Chapitre 28: Marked By Him

MOON

Zina WolfKnight observed for the first time that night that she had begun to move around without clutching her staff in the unhealthy manner she normally did, or using her blindfold to cover her eyes.

As she left the Theta's abode for the Carriage House where Prince Daemon and his retinue must be at, she noticeably fidgeted with her white dress.

She knew how weird what she was about to do looked, and she understood how utterly foolish it would be. In fact, she was scared of facing the man. Zina, in her small village life, had met angry people, sad people, insidious people, but an inscrutable man was a new thing. And admittedly, a very unnerving one.

The confidence she had in her senses that she had tried to hone for years had noticeably depleted that night in the small interaction she had with the man. What was it about him that she had failed to understand…failed to see?

"Great Seer, the servant is returning." Seraph announced, causing Zina to force herself to unhand her dress that was already crumbled in her vice grip.

"For your sake and my sake, can I never hear you call me Great Seer?"

Seraph blushed, noting that while her new master's voice was hard, her face wore all the nervousness in the world. "Of course, Miss… I mean, Theta."

The girl internally chided herself. How was she to serve the great woman that had rescued her if she could not call her properly by her proper title? She vowed within herself that she would do better. She could not be the one that would cause Seer Zina a stain in her new post.

Galga, Daemon's male servant approached them. "The Theta shall meet the Lord… alone."

Zina stepped forward, already sensing where the Prince Daemon was at. Under the sky of the crescent moon that hung high in the night, his wolf had a domineering aura that obviously oozed into the night. He was an Alpha Prince alright, and little of the fact had anything to do with the title than the might the man possessed.

When Zina was sure she stood a few steps away from the man, she finally halted, assuming the stance she had earlier inquired from Seraph. She tipped her chin high up, lightly spread her legs, and hung an arm on her waist to assume a most haughty stance.

Daemon simply stared at the woman tethering between mild amusement and irritation. Annoyedly, he wondered what it was about the woman that drove him to amusement always? Nothing about his predicament was amusing, alas, Daemon was far from normal.

"The Great Seer of Vraga has come to see me, what have I done to deserve such an honour?"

The mention of the 'Great Seer' noticeably caused Zina to blanch. Surprisingly, her stance didn't waver.

"My name is Zina WolfKnight." She introduced herself in the coldest and most unassuming voice she could muster. Only if she knew she was speaking to the coldest man on the continent, then maybe she wouldn't try so hard.

Daemon simply took a menacing step closer to the girl, "And why must I know your name?" His voice dripped with sarcasm and a brittleness that almost unnerved Zina, but her resolve was surprisingly firm.

"You must remember it to take your revenge, no?"

Ahhh, so the new Theta was a daring one? Something lit up in Daemon's eyes at the careless challenge that had been thrown to him. What was a man to do?

He took another step closer. Really, the worst thing to bait his wolf with was a challenge, he simply enjoyed the thrill of it all and never had he been one to back away from one.

"Zina WolfKnight," He repeated languidly, the breath of his words caressing Zina's face. Fiercely, she fought against the desire to break her stance and bolt. Even wolfless, it was hard for her not to feel the overwhelming aura that he emitted; both as a man and a wolf.

"Indeed. Here, I shall wait for you. Each day you fight at the borders, I forbid you to die…."

The moment Zina spat those words, the desire to hide herself under a basket like a cat would came over her. Really, where did her courage come from? Why was she like this? Even prisoners on the execution ground, awaiting to forfeit their life were not nearly as brazen as she was.

"You forbid me to die," Daemon, unable to fight the amusement anymore, grinned while he took a step forward again.

"If you die, how else shall you've your revenge?" Zina said shrewdly, a wicked smile tugging at her lips. Unwittingly, Daemon's eyes flittered to them. Plump as they were, he was yet again overwhelmed with the urge to kiss her.

Zina hoped her performance was at least above subpar. She knew how much men valued their ego, and she didn't yet believe that Daemon's would remain intact after everything that happened that night… especially with all the daring things she spewed.

Daemon took another step closer, "My revenge?" He whispered low enough that it caressed Zina's neck. Horrifyingly, she noted that he was now even closer to her, only a step away from erasing any space between them. In any other situation, she would have broken then and there, but this was her penance and she had no right to break.

"And I shall wait for you here. Like a lamb awaiting slaughter, I shall wait for the full force of your hate and revenge to descend on me. So for that reason, you must come back."

All Daemon could think was of the thrill of the hunt that Zina painted for him. But no hunt was interesting if the hunter knew nothing of the whereabouts of the hunted.

Taking a final step closer to Zina and wiping away the space between them, Daemon leaned down and whispered in her ears, "Do you know what hatred feels like…tastes like?"

A jolt ran through Zina's body as her hand on her waist dropped. She wanted to lean out of the closeness that seemed way intimate, at the same, the urge to lean in closer was there. Zina swallowed, "I suppose it will taste very bitter." Zina replied in a haughty voice that trembled.

Why was he so close? Why was he taking her space?

"You're wrong, Theta of my house," he whispered mischievously in her ears, "Hatred surprising tastes quite good."

And without a warning, his fangs sank into her neck, causing Zina who had been debating whether to step away or not, to clutch onto him rather fiercely.

Her blind world was assaulted with a billion sensation, and true to Daemon's words, none of those sensations was bitter.

There was longing and desire… each in different shades and combinations.

As Zina clutched onto his hard lean muscles tightly, she spluttered as the fang broke into her skin, infusing something foreign within her, and unleashing something feral within her.

"Let me go," she managed to gasp out even as she held onto him tightly. All the response she got was a feral growl that was neither man nor beast. Like something guttural that can be only produced by the result of a countless web of complicated emotions.

Daemon finally removed his fangs from her shoulders, grinning at the wound that made way for a very beautiful mark that was now there.

"That is what hatred tastes like," he said with a smirk even though she could not see him, "and as long as you wait for me, I shall return alive to claim your life. No matter the ends of the earth you escape to, you shall never be able to escape me."

Later that same night, Zina WolfKnight took a vow of chastity in the presence of the high ranking members of the NorthSteed pack including the new Alpha King, and the core members of Temple of the Arctic North.

To later be revered by all and in accordance with the wish of the late Alpha King, she was named Theta Zina WolfKnight.

Eldric NorthSteed was recognized as the Alpha King, with the excuse that on his death bed, Alpha King Xavier NorthSteed had wished for his fifth legitimate son to claim his wolf as a blood alpha as he lacked the strength to properly pass down the Arctic Wolf.

With a Theta appointed by treachery, and an Alpha King crowned by deceit, the Arctic North was sure to see better days ahead.