[Amor’s POV] “Two days?” I was never connected to Zahir or Venus on a deep level. I didn’t even consider them as friends, but they were important to her. That, besides my guilt, added up to actually worrying about them as if they were a part of my family. All the wrong they did to us, all the lies they told us, was forgiven from my side because they had a reason, a very important reason behind it all. Hearing Zahir had only two days to decide whether he would live or die made me feel really uncomfortable in my guts. Should I send a letter to Lucella or mind-link and call her here? I thought, but it was completely impractical because that would take over two days. “Do everything to save him. Don’t worry about money or anything else. Get all the medicine, herbs you need to treat him. He has to stay alive,” I told the doctor. He bowed. “I am using my experience and knowledge of more than a hundred years to heal him, alpha. If by tonight the blueness in his legs disappear, we woul
[Zeve’s POV] I can’t express in words how I felt seeing Venus smile again, even though it was faltering and filled with pain. I can’t explain how beautiful Venus looked holding Polaris. Can’t explain the tsunami of conflicting emotions hitting me with every thought. How do I inform her about Zahir’s condition? How do I break it to her that she can never become a mother again? Was there a less painful way to open the aftermath of such a tremendous storm in her life? I had never felt that helpless. What would my words do to her smile when she heard the excruciating truth? “Zeve, thank you so much for protecting my son…” Venus said in a dawdling voice. She hadn’t stopped crying since the moment she woke up. I knew those tears were of happiness from the reunion with her son. But beyond the two curtains between her and Zahir was the reality scarier than this beautiful daydream. I peered at the curtains slowly moving from the winds entering the hall through the windows. I dropped m
[Zeve’s POV] “Someone you don’t want to see right now, but also someone who can see you from afar,” I heard Amor’s voice. I unclenched my fists and tears started ruling my eyes again. I turned around as if I had never heard what he said. But he was right. He was the last person I wanted to see at that moment. Maybe I had forgotten the hatred I had for him in my heart. But everything was back to as it was. I was not only guilty for forgetting about what he did to my mate and my pack, but also for being so uncannily attracted to him. I was disgusted with myself for getting that close to him and wanting to get even closer. Just disgusting. My heart wavered at his voice. I felt at ease and safe. But it was wrong to connect those emotions with him. The only emotion I wanted to connect to him was hatred. “I hate you for so many things that I can’t dare put them out just to make an endless book out of it. I had hated no one as much as I hate you and will hate no one more passionatel
[Zeve’s POV] Once I was calmer, I felt like I shouldn’t have said most of the things I did to Amor. But that was also strangely calming, to just lash out at someone and they don’t hit you back or hurt you. Even though he was angry initially, by the end he understood that I was stressed out. It was my first time being so mad at him and him not reacting like he did in the past. He was more under control and tried to walk out of the situation when things became unmanageable for him. I could have repeated that scene with him in my mind and cringed over every word I said to him, but I was neither in that mental state nor did it matter to the least at that moment. The blueness in Zahir’s legs had decreased, but weren’t completely gone. The doctor gave mixed answers and looked uncertain. Amor said Lucella was coming, but how would she arrive so soon? It took us weeks to travel that far. Would it be possible for her to come before something bad happened? The answer to all my questions
[Zeve’s POV] “I don’t have time to explain. Trust me and bring everything on this list to me.” She handed him the parchment, and Amor set out with a few of the village men to get everything Lucella wanted. Venus was still sitting on her bed and peering towards Zahir’s bed lifelessly. I walked to her. I sat beside her and placed my palm on her shoulder. “Lucella is an exceptional doctor. I am sure now that she is here, everything will be alright. Don’t worry. I am sure he will return for you and his son.” Streams of tears flowed down her stoned eyes. “He… is my everything. I won’t be able to live without him. If something bad happened to him…” Her voice trembled as she spoke. “No, Venus. This is the biggest lie we tell ourselves. Our lives don’t stop because of someone leaving us. Our time doesn’t stop if we don’t have a certain someone in our lives. I used to think I might actually die if Chaz ever left me. He was the first person to love me, and I loved him so dearly that I t
[Zeve’s POV] The winds violently fluttered my hair as I stood contemplating Amor. He squatted near one lily, caressing its petals between his thumb and index finger. I averted my eyes, taking a deep breath. Even the insignificant things he did sent butterflies in my belly. Seriously! What the hell is wrong with me? “You said it wasn’t the fault of the lily if it expected rain, but faced the drought. You said that those tears on its petals were a sign that it survived and saved its kind. Right?” He looked at me. I nodded softly. “So… what should it do to prepare for the drought? What should it do so that no more scars add to its petals?” He asked, leaving the petals of the lily. I never thought those hands that were covered in blood almost all the time could, so gently, caress the petals of a flower without hurting them. “It doesn’t need guidance, it needs resistance, adaptability, new genes and mutation to keep up with the adversities it faces or the ones that are yet to come.
[Zeve’s POV] He said, and I tightened my fists. “What if I don’t agree? What if I am not as worthy as you think I am?” He rubbed his nape. “Until this day, my analysis about a person has never been wrong. I am sure of each word I have said.” He said. “Why did you suddenly tell me all this?” “Because ironically, the person who hates me the most was the first person to even try to understand me.” “Because I understood your vulnerability?” I said, and his stoic face froze. He squinted his eyes and nodded. “Maybe.” “I will not,” I said with a bitter fire occupying my chest. “I am sorry, I will do nothing for you, ever. You or your pack. I will not help you with ruling. Not because of my grudge against you, but because I don’t think I will do justice to your expectations of me as the luna of your pack.” He was marrying me because he wanted me to act like the mother of his child — his pack. That was the only value I had in his eyes. But would that make me happy? Never. Yes, it woul
[Amor’s POV] Zahir was recovering fine and Lucella had allowed him to sit and walk, but only a little distance. Most of the time, he was with Venus and Polaris. Seeing them together and happy once again gave me a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction as their alpha. But problems don’t stop coming. It was the harvest season and now that everything was fine; the villagers travelled to another village. Most of them had left for the harvest, and the village had aged people and kids. But they too stayed in their houses. We had been a burden on the villagers for weeks, so I decided to not bother them anymore. I was waiting for Zahir to get back to his normal health and Morfan to reach this village, then I would send this little family off to Arginieth with Morfan and Lucella. After that, I would continue on the pre-marriage journey. But in all this, the major problem was how can I cook food without burning it? I had never cooked before. Never needed to. Now that the villagers wer