ZINA
The first shift was a rite of passage that every werewolf passed through. And it usually happened between the ages of eight and fourteen. Any ti later than that was considered late, and for Zina who was twenty-four, shifting at that age was unimaginable.
The first shift was said to co with symptoms such as temporal mory loss due to the werewolf’s body adjusting to the change that possessing a wolf naturally caused to happen. Other effect of the first shift included intense body pain, a suicidal drive, and a primal hunger to hunt.
Zina felt all of those symptoms alright, but amongst them was a great feeling of awkwardness that washed over her body.
She had taken to pretending to sleep when she ca to that day as mories of her encounter with the man who could have been none other than Daemon NorthSteed, slamd into her like a tornado.
Zina groaned internally.
Who are you?
Do we still hate each other?
Even if she was suffering from a temporal mory loss, how could she forget that standing before her was her enemy?! To crown it all, she collected water from him. What if it was poisoned?!
Where was she by the way?
Breathing deeply, Zina decided to conquer so of her fears as she pried one eye open. She squinted from the harsh light yet again, wondering if she would ever get used to it.
It would seem as though it hurt way too much to see. Perhaps, being blind was not so bad.
"Theta!" A figure scread in a very familiar voice.
"Seraph!" Zina squeaked, sitting upright as the girl bolted towards her.
Tears stread down Seraph’s face as she looked over Zina as if searching for so scathing wound on her body. Zina’s eyes were now wide open as she took in the girl’s appearance. As she expected, her maidservant looked like she imagined. But...
"Are you not way too thin." Zina observed through narrowed eyes.
"Is that all you’ve to say to after giving such a scare?!"Seraph scread amidst the endless flow of her tears. As if realising sothing, she drew back.
"You... you can SEE?! HOW?!"
Zina was unnerved at her genuine shock.
"Did HE not tell you? Wait...Where am I?"
Zina began to look around her surroundings. It would seem as though she was in a tent and she was currently lying on a makeshift bed.
Seraph exhaled a huge amount of air. "So we, and by we I an I, Alpha Prince Falcon and warrior Ablanch tracked you down to the Ravgid forest and we discovered you’ve shifted and had lost consciousness because of the shift..."
Zina kept nodding her head, urging the girl to move on.
"...however, the banished prince would not let us have you under the excuse that you were his mate." Seraph finished ekly, twisting her fingers.
WHAT?!
"Do you an to tell that the banished prince announced that I, the Theta who has taken a vow of chastity, is his mate?!"
Seraph simply gaped at her in a way that she was yet to speak the worst.
"I am afraid that everyone in Vraga who cares already knows that the divine Theta has found her second chance mate, and that he is none other than the banished prince."
Zina fell off the bed, her head thumping hard against the hard floor. Seraph rushed to her side in panic.
"Are you hurt again?" Seraph wailed, "I myself have been stunned. You can see, and while I am happy about that, I find it so strange that you can stare at like it is a normal thing! And now... and now... the banished prince is your divine mate?! And you’ve a wolf? What on earth is happening?!"
Zina raised her hand up, successfully shutting the girl up. If Seraph was laced in such great shock, then she could imagine how confounded Zina herself was.
Why was Daemon announcing to the whole world that they were mates instead of rejecting her? No, not like she wanted to go through such pain again, but his actions were honestly unnerving.
No, Zina had to think. Daemon had used her before, and it was what led to her being kidnapped by the rogues which set off a chain of events that she had not even begun to process. Provided, even if she were given weeks, she wouldn’t fully process everything that has happened.
But the sa man whose contempt for her was obvious even to a blind man was declaring Zina his mate to the whole world.
What was his aim? No matter how much Zina thought about it, only one answer glared back at her. The man aid to use her the sa way he did before! The expert manipulating piece of...!
Ahh! Unfortunately for him, he had just t Zina WolfKnight, the woman who died and resurrected again. While it might have been a dream or not, that remained a fact that Zina was sure of.
Staggering up with the help of Seraph, Zina began to pace about the room in deep thoughts. But no matter how much she tried to think, the colours and everything in the room was distracting and distorting her thoughts.
Heaving a sigh of frustration, she faced Seraph. "Can I have a blindfold?"
The girl who seed stunned at Zina’s boundless energy was stunned at the request, but quickly scampered to get one.
Zina collected the white material, tying it over her eyes. The mont the darkness greeted her, a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
Yes, this was what she was used to. This way, her senses were heightened.
"I suppose we are at the camp of the Army Without An Alpha?" Zina asked deep in thought, still pacing about the room blindly.
"Yes we are..." Seraph trailed as if she would like more than anything not to say the next words, "but we won’t be for long. Currently as I speak to you, the banished prince intends to travel South tomorrow and insists on taking his mate with him."
Zina didn’t know when she harshly tugged off the blindfold off her eyes, balling the material in her fists.
"What did you just say?" She gritted out with much difficulty, facing Seraph who only sighed again as if the conversation was killing her too.
"Exactly what I just said, Theta. Apparently the banished prince is so in love with you that he cannot bear to be apart from you for just one day. His words to Alpha Prince Falcon not mine."
Zina scoffed at the ridiculousness of the entire situation, laughing harshly.
"I want to see the banished prince." She said, walking towards the flap of the tent.
Seraph quickly darted in front of her, blocking her from taking any further steps. "Are you sure about that Theta?" She said uncomfortably. "The banished prince has marked you as his mate...will you be able to speak to him rationally while bottling up your... desires." She said the last word like it pained her to do so.
Zina’s jaw dropped open at the intended aning of the maidservant’s words. "You... you an to say that I, the woman who has kept a vow of chastity for six years cannot hold even my mind simply because of the mate bond?"
Seraph shifted uncomfortably in response, her head bowed to the ground.
"Seraph! I am highly offended you think too little of the woman I have co to be!"
"I apologise Theta! But I have heard that this is sothing even a woman as glorious and as powerful as yourself cannot control. Forgive for speaking so audaciously."
Zina rolled her eyes at the blatant shower of praises Seraph had slipped into her biting words. "Out of my way, Seraph." She commanded.
Seraph spread her hands in response, blocking her path further. "I am afraid as your most revered aid, I cannot allow you to walk into your self destruction. Allow yourself to cool off for soti and then you can see the banished prince." She said stubbornly.
Cool off?
"Seraph..." Zina all but growled, communicating that she ant business.
Before Seraph could open her mouth and respond, the flap of the tent opened behind her and a figure entered, hurtling for Zina. Before Zina could process what was happening, the figure engulfed her in a tight hug, breathing hard against her neck.
In a raw voice, the person spoke. "Zina, thank the gods you’re well."
Falcon?!
Reviews
All reviews (0)