A sharp pain shot through Naya's head, like a flicker of lightning, making her wince. She panted softly, her lips barely moving as she lay on the damp, cool grass, its earthy scent mingling with the crisp morning air.
In her mind, a familiar voice suddenly echoed, the words drowned in a static, stormy sound, except for three: “Luna Sandra’s daughter.”
Naya’s heart raced and her frown turned deeper. In her dream, the face of Sana Azalea appeared. Bloodied yet with a smile, she looked at Naya and softly uttered her final words, “I’m glad… that I was able to meet Luna Sandra’s daughter.”
Then, in an instant, Sana Azalea turned to dust, and darkness enveloped Naya. The oppressive blackness was suffocating, pressing in on her from all sides. She was trapped, unable to move, until a thread of white light appeared, pulling her towards it like a lifeline.
Naya’s eyes snapped open as she gasped for breath, her lungs burning. As her vision adjusted to the soft, early light of dawn, she sensed another presence beside her.
Alpha Prince Kael lay asleep, half naked with his eyes closed and his arm wrapped protectively around her as if shielding her from unseen dangers or preventing her from slipping away.
Naya gulped down at the sight, her heartbeat gradually returning to normal, the initial panic ebbing away. She slowly looked around, sensing her surroundings.
The sounds of birds chirping filled the air, their melodic songs weaving through the dense canopy of oak trees. The air was fresh and clean, carrying the scent of wet morning grass and the lingering freshness of the previous night's storm. Dew glistened on the leaves and petals, tiny jewels in the pale sunlight.
She glanced at Kael, seeing his eyes were still closed.
‘Is he pretending to sleep or is he really asleep?’ she wondered as she took a closer look, staring at the man’s features before her.
In truth, she had never looked at a man this close before. Somehow, she felt a warm sensation spreading in her chest the more she looked at Kael’s sleeping face. Last night, this person held her as though he would lose her. Yet, interestingly, Naya did the same.
She never expected to lose her own control. She was a fighter, a person who had trained and mastered the key points to absolute self-control. Whether it was patience or endurance, Naya knew them all.
She wouldn’t become the leader of the Midnight Seven if she failed to master those things.
Yet, last night, those things were thrown into the cold water near them. Drowned below and pushed further by the rain, Naya lost control.
She placed her hand on her chest, feeling how her heart raced wildly and loudly.
‘Bonded mates,’ she thought inside, frowning as she tried to gauge deep into her unconscious, trying to find the answer to her questions.
‘Do bonded mates have to do that all the time? Do they always require leaving all control when that happens?’
The harder Naya thought about it, the more she felt her heart growing in complex emotions.
“Do you want to do it again?” the familiar voice of the man lying down next to her came, almost startling her.
Naya retracted her gaze, realizing she had been staring at Kael for a while.
If she wanted to do her mission, she had to continue playing as Kael’s mate.
She prepared to do just that but when Kael grabbed her face and pulled her close to stare at her face, Naya couldn’t help but fall into a daze.
A playful smirk on his face, Kael uttered with a raspy breath, a flicker of lust flashing through his forest eyes, “You’ve been staring at me for a long time. You want to be marked again, don’t you?”
Naya was silent, thinking of ways to respond. Then she was about to answer when suddenly, there was a rustling sound coming from the distance.