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Chapter Fifteen
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Lucian’s POV
He watched Rita from where he sat on the rock beside her, waiting for her to wake, and his patience was wearing thin. It took him some time to get her to shift back, so he could examine her injuries, and the gash on her stomach was nasty and wasn't healing. He had ripped a shard of her dress off to stop the bleeding, and now he was worried that he was wasting time just sitting there.
It was either he took Rita back to the Ewing pack, or found his way back to El; but they both needed him.
It was nearly dawn, and he had to find his way back to Elyssa before sunrise. Standing with his hands on his waist, he tried to figure out why the labyrinth led him away from his mate and to Rita. Shouldn't his mate be his priority? He hadn’t considered that his relationship with Rita somehow linked them.
With a weak groan she stirred, and Lucian turned to her.
Damn it!
Getting her home would cut into his time in
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The pinch in her chest caused Elyssa to pull away from Zuker’s embrace. She turned away from him, massaging her chest with a grunt. “What’s wrong?” Zuker held her face, his brown eyes roving over her in concern, and she almost giggled. “I am not sure.” It felt foreign and yet as if her heart were hurting; like she was intercepting someone else’s pain. Elyssa looked around the beach and adjusted her robe before saying, “Let’s go.” Since none of the labyrinth walls had opened up for them in a while, she suspected it meant to keep them here until sunrise. Zuker nodded and took her hand as he continued down the beach. Her fingers wove into his, and she noticed when he glanced at her. Elyssa kept her gaze fixed ahead, avoiding any eye contact with him. Her repeated request for Zuker to not pursue her have gone unheeded, and Zuker was one of the most persistent wolves she’d ever met. For her, the idea that he loved her made no sense when she
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“This way!” Zuker yelled as he spun her off the path, and pinned her against the wall. They waited with bated breath for the creatures closing in from behind the wall. She looked at the sky; it was nearly morning, and they hadn't crossed paths with Lucian or Antonio. Wouldn’t escaping the labyrinth with Zuker make them mates according to the mating ritual? At that moment, her gaze fixed on him, watching the contours of his face as he pressed up against her. “Zuker, if we escape from the labyrinth together, wouldn't that make us mates?” Zuker’s gaze turned to her while he contemplated, his eyes darted back and forth quickly. It hadn’t occurred to him either, and that look of sheer joy on his face gave her the answer she was after. “I would suggest we hang back and search for your mate, but this place wants us to leave,” Zuker replied. He turned back to the wall they were leaning against, bending to peek at the creatures. The chamber was not clo
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By the time they reached the Ewing settlement, it was already early morning, and Zuker was determined not to speak to her. He ran across the square toward the Ewing house up on the hill, and Elyssa followed in her own quiet way. It wasn’t in her interest to irritate him while he was worried about his sister.In addition to that, there was a newfound hatred for Rita, one that resulted from Lucian knowing her first, and somehow ending up with her outside the labyrinth. What were they really doing together, anyway?Outside the guest house of the Ewing compound, she walked past men in black suits standing guard; it was unusual. Rita would be in the main house, so what were these mean-looking men doing here? As they stepped aside, they gave her a nod, and her brows quirk in curiosity. She looked herself over, perhaps they tell she just escaped the labyrinth with the ceremonial robe she wore?“Elyssa, I see you made it out.”At the sound of Vi
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In spite of the steam in the bathroom, Elyssa found her way to the mirror after getting out of the shower. She would be happy if the water was able to wash away everything that had transpired yesterday and just moments ago. Drying herself off, she entered her bedroom that hadn’t been cleared out; everything was just as she had left it. She slowly dressed, wondering about Zuker as she pulled on her jeans and shirt. It was obvious he still had a grudge against her, since he hadn’t shown up yet to check on her. It wasn’t really fair for her to blame him. He was right about everything. Her miserable self was moping about Lucian, the mate she didn’t want, being in love with Rita, when she should be with Zuker and Rita. After taking a towel to her hair, she donned a pair of black ankle boots that went really well with her deep blue jeans and red top before stepping outside her bedroom. When she was done checking on Rita, she would head back into town to check on Taylor and
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“Well?” Elyssa whispered against his lips. In a smile, Zuker took a step back, smoothing her hair as he gazed at her. “That was different.” It was. They’d kissed too many times before, and it had never felt this overwhelming. It was as if her soul was radiating with all the colours in the universe, with him as her centre. Did their escape from the labyrinth change something between them? “I know,” she said, trying desperately not to smile. “Is this really what you want?” he asked. “It would make Lucian an enemy, and Lucian is a formidable foe to have.” “I’m not doing anything wrong,” she asserted. “I left the labyrinth with you, and he left with Rita.” She turned away from him. “As selfish as you have made me out to be, I have to ask when will you tell me what you left out about the Callistos?” After he let out a sigh, Zuker’s attention turned to something behind Elyssa. She turned to find Melissa with her novel smile approachi
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It was a quiet drive back to the Callisto compound, and riding alongside her mate did not help. Every now and then he would glance at her, as if he wanted to say something but decided not to. Within a mile of their arrival in the borough, they could see the towering Callisto compound.Life had gotten away from her, and she no longer had any control over the way things were panning out. In her obsession with finding and punishing Lucian, she had forgotten to live. With a huff, she ran her fingers through her hair.“Everything OK?” Lucian asked.“I have no words for you,” she replied.When the driver of the saloon limo glanced at them from the rearview mirror, Elyssa glared at him, and he looked back to the road.As Lucian faced her, he smiled warmly. “You’re upset with me?” he asked. “How do you figure that?”“Can we not do this?” Elyssa replied.“I don’t see
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The way he held her face and kissed her with purpose made her stomach flutter. Hands trembling as they dropped to his arms teeming with muscles, she felt her breath almost leave her. The sensation of kissing him was unlike anything she had experienced, and without control, she channelled her gift and moaned against the tide of his emotions crashing down on her.To steady herself, she drew back and took a deep breath. With a smile that made her curious, his amber eyes brimmed into hers, making her giddy. She resented how she couldn’t find the right things to say when his eyes were fixed on her like that, or when he was so close his sandalwood scent tingled along her skin like a caress, claiming her before he even marked her.“Your mate,” Lucian whispered before kissing her shoulder. “That was the first time I’ve ever heard you call me that.”Her gaze returned to him. “No, it’s not.”“Really it is.
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Elyssa shrugged in response, as he watched her in an unfamiliar way. But it felt good to get that off her chest. “How did you manage to survive it?” “That night, I snuck out to a party, and by the time I got back home the next morning, all that was left was ashes.” Hanging her hands on her hips after she tossed her hair, she shook the image of that night from her mind. He walked over to her and just stared at her. He said, “I am so sorry for your loss.” His voice was soft and comforting, and his reaction was far from what she expected to see. “How have you survived without a pack?” “I’ve got the Ewings.” Lucian shook his head in disbelief. “You never truly accepted them as your pack. It’s evident by how you act. You’re a lone wolf.” “After the fire, trust was not something that came easily to me. No matter how much I wanted to, and believe me I really wanted to. I felt I would be letting my family down by pledging another pack.
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While Elyssa would have preferred to ride with Zuker instead of Rita to the Ewing compound, she went with Rita. She was not surprised to see Keith and Jared downstairs either. Lucian was very sweet, and just thinking about him made her smile. Watching the cars go by, she wondered how he was doing, as she found it difficult to feel him despite their link, even though she wanted to.Their car screeched to a stop along the quiet streets of Boulder Row, and Rita and she braced themselves. Keith cursed as he gazed out at the pack of wolves blocking their path from the passenger seat, then he unbuckled his seatbelt.“Don’t confront them.” Elyssa interrupted him before he could step out of the car. “Who are they?”“They are part of the resistance, Luna,” Keith said. “That tattoo on their necks is the crest.”When Keith called her Luna, she caught Rita’s sideways glance and felt uncomfortable. Rita had d
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Elyssa snuggled into Zuker’s warmth, and he cradled her closer. Listening to him ramble on about the wolves and the gods, she smiled. Even though her intention had been to listen to this, Zuker was so close to her and drowning her in his scent that she could not focus on anything else.“You’re not listening, are you?”Looking up, she found his brow arched in question, and she laughed loudly as he shook his head at her.“I was. Please continue.”Intent on paying attention to him, she drew back from him and slid to the edge of the couch.“What’s going on over there? Come here.” He waved her over, and she refused with a shake of her head.Zuker closed the space between them, wrapping his arm around her waist and pinning her against him. With a gasp, her arms found his chest and slowly slid around his shoulder as she gazed at him.“I think I’m okay with having two mates, bu
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“Something happened when I went to the Ewing compound ahead of you.” Taking Lucian by the hand, Elyssa led him to her living room and lowered into a couch with him. As he waited for her to tell him what was going on, his brow furrowed into a deep frown. Meanwhile, she wondered when Zuker would join them. “What is it?” “Lucian, you need to understand things as I do know, so you know it’s no one’s fault; mine, his or yours.” “Don’t tell me you slept with him.” Lucian tightened his grip on her hand, and when her gaze fell to it, he slipped his hand away from her. “Go on.” “Do you know anything about the war between the gods and the dark?” she asked. On the couch, Lucian reclined, then he adjusted. “I am aware. My bloodline is adamantly opposed to the light, my forefathers pledged us to the dark. How do you know about that?” “My parents were both pledged to both sides.” Elyssa huffed, stunned by how stuck she was in the middle of a
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A confused Elyssa sat with her legs crossed in the white expanse, unsure of what was happening or what to do next. With no awareness of her physical surroundings, she wondered how Zuker and Lucian were doing. The two of them were probably at each other’s throats, and it was likely Zuker had revealed their match to spite Lucian. More than anything, she needed to be out of here, wherever it was, to make sure Zuker did not tell Lucian anything. “That is why you are here, Elyssa.” Her eyes snapped open at the echo of the voice within the expanse. Jumping to her feet, she looked around for anyone or anything. “What am I doing here? What is this place?” she asked. “Your mates must work things out and accept that you belong with them, both of you.” A churning of bells echoed in his voice, and Elyssa laughed at the absurdity of what he said. “Lucian would never accept such a thing.” “If he won’t conform, he will be removed. He
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Lucian’s POVAfter setting her in her bed, Lucian lowered himself to sit beside her and gawked, unable to look away from her. She was in pain, and he had no idea how to help her. The way she’d screamed in excruciating agony crushed him, and given that she was azure royalty and an alpha, the mesh of all that power made it difficult to tell which was hurting her now.He wanted to help her.Yet, it appeared that she didn’t want his help. Just moments after they’d shared the most mind-blowing night together, he managed to hurt her and make her jealous. Goddess, she had been so open and eager for him that it nearly drove him mad. With just one visit to Rita, he had managed to push her to the point where she wanted to distance herself from him and be with Zuker.Then he turned to Zuker who was standing in the doorway. The scent of his anxiety and worry filled the room.“Would you be so kind…?” L
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After stepping out of the shower, Elyssa donned a pair of red silk pyjamas and went to Zuker in her living room. She resolved to stay here until she was no longer bothered by Lucian’s inane questions. Then she scoffed, recalling the perverse question he had asked her following his admission of still having feelings for Rita and his reduction of her importance in his life.When he was crazy about Rita, why had he insisted on being with her? A lot more had to be going on, and Ravyn had to reveal it.“You’re fuming.”Zuker’s voice roused her from her thoughts, and she watched him, standing beside her living room window that overlooked the city.“I’m just a little annoyed.”“Is this about the witch or Lucian?” Zuker folded his arms over his chest. “I am upset that you went down that path alone. What if you had gotten hurt?”As she walked up to him, Elyssa smiled ear-to-ear.
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The darkness of the path swallowed her, even with the scorching morning sun, and this far down the path, she couldn’t see back into the Callisto compound.But she was not afraid.The wind whipped up with unusual force, and she quickly plaited her hair to prevent it from thrashing over her face. Ravyn’s voice was everywhere, echoing over and over through the dark path, and Elyssa took a deep breath. When she reopened her eyes, she saw the path in front of her clearly, and her brows furrowed in wonder. As her eyes got hot, she raised her hand to calm them down. It was then she noticed the blue glow emanating from her eyes, and it startled her.“The azure eyes,” she exclaimed to herself and continued down the path.Unlike her other gifts, channelling this gift took a lot of energy from her. It caused her eyes to burn badly, and she held her head with a wince. Squeezing both eyes shut, she put her hands out and walked along the path bl
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After she slipped away from Zuker, shaking her head to clear it of her new unfounded attraction to him, Elyssa returned to Rita’s side. It wasn’t that she didn’t already have feelings for him, she never acted on them or requited his advances because the goddess didn’t match them. As she channelled her ability, eyes clenched shut, trying not to leer at him, she believed that desire to be with a matched mate was an azure thing. “Anything?” Zuker’s voice boomed over to her, and she shook her head, eyes still closed. Then she pushed him and Lucian out of her mind for a moment; letting go of the doubts that plagued her, and the crippling fear that her life was headed in a direction she had never imagined. Rita’s hand heated up in hers, and Elyssa focused on the sensation. She followed it, or rather directed it, as the sensation spread throughout her body, and once it had settled Ely
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As Alfred paced in front of them, Elyssa struggled to avoid looking at Zuker. She craved his presence for some ungodly reason, and it was a bittersweet feeling. Her bond with Lucian made her feel guilty, and she wondered if he felt her particular attraction to Zuker now. She was worried because Alfred and Melissa had no explanation, but they knew precisely how terrible it would be to have Lucian’s mate be matched with their son. It was still necessary for her to see Rita to know that she was recovering well. What she really wanted to do was help Rita recover. Victoria told her the royal azure had multiple gifts; she wondered if her mother’s healing ability was one of them. But a more riveting dilemma occurred, and she hated that she was once again stuck in the middle. “Has something like this ever happened before?” Zuker asked. “
