ATHENA’S POV
To say I was humiliated by Nero would be an understatement. The way my body actively freezes in fear anytime he comes near me. The first week Zara passed, his emotions were well written on his face but now, he’s merely a shadow of his true self. The way he hides his emotions is as if he has been doing it for years that the practice has somewhat become his lifestyle.
His eyes sure hold a fire in them, the type that was cold.
I know he doesn’t care for me but hearing him say it out loud like that did hurt, it felt like he had his hand on my heart and clenched on it. I know things between us will be hard but maybe trying wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
“I don’t care what my mother told you.” He said facing the window. “But I don’t want you in my room for any second longer. So this is what you will do, at night I want you gone. I don’t care where you sleep, but you will not be in this room at night with me. Understand?”
His voice was harsh as he spoke and I didn’t need to look at his face to know that his brows were crooked. He waited for an answer and when he didn’t get it, he turned to face me again. He marched up to where I was seated and grabbed me by the neck.
“I fucking asked you a question Athena, do you fucking understand?” He growls, his pupil darkening.
With the little strength I could muster, I nodded my head shakily as tears pooled my eyes.
“Good, and you better not say a word about it to anyone, especially my mother. If not the pain reserved for you will be much worse. This I can promise you.” He spat his voice laced in venom hate dripping with it.
I fell on the ground with a thud when he released my throat with a harsh push. I winced in pain when my elbow grazed the floor. Nero didn’t say or do anything else other then watch me struggle to stand.
“Get the fuck out!” he yelled.
I did as I was told and I rushed out of his room. Luckily there was not one in the corridor. Nero followed closely behind and slammed the door shut.
I hurried to my room and locked myself in it. As soon as the door closed, I let my body slid on it to the ground. I lifted my knees to my chest, resting my face on it as I cried.
I wanted to cry about a lot of things. The hurt felt so great it felts as though each person in my life did something to me. But right here right now, my tears were for Nero.
We only just got married a few hours ago. Unlike others who should have been cuddled up or away from others while they enjoyed each other’s company, my husband and I were walls apart from one another.
“I shouldn’t have agreed to what the Queen said. I should have insisted on calling the wedding off.” I said as I cried. The tears were the only company I had in the room. I let them fall as many as could, enjoying their company before they dried off.
Over the next few days, I stayed away from Nero. I made excuses not to have meals with them at the table and I was more than glad that no one questioned me. Not even the Queen.
I woke up quite early as I usually would, tip toing to Nero’s room to freshen up and change. Usually the door was left open but once I got to it, it refused to budge.
Dread washed over me as realisation kicked in. I wondered why he had locked it when he never did. He may have been cruel to me the last time we spoke but he never once shut the door. A guard should have been stationed in front of the room but I guess for our sake and secret, he made sure there was no one in sight when I had to return to his room.
I knocked on the door ever lightly trying not to wake any one up. And I hoped that he would through his wolf hear the sound. But he didn’t and I kept knocking on it.
“Athena?” I heard a voice call from behind me. “What are you doing outside darling?” the Queen asked.
I refused to look at her and could only bow from the direction I was facing which was the door. I knew I had been caught.
“Good Morning Luna.” I greeted with my voice barely above a whisper.
“He locked you outside didn’t he?” she asked, lifting my head with a hand under my chin.
Even if I wanted to lie and cover up for him, I couldn’t. She already knew what was going on.
I simply nodded and allowed my head lower back as I stared at the floor.
I heard the Queen hiss and mutter something under her breath before she started to pound on the door.
“Your Majesty!” I exclaimed. “He’s going to get furious and blame me for waking him up. Please don’t make him hate me more Luna.” I said my voice pleading as she banged on the door not paying attention to me or rather ignoring me.
The door soon yanked open revealing a much angry and yet sexy Nero. He was topless and as I tried to pay attention to what was going on, I couldn’t ignore how perfectly sculptured his body was. I didn’t get to see the lower half of him but I think I found my favourite part on his body.
“How could you?!” The Queen’s voice resonated through the halls. “How could you lock your wife outside a bedroom you’re to share with her?
I could feel Nero’s eyes on me and I dared not look back at him. I could feel his anger radiating towards me and out of instinct, my body moved to hide behind the Queen.
“I told you I didn’t want her here mother. I should have known she was going to rat me out.” He said his voice hoarse.
“She didn’t tell me anything. Instead I found her knocking on a door she’s supposed to be on the other side of. Why would you do a thing like that to her? I don’t like this Nero, and I’m sure you do not want your father to hear of this.”
I saw Nero’s body tense up and a gruff sound leaving his chest. He stepped aside letting me in and shut it behind me.
His room was much larger than mine and even more beautiful. From my understanding, he had this particular one picked for the day he and Zara had to mate. The designs were even made out of her suggestions and requests to him.
Anytime I had to look at it, I felt jealous of the connection they had. I envied that she was able to get him to love and care for her more than I would ever be able to.
I stood in front of the wardrobe my clothes were arranged in, my mind drifting off to the first day the Queen told me that I was to be mated to Nero.
While we were growing up, I had this huge crush on him, so when she told me that I was her son’s mate; I was thrilled with idea of him being mine.
Then I didn’t quite understand what I would be required to do in order to secure my spot as his mate but I didn’t mind it nor did I ask questions. Instead I clung to the idea of being his mate and I would talk about it at every chance that I got.
And when the time came for me to be trained, I did it with everything in me. I trained tirelessly trying to get him to notice how much I have learned in the rings and how much I was willing to learn in the courts as well.
Even at that age, I was completely in love with him.
I guess my fight with Zara brought out the possessive part of me that I kept hidden for years. The fact that I had to watch Nero hopelessly pursue her for months before she finally agreed to be his girlfriend made me furious and hurt at the same time. I couldn’t understand why he didn’t want me when he and I were meant to be. Our parents said it and they promised it.
As for her, Zara to point out if he was going to choose me, something rose in me and I knew I had to take her down. What I didn’t expect was for her to die because I just wouldn’t let go.
NERO’S POV PREVIOUS NIGHT Zavier sat across from me in his living room. The house that once filled with voices and laughter was now only gloomy. My heart ached knowing that some part of it was my fault. It’s been a few days since the wedding and Zavier and I haven’t had much time to talk like I hoped we would. My father has now pulled me into more of the pack’s affairs. In his words, he said it was time for me to take over most of the deals like I wasn’t already doing so. I was already running things and doing the heavy work while he focused on the paper side of things. Zavier cleared his throat as he stared at me. “I expected you to come sooner.” He said his voice having some kind of accusation in it. “Pack work, Dad insisted.” I said curtly. “Or you were enjoying your time with your new bride forgetting the promise you made to me and my sister.” He said the accusation sounding more obvious now. “It was your job to get rid of her. You insisted you were going to be the one to do
ATHENA’S POVI could feel Nero’s gaze on me when I came out of the bathroom and my nervousness shot to a hundred as he stared at me. There was so much I wanted to tell him but perhaps someday.I walked downstairs to where I was supposed to wait for the Queen to find her waiting for me instead. From the stairs, I picked up my pace and headed down the stairs.“Forgive me your majesty, I didn’t realize you were already waiting.” I said my palms sweaty.“You’re mated to my son Athena, you’re his wife, I’d rather you call me mother instead.” The Queen said with a smile causing my own lips to stretch in one too.I nodded and she gestured to her side where some clothes were folded. “Here, change into this instead; we’re heading to the training grown. You could burn off some of your pent up frustrations in there.” She handed me the clothes and I did as she asked, I changed into the set of clothes and stepped out. The fabric from the short was smooth, and I couldn’t help but run my hands on t
NERO’S POVAthena returned in an outfit different from the one she walked out of the room wearing. The anger I held onto as I waited for her to return with my mother depilated when she walked in. She looked sexy wearing shorts and all my curiosity about how she looked under her nightgown earlier was nearly satisfied.There was my mate, looking sexy as hell. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t seen her in shorts. The idea that she was my mate even though I don’t want her to be walking around like that made me feel things I didn’t want to feel.Every time I try to forget about Zara and focus on my present life, I see Zavier’s broken face pictured in my mind. It always makes me wonder what Zara would think of me when in a fraction of a second I try to forget about her when her body was barely cold in the ground.I don’t want Athena, I could never want her like that and I wished that my body didn’t act on its own so that staying away from her could be easier.She had a smile on her face and her chee
ATHENA’S POV I ran as fast as I could into the palace building. I could feel Nero’s feet striding towards me from behind and I picked up my pace. I didn’t want to stop until I got to my room where I hoped I could lock myself in my room. A few meters away was Nero’s bedroom and I had just taken a step past it when an arm grabbed me and pulled me into the room. I stared back at Nero with tears in my eyes. Everyday his hatred for me seemed to grow deeper and there was no way for me to stop it. I knew he was going to hurt me and each time I was close to him, I always had my guard up but it did stop it from hurting when he said something harsh. “I get that you hate me and you’re right, I’ll stay away from you from now on.” I croaked hoping that whatever pain he wanted to inflict would end soon. Nero looked at me with the same anger and hatred he always had but this time it was definitely mixed with something else. I wanted to stare at him for longer but not because I wanted to get lost
ZAVIER’S POVI checked my watch for the umpteenth time as I paced in the living room. Nero was supposed to here hours ago but as usual he bailed.Somehow I knew it just had something to do with that wench. Anything she touches seems to be taken away from me. first it was Zara and now Nero, my best friend. I wanted nothing more than for Athena to pay for killing my sister so when Nero suggested getting rid of her before the wedding, I jumped on the idea with him volunteering to do the job myself because I wanted to be alone with her to give her a taste of her own medicine. I planned to torture her for some time before finally killing her but the damn Queen wouldn’t just leave her sight. That damn woman!It was as though she knew what we had planned because the way she had things stationed was too much of a coincidence for it to have happened the way it did. Now that my friend was stuck with Athena, we were left with no other option than to find another means to rid him of her.“Wher
ATHENA’S POV I wanted the ground to dig up by itself from the sheer feel of shame that radiated from my body. I could feel it and I bet both Nero and Zavier felt it too. His body felt like a wall that had no emotion.I knew he hated me but to see him stare me down like the way he was doing brought out a new kind of fear in me. I cowered before him and hated the images of his sister charging towards me and forcing me to react.They did look alike but not so much as a random person would point them out as twins. And the way that his forehead creased was enough to tell me that bad luck has become my second name.Zavier scowled at me and immediately I realized it was best to apologise and move out of his way.“I’m sorry, I should have looked at where I was headed.”His eyes turned dark and lips curled into a sneer. Zavier growled and lunged towards me. Nero didn’t have enough time to react before Zavier went after Athena and before he could react, Athena went flying across the hallway.
ATHENA’S POV I was on the ground bleeding again. I saw Nero standing over me yelling inherent words that I couldn’t grasp. I wanted to explain myself to him but I couldn’t. My entire body felt numb and I didn’t have control of my body any more. My head throbbed in pain and tears blinded my vision until they started to spill.My eyes fluttered and I began to see a light shining just behind Nero calling out to me. In the light were my parents and they had a sad smile on their faces. I smiled back at them. I was ready to go with them, to finally let go of all the pain I was feeling and I saw myself leave my body to go with them.My father shook his head, his face still young from the way I remembered it. “No baby girl, it’s not your time yet.” He said before the light went off and so did they. I tried to call out to them but I could only hear myself whimper. I saw Nero move from his position and was replaced by someone else whom from the look of it was his mother. She was looking at me
ATHENA’S POVDeath came for me in the forms of my parents but then it told me to hold on a bit that it was not my time just yet. It was however good to see my parents again. My heart ached knowing I could not be with them once again.I got another doze of Nero’s hate for me. But did I hate him? Honestly, no. Do I want to hate him? With everything in me.Our relationship was at the point where I wanted to go the other direction but I am forced to walk in the same one as him.When I opened my eyes, I realized that I was not in my bed. I knew I wasn’t good to be. My head felt tight. I lifted a hand to touch the spot that bled earlier on to feel a cloth in its placeI forced myself up, and I sat up. With my head heavy, I dragged myself from the bed only to be hit by a big wave of dizziness. I sat back down to let the wave pass and got back on my feet when it did.Using the walls like I did when I was bleeding, I walked out of Nero’s chamber in search of a maid to have his sheets washed be