation was
Ariana’s POVMy feet never stopped, it kept running, running far away from that place. It felt like if I ran long enough then maybe I’d forget, but I knew that was a lie.With each stomp of my feet it felt like it was closer than before. My wolf was in so much pain, with each howl it felt like her claws dug in my chest, attempting to rip my heart out, unsuccessfully, and with each scratch of her claws, it made me want her to take my heart out and for my impending death to finally find its way to me.The weight of my gown caused me to lose my breath quicker and there was a rage that bloomed inside of me, mixed with severe humiliation.I wanted him to see me like this in this form, beautiful and proud, I did this all for him. I never felt the need to prove myself to anyone but for Jasper I would do anything just so I was worthy.And yet…Suddenly, I halted in my tracks and screamed, clutching my chest. My knees gave out and I sank to the ground, profusely weeping.The pain of rejecting
Ariana’s POVUsually, when another entity was close by especially enshrouded with such a demanding aura, I’d notice.Anyone should notice. Heck I was an exceptionally trained warrior who had willingly undergone one of the most torturous trainings. My senses were always on alert.Yet, I didn’t notice him until he spoke, until he wanted us to be aware of his physical presence and that startled me—no, it terrified me because in a different situation I’d be dead without a doubt.This incident led me to another pressing question; who exactly was this man?With how much aura he was currently possessing, it forced me to focus solely on him. It felt like a tornado, determined to pull everything and everyone to it.He was closer now and Jasper seemed to have withdrawn farther away from me.“Hello, princess.” He said, taking a few steps closer, an amused smile dancing on his lips.I’d always hated being called princess because it signified the odds against me I’d been fighting since birth but n