Zuriel.
' It is your duty to strengthen and protect the dragon empire,' my father's voice resounds in my head. ' Zuriel, you're my son and the stability of this empire. Your power, this precious gift of yours will win us many victories. We shall occupy all the West, and we'll be the strongest supernatural to exist. You will do it,' His voice makes me shudder, and the sinister look in his eyes makes me see how truly mad he is. The mad king, the power-hungry king. ' I - I don't want to do it. P- people will die,' I finally find my voice. Six-year-old me could only shift his gaze to the ground when he got up from his throne. He is angry at me for speaking out against his glorious plans for the empire. I should know better. I shouldn't anger him, or he will hit Mom again. I shouldn't have spoken. SLAP. Mom gasps and rushes to me, but I shake my head and quickly stand up. If she helps me up, he'll hit her too. My mom is worried. Father walks up to her and tucks a strand of her hair behind the ear. " You've failed me, Halsey, you've failed. Your stomach can't keep a child anymore, and the one you gave me barely speaks, when he does, it's against me,"Mom winces as Dad tightens his grip on her cheeks. I want to help, but I can't. I'm powerless against the dragon king. I don't want to feel this way. The dragon inside me is scratching and clawling at me. He wants to fly and leave this place. ' S- Stop, m- my head hurts,' I manage to say to him. He stops almost immediately. " W- when I'm older and sit on the throne. We'll take over all the empires in the West," I say with difficulty, wanting to appease Father. Mom gasps when he releases her, and she stumbles. Dad raises my chin so I'm facing him, and he smiles. ' That's my son, a true dragon. My heir. We will vanquish them all before they can think of taking us out first,' I startle awake from that dream. It has been twenty-one years, yet that man still haunted my dreams. I try not to remember my time in the empire or read any news about them. I want to forget my life there. I stare at the naked woman lying next to me. I get out of bed and pour myself a glass of scotch whiskey. I stand against the window, thoughts consuming me. I feel arms around me, and I stiffen. I close my eyes. My skin crawls at her touch. " Don't ever do that again," I bark. I hate human contact. She backs away, and I hear her groan. “ It’s been two weeks since we’ve been seeing each other. Haven’t I at least earned the right to hug you?” she says in a sultry voice. I hear her lips moving, but all I’m trying to do is recall her name, It was right at the tip of my tongue.‘ Vara?’ My wolf, Riel says. “ Vara,” I cut her rumbling. “ It’s Veera,” she seems annoyed. I gesture for her to sit on the bed, and she does. Looking up at me, I go to the safe and get a bunch of money. I give it to her. “ Leave, and never come back. Thank you for your service,” She looks horrified as she jumps from the bed with a screech. Oh gods. Can’t she be quieter? “ Who do you think I am? A whore!” she throws the money on the floor. “ Aren’t you?” I tune her out as she starts to shout. It is something I’ve learned to do over the years, tuning out people as they talk. Why couldn’t the world be quieter? I hear the door shut, and I spin around. The door opens abruptly, and Veera walks back in, still fuming. She bends and picks up the money from the floor. She glares at me and leaves the suite. I didn’t go to the company, I went straight home, my mother has been wanting me to visit. We don’t live together. She stays at the estate, while I have a penthouse in the city, near my company. Reaching the mansion, my mother, Halsey Crawford, is anxiously waiting for me, behind her a dozen servants are ready to welcome me. She can be a little over the top. I get out of the car and approach her, her eyes lit up with happiness. “ My dear, it’s been too long,” she hugs me. “ I was here last week for dinner, mother,”She takes a step back, taking me in. “ My handsome boy, I always miss you,” I sigh and kiss her temple. “ I’m hungry,” “ Brilliant. I’ve cooked all your favorite meals today,” she is excited. She grabs my hand and takes me to the dining room. As we eat Mother brings up the topic of finding a partner, and I groan. She’s been waiting to get married or be in a serious relationship since I was twenty years old. “ I haven’t found the right woman,” I tell her. She scoffs. “ Right woman? Zuriel, you have women fighting over you. Just pick one and be happy, please,” she begs. I cover her hand with mine. “ Okay,” I say just to end the topic. She doesn’t believe me. “ You’re twenty-eight years old, and -” “ Mother, if you want me to come here again next week, let’s drop this topic,” I say seriously. I don’t want love, and I don’t want to be with anyone. It is pathetic to put all your happiness in one person. My mother looks at me with a deep sadness. She knew I didn’t want to marry. “ The Princess is missing,” she says suddenly, and I stop eating to look at her. My body is tense.“ The little werewolf Princess?”" The little wolf princess?" Mother nods. What do they mean fucking missing? Elara, I say her name silently, Princess Elara Silvius. “ Yes, she found her mate and went with him, only leaving her family a message,” she sighs. Rage. I feel RAGE, and my fist clenches. She found her mate and left just like that? What kind of an idiot is she? She is impulsive and has her head in the clouds. “ They don’t know which pack she went to. They sent men to find her to no avail,” Mom continues. I feel an anger bubble inside me. That girl has always been so capricious since she was a kid. She thinks life is adventure and rainbows. She’s fucking pathetic. She doesn’t understand she is a pure white wolf, one of a kind, and enemies of the crown are after her. There are all sorts of myths surrounding her wolf. Others believe if they drink the blood, they shall live forever or will have more power. All nonsense myths, but she is special. That is why protection has always been tight around her since
I close my eyes and think about Elara. Her perfect face plays in my head. It’s like seeing a blurry vision, yet certain it’s where she is. I follow the dusty road until we reach the highway and back to a gravel road. Within two hours, I reach the pack where the little princess is. Without waiting for security to let me in the pack, I go straight to the alpha's mansion. They are chasing my car and trying to stop me. When I stopped in front of a mansion, I hit one wolf with my car, he shouldn't have stood in front of me. I get out, growling menacingly at the guard wolves. My aura makes them whimper. Wolves are powerful creatures, but dragons are more powerful and intimidating, even our aura oppresses them. I walk inside and down to the backyard, her scent is stronger and more enticing to my wolf. Has she always smelt like this? I wonder. I stop in my tracks when I see a man, an alpha glaring at the pool. He's too engrossed to notice me. I glimpse what he's watching, it's her, the L
I stare at him shocked, I don't know if he's joking because he said it without flinching. He is serious about killing Alpha Connor, " No, Zuriel, I'll be fine. But I do want to find him so that he can accept my rejection," " That fucker," he murmurs. I was tied to Connor, and I'd feel it when he is fucking other women. That will be his great punishment for me. I hated Connor so much. " I'm sure he's on the run now and won't be coming anytime soon," I sigh. Zuriel's phone rings, and he pulls it from his pocket with a frown and shows me the caller ID. It's my Dad. " Don't tell him about the condition you found me in. It's embarrassing," I say, my cheeks heating up from embarrassment. He looks at me wordless but nods. I don't want this to get out. It's a shame in my family's name. Everything I did was wrong. I wasn't supposed to go with him without my parent's blessing, and I especially wasn't supposed to mate with him without the ceremony. If it gets out, the rumormongers will be vic
Elara " Zuriel, Zuriel. You're hurting me,” he didn’t realize he was holding my body too tightly. I was suffocating for a second there, and his body was shaking. The aura that filled the elevator was oppressive and scary. I place a hand on his hard chest, and he stares down at me.Time stops as he stares at me with those emerald dangerous eyes of his. Those eyes I used to go crazy for, the eyes that made my heart beat faster than anything in the world. I almost forgot this feeling. It had been too long since we saw each other as he always disregarded me. An annoying tick, he called me.“ Put me down, I can stand,” I say, trying to avoid my thoughts about him. He ignores my wishes and walks out of the elevator into his penthouse. He puts me down, standing close to me. Zuriel was over 6ft, and warmth radiated from his muscular body. I glance around the living room. It is large, luxurious, and neat too. His scent covered the entire apartment, and my wolf was excited after being qui
ConnorI was growling. Who the fuck was that man? His aura was like no other. He wasn’t an alpha, but something greater. The look in his eyes was severe. He wanted me dead. I felt like I was a man marked by death. Death roamed over my life since my encounter with him, and I could feel it. I needed to be careful. I hid out in the forest. I was blinded, and my eye was damaged. I needed to go to the hospital, but I couldn't as I don't know if that man is still in my pack. I mind link my beta. ‘ Beta, that man,’ ‘ He’s gone, sir,’ he says. I can tell he was distressed and in pain, after all, he was one of the people that the beast almost killed. I think back to my mate and the concern in that stranger’s eyes. ‘ And Elara?’ I ask. I am feeling apprehensive and nervous. I want to know, but also I'm scared that he has taken her, my mate. ‘ She went with him, Alpha,’ he says softly. I feel many emotions swell in me. Fear, hurt, anger, and so much more. I’ll never see her again now. Elara
Zuriel I place her hands over her head. My gaze is on her. I lost my mind when she suggested she had been with other men. I am angry at her, and my body is shaking. I glare at her, and she holds my gaze. This proximity is dangerous. I can't be this close to her, but I can't move away either. I feel like a moth drawn to a flame. My eyes fall on her soft lips. I hate that men had her, they tasted her! " Your eyes... They are beautiful," She breathes. I didn't expect her to say that. She is drawn into my eyes. Her chest rising and falling, I can't help when my eyes linger... She isn't flat chest anymore. I need control of my emotions, I need to take back charge because if I don't, I might end up doing something I'd regret. With great difficulty, I pull away from the green-eyed princess. " Go to bed?" I tell her. " I like it when we are close," Her voice is seductive. Since when is she not coquettish around me? What the fuck is she doing? Does she still like me? Elara confesse
" Have you looked in the mirror? You look like a whore," he says, and my eyes widen. Did he just call me a whore. I scoff and fold my arms. Anger bubbling inside me. "She looks like a whore, not me," I grit my teeth, my eyes snapping to the woman standing in the corner now. Her eyes flash with outrage. " I'm not a whore. He's my boyfriend," she spat confidently. One glare from me shuts her up. Zuriel gestures for her to leave, and with an annoyed huff, she runs back upstairs... To his room. I watch after her with disdain, and suddenly my body is hot. It happens when he's staring at me, my body reacts in such a manner to him. " Want to blast her with your eyes?" he teased. Was he being playful right now?" I'm leaving, Zuzu," I roll my eyes as a smirk forms on my lips. I used to call Zuzu to tease him. His eyes widen in shock at that nickname I used to call him as a kid. He hated it so I used the nickname to get his attention. He's trying to keep calm, inhaling in and out. " Don't
" Elara!" Solena comes to hug me, and I hug her back. I smile at my brother, Khai, and hug him. He looks relieved to see me and hugs me tighter. " Elara, we were worried," he says. I inhale his scent, feeling better in his arms. Khai and I are close in age, and we grew up being close despite having different personalities. " I'm sorry," I say, " I was relieved when Zuriel found you," he breathed. I look at Solena, " They are looking at me strangely. What's going on?" I look between them. Khai scowls and Solena smiles tightly. It's creepy. She only does this when she's trying to conceal information, which is difficult because she's terrible at keeping secrets. " Sol, you're doing that thing with your lips and teeth again," I point. She stops and pulls a stoic face, but it soon contorts. " You're so annoying. Can't you be normal for five minutes?" Khai says, bewildered. " I can't help it. No wonder I was hiding out here," Solena cries. They argue back and forth. I roll my e