"it's a betrayal, the way he ended her."

Thethia: At the foot of Mt. Lusian

• King of Panthers, Izekiel •

Leaving Mt. Lusian and putting the rest of his kind at risk was never his intention. Yet, he cannot turn a blind eye to the message that felt like a slap on his face and he knew exactly who was behind this whole provocation.

Kynthia.

He knew her silence for the past hundred years would amount to this tribulation and it was apparent that the wolf queen had risen from her fall with sheer determination to exact revenge. A dry laugh escaped his lips at his understanding of the prideful alpha — she wouldn't lay in peace unless all the humiliation inflicted on her were accounted for. Kynthia had a kind bone until someone provoked the rabid demons within her. The murder of a child of his kind roused his anger, though he had no one to blame for Minos' death except for himself. He was the one who called on a hailstorm and an innocent victim had to suffer the repercussions of his actions.

Izekiel turned slightly to look at the panther who had appeared out of the blue after disappearing for almost three whole decades. In a low voice, he asked, "Thunder, is it?"

The young panther jerked his head to the side to glare at him. Using a high alert tone, he acknowledged, "Yes."

"You don't have to fear," Izekiel mentioned lazily, a smirk tipped from a corner of his lips. "I would've ended you if I wanted you dead."

"And you think that I would let you kill me so easily?" The feline beside him snarled, hostility and angst filled his voice. He bared his teeth at him, "Don't underestimate me, Izekiel."

Taken aback, Izekiel only laughed lightly, "You're rather interesting, youngling."

"I'm not an entertainer," Thunder tutted brusquely, further amusing Izekiel with his lack of manners when he demanded, "What have you called me for, old cat?"

"What is love to you, Thunder?" Izekiel asked, not expecting an answer.

Thunder avoided his gaze, looking towards the burning campfire ahead of him. From the side, Izekiel saw the reflection of flames flickering, flaring and leaping within the luminescing green of his eyes. Thunder answered, "I don't know anything about romantic love but I do know familial love."

"Tell me about it."

"Love was a person," Thunder said simply.

"Tell me about that person." Izekiel raised his brows slightly, curiosity filled him when he caught the sadness that weighed on the youngling's shoulder.

"He was towering tall with a strong, large build. He had the sharpest features that looked way too charming for a knight, so much that he might be better off being a rich nobleman or a royalty. But I'm not quite sure if he could fit those roles. I mean, Jason ate way too much and snored louder than a bear," Thunder shrugged his shoulders lightly and laughed out loud. Though that happiness quickly vanished and a heavy sigh sounded before he continued, "But Jason loved me with the whole of his heart even when I had nothing to offer in return. We braved through countless battlefields and fought against death and hardships together. Jason wasn't just my family. He was my friend and my sole confidant."

"What happened to him?" Izekiel grew more curious.

Thunder tilted his head back and stretched his arm out, pointing up to the night sky. Izekiel stared into the flickering fiery lights scintillating against the ebony canvas above them and he understood it all even before Thunder explained, "He left to join the stars. You see, he's twinkling so annoyingly happily with the other half of his soul."

"Have you ever resented him for leaving you?" Izekiel had many questions tonight, but he figured that Thunder hadn't minded since he answered them all unhesitatingly.

"No," Thunder smiled towards the sky. "I couldn't find a reason to resent him because he gave me a good reason to stay in this realm without him. I also couldn't hate him for wanting a happily ever after with his love. He's a good person and he deserved everything great."

"A good reason?" Izekiel noted his words, picking it up as he wondered.

"What's wrong with it?" Thunder turned to look at Izekiel. "Sometimes, one good reason was all that was needed."

"A reason, huh?" Izekiel laughed as a flash of memory rushed into his awareness.

※

100 years ago
Thethia: Mt. Lusian

• Izekiel •

The moment he pierced the sword through her chest, all he saw was red — her lips in vermillion, her blood in scarlet, her rage in crimson.

"Izekiel, why...?" she exhaled excruciatingly.

His betrayal had crept into the amber of her eyes, dulling it with a hue of disappointment. He was supposed to feel relieved but the guilt within him intensified and that's when he knew that he loved this forbidden woman more than he ever imagined.

He was never meant to feel anything for the daughter of his worst enemy. Beneath the scorching guilt was glutting disgust that he fell for the very kind that sullied and murdered his sister in cold blood.

Izekiel's parents passed when he was in his tender age and the only family left to him was his older sister, Lavinia. She took care of him and raised him to be the claw's leader. To him, she was not just a sister. Lavinia was his mother, his mentor and his closest friend.

His sister was elegant and otherworldly enchanting. She could beguile onlookers with a just a stare into her lush emerald eyes and her feline confidence was as captivating as her magnificent smile that doesn't just extend to her eyes but deep into her soul. Though, it was devastatingly unfortunate that Lavinia's beauty was more of a curse than a blessing.

Abducted by the wolves, her innocent was tainted by their heinous lust. Those despicable scums humiliated her in the worst way possible before leaving her overwrought and verklempt at the entrance of the panther's cave. Izekiel remembered how his sister trembled so violently in his arms but still unable to shake off the trauma that writhed beneath her skin. Lavinia was scarred in places he couldn't see, she was hurt in places that went deeper than torn skin and fractured bones. In the end, that incurable anguish of hers became a palpable entity that took her away from him.

Izekiel fell into despair, struggling to overcome the aching grief that smashed his heart into smithereens. His sadness soon ignited into wrath that frenzied and burned like wildfire. At Lavinia's funeral, he watched as she pulverised into beautiful dust of onyx and green and all of her reduced to nothing but a beautiful dark crystal. Tears burned his eyes and he swore vehemently, "I will avenge for you, mea soror. They will pay for all they did to you, blood for blood."
(Translate: my sister.)

He only approached the lycan's destined heiress, Kynthia, for the sole purpose of dragging her into the eternal torments of hell. She was his chosen sacrifice to carry the weight of humiliation and all the mistakes that her kind did his wrong. He was supposed to hate her and lure her closer to her own death but darned the undeniable attraction he felt for her. He hated the feeling — of how capable she was to unveil all his vulnerabilities. As her presence continued touched his darkened soul, he was eventually convinced that this was fate's pathetic way to protect this heiress against the demons that danced in him.

The night before her coronation, he forced past all the conflicting emotions and drove his sword through her chest, ending his foolish obsession with her by killing every faith she had in him. He wasn't supposed to let her go easily. He wanted her shamed in the same manner the wolves did to Lavinia. He wanted her tainted before he severed her spine from neck down to end her life.

He was supposed to be a heartless bastard towards this silver wolf but he didn't have the heart to hurt her like that — even when he only ever loved her with all his cruel intentions.

Carrying Kynthia in his arms, he walked the excruciatingly long distance before lowering her bloodied body at the entrance of the lycan's cave. He looked at her pale, almost lifeless face as he recalled her last words.

She asked him why. The incredulity in her eyes had demanded a reason before she fell into the darkness of unconsciousness.

"You asked why?" Izekiel laughed bitterly in an undertone. "Because loving you was my tragedy, Kynthia."

Izekiel didn't kill the lycan's heiress on the night before her coronation. Yet, he murdered his own heart when knelt in front of his sister's grave for an entire night, begging for her forgiveness.

※

"What if a reason was no longer enough for us?" Izekiel let out a small sigh and Thunder remained silent. They sat by the fire as the conversation died to the quiet cracklings of burning firewoods.

━━━━━━━━━━

Iftia: Nvre Palace, Nursery

• Naailah •

Shuffling the wooden toy in front of Indira, Naailah was cooing her to sleep with her gentle voice. However, the little princess seemed more excited to play with her as her small arms stretched forward, trying her hardest to grab the clicking wooden toy.

"Why aren't you falling asleep, my little princess?" Naailah chuckled softly.

Putting the toy aside, Naailah patted softly on Indira's stomach. The baby quickly grabbed her hand and her tiny fingers fiddled the wedding band on her ring finger. Her bright, glimmering hazel eyes shone in anticipation as she looked towards her. Tears quickly clogged in Naailah's throat and she explained, "Indira, please give your father some time."

The baby made a soft whimpering sound before closing her eyes, drifting into her slumber soon after. Naailah sighed and adjusted the blanket to tuck her baby in before standing up.

A sudden wave of dizziness hit her, causing her to stagger a few steps before her vision blurred and she fell onto the ground, on her knees. The back of her eyes burned and she exhaled a sharp breath.

The blazing heat of fire. The piercing cold of ice. Chaos reigned over the blood-drenched battlefield.

A man rose above, blood in his hands and unapologetic for the massacre he initiated. Lifting his gaze, the hazel of his eyes caused her heart to fall to the bottomless end of her own despair.

Matthias, Matthias.

She pleaded and attempted to run to him only to find iron chains clasped to her ankle. Her knees fell to the hard ground beneath and pain pulled her back into the golden cage that held her prison as the foretells continued to torment her with cruel imageries of the ongoing war.

She met her misfortune on the night when he took Indira away from her and walked into the darkness. His betrayal had clawed its way into her heart and flayed her insides in a manner that she didn't know if she could forgive him. She kept crying, "Matthias, why?"

Her cries of distress were exchanged with the solemn declaration that he wasn't the one she loved — for Matthias had long fallen.

Covering her hands over her eyes, she was once again back to the nursery when she blinked. She took a moment to process everything that she saw in her foretell. Hastily pushing herself up, she lifted her feet into a run. She sprinted through the long hallway until she reached the study.

Slamming the door open, the man in the study jumped from the sudden sound. He looked at her wide with surprise and gasped, "Naailah?"

"You're not Matthias," she infuriated. "Who the hell are you?"

※

i'm going to make everyone's heart drop with cliffhangers.
*clasps hands together and evil giggles*

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