Chapter 48: Chapter 48

Zaira's POV

" NOOO! ", I screamed and screamed, not knowing if Reah screamed too, while Serdas tore the knife from her body and stabbed again, so that more blood spattered the white stone floor. My vocal cords burned, but the screams that escaped through it, My heart broke as red liquid poured from her mouth and her chest trembled to a halt.

I didn't see the hand coming, which went over my mouth and clamped it so that no more screams could escape. My gaze never left Reah's body as I bit Serdas roughly - my fangs out - into his hand to the bone. He quickly snatched it from me.

"You little bitch!" he cursed, finally releasing the air cuffs around me. My knees buckled and I slumped down. Still sobbing, I crawled towards Reah, but Serdas grabbed my hair and yanked me back. Mine Scalp burned like it was on fire and I was sure he had pulled out a few clumps of my hair.

"Let go of me!"

He didn't do anything, just tilted my head back even more and leaned over me. Clearly demonstrated who was in power here. My limbs froze to ice and I wished nothing more than for Aramis to free me from those ugly hands. However, another part of me didn't want to depend on anyone anymore and gave me the strength I needed to fight back.

I turned my gaze away from Reah and looked straight into Serdas' dark eyes. It was like looking into Alpha Blake's eyes, they looked just as cold-blooded. "You'll never break me," I said, slamming my fist into his jaw.

But his jaw didn't break, nor did his expression change for a split second, for my fist stopped millimeters from his jaw.

"You know, I underestimated you.", Serdas said and he eyed me thoughtfully. "I already did that when we first met."

I frowned in disbelief? Our first encounter in the forest? Why should he have worried about me?

"But doggy, how can you not remember the first time we met?" He widened his eyes in shock and clutched his heart in concern, then slapped them to his mouth and giggled. "Oh right, I forgot you let it go, I'm a chump."

I shook my head in irritation. What was he talking about?

"Don't look at me so confused. Wait, I'll just show you.", I wanted to avoid him, but the invisible bonds wrapped themselves around my body again and held me tight. He put his fingers on my temple and images flashed in my head like hammer blows and added to each other a single film together.

***

"Where is she?" asked the creepy black-haired man, who was surrounded by a dark aura. My she-wolf burrowed deep inside me, cupped her paws over her face and whimpered in fear. This man was extremely strong and powerful, even more powerful than Alpha Blake.

"Here," Alpha Blake said, pointing at me. I turned around, hoping he wasn't referring to me, but there was no one behind me. I ducked my head and backed against the wall, while my back was burning like hell with pain as the new wounds hadn't healed yet, but I kept my mouth shut and pressed against it even harder, maybe if I wished hard enough I'd be able to melt into the wall .

Apparently my wish didn't come true, because the tall, slender man came up to me. "I'd like a spare room where we won't be disturbed."

"Of course," Alpha Blake soothed, leading him down the hall to the drawing room. "I'll personally make sure no one disturbs you."

"You'd better hope so, otherwise I'll make short work of it." The unknown man smiled dangerously, making his threat even more effective.

Alpha Blake swallowed hard and closed the door behind us. The grip on my arm loosened and I immediately backed away. I didn't want to be close to this creepy man for a second longer.

"Sit down, pup."

Without hesitation, I followed his command and sat down on the couch that wasn't usually meant for me. The soft fabric felt fantastic under my body and I ran my fingers over it briefly.

"Let's get straight to the point," he crouched in front of me, still towering several inches over me. "I'm Serdas and you're going to help me kill my beloved cousin."

I pressed my body against the back of the couch and shook my head, not risking eye contact, not wanting to accidentally provoke him. "I don't want to hurt anyone," I whispered, aware that I might be risking my death by disagreeing.

"You stupid little thing, did I ask your opinion? You don't have a choice.", he giggled venomously and didn't even wait for my answer. "Look into my eyes."

I gasped and stifled a whimper. I curled up my body, shielding myself from the blows that would come once I obeyed his command.

"I said look me in the eye!" he put all his dominance into that command and violently forced me to do his bidding. My body trembled under his power and I lifted my gaze in surrender. His dark brown eyes stared at me madly and glowed, they reminded me of Alpha Blake.

"Please don't hurt me," I pleaded, hoping he would finally lower his dominance. Of course, he didn't do anything of the sort. Instead, he mumbled something I couldn't understand a word of. Then, slowly, they lulled me into a lull ", his words wrapped around my body like cotton, clouded my senses and the thoughts in my head were swept empty. The throbbing fear disappeared and I stared at the white ring that was in his eyes. He completely captivated me. Mine Chest heaved with regular breaths.

Breath in, breath out.

"When the time is right you will meet your mate, he is a demigod and a lycan. He will save you from Alpha Blake and the Drakmoon pack. You will convince him that the mate tape is real and you will make him fall in love with you. As soon as he admits to himself and to you that he wants you, you will immediately bring him to me with these words:

Nees getenu te Ashev

Now you will fall into a deep sleep and won't wake up for an hour. Once you wake up, you won't remember anything from that day, but your subconscious will do my bidding no matter what."

Then everything went black.

**

I gasped. "No, that's impossible."

"It's the truth." Serdas simply countered and he was right. I felt it in every cell of mine, I remembered.

"Aramis was right all along," I whispered, shaken. Oh god, Serdas had actually used me, I was his accomplice in a sick, twisted way.

"Well, not quite," Serdas contradicted me. "He thought the mate band wasn't real. It really is, just not quite in the..." He looked closely at his pointed nails and searched for the right word . " traditional kind. Of course Luna and Gaia had nothing to do with the tape, but they aren't the only gods either. I think Hades did an excellent job."

It was like the ground was being pulled out from under my feet and I was falling into an infinite depth. "What did you say?"

"Did you seriously think your mate band was destiny?" His eyes twinkled evilly, he was amused at my suffering. "Silly, he's a Lycan and you're an Omega, what world are you living in that you ever belong together? Her be as incongruous as water and fire."

"Aramis and I belong together."

"Of course, because Hades wanted it that way. Do you really think Luna wouldn't have told Aramis if she was going to get him a mate? We should never get one, the balance would be destroyed forever if a guard took a mate, although that aspect doesn't seem to matter to me, the world has never been well balanced.", he sighed. "Not sad his pooch, we didn't want to need you either, but Aramis just didn't want to let his concealment spell, which he used to block his own scent, go down, so it's actually Arami's fault that we had to resort to other means to weaken him , don't you agree? And almost everything would have worked out,

I would have liked to put my hands over my ears, I didn't want to listen to his horrible words anymore. Aramis and I didn't belong together, never had. He was always right, our mate tape wasn't real, not as real as it should have been.

"I didn't bring it to you, and I never will," I said defiantly, my bottom lip trembling. Though the truth threatened to crush me, I refused to take it all lightly, I hadn't betrayed him. Didn't stick a knife in my mate's back, despite what Serdas claimed. "You have no power over me."

"As I said before, I underestimated your power, your omega side blinded me. I can't understand how I could have overlooked the fact that you are a healer werewolf. Your eyes speak volumes." He clicked his disapproval and raised an eyebrow in disapproval. "But that won't happen to me again, your power may be greater than expected, but it may not be powerful enough to resist my mental manipulation."

"You have no idea how far my powers stretch," I said fiercely. I wouldn't let him into my head, I vowed to myself. Nonetheless, I feared he wasn't entirely wrong.

"I doubt it. At first I wanted to kill you right there, when I realized what you are. You shouldn't completely ruin my plan and still raise the goddesses," he said, laughing nastily. "But when I found out how stupid you really are and how weak you really are to not even be able to handle omorphies, I decided, to spare you - for the time being. Before that you will do me a favor."

"I'm not going to do anything," I growled, leaning against the mental air cuffs with all my strength, trying to wriggle out of them, but they just closed tighter on me. "I'll never submit to you!"

"Never say never doggy, I'm not alone this time," his thin, pale face floated in front of mine, and I saw a hand rest on his shoulder before the white ring in his eyes summoned my attention. I wanted to lower my eyelids, but he wouldn't even stop me.The ring glowed more and more, drawing me involuntarily into it as I built a wall of ice around my mind and held it up with all my strength.Serdas, however, reacted with lightning speed and pounded my shields violently It was as if I felt each and every blow on my own body. Enormous pressure built up in my body while I still denied Serdas access to me,as I heard my ribs crack and my entire wall shattered with another blow from Serdas.

My mind was once again in the hands of a monster.

"When the time is right, you will bring Aramis to me. You will bring him to me immediately with these words:

Nees getenu te Ashev

Now you will forget everything about our first meeting as well as everything that has happened since Rehab's death . Only your subconscious will remember my command and carry it out. You will do whatever it takes to accomplish what I have commanded you, even if it costs you your life."

Then everything went black and the air shackles around my ankles dissolved. I fell, staggering. My head pounded loudly and I groaned.

What happened?

Everything around me spun as I tried to orient myself by propping myself up. The cold of the stone floor grounded me as it entered my hands and my senses slowly all came back, including the stabbing pain in my mouth and the taste of blood.

From one moment to the next, everything that was happening came crashing down on me.

Reah!

Without having to search long, I found her blood-covered body across the aisle and crawled to her. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of her lifeless, pale.

"No," I whispered, frantically squeezing down the open gashs to stop the blood flow. I then checked for her pulse with my other hand, my fingers slipping down her neck from the bult in them. Me sobbing when I didn't find him "Come on Reah, you mustn't die!", my sobs getting worse and worse, my body shaking and I screamed out my pain; ,"YOU WILL NOT DIE!"

My hands rested on her body and I threw my head back as my inner strength surged and poured directly into the omorphs that still sat on the desk. I revealed my deepest intentions to them, my bare heart.

Lend me your strength please, my friend is dying.

I sent another mighty rush of love right into her and then it finally happened. A surge of bright light flooded my body so violently that it threw me back briefly. I gasped, then leaned back over Reah and poured all of the healing power of the flowers, as well as all of my love into her. Reah's body arched as she began to glow from within and her wounds slowly but surely healed. I could feel her heartbeat under my hands, getting stronger and stronger, but I didn't slow down the flow of my power for a second. However, what I hadn't considered was keeping a small portion of my own life energy with me, so I gave Reah everything I had.

The stab wounds closed completely the moment I slid onto the cold marble floor next to Reah with no strength left.