The Alpha King's Nemesis-Chapter 48: Forever Far Away ()

Zariah’s eyes fluttered open late the next morning when the sun had already risen high in the sky,

She had spent most of the night just gazing up blankly at nothing in particular, her mind reeling with thoughts,

With the events of the previous day, Zariah was hardly surprised that sleep had eluded her, she could not even begin to comprehend just how it had all come to this.

She had only arrived the Royal Lycan Pack for a single day and fate was already messing with her in the most cruel manner possible.

The memories from the previous night had Zariah seething in rage, the impossibility of the fact that she was mated to Alpha King Askel Vance Niolen.

The impossibility of the fact that he did not seem nearly like what she had pictured him to be and Zariah could not understand just what his true face was and how hidden beneath that tender gaze was a ruthless, bloodthirsty monster.

The image of his lips on hers haunted Zariah but not nearly as much as the wetness she had felt on his cheek,

His tender words and the honesty in his gaze, the look in his eyes and his every action,

Zariah could not help but wonder just what was his true face? How could such an obvious pretense be so convincing?

If Zariah did not know what she did from her previous lifetime, Zariah would never have believed the man she had seen the night before was capable of such despicable actions.

But then again, Zariah guessed even the cruelest monster had those he loved and cherished and for Alpha King Askel, his mate was that person.

Thinking about it that way, his actions before were not a facade at all, only that they did nothing to change the fact that he was a cruel and despicable monster at heart.

A mate was said to be the one person who was meant to love you unconditionally, regardless of who or what you were,

Zariah had made that mistake once in her previous lifetime, it was not that Zariah had not had suspicions about Caedmon Grey,

There had been times were she knew clearly he had incited the disdain from her pack on purpose just to stir her anger,

There were times when it was glaringly obvious to her that he was playing at her sympathy for his sad past, times were she could see the glint of satisfaction in his gaze when she raged at her pack wolves,

Times were he angered Darren’s wolf on purpose knowing clearly Darren’s wolf was Alpha blooded, hence naturally fierce and would not tolerate disrespect.

He would then let himself get hurt in the process knowing Zariah could not bear to see it.

Yet because he was her mate, she had chosen to be blind to the obvious, believing if she could trust in nothing else, she could at the very least trust in his love for her.

This was precisely why Zariah had turned a blind eye to most of Caedmon’s shortcomings and it was why she hated the mate bond so,

The mate bond did not take away one’s sense of reasoning, but when pit against the power of the mate bond, every other reasonable consideration blurred in comparison.

This had led Zariah to always make excuses for Caedmon’s shortcomings,

Because he was an omega, because he felt unwanted, because he was insecure, because he had experienced the pain of abandonment all his life,

It was either this or that excuse, Zariah convinced herself with one thing or the other whenever Caedmon committed a blunder that should have awakened her to the truth of his true face hidden beneath a mask,

But the fact remained, no excuses could justify a person’s nature, Zariah had made the excuses because she needed something to hold unto, a reason to believe in him and understand him,

A reason not to falter in her love, because Zariah was too weak to let go and in the process of this, she had lost herself,

Only realizing the truth that was right before her eyes when it was already too late,

The mistake had already been made once and truly it could not be undone, the events of the past lifetime could not be changed, perhaps to everyone else, it had.

But to Zariah, nothing had changed. Zariah had been reborn, shouldering the burden of the knowledge of past events all on her own,

She would never be able to rid herself of the haunting memories, of the shadows of the previous lifetime, of the consequences of blind, misplaced love,

Of the pain she had brought to her own people, the very people she had sworn to protect the day she was crowned Crimson Alpha.

If anything, the darkness within Zariah’s heart, the emptiness that had replaced that special place Zariah’s wolf, Torin had occupied,

All of these would serve as a constant reminder that Zariah was not like everyone else, that she had a mission to fulfill, a debt to repay, an injustice to be righted and a realm to protect.

And so if once had been unavoidable, then Zariah accepted the blame for her faults, for her vulnerability, for her unrelenting love,

But this time around, Zariah would be damned if she allowed herself make the same mistakes she had in her previous lifetime.

It had been Caedmon Grey the first time around, this time, the picture had revealed Alpha King Askel Vance Niolen first,

Zariah would have liked to convince herself this was another false mate bond, another act of sorcery, but Zariah did not wish to delude herself,

What Zariah had felt the very moment she met Alpha King Askel Vance Niolen was far different from her first encounter with Caedmon Grey,

And so Zariah accepted the fact that perhaps this was indeed her true mate bond, it was only a tragedy that in her previous lifetime, her true mate had destroyed her pack, her life and her heart along with.

Perhaps this was karma, perhaps this was the Creator’s method of giving recompense,

The Creator surely knew Zariah would never accept this mate bond, that she would rather die than be mated to the Alpha King who had annihilated her pack,

The fact that Alpha King Askel Vance Niolen himself had given the order for Caedmon Grey to infiltrate Crimson Moon, using Zariah as leverage,

In a time even he could not remember, he himself had destroyed Zariah’s faith in the mate bond and everything related to love and now he would have to face the reality that his one true mate would never want him.

The reality that Zariah Torin would never be his, now the torment of love was his to bear.

Yes, fighting the pull of the mate bond was painful to Zariah too, it was like relieving the past love all over again, only with triple the intensity this time as this was the true mate bond,

However Zariah had already been broken once, just what kind of pain had she not already endured in her previous lifetime?

Did it matter if she had her heart ripped to shreds again? To Zariah, it no longer mattered.

In the end, her soul was bound to be damned, right from the moment she had let Caedmon Grey into her heart.

Now Torin had already gone ahead and all that was left was for Zariah to fulfill her mission, to ensure fate would never repeat itself again and then whatever end came her way, Zariah would welcome it with open arms.

Zariah shook her head slightly, although she had been unable to complete the rejection the night before, she had already made her stance clear.

And the Alpha King would be sure to continue deluding himself for a time but eventually he would come to understand that Zariah meant every single word she had said.

So for now and for as long as she remained within the Ethereal domain, Zariah would focus her efforts on investigating the events of the past life and the part every supernatural race played in it,

Zariah needed to trace the source of the serum that could infuse darkness into the bloodstream of a supernatural creature,

Forcing a change into the blood thirsty monster formed of darkness, the forsaken.

That was Zariah’s first and most pressing mission and to do this, she needed to find out just what had happened to the information network of the Crimson Moon and just how many reports sent beyond the barrier had been tampered,

There was one key point in achieving all of this, and as much as Zariah loathed it, she knew it was a necessary step to ensure she made things right this time,

And this step was Alpha King Askel Vance Niolen, the beginning and source of it all,

Zariah knew as long as she kept a close eye on him, he would slip at some point and something interesting was bound to happen anytime soon,

Whenever it did happen, Zariah would be right there to see it, as close as possible, so she could also watch his pain and heartbreak to have his beloved mate so close, yet forever far away.