[Zeve’s POV] I cautiously reached out to Rian. He walked closer and placed his face in my hand. I stroked Rian’s silky silver fur. He was so captivating. For a second, I forgot about the lake and the mountains. I crouched a little and hugged Rian, stroking his neck. “You are so adorable, furry and warm.” I rubbed my cheeks against his jaws, forgetting that he was still Amor. Just in his wolf form. He snuggled into my neck, sending a tickling sensation all over my body. “Stop… Rian…” I giggled. He licked my cheek, and I shut my one eye, “you are so beautiful.” I pressed my forehead against his. Rian looked at his back. “Are you sure I can ride you?” I asked. He bowed slightly. “SO ADORABLE! You are so cute, so cute, so cute!” He lowered his body to the snow, and I hopped on his back, sitting astride Rian. I hugged his neck as he slid down hills freely. “Woo-hoo!” I felt the fast winds brush by faster because of Rian’s speed down the hill. He decreased his pace as we
[Zeve’s POV] After a warm bath, both of us retired on the bed. I was too tired to think about anything else. We slept the whole day and when I woke up, Amor was gone. A maid informed me about the family dinner that was compulsory for me to attend with Amor. Amor was taking care of the work that he postponed because of me the previous day. I wanted to treasure all those precious memories with him for the time we wouldn’t be together, so I planned to write a diary again once I reached Arginieth. I dressed up with the help of maids. Since it was a family dinner, I had to wear clothes and jewellery according to my rank. The sky blue and white gown was furry, high neck and full-sleeved. I draped a white shawl around my shoulders. Amor rushed in as soon as I was ready and with the help of several butlers he got ready too. His workload had increased because of me and I felt so bad. Only if he didn’t postpone his work yesterday, he wouldn’t have to rush like that. “Are you ready?”
[Zeve’s POV] Amor glared at her and she smiled back at him victoriously as if she was successful in gaining his attention. Amor rolled his eyes and looked away from her. He looked disgusted and honestly I was too. I smiled at Hazel, as genuinely fake as I could muster. “That’s right, princess. The richness of your culture is unparalleled. I hope I can learn more about your culture as it adds more value to my life.” Hazel smiled at me, but the glare in her eyes wasn’t hidden. “Whatever be the case…” Amor said, looking at me. “No food can compare to the food my wife makes.” I felt like an entire building crashed on me. Where did that come from now? Why did that come now? I would literally get on the bad side of the head maid and other low ranks, which was the last thing that I wanted. I didn’t care what high rankers thought of me, but I had to get low rankers on my side. I had to start with the maids because honestly, for my survival plan; I didn’t need people who stood out.
[Zeve’s POV] Aunt Helene. I hadn’t interacted much with her. Mother said she spoke little and hated anything that was against royal etiquettes and elegance. Her black hair and crimson eyes gave her a beauty equal to vampires, but it was her tanned skin that differentiated between them. She had a daughter, Ava, nineteen, and a son, Aibek, twenty-five. Both of them took after aunt Helene. Red eyes, but their hairs were silver. Her husband had silver hair and black eyes. They were all a piece of art straight out of the fantasy books. Elegant, talented and shining like jewels. Just by looking at the way they ate, I could say how well they had been brought up. My eyes met princess Ava’s. She smiled faintly, and I smiled back. I didn’t know how or what to feel about aunt Helene and her family. They seemed to be on the neutral side. Neither harmful nor helpful. They were dangerous. People who could conceal their emotions so effortlessly were definitely on my red list. Since there
[Zeve’s POV] Hikari pulled his Katana from its scabbard and ran his finger over the blunt edge. I looked at his Katana and then into his eyes. “What?” I cocked my eyebrow. He smirked slightly. “What I want to say is if you can snatch my Katana from me in the royal duel, I will teach five of your people my Kazumi sword skills from a to z. But if you fail, luna had to grant one of my wishes. Do you agree…” Amor clenched his jaws with a grit. The table tremored. Glass clinked. The next second, Amor grabbed Hikari’s neck, lifting him in the air. Panicking, a few maids screamed, dropping the plates in their hands. Everyone around the table came to their feet. Jade broke out in tears. I could feel the bloodlust reeking of the two of them and flooding the entire dining room. It was suffocating and pungent, like burning bones and blood. I covered my nose and mouth with my hands, stepping away from them. Morfan and the knights who stood outside the hall rushed in, but didn’t hin
[Zeve’s POV] Although it was awkward, everyone finished their share of food. What else could one expect from a royal dinner where brothers were ready to slit one another’s throat, the family was messed up worse than enemies and where alphas did not know what they should talk about and when? Amor and I got up and only then did others leave. The maids cleaned the hall and the table in pin drop silence. The knights were still positioned in the hall in case something happened after the meal. Amor was talking to Morfan, and I was with mother. Hikari was still sitting in his seat at the table, peering into nothingness. The maids behind him looked at mother. Mother nodded, and she took away Hikari’s plate. “You must be tired. You should rest, Zeve,” mother said. I nodded, “once alpha is done with his work, I will go mother. You worked hard too. You should rest.” “Are you sure?” Mother asked as she glanced at Hikari, and I nodded. Two knights were standing beside me for my protec
[Zeve’s POV] Morfan looked at Amor. Amor gave a curt nod. “You have the permission to present your views to the court,” Morfan said. Hikari stepped forwards and said. “First, I want to clarify a few things related to the duel and its terms and conditions. Like I said before, I have no ill intentions. I proposed this duel to welcome her highness into our family. It’s not a duel to death, so except for a few cuts and scratches, neither of us should be severely hurt…” Hikari looked at me with a subtle smile, then looked at Amor. “In case his highness feels like the duel is getting deadly, he can immediately call it off and I vow to lower my Katana instantly. It’s a game where all luna needs to do to win is get my Katana from my hand and the same goes for me.” He chuckled, looking at his Katana. “If I were to attack, I know I would hurt our fragile luna, so I will attack to defend myself. This pack had been deprived of mother’s love for years now. I am sure it’s time we experience
[Zeve’s POV] The tensed scowl on Amor’s face clearly showed how displeased he was about what I said. Morfan reciprocated his alpha’s expressions. I knew he hadn’t given me the permission to make decisions on my own, but everything would go down the drain before something could even start. Convincing Amor would be a formidable task, but I had to do it, anyway. “What is this?” “What does this mean?” “Did she mean to say she accepted the duel with prince Hikari?” “Silence!” Amor said, and the buzzing immediately stopped in the hall. His wrath poured into his deep voice and darkening eyes. “I will request the luna to say what you want in simple words.” Amor said in a tone that I had never heard him use it with me. Right, my friend Amor wasn’t talking to me. It was Alpha Amor. “Regardfully, I accept the duel request of Prince Hikari. But I think I will need some time to prepare for the duel so that I am not defeated in just one slash,” I said. Amor stared at me with cold eyes.
(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