Maximus’s POV~
Where are you, my love...
The words slipped out of before I could stop them. My chest felt heavy, and I let out a long, tired sigh as I leaned back in the chair. My eyes closed, but it wasn’t sleep that ca... it was mories of her. My mate. My heart. My everything.
Her na still tasted sweet in my mind... Elara. Even now, after all these years, it felt like saying her na could steady , could bring back to life.
I rembered the first ti I saw her. The world had been cruel and loud that day, yet the mont she appeared, everything else fell silent.
She stood in the clearing bathed in soft light, her hair catching the sun like threads of gold, her smile shy but enough to steal the breath from my chest.
She was so beautiful, so ethereal, I had thought for a mont she wasn’t real. But when her eyes lifted and locked with mine, I knew. The bond roared alive in .
"You’re staring," she had said back then, her lips curving in that playful way that always teased .
"And I will never stop," I had answered honestly, because how could I?
I could still feel that mont, the way she stepped closer to as though she had always belonged there. I had touched her hand for the first ti, nervous that she would pull away, but she didn’t. Instead, she held on tighter, as if she, too, had been waiting all her life for this.
Later, I rembered how she loved the little things—flowers braided into her hair, quiet walks at dusk, the way she leaned against when the night grew cold.
One night, I pulled her into my arms beneath the stars. She tilted her head back, gazing at the sky, and whispered, "Do you think the stars envy us?"
I laughed softly, brushing my lips across her hair. "No," I told her. "The stars burn only to try and shine like you."
Her cheeks flushed at my words, and she hit my chest lightly. "You always say things like that."
"Because they’re true," I murmured, cupping her face, pressing my forehead against hers. "Because I love you, Elara. More than life. More than ti."
I rembered her soft sigh, the way she whispered back, "And I am yours, Maximus. Always."
That mory burned brightest of all.
Now, sitting here alone, I felt the ache of it. The ache of her absence. The ache of all the promises I still carried, even when she was no longer by my side. My hand curled into a fist against my chest.
Where are you, my love...?
It has been twenty years. Twenty long years since the curse fell upon and tore us apart. And now, finally, I can see you again.
Are you safe? Did you wait for all this ti? My heart whispers your na every day, and now that the curse is lifted, I cannot wait any longer. I only want to stand before you, to stare into your eyes, to hold you as if those twenty years had never stolen you from . The worst days of my life are over... all I want now is you.
I sighed deeply as those words circled in my chest like a prayer. They had been my yearning, my breath, my reason to endure.
I was once the eldest son of the great Lycan King. The most dazzling, the strongest, the proudest. The whole world spoke of as if I were untouchable. And it would be a lie to say I was not arrogant. My royal blood, my unmatched strength—they filled with pride. I thought nothing could break . I thought no one could matter more than myself.
Back then, I was like every young alpha in his pri—wild, reckless, drunk on power. Wars were constant, and I fought them all.
My hands carried the weight of countless battles, my na beca feared across races. Victory after victory made colder, harder. My heart had no room for softness, and I believed love was nothing but a weakness.
But fate had other plans for .
I still rember the day they told I was to be betrothed to the eldest daughter of the Witch Mother, the most respected figure of witches.
It was a union of power, a way to bring peace between werewolves and witches who had always been enemies.
And I, proud and stubborn, rejected it with all the fire in . I hated the thought of it. I didn’t want to be part of a political marriage.
Yet when I saw her—my promised bride—she was so beautiful that for a mont even I faltered. She carried herself with dignity, her smile calm but sharp.
Against my own will, I found myself respecting her. For the first ti, I thought perhaps I could learn to accept her, perhaps I could bury my doubts and walk this path.
But no matter how much I tried, my heart remained cold, because deep down I had always been waiting for sothing... soone. My mate.
And then, fate revealed her to .
Not the eldest daughter, but the second one... her younger sister. Elara.
The mont my eyes t hers, I understood. The bond surged through , and everything I thought I knew about strength, pride, or even beauty crumbled.
For the first ti in my life, I felt weak... not in body, but in heart. She was not only beautiful; she was light itself. Her gaze lted through the walls I had built, her smile reached into places in I thought were long dead.
That day I learned what real love was. Not love born of power, not love tied to duty or beauty alone, but love that burned quietly, deeply, and endlessly. Love that could ta even the coldest heart.
And from that day forward, I was no longer the man I had been. I was no longer just the proud prince, the rciless warrior, the feared alpha. I was a mate. Her mate. And all I wanted was her.
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