In the beginning, Vivian didn’t warm up to Soran easily. In fact, she’d been wary of almost anyone and anything in the absence of Ronan. While she wasn’t too acquainted with the Wickan, she didn’t forget his efforts to befriend her when she first arrived.
Although his actions were based on Lady Morgana’s orders, Soran didn’t abandon any attempts to ensure Vivian was comfortable in the Sabre Coven’s estate.
Vivian’s mind did experience a blur, almost like a gap in her mories since the morning before she mated with Ronan. However, she assud it must have been her fatigue and distress born from her cursed condition.
And as smart as she was, she knew better than to argue with a cursed Lycan.
She knew. But would she follow?
"Soran is a fairly good man," Vivian countered, her lips puckering into a sultry pout as she crossed her arms under her bosom. "Why do I have to stay away from him? I do hate Wickans very much, but he was kind enough to rescue ."
Now that struck a nerve.
"Only because he knew how to find you," Ronan argued through clenched teeth, drawing out the release of each word he spoke. Vivian could almost see the twitching nerve at the corner of his forehead, and she resisted a laugh. "If I could have torn through the space of ti with my claws and knew where you had gone, I would have co to you in a heartbeat."
Vivian didn’t intend to probe Ronan’s failures, and she didn’t bla him for her disappearance into the Mirror World. However, there was a bold and mischievous part of her that wanted to see the Lycan Alpha’s reaction if she irked him enough to the edge.
Previously, with Dane and her other Alpha partners, she never dared to test their patience or get under their skin. She’d attempted it once and the consequences were unsightly, thus she refrained from any playful banter with Alphas.
But with Ronan?
She was fortunate enough that he entertained her bratty behaviour.
"But you didn’t," Vivian said sullenly with a sigh, folding her arms under her bosom and looking away. "You didn’t co for ."
The sheer disappointnt in Vivian’s eyes and the pain in her voice were enough to crumble the ice walls around Ronan’s heart.
"You’re right, I failed you," Ronan admitted with great difficulty, disgusted with himself for making promises to her the first ti she was kidnapped and not fulfilling them. Twice now, he couldn’t protect her.
And for Ronan Wolfsbane, failure was not a word that had ever been associated with him.
Never in the two hundred sowhat years of his life was he ever declared a failure other than by himself for the day of the massacres.
Why was it that he could never do anything right when it ca to Vivian? From the first mont they t, he instilled fear into her and intimidated her. He repeatedly rejected and pushed her away, stubbornly deciding that she was bound to show her true colours soon much like her Moonborn ancestors.
"Ronan," Vivian uttered his na tenderly, offering him a sweet smile as she caressed his face. When she noticed he was much too deep in thought, she imdiately understood he must have been battling with himself within. "I’m teasing." She chuckled.
Teasing?
"It was my own carelessness for running after my wolf without telling you what I’d seen," Vivian explained, rubbing his cheek with her thumb as he leaned into her touch. "I believe every word you say when you speak of protecting , but if I’m reckless and run off... then that is not your fault but my own."
"If you are reckless, sweetheart, then it’s my duty to be one step ahead of you," Ronan countered, closing his eyes. "The fact remains... that I have to consider every move that you will make and account for it."
Vivian frowned.
"If I am reckless and unpredictable, how will you consider what moves I make? I promise I won’t be so irrational anymore," Vivian pledged, placing a tender kiss on his snout, and the Lycan Alpha’s eyes widened from the sweet gesture. "I promise I will stay close to you and share what I’m thinking before I run off and do sothing foolish again."
"Thank you, princess," Ronan expressed his gratitude, grateful that she was so reflective of her behaviour. He would have expected her to throw a tantrum and not accept her mistakes. How could he be angry with her? "Whether it was your fault or mine this ti, I have broken my promises to you. Never again. Never again will you experience sothing like this."
As much as Ronan now understood he was not entirely to bla, it still irked him that he wasn’t swift enough to capture her before she could venture into the Mirror World.
He needed to band his act together. Vivian was his fated mate, and failure to protect her for a third ti would be an absolute disgrace and tarnishing mont to his reputation.
And more than his societal image, he would never forgive himself if he were to lose her through untoward ans.
"I don’t doubt you," Vivian affird, tilting her head to the side. "What exactly happened to you while I was gone? How did...you end up in that state that Lady Morgana told about?"
While Ronan was averse to explaining his sudden outburst because he’d temporarily lost his last thread of control on his curse, he didn’t want to be untruthful to Vivian either. However, he didn’t have the courage to bring his wild actions to light.
Switch. It’s best if you tell her what happened. Ronan communicated with his Lycan, and the beast was more than delighted to grace Vivian with his presence.
His eyes flashed a golden amber, and Vivian gasped involuntarily, her hand flying to her mouth with recognition. Earlier in the temple of the Goddess Lunaria, she briefly experienced visions—mories that she was unsure of.
In the scene, she’d seen a man in silver armour who projected a similar aura and vibe to the Lycan beast.
Vivian distinctly rembered his long, pin-straight hair, which was as black as a starry night, and his intense golden amber eyes. He was the only tall, strong, and sturdy human man amongst the sinners who was audacious enough not to bow before the Goddess Lunaria.
And now that the Lycan beast had co to the surface, she could clearly distinguish the sa coldness the man’s eyes held with an underlayer of affection. The Lycan beast projected the sa feelings in his gaze, and Vivian’s eyes narrowed questioningly.
"You’ve seen him, haven’t you?" The Lycan asked, his voice deepening into a gravelly tone. He released a huff of breath through his nose and stood up taller behind the cell bars, gazing down at Vivian. He grinned, showing a row of his canines. "You’ve seen the one who never bowed to Lunaria."
Vivian nodded thoughtfully. There were a myriad of questions plaguing her mind, and without needing to voice them, she knew the Lycan would grant her the answers she sought.
He addresses her as Lunaria, not Goddess Lunaria. Vivian took note. Does he have any special connection to her?
"I did see him," Vivian confessed, gripping two of the cell bars and peering her head through it as much as it could fit to look up at the Lycan Alpha. "He reminded very much of you. Was he one of the humans who dabbled in forbidden magic from the Old World?"
"Nay," the Lycan disagreed, shaking his head. "He was Lunaria’s guardian. Her sworn protector."
"What happened to him?" Vivian questioned, curious and eager to discover more about the man she’d seen. "When I looked into his eyes, I saw affection for the goddess. However, in that mont, they seed to have had a silent disagreent."
"Lunaria cursed him as she had cursed the humans for bringing about darkness," the Lycan revealed, his gaze distant as he looked through the cell bars ahead where the staircase that led to the upper levels of the mansion was. "For defying her and pleading on their behalf, he was cursed to bear the sa fate as them."
Vivian’s gaze softened sorrowfully. Why was the goddess Lunaria filled with so much rage? Why curse her own Guardian who didn’t harbour any ill intentions other than to see reason?
"Goddess Lunaria sounds...cruel," Vivian voiced her opinion, her fingers curling around the iron bars tightly. "What drove her to curse her own Guardian? Was it really just defiance?"
The Lycan Alpha’s eyes wavered with unspoken hurt as he returned his attention to Vivian. Beneath the piercing golden amber, there was much yearning and pain burrowed there.
There was more that the Lycan Alpha was concealing.
"I will tell you a secret, princess," the Lycan said, the back of his claw carding through her hair. "Lunaria loved her Guardian so much that it beca an obsession."
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