Chapter 23 A fragment of her soul
Asha
I flutter my eyelids open. A ray of sunlight hits my face, and I squint my eyes shut.
Ugh.
I manage to open them again, this time, I sit up, allowing them adjust to the light.
I look around the room, my senses still a bit jumbled up. They land on Auren who's reading a newspaper.
"Good morning," I mumble, rubbing my eyes.
He just grunts a response, and nods.
I roll my eyes. Typical Auren.
"Time to go brush my teeth," I whisper, throwing the sheets off my body.
I slide my feet into my flip flops, getting ready to stand up.
"Asha. Hold on."
I look over my shoulder, "Yes?"
"I would like to discuss something with you," he raises a teacup to his lips, and sips.
"What's the matter?" I knit my brows together in a frown.
"Yesterday, I went to a water nymph."
What's a water nymph?
"What is a that?" I scratch the back of my head.
He grimaces at me, "You can't be that dumb."
"Just because you know what it is, and I don't, doesn't make me dumb."
He exhales, rubbing his temple, "That doesn't matter. Now back to what I was saying. I met her yesterday to see if she could help me get my wolf back."
"Okay?" I arch my brow.
"She couldn't help," he throws his head back in defeat.
"Oh, that's sad," I shrug.
He raises his head to look at me, placing the newspaper on his lap, "Listen. This is serious, it's not a joke."
I cringe as he says those words. I haven't made a funny face yet, and he's accusing me of cracking jokes.
"I didn't even crack a joke," my frown deepens.
"I would like for an exchange to happen," he intertwines his fingers.
I now place a leg back on the bed, fully vested in this conversation.
"What do you mean? I don't have anything to give you," my heart skips multiple beats thinking of the possible thing he could ask for.
That shouldn't be it. It can't be. It's not my fault his wolf is in my body; why do I have to suffer for it?
A corner of his lips goes up in a teasing smirk, "Calm down. I know what you're thinking, and it's not that."
I blink, then exhale, my shoulders drooping, "Okay, that's a relief."
He gets to his feet, placing the newspaper on the chair, "I want a part of you," he says.
My heartbeat stops beating for the next few seconds. Goosebumps riddle my neck, and face. My hands go pale for a moment. My mouth goes dry, as my stomach drops.
What does that mean? He wants to kill me? Is he going to cut a piece of me? I mean, he's very much capable of doing that; he's a literal Lycan lord!
'What's with that expression? Did I scare her?'
"W-what do you mean by that?" I curl my hands into fists.
He rounds the bed, then stands in front of me, "You have a part of me in you. It's only right I take a part of you too. That's until I figure out how to get Lucien back," he rakes his hair.
"What? How is that supposed to happen?" I spring up from the bed.
He looks down at me with an unbothered expression.
"A fragment of your soul."
Those cold words drop on my head like a hard bomb, and explode. I feel numb, inside-out. I don't know how to describe the chilling fear that paralyzes my soul at that statement of his.
I part my lips to say something, but the words refuse to come out. They catch in my throat, begging to be swallowed back in my stomach.
"What's the matter?" He cocks an eyebrow .
"I- I can't believe you're saying something that scary? What do you mean, a fragment of my soul? What do you want to do with it? Entrap me? Use some dark magic on me?" I finally let out the words in a horrified yell.
Auren towers over me, looking unbothered, "Whatever you think, cupcake, I just need a fragment of it," He whips out a necklace with a small piece of emerald in the shape of a jar attached to it.
"I'm not giving you anything!" I bellow, jumping further into the bed.
"I'm not taking all of it. Just a fragment, what's your problem?" He grits his teeth, knitting his brows together in irritation.
"Is this because of your wolf? Then take him away from me! I don't want anything to do with him," I try to reason with him.
I'm trembling from head to toe, my heart pounding in my ears.
'How much more frustrating can this little lady be?'
He palms his reddened face, hissing through his teeth.
"If I could take him back, do you think I wouldn't have done that a long time ago?" He looks up from his palm, "Do not make things harder for me."
"I'm only taking a fragment of your soul because that's the closest to my wolf I can be. I won't be able to connect to all of him, but just a bit of him."
I suck in my lower lip; my head is still pounding ridiculously hard. I wish I didn't have to save him that night; I would have been free from all of this drama.
"Now, wrap this around your neck," he hands me the necklace.
"Didn't you hear me? I'm not giving you my soul!" I try to roll to the other side of the bed, but he grabs my arm before I can attempt it.
"Don't make me force you," his voice drops, "Do what I'm asking you to. This isn't something to joke around with," his green eyes darken to a musky forest green, golden flecks spreading dimly around his pupils.
Needle like sensations prick my throat, making it harder for me to speak.
"This isn't my fault," my voice cracks as tears blur my vision.
"Whether or not it is, you have my wolf," he wraps the necklace around my neck, "This should hurt a little."
Once the necklace is wrapped around my neck, the tiny emerald jar glows.
A cold pressure starts behind my breastbone, then a stinging pain shoots through my core. Then a pull begins, as though invisible threads are being pulled through my ribs, along my spine, and up my skull. It feels ike something rooted deep inside my core had been ripped out while the rest of me is still standing. My chest seems to collapse inward around a sickening void, like falling into a bottomless pit.
The room dulls around me. Colors fade into nothing. Sounds blur into a distant, muffled hum.
Everything now seems out of place. My heartbeat, my breathing, the way my skin riddle heat and cold, my movements, myself— a part of me is gone.
Auren's sigh brings me back to the room. Nothing feels comprehensible for the next few seconds until he taps my back.
"Hey, get a hold of yourself," he unclasps the necklace from around my neck.
I fall back on the bed, still in a deep haze.
"You'll get it back, one day. Hopefully soon," I hear his footsteps fade into nothing.
A piece of my soul is gone. A part of me is really gone.