2. Your fate is mine

[Zeve’s POV]

His every step echoed in the cave.

I kept my eyes shut, hoping the darkness would shield me again, but even the darkness favoured him. I opened my eyes. His face was inches away from mine. I pressed my back against the wall. The cave was lit with a torch he fixed on the wall.

“Am I a part of your prayers?” He said, and I got gooseflesh all over my body.

He grabbed my hand. I briskly took it back.

I peered into his unreadable and mysterious eyes. Whimpering, I shut my eyes.

“Zeve…” He called out my name in a voice deeper than the darkness of the cave. My name resonated in the cave before fading away. “Zeve means wolf who filters.”

I opened my eyes as his gaze bound mine.

That was the first time I had heard someone decipher the meaning of my name. Shadow eclipsed half of his face while the other illuminated in the flickering yellow light from the torch.

He leaned closer to my neck, placed his lips inches away from my ear, and whispered.

“You lost the game, Zeve. So, as a trophy, I’ll claim your fate. From today on — your fate is mine.”

I flinched, trembling at his every word. I tried to make more space between us, but there was nowhere I could go. I was stuck in that small, dark corner of the cave.

“S-stop playing… with me…” I took a shaking breath. I didn’t know if I wasn’t able to breathe or didn’t want to share my breaths with him. “K-kill me… already...” I said in a quavering voice.

“Ah!” I panicked when he seized my wrists and pinned them next to my ears on the wall. 

“Killing you would be a waste.” He said, and I landed a sharp glare at him. He smirked.

Our gaze met as if two fates had collided like the stars in the sky. His fringes still eclipsed half of his face, but his eyes glowed neon blue.

“D-don’t touch me!” I cried.

The force of his touch reminded me of the time when Talia and the other girls in the school pinned me on the ground and touched me all over my body. They kept saying they wanted to see why luna Ava favoured me and if something was special about my body.

Everything they said came crashing at me, and I started hyperventilating. He let go of my wrists and I hugged myself.

“If I don’t touch you, they will — I can’t allow that.” His voice was calmer, yet scary.

Who was he talking about?

“D-do you know me?” I asked, hiccupping.

“No.” He said and with swift hand movements carried me on his shoulder.

“Put me down! What do you want from me? Let go of me!”

After struggling for some time, I knew there was no use in resisting. He was far stronger than me.

“Please! What did I do to you? What did my pack or my mate do to you? Why did you kill them?”

He put me on my feet near the mouth of the cave. I was expecting him to answer me when he lifted me in his arms.

“I can see you face clearer now,” he said. All this happened in less than a second.

He ran faster than the winds, almost defeating them. No wonder he caught up to me so quickly.

Soon, he put me on my feet. Before I could make any sense of the situation, he pulled into a royal black and golden carriage with him. He pulled the red curtains on the window glass and pulled me into a seat beside him. His arm tightly wrapped around my waist.

“Where are you taking me? Let me go!” I tried to unwrap his hand from my waist, but no use.

“Alpha, what are your orders for this pack?” I heard a firm voice from outside the carriage. It earned my attention, and I tried to get up, but his arm held me in place. 

“Take them all as captives and send them to Arginieth. Cremate the dead and include Uhnim as our newly gained territory. I will decide what to do with the former Enver pack when I return. Until then, you are in charge, Morfan.” He ordered in a monotonous tone.

Uhnim was the name of the place where the Enver pack was located, which was my cursed home. While Arginieth was the largest werewolf kingdom on the globe and was occupied by the Aurora pack.

The alpha of the Aurora pack was rumoured to be merciless — an incarnation of the devil. No, the devil himself.

My whole body went into a passive state when I discovered the true identity of this man.

“Your orders will be followed, Alpha Amor Blaze.” The man named Morfan said from outside. 

I pulled myself away from him and tried to pry open the door of the carriage, but it wouldn’t open. I had heard a lot about Amor Blaze and even more about how barbaric he was. He would definitely use my body to please him for a few days and when he would be bored, he would kill me. 

I need to run! I thought and banged on the door of the carriage.

“Please help me! Is someone there! Get me out of here!” I shouted, tugging the handle of the door violently.

He rang the bell by pulling the golden thread, and the carriage started moving. I lost my balance and fell on his lap. I swiftly got up, but the carriage jerked and I fell right into his arms again. I held his shoulders to balance myself.

His icy gaze froze my soul, and I backed off immediately. 

“Quietly, sit down or lie down. I gave you a chance to escape, but you lost, so stop now.” He said in the most uninterested tone. 

I squeezed myself in a corner and sat as isolated as I could. I looked at my blood and filth-stained gown and clenched it in my fist. Gritting my teeth, I remembered how mercilessly he killed Chaz. When my mind grew calmer, I realised I was filled with rage more than sorrow of my losses. The only thought I constantly had was of killing him.

I glared at him. He had fallen asleep. How could he? After all that he did to me? How could he sleep so soundly? My head felt really heavy and from deep within me, I heard a voice.

‘Kill him! Kill him!’

My wolf rarely talked to me, but that day, she tried taking over me.

My trembling fingers curled into a stiff fist; my jaws clenched. My mind was hazy, everything around me blurred except his face and neck. I got up and slowly reached for his neck, strangling him. He didn’t move or open his eyes. He sat as if he was already dead. No matter how hard I strangled him, he was breathing normally. I clenched my jaws and tried harder, but to no avail. 

His face was impassive as stone. Defeated, I withdrew my hands when he grabbed them.

A menacing smirk appeared on his stoic face. He spun me and we switched our positions in a second. His palm was lightly wrapped around my neck.

His eyes demanded an answer, to which I replied, “I will kill you. You are keeping your death by your side. I will go to any extent to avenge my mate and my pack.”

“Pity. Neither the pack nor the mate you call yours were ever yours.”

His hand slid from my neck to my chin to my lips. He looked at my lips and parted my lips slightly.

“My death? At least you consider yourself something of mine. It seems like my death will be the best in this universe. Hate me more, Zeve. That is the only thing you can do right now.” He leaned in and I looked away, disgust all over my face.

“I hate you, Amor Blaze,” I snarled at him.

“My pleasure, my dear death.” He said, and the carriage stopped. I pushed him away from me.

“I won’t be your toy. If I can’t escape, I will make your life hell until you throw me out of it,” I said, gritting my teeth.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the carriage.

We were near some inn, but it wasn’t a normal inn. It was one of the Royal inns, created especially for leading alphas and vampire kings. Commoners like us and even regional alphas like Chaz couldn’t afford to rent a room in those Royal inns. 

The symbol of bat eclipsing the moon was the mark of Royal inns. Those inns were grander than any palace I had seen in my life with characteristic four towers around the fort, statues on the exterior walls. But it seemed as if we were on the back side.

I uselessly struggled to get out of his grip while looking at the inn reaching higher than clouds before me. I would be an ant in front of its size. 

Some lady was waiting at the back door. “I have made the preparations, alpha. Please proceed inside.” She bowed and ushered him to enter the precinct of the inn.

What preparation was she talking about? What the hell was going on?

“What are you going to do to me?” I wrenched my hand out of his grip. I looked around, and his soldiers and inn staff surrounded me. 

“To kill me, stop running from me. Get in quietly.”

As if I would follow what he said so easily.

“Really? Make me!” I jumped on the carriage, and using the other door, I ran towards the woods. But before I could reach there, he almost teleported in front of me. He was the freaking fastest werewolf I had ever known. All those rumours about him being invincible weren’t fake at all.

His soldiers lunged at me to seize me, but stopped as soon as he lifted his palm.

“No one is allowed to touch her. Touch her and I will cut off your arms. Even if she tries to run away from me, the one to bring her back to me is going to be… me. Only me.” He glared at them and they lowered their heads and swords.

“What do you want!” I said, annoyingly.

“Right now, I want you to come inside with me.”

“And warm your bed! Never!”

He chuckled dryly. “Death is supposed to make me sleep on ice, not on fire...” His voice was low and hoarse. He picked me in his arms and strutted in.

He made me lie on a grand bed in an aesthetically divine room. It was in shades of brown, golden, and black. In my adrenaline rush to run away from him, I completely overlooked the gentleness he had handled me with. But that didn’t make me hate him any less.

I gathered my gown and shifted back on the bed. He crawled to me until my head struck the headboard. I curled my knees near my chest and hugged them tightly.

He reached his hand to my hair that was a complete mess; I flicked his hand. He undid my bun and my hair fell on my bare back. My wedding gown was backless. I rarely liked clothes that exposed my skin too much, but Chaz did, so for him I wore the gown. Even when it was really uncomfortable. 

“Take a bath and wear those clothes.” He held my chin and made me look at the table. A few gowns were kept on that table.

“I won’t!” I yelled.

“You will!”

“I won’t! I want to leave. Let me go.”

“My death can’t leave me, not until she kills me. Wear it. I will come back in an hour. If you aren’t ready, I will dress you up.” He got down from the bed and left.

I glared at the dresses.

“I won’t wear it!” I felt the velvet bedsheets. That was the first time I was sitting on the bed. Until then, I had always slept on the floor. The bed was strangely warm, but I wish my heart would be that calm.

One moment I wanted to cry until my tears dried and the other moment I wanted to ravage Amor Blaze. “I will kill you; I swear on my life. I hate you! Just die! Burn in hell!” I buried my face in my knees, weeping. “You destroyed my everything!”

The smell of the smoke alerted my senses. The dresses on the table were ablaze.

“Oh no! It happened again! I didn’t mean to. Don’t burn!”

I rushed to the dress, but the fire was too strong. I looked around. There was a glass jug filled with water. I poured it on the dress and the fire finally stopped.

“It’s completely burnt. What do I do now?” Panic-stricken, I looked around. The room had no windows.

“Chaz will be mad again. He will hit me… Chaz? Did I say Chaz? But he is dead.” I held my head. I didn’t understand what was happening to me. My whole life was turned upside down in only a few hours.

I reached for a glass of water and drank it, spilling it all over my gown. I saw the door open and Amor walked in, but after that, everything turned black in front of my eyes. I blacked out.

When I woke up, I was on the bed. I got up with a jolt and looked around frantically.

Amor was sitting on the chair beside the table, peering at me. He sat gallantly on the chair with his index finger over his philtrum. The burnt dress was beside him. I looked at my fidgeting fingers biting my inner cheeks.

“You burnt the dress? Was it not to your taste?” He lifted the dress in his hand and came closer to me.

I flinched and shielded my face with my hands, thinking he would hit me. He withdrew his hand.

“Are you hurt somewhere?” He asked and walked back to the table, placing the dress on it. I lowered my hand and relaxed my stiff body.

Thank God, he didn’t hit me. I sighed subtly.

I glanced at him and he was dressed in a proper tunic, pants, accessories on his clothes and a viridian and white furry cloak draped over his shoulders. His hair was combed properly even though his frivolous fringes enjoyed hanging over his face. An alpha, indeed.

“I ordered the maids to bring in all the gowns in the collection. Choose whichever you want. Don’t burn them. You want it or not, get ready.” He spoke.

The maids came in with gowns I had never seen before. There were so many and all were so pretty, but of course I couldn’t show that to my face. They kept asking what I wanted, but I didn’t reply.

“Keep all of them here and leave,” he ordered the maids. They left, and he closed the door from inside.

“You want me to dress you, don’t you?” He took off his cloak and threw it on the chair. I got down from the bed, stepping away from him.

“Don’t come near me! I will not dress up for you, will not wear the dress you give me, and will do nothing you want me to do.” I stepped two steps away from him when he stepped one step towards me.

He held my hand and pulled me in. My chest collided with his chest. I widened my eyes and lifted my head to look at him.

A shiver ran up my back. He had already unlaced my wedding gown from the back.

“No!” I cried and pushed him away. I kept my gown on my body with both my hands crossed across my chest.

“If you don’t want me to undress you… help you take a bath and then… dress you up again, then be a good girl and wear a gown on your own.” He whispered in my ears, almost hugging me from behind. “You will, won’t you, Zeve?” He whispered.

I grabbed a random gown and rushed into the washroom to change.