• Alpha Alexandero,
Location: Unknown.
Authors POV:
The wistful wind drew hallucinating comparisons in the sky, taunting him, caressing the wounds of his soul as if it was silver cutting and pressing against his deep flesh wound.
He wasn't too proud to admit this anymore that it hurt. More than salt being rubbed into a bleeding cut. His emotions were written raw on his face, his soul was ripped open and destroyed and the saddest part was it was him who had set fire to himself.
It was him. Who had believed to the treacherous lies of a whore who had claimed to have given her heart to him but had nothing to do with it. It was him. All along, it was only him.
His hands landed hard upon the wood, he never felt the desperation to scream this intensely before, anger pouring out of his veins. But he couldn't. He spoke no more. Cried no more. Talked no more. He was a living statue who's face no one ever saw.
His swollen fingers held the blade even, a perfect undaunted horizon, always levelled with his nose, just as his father had taught him. This wasn't the first time he was lost doing a task as such. His eyes glistened with the long forgotten ghosts of his past, his wolf trembling with the pain of remembrance.
She was always quick. Like the wind. Colourful. Too much of soul. Prying the edged cutlass from his swollen fingers she whipped around to clash steel. As if she was breaking inside, her spine trembled, she was nothing compared to the gaint in front of her.
She had managed to stall her males strike but watched as a wretched grin strained with pure male ego, unadulterated split his beautiful lips, her belly clenched and her hands trembled, her face reddening from the thought of his drugging kisses, her blade shivering under the brutality of his compelling strength.
"Weapons do not belong in the hands of women my sweet" his voice, made her breathless, she felt as if the whole ocean was staring at her, her soul trembling with undeniable pleasure. A warmth flooded in his stone cold heart, he enjoyed the effect he had on his mate.
The way her lips trembled when he stood too close, the way his scent made her go weak in her knees and knotted her belly, the way she dodged his touches, his effect on her her was too intense. A sly smile broke on his lips as he neared his lips to her, her hands fighting with all her strength, he whispered.
"Give up" he throatily crooned, his lips pressing to her neck. He could swear she almost moaned at his touch, her body starting to melt at the tips of his overly callused fingers despite her will to withstand his pleasurable assault. "No" she whispered striking him as she ducked down, their blades clashing once again. "Never"
Strange voices shook him, bringing him back to reality, he found himself standing in the middle of a forest, wolves working relentlessly as the angry sky grumbled above him, threatening to unleash its tears any moment. The axe fell from his hand. Found himself.....? No. Not again. He was dreaming. An angry grunt left his lips, his callused hands now bleeding. Hands which once picked up a sword were now picking up an axe. The irony.
"That's enough for today. Just gather all the wood and put it inside mate, looks like it's going to rain" he nodded though the hood covering his face, the clouds already starting to rumble. In one fluid motion he picked up the entire bundle of wood, putting it across his shoulder as the others wolves watched with awe. Little men. All of them.
"You hurt yourself" a little girl's voice chirped into the basement where they stored the wood. He grunted, the sound that would make his enemies shiver with fright, his unruly facial hair peeking out a little, his lush full lips camouflaging in between them, his frame hauntingly daunt, glistened with sweat, looking scarier than ever. She trembled and fell backwards, a scream escaping from her lips, her little hands reaching for her hurt knee.
He had turned into a beast, for fucks sake it was a little girl. Fuck. He didn't mean to hurt her.
Tears covered her little face, her knee scraped, too much trauma for her little mind. His hand reached for her knee and she squealed with pain. The little girls heart leaped with fear. His calloused fingers studied it with sheer gentility, her small knee 2/4th size of the giants hand.
He didn't hesitate to tear a piece of his clean shirt, the only shirt he owned apart from the one which he was wearing. He was quick with his work, fastening the cloth around her knee. "Your hand" she whispered in a timid voice, fascinated with the mysterious man. He took a deep breath, his eyes staring right at her. Her soul was too pure, he could see it in her eyes, the purity calming his wolf who was always at the edge, positive energy radiating outside.
He didn't bother to reply, he didn't want to. Someone cared. After all these days. The little girl trembled for a second as his hand caressed her head. Her eyes shined with the tears of fright and pain, her little mind confused.
Something in her told her not to mess with the giant and something in her pulled her towards him. So this was the little stalker was having all these days. She watched him work, she watched him sleep. She noticed that he didn't eat. And she noticed that he cried himself to sleep every night.
She noticed that he drank a bitter liquid which made him forget everything. She noticed that he was in pain. As if his life was flashing in front of him, he saw what a mess he was through her eyes. He almost smiled. Almost. Someday he could have had a pup with his mate. His beautiful Esmèralda. But he destroyed all that with his hands.
He was the reason she was dead. He was a fucking monster. Nothing could change that. His jaw clenched, anger poring out of his veins.
"Edelene" an old female voice called for her. "What are you doing here child! Get up!" Alexandero got up immediately, his job there was done. "But grandma-" "I shall here none of it. Your Pa was looking for you since half an hour. Don't beat the poor man. He already works too hard for you" the lecture continued for a little while and slowly their voices faded away.
People didn't want him anymore. He was a murderer. He didn't deserve to run his empire anymore. He didn't. His hands grabbed the now torn clean shirt he owned and pressed the bottle of liquor to his lips. The warmth kicked in, he slipped the hood back on his face and rushed outside towards the lake.
•Luna Queen Esmèralda,
Location: The mountains of Midhest,
The valley of Laveda,
Somewhere to the south of Nasheria.
Authors POV:
It was dark. And she was aware that she wasn't dreaming. She felt as if the moon herself had chosen her for the tournament. Tears slipped out of her eyes for the millionth time as she held onto the window grill, her eyes dying for a peek of the moon. Come on. You can't hide yourself like that from me. You can't be angry with me Goddess. You're all what I'm left with. The smokey grey clouds roared without a care, spreading over the sky, domineering over her.
Her eyes closed with the dying hope of seeing the moon, her heart filling with disdain. Her head slipped, jerking her, waking her up. No. No. No. I can't sleep. I can't. Her body shivered with fear, hands trembling with the thought of dreaming. No. No. No. "Mera" a voice chimed through the darkness, a hand reaching out for her shoulder. "No! Don't!" Her voice had the same madness from all those nights ago, her body shivered with fear the same way, her eyes too would cry a river like they did every night.
A flicker of light made her squeeze her eyes shut, Mikhail put out the candle at a distance, sitting next to her. She was covered in sweat, her hair were everywhere, eyes swollen and numb with tears. A pang of pain hit his heart. She was losing it. He couldn't let her. She was too pure to be tainted by the darkness of the word. She had to snap out of her nightmare. And only she could do that. No power in the world could.
"I wanted to ask. What would you like to eat for breakfast? Do you feel like eating anything in particular? I've heard women tend to have cravings at this time" his efforts of making up a conversation were proving to be futile, her eyes stared out of the window lifelessly like she did every night, eyes smeared with her tears, painfully swollen. A rush of anger took over him.
"You didn't sleep again" the change in his tone was as cold as ice, it made her cringe, her eyes moved in the opposite direction discreetly, her fingers clasping onto the window grill with fear, tears leaking out of her eyes. His eyes widened this time, pure fear taking over his heart as the blood poured out of her hand. In a flash he pulled away the tiny piece of glass she held in her hand, throwing it into the fire place.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?! Your hand is fucking bleeding!" She sat there as if nothing happened, the pain over taking her as she breathed slowly. Every time she tried to hurt herself, he was there, not letting her do so. She was tired of trying, there was no point of trying. She was weak. Nothing could ever change that.
He would never let her kill herself, he made sure she lived through her nightmare. Fresh tears fell from her eyes as she collapsed onto his lap, her eyes staring at the ceiling, her heart with the moon. I need to see you Goddess. Once. Please.
This time, it was his tears that fell on her palm as he cleaned her wound with sheer gentility, the cut wasn't superficial, it was deep. He failed to protect her from herself. No matter how much he tried, she'd find a way. His eyes drifted onto her face, her lips parted, trebling as she shook with pain. And nothing knew better than his heart that it wasn't physical pain she was crying from.
Anger poured out of his veins. No girl deserved this kind of pain. No one. Heck, he'd sell his soul to the devil if he could get his mate and his pup back. That bastard. What did he do to her? She didn't even want to close her eyes. She was scared of sleeping. Of dreaming. Or breathing. He had tainted her soul with darkness and no light could penetrate it.
Her vision seemed to be clouded, she needed to sleep. Forgive me. But you need this. His fingers were quick to apply the thick wet paste onto her open wound, the medicine would immediately run inside her blood stream. Her hand shook as he fastened the bandage onto it, her lips parting with pain. Her chest heaved and dropped, she was breathing deeply, confused, not understanding why her mind was shutting off on her own. He watched as her eye lids fluttered close slowly, she was drifting, drifting for her own good. His hand rubbed forehead gently, easing her, his warmth flowing inside her.
"Don't hold back. Slip Mera, slip. Look the moon is out too. She wants you to rest. You need it little girl. You need it" her eyes closed at one, her hand hands relaxing by her side, he breathed out the air he was holding in, hoping that everything turned out to be well in the morning.
Tiny rays of sunlight sneaked into the dark room she lay, touching her eyes playfully. He never felt so tense. He sat there like he did every night watching over her, his fingers subconsciously caressing the side of her temples as the sunlight touched her. She began to stir, he moved away, walking towards the kitchen. Her hand reached for her eyes, rubbing them as it became brighter.
He watched every move she took, his eyes fixed on her. She got up slowly, the dark lustrous mass of her hair slowly tumbling down her shoulder, the sunlight penetrating her eyes, his breath caught into his throat. They looked like liquid emeralds, her heavy lashes battering slowly against her unblemished skin. The sound of sizzling made her turn, her eyes met with his for a second and then lowered, he paused.
"It isn't meat. Don't worry" he expected no answer, she never talked. She studied the bandage on her hand, closing and opening her palm slowly. Mikhail appeared before her with a tray in his hand, a smile plastered onto his lips. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, he never smiled. Strange.
The aroma of soup hit her nostrils and her mouth watered, in a good way this time. She bit her lip, her fingers tucking her silky hair behind her ear, her liquid emerald eyes battering with contempt. She felt good.
He dipped the spoon into the bowl, blowing the soup gently before extending his hand towards her lips. Her eyes met his, she paused, she didn't look away this time. Nor did he.
As she was being drowned into a sea of overwhelm, her heart shivered with sadness, tears at the tip of her eyes. Why did he care?
Why wasn't he like the others? Why didn't he throw her away? Or try to kill her? Or reject her? The spoon pressed onto her lips and she drank, subconsciously, her toes curling. His eyes met her feet, he got up coming closer to her, she froze, her eyes wide, her heart beating faster and faster. He lowered his gaze, pulling up the sheets to her, covering her with a coat, the tips of his fingertips grazing her skin, warmth spreading through her cold body. She bent her head, her hands clutching the collar of her coat.
He smiled continuing to feed her, tearing the pieces of bread and mixing them into the soup. She liked how it tasted, sour with a hint of pepper, she drank hungrily, her lips weakly trembling as she ate properly after days. He extended his hand again, this time she shook her head. "A little more. You're almost done" her stomach revolted but she couldn't make herself say no to him. He smiled as if he won a war, she had eaten without throwing up. Now, she had to keep it down.
"I'm going out for a bit Mera. I'll be back soon" she lifted her head and looked at him, her hair softly moving with the wind. "No" she whispered weakly. "Can't...." she paused, lost for words. Since Luciana had left to her see her dying uncle with Zelda, she didn't have a choice but to be dependent upon him. She looked at him, her eyes not moving away Come on. You can do it. Talk. "Can't what Mera?" Her eyes moved frantically, her delicate eyebrows clouding, still silent as he waited desperately for her to speak. Her chest heaved and dropped, her heartbeat picking up its rate, her hands rushed to her head and she held it bending it, her hair covering her face. Fuck.
"Hey, hey, it's ok. I won't leave you alone ok. I'll be here" his voice was intense, eyes trying to get a peek of her face. He just.... couldn't look away from her. He didn't know what was happening to him.
"I fixed a bath for you. You want to clean yourself?" She lowered her head nodding. "Great" he said gently as his hand wrapped around her, picking her up. Her body trembled with fear, she didn't have a choice. She closed her eyes tight, freezing in her place. He looked at her once again, his eyes stealing glances. Her head rested against his chest, his heart beat filling her ears, as if she was melting....she calmed down.
The pace of her heart beat lowered, feeling her calm down he breathed out.
That moment she could swear she felt something inside her, her hand rushed to her stomach, a muffled cry leaving her trembling lips. "Mera...." his heart clenched with fear as her tears wet his chest, putting her down on the bench. "Are you alright? Do you want me to take you to the pack physician?....Mera?" She shook her head, her hand shivered as she touched his hand, her eyes stealing glances as her tears fell, placing it on the swell of her stomach.
Her chest rose and fell, she felt breathless, her throat was dry, she shivered. The warmth from his hand travelled up her body, warming her severely cold heart, the heart beat of her pup picking up its pace. A smile broke her lips as another tear fell as she looked into his eyes, her body trembling.
As if the heartbeat of her pup was what she needed to hear, her ears asked more. And more. And more.....damn, she could die hearing it. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever heard.
"You know what this means?" Mikhails voice was warm and gentle, she could tell he was looking right into her eyes. "You can't go back Mera. You can't. There's a life inside you. Whatever you do, it affects it too. If you hurt yourself, you're hurting your pup too" as she she stopped breathing, his words started beating some sense into her. "You're lucky that the moon gave you another chance. It's not easy loosing a child" his eyes were glistening with tears. For a second he licked his lips, trying to get a grip over himself. "The moon has blessed you Mera. Don't abnegate it" with that he walked out of the room, leaving her mind to start a battle with her heart again.