Chapter 23

“Green!"

“Green!" Martha pitched behind me as I stormed into my room.

“Martha leave!" I ordered, turning sharply in her direction.

“My goodness!" Her mouth went agape. "You've been marked. He marked you,” she mumbled and in a strange way my anger subsided. I sat on the edge of my bed, and she joined me too.

“Call Lilith."

“For what?"

“To help remove this pathetic mark of course." I blurted.

“Lilith already has too much on her hands to handle as the new Regent. Calling her here is only going to be a burden.

“So, I should be roaming about with this mark huh." I toned harshly and she heaved a sigh.

“Yesterday was our heat period." I started on a solemn note, my mind gradually reliving the whole incident again.

“We went out, had some little chit chat, met his friends and then," I paused, trying to muster enough strength.

“We lost control and, and we had sex." I paused again. "I asked him to mark me and now I'm regretting it. Because of my lust, I lost my senses and took this rash decision."

I sighed.

“He should have known I wasn't ready. Yet he did it anyway." Anger gradually bloomed in me again.

“Trust me, once he returns, I'm going to make him regret ever second he spent with me yesterday."

“Green,” she called softly yet worry hinted in her voice.

“When are you going to stop deceiving yourself? You can't fight against your love for him forever."

I held her gaze secretly hating the fact she was right.

“I don't want to love him. This isn't even the right time to start considering love. I have a war to win, I have a dream to achieve. And in the past few days all I've been doing is nothing but playing love games with him.

I should be focusing on the Lycan and Dragon Lord." I heaved a sigh. "Zeus is a distraction. He's an obstacle to my goals. He's—” I pursed again feeling a strange pain rage in my chest.

“He's my weakness."

“You've lost important people in your life Green. Do you want to lose him too?" My gaze darted to the floor while hers bored hole in me.

“Zeus is nothing more than a toy to me,” I said but deep down, I was deceiving myself.

“Nothing more than that."

Martha sighed.

“Lady Green." A guard pitched before my door.

“Zeus has arrived."

My heart skipped a beat, I felt this heat uprising within me. It wasn't from anger but perhaps from anxiousness. Perhaps I was scared I'll be enchanted by those eyes rather than hating him.

“Lock him up and fill his blood with Wolfsbane till I'm ready to see his ugly face." I glanced at Martha who simply nodded. Normally, she would have hesitated but this time, she simply obeyed.

As my door clicked shut, I fell to the bed. Staring at my mother's painting inscribed on my ceiling. There she was smiling at me and like always, it never comforted me.

“You're making the wrong decision." Her soft voice echoed in my ears.

“But he hit my little sister first!" My sixteen years old self protested.

“That doesn't mean you should disrespect him,” she replied while she busied herself making a crown out of twigs. "He's your father."

“A father that wouldn't hesitate to kill us?"

I frowned. She held my gaze before her lips carved a smile.

“He would never."

I hissed feeling another pain surge in me. In the end she was wrong. My family died miserably by his hands. She died all in the name of love. It was her weakness, but I wasn't going to let it be mine. Never.

“You made the wrong decision Mother,” I said to the ceiling in a whisper. And then arose, heading for Zeus Prison. He had already made the mistake of marking me but that didn't mean there wasn't a way out of it.

As I arrived Zeus's dungeon, I retrieved a silver whiplash from one of the guards. I was going to torture him myself this time. I was going to enjoy his skin being peeled off from his body, his blood splattered all over his face, the look of pain in his eyes. I was going to enjoy all of it. But immediately I saw him, bound in chains and tattered clothes, I lost that resolve. I was feeling his pain, his disappointments, his guilt, I could feel them all through the mate bond.

In advertence the whiplash dropped from my hand. I almost opted to release him until Martha joined me too.

“I'm sorry,” he said in a weakened voice as he raised his head in my direction. "I shouldn't have marked you. I shouldn’t have let yesterday’s actions even happen in the first place. I should have had more control."

I was almost tempted to say it wasn't his fault but that would mean me softening for him completely all over again. So instead, I maintained my straight face regardless of the pain I was experiencing too.

“You have to make up for your actions." I toned sternly as I reached him. Holding his chin tender. I gulped down my saliva, hoping my pain wouldn't worsen.

“I want you to remove your mark with your magic." I muttered lucidly and the pain worsened instantly. For a moment it felt like my heart wanted to explode but I still had to maintain my stern look.

His eyes twitched as tiny traces of tears graced them.

“What we had yesterday, did you feel nothing?" He asked, his pain obvious.

“Is this how you want to keep doing things, pushing me away?"

I went speechless for a while. I wished I could say No. I wished.

“I felt something." I finally found my tongue. "Hatred, Regrets, and Rage." I blurted but it only kept my pain burning.

His eyes moved away from mine to the floor.

“Our marks can't be removed unless we reject each other. But there's another way, I can make an illusion potion that can hide your mark. That way nobody will know you belong to someone,” he explained.

“I'll need some ingredients to make it, though."

“Martha will get you whatever you need, and you'll make the potion here. Once it's ready," I walked away from him, “Maybe I might consider your release."

Once I stepped outside to the warm atmosphere, I exhaled deeply. Tapping my chest gently, hoping my pain would soothe itself but it didn't. I was becoming restless all over again. My head couldn't think straight, my pain kept burning and I just couldn't grasp a hold on my breaths.

I headed for my library hoping for at least something that could ease my head. And as I reached, I opted straight for my mother's journal. I briskly opened it wondering what kind of message I'd get but to my surprise, the pages were blank.

I relaxed hopelessly to my seat still staring at the blank pages. Hours passed till the night came but still the journal hadn't reflected any writings. Normally, the story changes every day but today was different. Today was a first. Perhaps this journal wanted me to reflect on my actions. Rather than bury myself in a book, it wanted me to rethink all everything all over. But that was exactly what I've been running from. The truth. The truth that I love Zeus.

I heaved a heavy sigh. For the first time in centuries, I have this one beautiful thing, yet I was reluctant to grab it.

“Lady Green!" A guard screamed as she stormed in.

“What happened now?" I sighed again.

“Martha is seriously injured! Zeus cut loose and transformed into a Wolf. He's currently hunting our guards down!" She pitched in her terrified state.

I gasped, my eyes exclaimed, and my heart started beating in fear. My head started to spin different thoughts all over again, but one thing was obvious. My people were in danger with a wolf on rampage.

Whether Zeus had gone rogue or not, I had to choose who to save first. My people or a hungry wolf.