[Zeve’s POV] Before thoughts could cage my headspace, the sparks from our kiss got the freedom to travel through every inch of my body. It felt like I had finally found my destiny, like I had finally reached the right destination. My fingers trembled as I held Amor’s shoulder. His lips were cold, but warmed up instantly. They were neither too rough nor too soft. Exactly like I had imagined them to be. My heart thundered in my chest. I felt a heated flutter clench around my stomach. I didn’t breathe, nor did I feel Amor’s breaths on my skin. I parted from Amor’s lips, panting, and opened my eyes slowly. But I was too scared to look into his eyes. I chewed on my lower lips that felt fuller and searing with the warmth from his lips still lingered over them. I stood peering at the floor, fidgeting with my fingers. Did I offend him? Is he mad? Did I get too close? My chest tightened just thinking that maybe before building anything, I had already ruined everything with that kiss.
[Zeve’s POV] He held my gaze. “Ah!” I gasped, parting my lips as his grip tightened slightly over my throat. His eyes widened slightly, filled with muse. He cocked a brow, contemplating my lips. His thumb leisurely traced my lower lip. All I could do was respond to his touch. My body was completely under his control. My lips trembled. “R-revenge kiss?” His sharp gaze pierced through mine. “Um-hm!” He said from the back of his throat. “Forehead kisses were settled, but you kissed my lips and stole my first kiss. So now it’s my turn for a revenge kiss.” His eyes dropped to my lips and then slowly lifted to my eyes again. “You haven’t kissed yet?” I was shocked. “Does that mean you haven’t had…” Before I could complete, a smirk on his face made my heart skid in my chest. He tucked a few strands of my hair behind my ear and whispered, “just because I preserved my first kiss doesn’t mean I am a virgin, Zeve. But what about you?” I widened my eyes, quickly burying my face in his
[Zeve’s POV] Amor entered the room while the maids were styling my hair. “Isolation.” He ordered, and the maids left at once. I got up and looked at him. Of course, trying hard not to remember the hopeful memories I had with him in front of the dressing table seven nights ago. He looked at me and as a religious routine that I had been following for seven days; I lowered my gaze, standing with an impassive face before him. I practised looking in the mirror to wear a stoic face appropriate for all occasions, especially when he was around. Because no matter how hard I tried, my heart would still race in my chest at his sight. I wished falling out of love was as easy as falling in love. “Before we attend the reception, I want to talk to you.” I bowed slightly. Even though my hair wasn’t made properly, I dared not ask him to wait for me. I let it be like that and sat across the table facing him. “I tried to keep the reception as private as possible, yet I couldn’t avoid every eyes
[Zeve’s POV] I sat on the throne with Amor seated beside me. In the beginning of the reception ceremony, Amor apologised for the delay and after that, one by one, all the members of the royal family introduced themselves to me. I greeted them with courtesy and a warm smile. Amor’s family was enormous. There were so many people and it was compulsory for me to recognize each one of them with their faces and names. Then the nobles with powerful family influence and higher ranks in the pack introduced themselves to me. I had to memorise their names too. As the political faces disclosed in front of me, I could make out the political system and the pack hierarchy. The one on top was Alpha of the pack, Alpha Amor Blaze. But after marriage, I became his luna and held a rank equal to his. He was the emperor of the complete Aurora empire. Below him was the royal family, holding the most power. After the royal family came the other politically powerful families of nobles who were known
[Zeve’s POV] The man strutted into the hall as if he owned the entire pack and didn’t actually care about who the actual alpha was. He stopped before stepping on the stairs that led to us. He lifted his arcane gaze. My eyes met his eyes. I couldn’t show it on my face, but his gaze made me self-conscious. It was as if I had already read him through and through. All that’s left was to decipher him. His straight, dark blue hair was longer than mine, fluttering behind him as he stepped on the stair. He was dressed in a white shirt, pants with cloud pattern and no accessory, and a long black kimono coat with the prints of a golden dragon on back and on its long sleeves. His kimono coat and sleeves fluttered like dark waves behind him. The katana sword hung from his sword waist belt, peeked now and then from behind his kimono coat. His iris were dark blue in the centre and were outlined with a golden colour. He had a unique eye colour I had never seen before. His aura was warm and w
[Zeve’s POV] No one dared stop Hikari. It was as if everyone in the hall knew Hikari wasn’t a force that could be stopped with swords or power. Like Morfan said, Hikari was the feral wind from the North. But according to me, he was already a storm with a broken, hurting and unmended heart. “That’s enough for the reception!” Amor yelled and scooped me up in his arms. I panicked, seeing all gazes on us as he walked down the stairs. But I thought resisting to be picked up in a bridal style would only cause more chaos so I just lowered my gaze. We left the hall with Morfan, mother and Lucella joining him on his way back to our room. He laid me on the bed. Amor clenched and unclenched his teeth, sitting beside me on the bed while Lucella checked me. “Does your chest still hurt?” She asked. Amor’s impatient gaze made me more restless. What did Hikari say to Amor? Why was Amor so restless and scared? What happened to me? What was that sharp pain in my chest earlier? I shook my
[Zeve’s POV] Did I really roll all the way into his arms, using his biceps as my pillows while sleeping? Yes, I did. I incoherently screamed at myself in my head. I held my breath and stared at Amor, sleeping almost on the edge of the bed. I quietly got up from his hand. It was so embarrassing that I didn’t want him to wake up before I could get far away from him. But he was on the edge of the bed. If he moved an inch more, he would fall on the floor. He tensed his brows while sleeping. Fearing he’d fall off the bed, I held his arm on the floor side. “Amor! You’ll fall!” He lethargically opened his eyes. He widened his eyes and flinched back. “Waah~” he tumbled off the bed on the ground with a scream. He crossed his hands over his bare chest. “W-what are you doing?” I stared at him with a stoic smile. “You were about to fall from the bed and now you have already fallen.” I almost sang my words. “I was trying to save you, but maybe falling was your fate.” I gave a shrug. He
[Zeve’s POV] “Luna, it is the pack secret of the Kazumi culture. It would be indecent for us outsiders to interfere,” Morfan said. “Really? Outsiders? But I thought their pack was a part of the Aurora pack.” “Yes, they are a part of our Aurora pack, luna,” Morfan said. “If so then, they are not outsiders, they are family. And families don’t keep secrets from one another.” He looked at me blankly, as if he had nothing to counter what I said. “They don’t accept us as family, luna.” “Acceptance is from both sides. You don’t consider them as family either. Right now, you said they were outsiders. But it’s ok. We aren’t creating a family, anyway. It’s business.” “May I ask why do you want to know about his training and swords?” Morfan asked. “Simple. If we add even a bit of their sword skill to the training regime of our soldiers, what happened yesterday would never happen again. Strength is strength, and knowledge is knowledge. They don’t have culture or pack. You borrow them from
(This is a free chapter. You won’t need to pay for it. So, please do it read it until the end.) Dear readers, So this journey had finally come to an end! First of all, THANK YOU so much for reading this book, investing your time, and giving it so much love and appreciation. Your every gem, your every comment, your every review has brightened my day and uplifted my spirit in my hard times. This is my first book on this platform and I couldn’t have ever imagined of getting so far. But you made this possible and I am super grateful for all your supports, lovelies. I know this book isn’t perfect and nor am I, but I always try my best to better my craft and create a world where all of us could unite. So, don’t forget to tell me who your favourite character/s was/were in this story? If you enjoyed the book, a review on the main page of the book is much appreciated. It really helps with the growth of the book. And so do your gems and comments. Thank you for coming on this adventure w
[Zeve’s POV] As I plunged into the magma, I had no thoughts in my head. My body was being consumed by the flames, while my heart almost stopped. It was cold inside the volcano. My clothes and armour melted away, but neither the flames nor the magma touched my skin. They flowed inches away from my skin. I held my breath. The bright red glowing magma flowed magnificently inside the volcano. It was scary how I could feel its heat yet not get burned. It was like one of those dreams came to reality, except this time the one to be burnt in flames was me and not Amor. The magma behind me started taking some kind of form. I felt Amor’s presence and my heart skipped a beat. I felt hands warped under my waist and knees. I shut my eyes with a shudder. The next thing I remember was I was sitting far away on the ground and watching the magma, ashes and rocks explode out of the volcano like fireworks. There was a dazzling figure hovering above the volcano, suppressing it back into the ground
[Zahir’s POV]Why don’t you smile?Why don’t you cry?Why don’t you fight?Why don’t you get angry?Why don’t you get scared?What the hell is wrong with you?You are my son, and you cannot be the monster they say you are.Feel!Feel something!Feel anything!Feel everything!‘If nothing, then feel the pain!’That face of a person I was supposed to call my mother.Those glowing eyes floating in sheer darkness.Those words were like pure acid, pouring in my ears.Those snarls of pure hatred and screams and cries, those slaps and whips.The dark bathroom flooded with water everywhere and blood dissolved in it through my veins.I remember.Maybe I felt nothing but cold. It was unbearably cold.That time, that’s all I felt. A cold that made my spine shiver.I wanted to feel, but how?Everything I locked up within me and in the magic and key core came back.It all came back, but I think it never left in the first place.Even after hundreds of years, I could still feel her presence by the s
[Zeve’s POV]“Mother, stop!” Killian yelled.“Venus, calm down… we can make things right, ok? Trust me. Put down the blade…” Zahir coaxed Venus into his manipulative tone.Venus distanced the blade from her throat as if Zahir’s words were controlling her on a mental level. Her hands were shaking as she held the blade to her throat.Her eyes were frozen, as if she was in Zahir’s control. She shook her head with a gasp, “no, not anymore. You can’t control me anymore…” her voice came out hoarse and shaky.And she put the blade against her neck again, this time cutting her skin and bleeding.“NO! NO! Stop!” Zahir panicked and stepped back from Venus, raising his hands.“What the hell is going on here? Venus!” I called out and was about to go to her when Hikari held my hand.I looked at him and frowned. Hikari shook his head.I looked at Venus again and the blade was Hikari’s katana.“Your katana?” I felt a strange fear take over me as I stared at Hikari for an answer.“I must have dropped
[Zeve’s POV]‘I see him burning and these nightmares just don’t stop. Day after day, it’s always the same thing. I try to save him, but the flames always find their way to him. His body… it’s like it’s melting. I couldn’t get these nightmares out of my head and it’s disturbing. A lot. So, I came to you for guidance. Do these nightmares mean something?’‘Dreams are often a window for the future. We just need to interpret them rightly,’ priestess Melantha said when I met her in my third year in Phantoria. ‘For a seed to turn into a sapling and then into a huge tree, the seed coat needs to break. He’ll burn for you and this world.’‘No, he won’t. I won’t let death touch him, not because of me — especially not because of this world.’ This was what I told her, and then she replied with a subtle smile.‘What is the definition of death for you, luna?’ She asked.‘I don’t know. Death for me is what it’s for everyone else. Bad, painful and gloomy and… end.’‘When the right time comes, you will
[Zeve’s POV]There were two souls active inside Killian. One was of Derek and another of Polaris. Killian decided based on the soul that dominated him at a time.That was the only sane explanation I could give to why he was using Celeste as a hostage when Killian saved her, risking his own life.“Fine,” I said, calmly. “Let them go. But I don’t know how to get the core out of my body. Extract it yourself.”Killian frowned. “No hidden tricks, Zeve. I don’t have time for that.”I raised my hand to my shoulders as if I was surrendering myself. “I am telling you the truth. I was born with this core and never took it out. I am not playing any tricks.”Killian thought for some time and then stretched his palm towards me. Four black magic circles appeared around me. One above my head, one below my feet, one in front of my chest, and one behind it.“I am already stuck here. I can’t escape. Please let them go now,” I said. The hellhounds backed off from Lucella and Celeste.The suction from
[Zeve’s POV]The sound of gunshots, along with screams of the knights getting attacked, mashed up with the howls of the hellhounds dominating the road. Killian coughed vigorously and threw out the broken pieces of rock with his teeth and blood from his mouth. “Oh, I know what devilishness it takes to create a utopia. But you really piss me off whenever I see you…” Killian snarled at Amor.Killian created a dark energy ball between himself and Amor, who was pressing him against the ground. The energy ball exploded, flinging Amor far away from Killian.Amor jumped back to his feet and drew out his sword. The armour worked. Amor wasn’t hurt badly. But I could just stand and wait for him to be hurt.I looked at the sky with my apprehension increasing with every second.On the training grounds, the screeches of shadow eaters were tackling the fire wall, keeping them locked within the magic circle. It was as if their screams were summoning the rain because heavy clouds had started looming
[Killian’s POV]Dark clouds stirred over the ruins of the Aura palace and its training grounds. The land had prepared to devour the souls and vomit a curse in the darkest shade of black to open the portal to the dark world from where the creatures of hell would flood the land, turning it into their grazing field. They would feed on souls and lock them in timeless gloom — in a world of nothingness and doom. Their minds were under my control and their souls on my command would set themselves ablaze on the magical ground.I was prepared and so was the enemy.Heavy military and army of hundreds guarded the boundaries around the precinct of the Aura palace and its land. The knights were armoured and ready with their swords, defending the boundaries of the palace from outside.Warriors were ironclad in their wolf forms. The wolves of darker colours were standing on the front lines and surrounded the training grounds.The soldiers created a wall of shields on either side of the criminals’ p
[Zeve’s POV]“Should I take off this gown now?” Celeste asked, walking to me and then standing beside me as we peered at the air where Killian stood seconds ago.I looked at Celeste and caressed her cheek. “I know it’s uncomfortable, sweetie, but wait a little, hmm?”Celeste looked into my eyes and nodded once.“You did a good job. I am proud of you,” I said.A week without the key core and Celeste already looked so fragile. I had to get back the key core from Killian after the plan played out the way I wanted it to.I looked at the sky. The chess board was laid out, the only thing left was the game to begin.“Zeve, I don’t like this at all. You are pregnant and even if everything goes according to your plan, it’s still dangerous because we don’t know what might happen when things actually start happening,” Amor said.I looked at Amor and smiled.“I have heard kids take after their parents. I want my child to be brave, and for that, I have to be braver today. I am going to be a mother