3. Blooddebt | ✓

33. Maligned Stars

"For Goddess' sake! I promised both of you that I would return and you're choking me, Eli—" Thunder struggled, suffocating when she clung too tightly onto him.

He was grabbing onto her arms, trying to pry them away from him but she almost wished she could murder this panther for making her worry. From the side, Rowan pulled her by the waist and let out a quiet chuckle, "You'll really kill him at this rate, love."

"Thunder!" Elianna fumed.

The panther moved past them and carried Arell up in his arms, cradling the child close to him. Therianthropes have higher body temperatures and Elianna knew that he was trying to warm the child up with his warmth. Lowering his head, Thunder murmured, "I'm sorry."

"I think you're mistaking me," Elianna sighed. "Thunder, you can choose whoever you want to be bonded with. It's your freedom and choice because none of us owns you — you belong to yourself. I'm mad at you because you could've told me about it and I could've taught Arell how to reach out to you. We needed to know you're safe, Thunder. You're too precious to us."

"I can see why you're so attached to them now."

Behind them, a deep voice echoed through the crisp air. A tall figure entered through the door and the gold in his eyes caused Elianna to still. The amber was the same shade that she shared with the wolf queen. With an arm wrapped protectively around her, Rowan stiffened beside her and tugged her closer to him at the sight of the unknown visitant.

The tension eased a little when Thunder clicked his tongue in annoyance and turned his head around, snarling, "Izekiel, I told you to wait outside."

"Is this how you talk to your elder, youngling?" Izekiel responded funnily with a rumbling laugh. He walked close to her and bent at his waist. Those radiant gold eyes bore into hers and he rested his forehead on the back of her hand. He smiled and revealed his feline canines, "You're the reason why this youngling get to be arrogant, hmm? Her Divinity's blessed child."

"You're creepy, old cat," Thunder scowled.

"You mispronounced charming, youngling," Izekiel joked, smirking playfully at Thunder.

Elianna shot a glance at a displeased Thunder before adjusting her gaze back to Izekiel again. Gripping onto Rowan's arm tighter, she asked, "Who are you?"

Izekiel raised his brows in amusement and mentioned, "Introductions aren't needed, darling. I won't be here for long."

━━━━━━━━━━

Iftia: Nvre Palace, Nursery

• Naailah •

When she returned to an empty nursery, Naailah knew something was terribly wrong. The silence in the space seized her in the same manner that her fear did. Turning around she quickly ran down the wide hallway and shouted for Ray to get her back to the Royal Palace. This was the beginning of her nightmare — a noose tightened around her neck and a shackle chained to her ankle.

The guards outside the Queen's bedchamber halted her when she tried to enter. Frustrated and desperate, she wasn't going to let them shut her outside. She trudged her way through and forcefully entered the chamber. At first sight, her heart fell to the bottomless pit.

He was there, together with their daughter in his arms. However, that man who stood ahead of her was neither Matthias nor Lyra. The hazel in those eyes lost every tinge of warmth and light in them in a manner that caused her chest to constrict as rage gripped her and her temper sparked.

"What have you done to him?" Naailah ridiculed, her fingers digging into the skirt of her dress as buried emotions surfaced. She repeated, "What have you done to him?"