A/N: I am so sorry guys! I was having a writing slump combined with multiple exams a week.
Hence the update is late. I seriously have to thank all the readers who are out there hanging in for Taurus. As for those who are reading Blaze, I have to tell you that I have finally found how to go on with the story. So, I am writing Blaze off wattpad. (Blaze will be up only after it is finished offline.)
Until then, I will try my best to update as frequent as possible, for I may be a bit free this weekend. Let's see.
Anyway, enjoy!
***********
Rune was raging. He wanted to demand justice for me after hearing what Mali had done. It took mine and Niran's complete effort to make him sit still. Even then, he was frowning like a kid.
"I honestly don't want to talk to her now, Rune," I sighed. "Let her do what she wants. She had even been marked by Riley now. She is their Omicron female. No one would stand with you."
Rune stopped pacing and sat on his seat again. "I can't take this disappointment. I can't believe that she is my sister. Even my mom would give her that frown of disappointment. Even Sadka would shake his head and walk into his study, banging the door behind him to show that he would not support her. Those two are very upright people."
"I believe you, Rune," I said. "I do. I understand how much you care for me. But right now, I have to think of a way to find that stupid Zeke."
"How long was that flight again?" Nox asked. "How long would it take to reach China?"
Ryan opened his phone and punched something. Then he looked up. "It would take him about..." he frowned at the screen before he said, "about sixteen hours."
"How long has it been since he left?" Nox asked.
Ryan coughed. "He left last night. At about midnight."
Antlia hummed. "So two hours for check-in and he has been travelling for eleven hours. You still have five hours to go."
"What are you planning?" Niran asked, rubbing his mate's shoulder.
"Since Draco said it is very dangerous for Zeke to be there alone, even in presence of Erica," Nox said. "I was planning to go to China when Zeke arrives so that we can search for Allen together and bring him back."
"Sounds good to me," Ryan chimed.
"So..." Antlia began. "Until then, we have nothing to do?"
Niran blinked at her. "What do you mean by that?"
"It's boring," she said. "We have to wait until Zeke reaches China for Nox to go there. From what Draco said a few minutes ago, Lawan and Wirat will reach here in four hours. So, until then, there won't be any action."
Rune coughed. "That's bothering you?"
Antlia nodded her head fervently. "You have no idea what it does to me. After stuck with Aries a few weeks back, he made me sit still to meditate on calming myself. It did help, but that's not me."
Niran whistled. "We are going to be under your rule in a few years. Should I be worried?"
Antlia scoffed. "Please. Don't act like you have your shit together."
At this moment, I shared Niran's worries. Decisiveness and fast thinking was something a ruler needed, not rashness. But then again, she was just sixteen years. She was far matured than any sixteen-year-old I had seen in my life.
Ryan shook his head with a smile. "Then let's do something. Something crazy."
At his words, Antlia bit her lips and looked at her boots. She was shaking her legs voluntarily, but the wringing of her fingers was something even she was not aware of.
"Is Lyra still here?" I asked.
Antlia looked up. "Yes. She is with Aries and Taurus and they are talking to Zyon."
Hearing that Warrior's name, an unknown smile flitted to my lips. He was so worried that he had asked all these people to search for me.
"Where?" I asked.
Antlia drew her face long. "I guess they are in a club?"
"Where?"
"Connections," she said. "I guess that's where they were headed."
I nodded. "I guess I will go there and see."
"Wait," Antlia said. "I am coming along."
I frowned. "If the two Warriors come to know that you are going to a club, won't I be skinned alive?"
Antlia smirked. "Lyra's there to reign Aries in. And you can deal with Taurus."
At her words, a myriad of reactions was seen on the males. Ryan just whistled as if he expected this, Niran and Nox exchanged that Chesire cat grin and Rune was staring at me as though I was a ghost.
Rune spluttered. "Antlia... are you just sa-saying that-"
Antlia pulled an innocent face. "I just said Draco can deal with Taurus. Is there something wrong in that?"
"There's nothing wrong in that," Niran grinned. "Since we have Draco to deal with Taurus, let's go."
"You guys!" I protested when they rose up. "Making me the scapegoat."
Nox snorted. "Please. We all know that you want to be the scapegoat here."
"Who wants to be a scapegoat?" I asked, but they simply ignored me and left.
Unbelievable. These people actually had the audacity to-
Ryan was the one who stayed behind.
"You know," he began. "It's not that bad liking a male."
By Amaris! Did he think that I had an aversion to liking males?
"It's not that," I sighed. "It's just that-"
I really did not know what to say now. Were my fears irrational? Could I be just overthinking?
"You don't know if he would reciprocate?" Ryan asked.
I nodded slowly.
"You know," Ryan chuckled. "When I first met Carson, it was worse than this?"
I looked up. "How so?"
"In my family," Ryan said. "I was embraced for who I was. There was no problem coming out. In fact, they were supportive of me. But Carson had it worse. Their parents actually wanted him to mate with a female. They had even arranged everything for him."
I inhaled sharply. "Then?"
"Then what?" Ryan smirked. "I crashed into his life. It was actually his engagement and our family had recently moved in. That was the first function that we attended here. Before he even put the ring on her finger, he saw me and everything collapsed. Carson lost it and... he marked me right there."
I smiled. "Did that piss his parents off?"
Ryan's smirk was not wiped out. "What do you think? They tried their best to break us apart and at one point, Carson nearly broke with me. I had to fight for us. I had to fight for what I believed in. Finally, he allowed me to Mark him and he left his family for me. Even now, for any holidays, his family would welcome him and not me. It used to be terrible, heart-breaking but I got used to it. It was a small price I paid to be with the one I love."
Silence prevailed over us. I knew what he was trying to say.
"Were you scared?" I asked finally.
"Terrified," he replied. "But love won in the end. If I was not going to fight for us, who else would? Definitely not my parents. They swore they would not interfere. Not my Omicron, though he respected mate-bonds. Not Carson who had his own battles to fight. I wanted us. I had to convince him. I appeared like a fool before everyone. People told me to give up. They said I was wasting my time and my emotions. But... but it was all worth it if I managed to see a small smile on Carson. Everything was."
I looked into his eyes. Though his eye colour was very different from his mother's brown, they held the same emotion. They were the same.
"Thank you," I said.
Ryan shrugged. "Niran and Rune told me how they met. I saw how Sam and Eric met. Those couples had it easy. If you see me and Carson now, you would think that we had it easy too. But if you had seen us during those times, about ten years ago, you would understand what I am trying to tell."
I bit my lips. "I think I know what I should do."
"Letting go of that fear?" he asked.
"I would never know what it would come to if I don't," I answered, getting up.
*************
Those people actually waited for me. Their consideration warmed my heart, but deep down, I knew why they were here.
"Where's Ryan?" Nox asked me when I got in the car.
I shrugged. "Said he has a date with Carson."
"Secret behind ten years and still being strong," Niran muttered. "I ought to learn this."
Rune's face borrowed a faint blush, but there was an undeniable smile on his face. "We ought to."
Is this what I wanted? Seeing this made a gooey warmth spread through my body. For a second, I imagined this to the Taurus and I. Smiling at each other without an inch of hesitance. Just being comfortable in each other's presence.
A soft track was playing in the car as Rune drove and Niran who sang surprisingly good. Nox was gazing the sky as if he was missing something. It was Antlia who was completely out of sync. She was aggressively playing a mobile game that involved guns and bombs. Occasionally, gunshots were heard from the game even though she wore headphones.
After reaching the club, Rune and Niran went ahead to park while Nox, Ant and myself walked in. Showing our cards to him, he allowed us in.
Antlia pouted. "I really want to use a real ID soon."
"When's your birthday?" I asked.
She shrugged. "Does it matter?"
I nodded. "It does."
"In a month's time," she said. "I will be finally sixteen!"
"But you are not sixteen yet," a highly familiar voice reprimanded her. "You dare come here?"
I looked over his shoulder to see Lyra smirking at us while Aries was in deep thought as he was talking to Zyon.
Antlia winced. "Just a month more-"
"You still have a month, young lady," he said sharply. "That means thirty days!"
"I never knew that a month had thirty days, Taurus," she snorted.
"It's okay," I voiced out. "You are here, Aries is here. She can't get drunk, can she?"
Taurus' eyes moved over mine but then he snorted and sat next to Aries. Seeing the male's attitude, Aries frowned and looked at his Soul-Bound. Lyra just chuckled and dragged Antlia to the dance floor.
Exchanging a look with Nox, we both made our way to where the two Warriors were sitting.
"-with Gemini," Aries said, his eyes darkening. "That brat! He knows!'
"Really?" Taurus asked. "You're not shitting me right?"
"No," Aries grumbled. "Why do you think Scar suddenly said that he is getting married? That gremlin knows too. At least in bits."
"Only them?" Taurus asked. "Or is there anyone else in that list?"
"Gemini told me only the two of them," Aries said. "I bet there could be more."
I sat next to Zyon and Nox next to Taurus. "Scar... as in Scorpio?"
"Scar as in the owner of the Seashore resorts and hotel?" Zyon asked.
Aries nodded. "Yes."
"Sweet," Zyon said. "Can I crash in there and demand free food?"
Nox blinked at Zyon before he laughed. "You think so much like me."
It was just then Rune and Niran came up. They ordered some bright liquid and then Niran pulled his mate to the dance floor.
Taurus then frowned at me. "Why are you guys here?"
Don't look at me, I wanted to scream. But how was I supposed to tell him that when all I wanted was his undivided attention?
"Draco wanted to stalk you," Nox said, his eyes said that he was up to no good. "So we came."
I rolled my eyes. That was one reason. "Antlia was feeling bored."
Why not pin it on the girl who brought us here?
"That's dangerous," Taurus agreed.
What would be his reply to Nox's answer? I searched his face, to see an aloof mask on it. Even the eyes that once showed me an array of emotions was closed off. It struck me deeply. It sucked the soul right out.
He even pinned his eyes on Antlia and avoided my gaze. Though his emotions and his expressions were cool and uncaring, there was something about his body language that told me otherwise.
It put a physical strain on him to control this much. His hands clenched and unclenched when he thought no one was watching his. There would be occasions spike in his breathing rate sometimes accompanied by his clenched jaw. Though a part of his body was turned towards me, he was trying his best to avoid me.
I never knew that my heart could tremble. Was I that hateful? Then why would he ask for Ryan and Niran to look me the entire day?
I pried my eyes off him to see Aries watching me like a lazy cat who had a full course meal. Something shone in his eyes before his lips curled into a smile and he pinned his loving gaze on Lyra. As if she sensed him, she looked at him with mischievousness in her eyes. She did not dance, but she merely accompanied Antlia on the dance floor.
Zyon's eyes were glazed for a second before he closed it and shook his head.
"What's wrong?" I asked, pulling myself from reading too much of the Warrior next to me.
There had been many instances I had seen his like there. Once, he had even passed out. But every time something like this happened, nothing ever came good.
Nox gave Zyon a long look. "Don't tell me you can see the future. I will freak out."
"Just definite the future," Zyon mumbled. "Don't worry. I did not see any future this time. Just a few instances of her past."
"Freaking great!" Nox mumbled as he ordered whiskey for him. "That's what I want to hear."
"What did you see?" Aries asked breaking his sight from Lyra.
Zyon tried to say but then, he shook his head. "If I say it, it will alter the best course of future for her."
"Is it that bad?" I asked.
Zyon tried to smile. "She... will have some troubles meeting the one she trusts her heart with."
"You mean her mate?" I asked.
Zyon shook his head. "You can say that."
"Lover?" Nox suggested, finishing his glass.
"Keep guessing," Zyon said.
As if the word lover was a trigger, Taurus got up. Was he going to dance?
Seeing him, Nox's eyes lit up as he pulled him to the dancefloor before Taurus shrugged the star's hand off him and left the club through another door.
Nox pouted at us from where he stood. When Aries shrugged, he twisted his face and then pulled a witch who was giving him moony eyes to dance.
"Hurts?" Aries asked and then it took me five whole minutes to realise that he was asking that question to me.
"Fine," I croaked out. "Great."
"You are so terrible that your terribleness is affecting me," Zyon supplied helpfully.
I shook my head. "Forget it."
Aries took a deep breath in. "Can you?"
I blinked. "I can't. But I have to try, should I not?"
Aries chuckled. "There are certain things that are beyond us. Certain things out of our control. Certain things that even if we can control, we simply can't."
My heart raced. "What are you trying to tell me?"
Aries pondered for a while. "I am trying to tell you that I have never seen Taurus that flustered before in my life."
"Flustered?" It took me a moment to register that word. "Taurus?"
"Unbelievable, right?" Aries asked.
I shook my head. "You can't probably be saying-"
"I am," he said simply. "I am telling you."
"B-but," I began. "You are stars! Warriors... royals among stars. How could I-?"
The silver in his eyes shone through the darkness. "So what? Don't we have emotions too? Can't we love too?"
"You guys are like untouchable!"
"Excuses," Aries said.
I opened my mouth, but no words came out.
Aries sighed. "I know. We get irritated when creatures of earth approach us. When the Royal family was alive, there were a lot of banquets and we had to socialise. Lusting for the power that came with us, so many tried to hook up with us. While one or two genuinely had emotions for us, the second they saw the power and money, they either fled or changed their destinations. No one wanted us."
What was he trying to say?
"But you... you are not like them," he continued. "You know what he is capable off and yet you want just him. You did not want the power that came with him. You wanted his attention. You could not care for the money, but his affection. You just display your emotions so raw for him to see that he is affected."
"He is?" I dared to ask.
Zyon scoffed. "Even a blind person could tell that."
"You have seen so many people," I said. "He must have. He might not even be into males! What chance do I have?"
"He has indeed seen so many females," Aries admitted. "But he has never been affected to this extent either. You challenge him in ways he never saw himself. He is confused. I will not say that my friend is the best and you have to wait. He is being an asshole and a coward now. He knows what is at stake yet he is trying to run. But if you want to catch him, I am just trying to tell you that he can be caught easily. He will be willingly caught if the one hunting him down is you."
***********
It was not the liquid courage that was racing through me. It was the words Aries said. I followed the path Taurus took half-an-hour ago, hoping I would be able to track him if he was not there. After all, his scent was something I could never forget.
But as if the fates were shinning on me tonight, Taurus was there, leaning against the wall next to a motorcycle as he took in a long drag of a cigarette.
I looked down and saw at least five other cigarette butts next to his feet.
There was a faraway look in his eyes that I have never seen before. Yet, methodically, his fingers brought that cigarette to his lips and down. Though the smoke could not kill us or cause cancer as it did to humans, nicotine did have some effects on our body.
"Taurus?" I called, keeping my hands in my pocket.
Ryan was right. Aries was right. I had to know where I stood. I was not going to let him take this in his way. That was not me.
"Draco," he mumbled. "Is there anything?"
"W-we need to talk," I sighed.
Taurus froze for a second before he cleared his throat loudly. "About?"
"Last night," I said. That embarrassment crept to my voice right from my heart. There was a hint of shyness I had never experienced. "About-"
"Forget it," he cut me off. "That was an error of judgement of mine."
This was what I was paranoid about. What I was worried shitless. But since it came to this, might as well go full into this.
"Error of judgement?" I echoed. I tried to keep the hurt away from my voice. I tried my best, but that stupid voicebox refused to relax. "That was all to you?"
His eyes were becoming bloodshot. "What else do you want me to tell you?"
"You feel nothing?" I asked, my voice was not the only thing that was breaking there.
We were not even dating, yet why was it aching worse?
"I can't," he replied.
I took a step forward, the shards of my heart piercing my feet, begging me to not go further. "You can't? Why not?"
He did not give me an answer. He just threw his cigarette down, stamped it and tried to leave.
He might appear calm to others, but not to me. Not while I could scent the flurry of emotions he was going through. His scent was crippling me, bringing me down to me knees. It held certain sweetness that had me craving it.
I held his arm. "Answer me."
"You don't get to order me around," he snarled.
"The hell I can," I raged back.
He shook his arm out of my hold. "Leave, Draco. I can forget that this ever happened and we can resume being-"
"Friends?" I spat. "I can't lie and build a bubble of my world, Taurus. I will face this head-on and see what it comes to. I can't live a life of regret."
"You can't-"
"Can't what?" I laughed without humour. "Like you? I don't see anything wrong in that. I don't like you as a friend, Taurus. It's more. Much more than that."
The male visibly trembled before me. That dreamy look in his eyes faded as he saw me for the first time. Heard me.
"D-Draco," he voice shook. "I... I just-"
I waited. If I had a sliver of a chance, I would wait for the rest of my life, but if there was none, I was walking away. It would do me no good to pin on a guy who does not like me back. Nor would it do me good to forget all my feelings and return to being that sunshine friend.
"Tell me, Taurus," I rasped. "Tell me. Do you want me to stay or do you want me to go?"
The street was empty, cold and dark. Something told me this was what I would be if I walked away from him tonight.
"Draco," his voice was so low. So low that if I was not standing just two inches away from him, I would not be able to hear him even if I was a werewolf.
There were pain and longing in his voice. It was not the shied whispers of the night nor was it the sleuth tongue of darkness. It was the bleakness of the heart. The burdens that one could never see on others.
I thought I would not be able to handle the Taurus I was seeing before me. I thought I preferred the calm, collected male I had always seen. How wrong could I possibly be?
I did not wish to see pain or anguish in him, but when he was showing his emotions out to me like a kaleidoscope, I was pulled in further. Somehow, this grounded him. Made him feel like he was a life capable of feelings. Time had not snatched away his ability to feel pain. It had not hardened his heart.
I wondered for a moment just how would it be if instead of fear, he was expressing his desire. Instead of pain, he was laughing. How would it be, if he was just being himself with me around?
"I... can't," he croaked out. "I don't think-"
The answer was enough. I may be strong enough to confront him, but I was not strong enough to hear it from him.
"I get it," I whispered, taking a step back. "I am, after all, a human. How could I ever compare with you? Think I have a chance?" I took in a deep breath. "Goodbye, Taurus."
I spun around to leave, but before I took another step, a hand pulled be back. What was he playing now? Was he not just refusing me now? What more does he want?
But I was not allowed to ponder anymore when he spun me around and pulled me onto him,
None of this made sense. While a small part of my brain was trying to comprehend what was happening, the larger part lost its ability to think altogether. And that stupid little muscular organ raced faster than it had ever before. My stomach tried to match its tempo.
He did not merely hug me. No. One hand wound around my waist and the other crept my neck. For a second, his silver eyes pierced my brown ones.
I could literally read his mind now. But I would not do anything that he might regret later. It would be his choice. His wish. If he wanted me to walk away, I would do so, if it would make him happy. But if he wanted me to be his friend, that was something I could never do.
But what I saw in those eyes stole my breath. There was a fierceness in his gaze, that I was sure it had always been murderous until now. There was a protectiveness.
"You are right," he said, self-contempt breaking from his raspy voice. "Can't compare you with me. You are so much better."
With that, he brought my head down and firmly placed his lips over mine.
A/N: I know what you are thinking. What a cruel author. *preparing against your ammo*
I will try my best to update as fast as I can.
But let me know your thoughts on Taurus and Draco!
Until next update,
~Quill