[Zevaris]
"I know you're here. I know what you want. But sorry. I have no time for it…"
I had no idea-until now-that mere words could hurt someone like me. I stood frozen in place, staring at her.
How long had it been since someone made me feel like this? I had no fucking idea. But I knew it wasn't the first time.
I just couldn't remember.
For the Void's sake, even the endless space had a past it has long forgotten. Or wanted to forgot. But if there was a past, I'm sure she was in it.
So she can't escape from her responsibilities. Responsibilities for containing that endless space within her.
"Are you rejecting me?"
My voice came out cold. The notion that my mate even thought about rejecting me fuelled a burning rage I hadn't felt in ages.
I almost hurt her.
And I instantly regretted it watching the thin injury on her beautiful cheek. I could feel her entire stance shift at that question. There was no rejection in her, just struggle.
What was she struggling against?
I wanted to know.
And I fucking wanted to destroy whatever was making her struggle. Whatever was stopping us from being together.
"If you think so, then I have nothing to say…"
The wolf inside her stirred. No… Wait. That scent. That stench. Why the fuck do I smell him on her?
How dare he…
How dare that fucking bastard mark her before me—
For the Void's forsaken!
Elias…
You bastard.
"Hehe…"
I heard the same disgusting voice I recalled from millennia ago. And I felt my body being called back into that millennia—into a time that should've stayed buried.
No…
No, no, no.
Bastard, what are you doing?
"Hehe…"
That same creepy laugh. The space around us warped, bent into a moment he wanted her to see.
I watched them too…
This disgusting bastard had deceived my mate…
"Our mate…"
No.My mate.I refuted sharply.
…to become his. No… also his.
I saw her eyes tearing up. My heart clenched at the sight, and I rushed to her, wanting to embrace her into me.To carve her into me.
But then I got that call. And my body was pulled back into that millennia.
Elias…
I hate you the most.
"Hehe…"
[Lyra's POV]
The world had changed after the arrival of the Void and Voidlings. Every living being in it mutated and became stronger. We shapeshifters weren't the only super beings in this world. Even humans—weak and disgusting creatures, as told by the Moon Goddess—became strong.
But that didn't change a fact. You couldn't see a wolf in a circus. They would always be hunting.
After the presence followed me…
"Not just a presence. They are our mates."
I ignored Kira's use of the plural now. Whatever. After our mates disappeared, the atmosphere returned to normal.
Only then did I understand how cold the woods were at midnight. My pyjamas did nothing to protect me from it. I looked down at my legs. The injuries there had already healed.
My regeneration ability was higher than everyone else in my pack. Even my father—the Supreme scumbag—could never match it. I was sure he knew that.
After all, the gift I gave him when he tried to do that… to his own daughter…he would be more surprised.
I clenched my fists.
What a disgusting, useless deadweight of a man.
The hunting howls of shifters echoed in the woods, nearing me at an alarming speed. The forest floor trembled beneath their hooves, the moonlight leading them straight to me.
That Goddess bitch.
"Be ready to give an explanation for the deaths of Beta Adrian and his squad, cursed void."
The voice of Alric, my beloved brother's right-hand man, reached me before I could even see him. My senses flared in an instant.
I pivoted on my heels to evade a sharp claw aiming for me. A Delta wolf rushed past. I simply elbowed his stomach, making him lose balance.
Bang…
The tree behind me cracked and fell.
Silence…
"What explanation, perhaps, does my dear brother need from me for his useless men to die in the woods…?"
It surprised me to know that one of my brother's Betas had died in the woods without anyone even noticing.That meant whoever killed him had done it cleanly. Efficiently.
Was it them? I asked internally.
'Who else would it be if not them?' Kira sounded smug.
A smile found its way onto my face then twisted into a grimace when another Delta charged toward me. Fast—for them.
But like a snail to me, with my perception fully activated.
Even that foolish Beta, who thought he was some kind of mysterious hound, had no idea I already saw him hiding behind the tree, acting all mighty.
For the Void's sake… men.
I sidestepped, easily evading the claw of the charging wolf and slammed my foot into his jaw, cracking it in the process.
Weak.
Too weak for me to shift.
I could feel the change in the Beta's expression. I smirked. They had no idea who they were fighting against.
He might be wondering why a wolf less girl like me suddenly became powerful.
'Not that you could blame him for the misunderstanding. After all the time you acted like a bullied, crybaby girl in the pack."
Kira was right. Eighteen years I suffered. Waiting for a moment like this. I always tried to avoid trouble—
But trouble seemed to love me a little too much.
I allowed myself to be bullied, hoping one day everyone would snap back to reality. But they didn't.
'Better to say you craved family love.'
Shut up, Kira. You have no idea…How hard for child to live when everyone around her hated because of a curse.
'Ow… not that again, Lyra. I'm sure you know a curse can be resisted too, right? They just don't value you enough to fight against it.'
She might be right. I thought the curse was what held everyone back from loving me. I thought if it was removed, they would love me like before.
But no.
Not after what happened today. Not after that one moment snapped me out of my unrealistic expectations.
Father…
You disgusting, useless deadweight of a man…
You actually stooped that low to try to rape your own daughter.
The claw of another Delta drew a thin thread of blood across my cheek. My anger flared.
How dare they stain something they weren't even qualified to see, let alone touch? My fingers turned to sharp claws, the moonlight reflecting purple across them.
My other hand caught the owner of that claw by the neck, my claw piercing through until it found his brain matter in one strike.
I threw the Delta's corpse aside in disgust and growled, glaring ahead of me.
"Come across, my dear friends. I may transport y'all to a heaven no one returns from…"