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Word Count: 1967
~Dawn
"I'm fine, Dawny. I understand why you want to do this."
I gaze down at my young sister, all dressed up and looking pretty. She suits this lifestyle, I have decided, and I'm going to make sure she finds someone who will take care of her and let her do as she pleases. Her mate, or not.
"Rylan even came to see me," she adds, hoping off her bed to wander of to her vanity. It's strange how this all belongs to her now. "He said I can go anywhere on his property. Inside, even the gardens."
"It doesn't bother you that you can't go outside anymore? Into the forest, I mean?"
Lucy shakes her head at me, picking the hairbrush up to run it through her hair. Had she been lying to me when she told me she loved the freedom over a conventional lifestyle? Her beauty at least will help her fit in here. Those doe eyes and that button nose. She is only young, but I can already see her being so extremely successful in her life.
"It's new, and I like that. It's only early days yet, but I might even consider going to school here or something," she adds, smiling brightly into the mirror.
The novelty will wear off, sister.
I keep my mouth shut. I'm not going to mention her sudden change of tact or address my distaste for her words. It's her choice what she decides to do with her life, not mine. However, it makes me nervous to think how easily influenced she may be by other Purity Pack members.
"Anyways, don't you and Rylan have a date today, or something?" she questions, standing back up again to wander over to me.
Ah yes. I'm surprised he wants to get into this straight away, considering the whole mating ceremony is a whole month away. If anything, I thought I would be locked away in my room, yet he is actually letting me out after what had happened. I can imagine the security when we leave the place, keeping me prisoner even out in public.
"Something like that," I breathe.
She places her hands on her shoulders and smiles at me. "I think I'm going to play around in the garden or something."
Good. Be a kid, for once.
Lucy leaves in a flurry of white fabric and dark hair. It strikes me as more than strange that she changed her mind about living here. Back in the forest, she would trash talk Rylan more than I would.
Shaking my head in wonder, I follow her out the door, however, I walk the opposite way. I've agreed to try with Rylan, which means going along with his little date idea. In reality, I want to stress my rules of freedom around here...maybe even convince him to let me out of here for a few hours on the terms that, of course, I would come back.
Maybe. I'm feeling better now that I'm eating properly again.
The moment I turn the corner to walk down the stairs, I'm brought to a startled stop. A man stood at the top of the stairs, leaning against the banister, a brooding expression on his face.
He stands tall at the sight of me, an immediate grin dancing across his lips. I'm taken aback by him, and the way he looks. I've never seen someone with hair that is such a luminous dark blue, scattered across the man's forehead to his eyes, which are a threatening obsidian colour.
He skips forward on light steps and holds his hand out to me. "Good morning, Dawn. Wow, this must be your favourite time of day."
I'm not sure if I'm struggling to react to the lame joke he just added to the first sentence he ever spoke to me, or just by him in general. He is both the strangest man I have ever seen, and the most intriguing.
"You work for Rylan," I decide. Why else would he be here?
He frowns, then chuckles animatedly. The way he laughs is interesting, as if it has been locked away for quite some time, and doesn't see the sun very often.
"I don't work for anyone, honey," he says, sobering from his laugh. "I'm Fate."
My surprise knocks me still for a moment. Fate? Now I suddenly see it, why he looks so strange and doesn't seem to belong anywhere within the Pack Quarter. My mind still scrambles for reason behind his sudden appearance, which I assume is because of Rylan. Or maybe, it has something to do with the threats to find Fate and get him to revoke our meeting bond.
Finally, Fate retracts his hand, tucking it behind his back. He balances the tips of his shoes to the heel, before glancing over his shoulder. Seeming irritated by what he saw, he suddenly grabbed my hand and walked me toward the nearest door, shouldering it open where he lead me into the small office like area.
"We have something important to discuss," he says, letting go of my arm as he shuts the door behind us.
I fold my arms over my chest, watching him wander over to the desk in the middle of the room. Without a care for any property damage, he sits squarely on the desk. Luckily, there are no papers or anything for him to accidentally ruin.
"Do we?" I say in disbelief. If anything, I would expect him to take Rylan up with any issues he has, not me. Especially since I haven't been living here for more than a day.
"You have every right to be angry at me," he says carefully, although I can tell he doesn't care really care if I do or not. He has that kind of tone about him, as if nothing can touch him. If what I have learned about Fate throughout the years is true, then that can be justified. He is completely untouchable.
"Why?" I question warily.
Fate sighs deeply, and for a moment, he looks troubled. "I convinced your sister it's okay to be here. That she doesn't need to be out there."
My eyes widen in shock, as his words sink in. What does he mean by convinced? My sister does not simply get convinced, especially by someone like Fate. She surely would have mentioned seeing him. It all leads me to believe...
"Okay, I messed with her head a little bit, but it's all in good will," Fate says carefully, his eyes narrowing slightly as if wishing he was saying something else.
Anger suddenly consumes every pore in my body. You don't mess with my sister,
"Messed with here? If you weren't omnipotent or whatever, I would kill you right now," I mutter darkly, my eyes landing on his neck. I heard he is manipulative and does whatever he can to get what he wants, but this is something I never saw coming. My sister means too much to me. "Tell me what you-"
Fate holds his hands up. "Calm down. She attacked one of Rylan's staff, so I calmed her down and used a little...incentive, to help her understand what is going on, and what is going happen."
"Why?" I question, unable to keep my rapid breathing in check. "Why help her, if that's even what you're doing?"
Then the smile was back.
"I need your help, and I believe you need mine."
Instantly, I shake my head. I've learnt enough about him to know not to make a deal with him. I may come from the Desire Pack where we worship him - the only one who will let everyone get away with their sins - however, there isn't a single person in their right mind who isn't wary of him.
"I don't need anything from you. Fix my sister, and leave," I snap, glad my voice wasn't trembling. Wherever this confidence has come from, I want more of it.
He shakes his head in wonder. "Don't you need someone on your side. You have an Alpha who wants you dead, and another who wants you locked up to be his pretty little princess. It doesn't look like you have many other options.
"Rylan and I are compromising," I say carefully.
"That doesn't change Kaden, does it?" Fate says, still smiling as if enjoying a personal joke. "He isn't going to stop until you're dead. Usually, he wouldn't be so involved since his daughter was born a month ago. However, you're different."
I knew what he was going to say...
"You're Rylan's mate, and the fact that he is the Alpha of Purity and you will be his Luna makes you as pure as him. Well, presumably."
At his words, I shiver. At this point, the smile has disappeared, and I can see the seriousness in those endless dark eyes. He isn't worried about me, I know that much. There is something else he wants, otherwise he wouldn't be here.
"Well, thank you for reminding me of my terrible life," I growl, turning my back on him. "I don't want anything from you."
Swinging the door open, I'm startled by the sight of Fate standing right there. Oh yes, another perk of being immortal, I suppose. Placing my hand over my frantically beating heart, I shouldered past him.
The grabs my arm in a tight grip, pulling me back against him. I gasp at our sudden proximity. "I have a friend, and he needs your help."
"Excuse me?"
"There are people like me out there you don't want to meet. Worse than me," he growls in my ear, his breath burning hot. "Some that don't care about mortals like you. So if you want a visit from the man himself, than I suggest you listen."
I keep my mouth safely shut.
"Ever heard of the devil? What about the Seven Deadly Sins?" he questions.
"Myths," I supply.
Fate chuckles. "No, only the nightmares of reality."
I pull my arm away from Fate's grip, rubbing where he had held. "I don't see your point. If this is your way of threatening me, then it's pitiful."
"I'm warning you. There is Death, but after that, there is something worse. There is purgatory, where a devilish man named Sinful decides your fate. Yes, your fate."
"First," I say slowly. "Sinful is a stupid name. Second, you're Fate, which means you're either really bad at storytelling, or you aren't as powerful as everyone likes to think."
Fate frowns. The expression looks strange on him.
"He wants something, and it looks like you're the perfect way for him to get it," Fate muses, and suddenly, the easy smile I want to slap right off him is making an appearance again. "It does follow his namesake, after all."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I question, although I may already know the answer.
"Well, Rylan is the Alpha of Purity, and Sinful happens to...disagree with a few of his life choices."
"Oh no," I whisper. "He wants me to make Rylan sin."
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Want more and don't want to wait!? More of Rylan is available now on Radish!
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(Everyone's going to wonder...Rylan never actually killed anyone directly himself. It will be explained next chapter)
Anyways, Asher is now on Wattpad!! It is just the prologue for now, but I hope you like it!
The book will properly be starting off sooner than I expected (sometime this week)
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Fate's back!
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~Midika 💜🐼