Kingdom of the Zodiac

Chapter 32

When I was safely inside the confines of my own tent, I allowed my emotions to come flooding to the surface. Hot tears brimmed my eyes as I collapsed face first onto the bed and screamed my frustration into the mattress. 

Anger and shame washed over me in waves for what I had done. Or rather, what I had failed to do. I'd started my day fully intending on telling Liam and Hale about what transpired between Aelia and myself in my dream, yet when the time came, I could not find the courage to open my mouth.

Fucking coward.

Not even ten minutes ago I'd stood before them both and made some sappy speech about doing whatever I could to bringing them peace. Little did they know that I'd already had multiple opportunities to do just that but chose not to because I was a selfish bitch.  

I lifted my head from the bed to peer around the tent, needing an outlet for the hurricane of emotions wreaking havoc inside me. My eyes darted around until they landed on my discarded training gear laying in a heap on the floor. 

Scrambling across the bed, I reached for the wooden sword, eager to wield my chosen weapon of destruction. I hissed when a few sharp splinters embedded themselves into the soft flesh of my palm but continued to squeeze the grip as tight as I could. 

Okay, now what?

The off-white porcelain water pitcher sitting on the table beside my bed caught my eye and I smiled, officially selecting my first target. I twirled the sword in my hand as I took a few steps closer, ready to take my frustration out on the inanimate object. Right as I began to pull my arm back, images of Hale's face flashed through my mind. What would he do when he found out I'd kept the truth from him? 

"Gods dammit!" I screamed, swinging the sword forward until it met its mark, shattering the pitcher into a million pieces. Unfortunately it did not have the effect I was hoping for, quite the opposite really. I stared down at the broken bits laying scattered across the floor, noting how accurately they resembled my heart.

Fate had a twisted sense of humor. For a moment I had thought that she had pushed Hale and I together because we each held a piece of the other's soul. Both of us possessing a fragment of each other without knowing we were missing them the first place. But now I see that I was wrong. Our story had never been written in the stars as I believed. He was destined to be with another, while I was fated to forever be alone. 

I swung the sword again, this time at the side of the tent, causing the material to rip, exposing a small crowed that had begun to gather outside. "The fuck are you looking at?" I screamed, splaying my arms wide. A few of them shook their heads before walking away, while a couple stayed, leaning into each other to whisper. 

Millions of questions swirled inside my head and I struggled to focus on just one. How was I supposed to give him up? Especially when he'd just opened up to me about his feelings. I knew what I needed to do, but I wasn't sure if I had the strength to do it. Even now, very fiber of my being ached to go to him and slam my mouth against his. I longed to have his thick cock buried deep inside me and feel his strong hands grip my hips as he fucked me into oblivion. My pussy throbbed with need as I thought about all the ways I'd beg him take me if we ever got the chance. 

"Snap out of it, Nova!" I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I needed to put a stop to this now before it went any further. Because I knew that if I chose to lower my guard and completely give myself to Hale, I would never let him go.

"You can do this," I blew out a breath. Glancing down at the sword in my hand, I thought back to the warmth in Hale's eyes when he presented it to me. I'd never received a gift before so I wasn't sure how it worked. Hale had said that it wasn't a big deal and that he just wanted to do something nice for me.