A distant voice climbed into her ears as she stirred from her pitch-black world, blinking to clear her
vision. The first thing that came to vision was the intricate roman designed plaster ceiling. Her shaky
vision came to steady as it dawns on her that they are not in the cabin anymore. A knocking pain on
her head made her hiss, bringing up a palm to put pressure on her head.
“Baby...” fingers caressed her cheeks and a familiar spark spread. She smiled knowing who is next to
her and panned her face slowly to her left.
“Where are we?” Selena asked in a broken voice.
“At Samrat's mansion...” he held her hand, wrapping his thumb around hers and bringing it close to his
lips for a kiss
“Water please...” she said and Zaden bends slightly to grab a cup of water, letting it sip through her lips.
“What happen?” Selena asked after done drinking. Zaden placed a pillow on her back, propping her to
sitting position while he explained what happen
“I think you blacked out like how you use to during shifts. Elisa killed Epsilon. Ozrain brought us to his
mansion and allocated us this lovely room. Queen Aira begged for his forgiveness. She said she was
forced to reject him and-“
“Wait, Ozrain wasn't the one who rejected the bond?” Selena asked in confusion and Zaden shook his
head ‘NO’
“Apparently, it was Aira after being threatened by Epsilon. Ozrain forgave her. With Epsilon being dead,
his mark on her is gone and so, now, Ozrain marked her and sealed their mate bond.” Zaden is back by
her side, holding her hand near to his lips, kissing it between speaking.
“Wowww...how long have I been out? Centuries?” Zaden let out a soft chuckle.
“Just a few hours but everything else happened so fast, so...now, they are digging a grave for Epsilon
in Samrat Cemetry” he finished his briefing
“Wait, why is he being buried here? He is supposed to be thrown in the sea. Come on” Selena rushed
to sit and a pang felt in her head. Blood rushed too fast.
“Easy, Selena. Why the sea?” Zaden asked Selena, who is now holding her head again
“Because that where they threw her almost dead body, feeding Goya with Elisa's blood” she can feel
another wave of dizziness approaching her fast. Apparently, she was watching as a third person of all
the images played in Elisa's mind.
“Ok ok...I will get that done. Please, you go back to rest” Zaden pushed her gently by the shoulder to
make her lay back down
“I want to come too” she said and Zaden let out a sigh, which hit her face due to their close proximity.
“Fine...let me arrange things first, then I will come to get you” he tilted his head to the side, laying a
gentle kiss on her lips.
“You did amazing today...” he said with his bronzy eyes piercing through her grey eye.
“I was thought well...” she said with her week yet husky voice and Zaden smiled at her.
“Be good...I will come back as soon as possible” he gave her another kiss before leaving her behind. 5-
10 minutes after he left, Selena felt stabilized. She sat on the bed edge, observing the roman inspired,
light blue and white room. It was done tastefully and Selena is impressed. She then gathered herself up
and walked out of the room. She ended up in a corridor that is all red velvet and followed it to a stair,
climbed down. At the last step of stairs, she saw an extravagant fireplace across the room.
“Sweety...you are awake?” It is Makeala. Selena smiled in return and she hugged her gently, before
scanning Selena top to bottom. She smiled, satisfied with the view in front of her.
“Come...” Makeala grabbed Selena's hand and guided her to their left, where a dining room, again
done tastefully with Roman design but majorly laced in red velvet. At the end of 24 seater dining table,
Ozrain and Aira were sitting, holding hands, and talking. Selena had never seen Ozrain smile like that,
like a schoolboy with his crush, even though his white-trimmed beard gave away his actual age. They
snapped their head at Selena once they noticed her.
“Oh, dear...” Aira had rushed to Selena and gave her a warm hug before holding her chin
“She looks lovely. I bet Elisa must have been really pretty...” she said as she guided her to sit next to
Ozrain.
“Yes, she is, isn't she? And the combination of Zaden and Selena growing in her tummy, should be
much more dazzling” Ozrain said and Aira's eye panned to her tummy and widened. For a moment,
she froze not giving any reaction, puzzling all of them. Aira looked up
“Wonderful” a twinkle in the wide eye with a gentle smirk which is supposed to spell ‘happy’, but to
Selena, it looked creepy and her stomach hardened for no reason. By now, she had learned that her
tummy turns hard when she is in a dangerous circumstance but what is dangerous here? Maybe the
baby is also creeped up at Aira.
“Well, you must be hungry. Sit down and let me get you something” she said and left to the kitchen.
Selena sat next to Ozrain as Makeala excused herself to check on Zaden and Epsilon's ‘sea burial’.
“Do you like what you see?” Ozrain was referring to the house
“It's all...red” Ozrain let out a chuckle
“Yes, I noticed. It's Aira's favorite color. Epsilon must have loved her so much to go to this extend, the
house and his life is all about Aira, wasn't it?” Ozrain's eye scanned around the room.
“How could I have missed it? My beta in love with my mate? I will never know...” he dropped his head
down-looking at his hands, which are clasped together on the dining table. Selena gently grabbed his
hands
“It's not your fault, papa...You are not supposed to govern or command where love should blossom.
That's not how the design works. It never fails to kick you in the butt” Ozrain laughed out loud at the
comparison Selena had given
“Just like you with Zaden!!!” he said through his laughter
“Just like Zaden and me!!!” she repeated his sentence with a snap of head, reassuring her pain in the
butt. Aira rushed in with a glass of juice.
“Here, prune juice” Selena eyes snapped wide at the huge glass of black liquid
“It is said to be extremely beneficial to a pregnant lady” Selena ignored Aira when her wide eye
snapped up at Ozrain
‘I'm going to kill your mate!!!’ she mind-linked Ozrain and he pursed his lips, suppressing his laughter.
Aira walked out of there to get something for Ozrain. As soon as she left, Ozrain snatched the huge
glass and gulped it down. It was pure concentration of prune, no sugar or water added, simply dreadful.
Halfway through the glass, Zaden walked into them.
“Everything is done. Are you ready? What is wrong with him?” Zaden frowned at Ozrain who is in a
hurry to gulp the remaining glass of juice
“Aarghhh. Who the hell associated prune and pregnancy? Let the fucker rot in hell” Ozrain cursed as
soon as he emptied the glass. Selena giggled at Ozrain's statement before they all walked out of the
mansion, heading towards the cliff behind it. Zaden had carefully supported Selena to climb up the cliff.
At the top, the rest of Zaden and Ozrain's pack was waiting for her.
“Are you ready?” Orion asked softly to Selena. She looked down and there was a box, not a coffin but a
box. 3 feet by 3 feet small box. How could a body have fitted into that, only God knows. Selena nodded
and they gathered up next to her. She kneeled to push the box but clearly, it is way much heavier than
she expected. After a few failed attempts, Zaden hoisted her up, held her waist from left, Orion from
right, Ozrain holding her shoulders from behind. The combination of men who loved her for who is she,
supporting her through her rough path.
“Now, kick” Zaden said. She looked down and hesitated for a moment. She then stretched her feet,
placing them on an edge of the box, and pushed it off. The box tumbled down the cliff, hitting a rock
and splitting open. Mingled body of Epsilon tossed out of the box, into separate pieces of leg, hand,
body and head. Selena gasped in horror as she hid her face in Zaden's chest. He instinctively covered
her face with his hand. She understands now how a full-grown man can fit in a box. Epsilon's remaining
crashed into the water below, soon to attract fishes and sea creatures for a feast. At the tip of the cliff, a
breeze of peace swept through them.
Ozrain finally felt at peace. He found his daughter, rejoined with his mate and the murderer of his love
Elisa received the punishment he deserved. He is home, that he has longed for so long. It feels right
and the weight in his chest is lift-off. His peace didn't last long. Sharp pain felt in his stomach. He
grabbed it with a groan and fell on his knee.
“PAPA!!!” Selena screamed and plopped down next to him. She carried his head and placed them on
her lap.
“What is wrong? What is happening, Zaden?” Zaden kneeled frozen next to her, unable to comprehend
what is happening, just like the rest of the pack. Aira came slowly pacing up the hill. Her eye widened in
panic when she saw Ozrain on the rocks, head on Selena's lap. She picked up the pace and rushed to
him
“What happened, darling?” tears started rolling down her cheeks.
Ozrain unable to utter a single word. Every single nerve in his body is burning with pain, as if they are
gradually filled up with hot lava. He wanted to scream out but then his throat is constricted. He
gradually loses his vision. As a marked mate, Aira also felt the same level of pain that her mate is
feeling, only she didn't go through any rapid organ damages like Ozrain is. In the next second, his
veins protruding on his neck turned black.
“Wolfsbane” Zaden whispered and everyone's eye snapped at him. He had tortured and killed 38
rogues by infusing them with wolfsbane, so naturally, he would know the trademark symptoms. Black
venation is one of them, at a lethal level. Aira's eye is now filled with fury as she fought to withstand her
mate's pain
“You didn't drink the juice???” she said through gritted teeth, clutching her waist and her whole body
trembling. It finally dawned on Selena and Zaden. Aira had placed wolfsbane in the raw prune juice,
lethal level. The taste and smell of prune juice effectively covered up her act. It was intended for Selena
but Ozrain drank it up.
“You bitch!!! How come you have missed both my attempts?” Selena and others are puzzled now.
“If I can kill Elisa, I can kill you too. Arghh... you are not going to skip this time” she mustered any
strength she has and stretched her claws towards Selena's neck when out of nowhere, another hand
grabbed her throat. Ozrain's whole body is shutting down except for his ears. He heard what Aira said
and he too, gathered up all his strength and attacked her. He didn't stop there, his hands squeezed a
bit further and further and further, crushing her neck bone one by one till her tongue stuck out of her
mouth. Chocked throat, pain from her mate, and the depression of unsuccessful attempt murder, all
together dragged Aira down. She probably is the one with the most painful death of all. Within the next
minute, her struggle seized. Aira is no more and Ozrain threw her dead corpse far away, not wanting to
see her face at his last breath. She is the one who had summoned Epsilon to kill Elisa. she thought
with her death,she will have her mate for herself and will be able to carry his heir,but her plan took a
horrible turn when Ozrain refused to go back to Samrat. She took over the land in hope Ozrain will
return soon but Epsilon used Elisa's death against Aira. He threaten to reveal the truth if Aira didn't
reject Ozrain and their mate bond. She was also forced to pretend to be sick in order for him to mark
her.
Ozrain forced himself to open his eye. A blurry outline of Selena's face came to his vision, not her
whole beautiful face
‘I have been fighting for the last 200 years to see this sweet face, yet I still failed to do so in my last
breath. I hope, somewhere in my next birth, I would be able to be with you longer than this’ he mind-
linked all of them next to him. It made Selena sob even more as tears came down like raindrops,
landing on Ozrain's cheeks.
‘My struggle hasn't gone to waste. I found a blood relation to call my own, my daughter and I have
spent the last 2 days with you. So many nights I have wondered if anyone will shed a drop of tear,
genuinely, at my depart and here I am, blessed with such a pure soul’ Zaden held Selena's shoulder,
struggling to hold back his own tears.
‘I even had an opportunity, to redeem myself, for what I have done to Elisa by saving her rebirth, our
own daughter. I feel complete. She will forgive me, I know it deep inside me. Thank you, my dear angel’
with that, Ozrain's struggle came to an end. His writhing stopped. His eyes froze. He is still holding tight
to Selena's hand. The vein has turned almost half of his face black.
“NO NO NO NO!!!” Selena screamed before dropping her head to Ozrain's shoulder. Her sobbing was
agonizing, silencing everyone next to her as they shed muted tears. A ray of silver dust, sparkling and
glowing in the lunar eclipse night, raised from Ozrain's body- curving into vines as it ventured higher
into the sky, towards the unknown afterlife. Almost at the same time, a ray of gold dust, sparkling and
glowing even brighter, emits from Selena. Whirling around the silver dust, they both raised higher and
higher, glowing brighter than ever. Everyone looked at it in amusement, as the waves reached high
above the sky and disperse into the depth of the night sky. Selena is free from Elisa. She is a normal
werewolf, a normal Samrat werewolf that is.
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