"Be-because you're ugly!" Ezekiel's arctic voice didn't only pierce through the dark she-wolf's heart but it also managed to pull out gasps from the lips of the four entities watching them from distance, lingering in the shadows in distance.

They watched, holding their breaths, as Ezekiel hurriedly pushed the she-wolf through the portal.

Lyra balled her fists. She had never felt angrier at Ezekiel before. For a moment, it was hard for her to believe that he could even say something like that. Lyra had heard it all- she had heard Ezekiel questioning a woman's strength and intellect but she had been tolerant of his extremist views so far but this... this was an atrocity on an absolutely different level and the fact that he had the audacity to say this to his mate! She was just a small and very innocent pup!

"I can poison his drink. It would be easy for all of us," Lyra offered. Inanna sighed beside her and Aphrodite snorted. Meanwhile, Eros was already busy selecting the sharpest arrow from his quiver.

"That would be of no use. He would still dig his way out of the underworld," Aphrodite grumbled before turning to Inana and accusing, "Look what you are doing- making an innocent she-wolf suffer,"

This made Inanna frown. She shook her head and told her, "I'm very sure that she is the one for him,"

"Oh really?" Questioned Aphrodite.

"Yes... it's just that she is still just a pup and doesn't know how the ludicrous male species thinks and functions-" Eros straightened up at this comment and looked at Inanna with a frown but Inana continued anyway, "Otherwise that she-wolf is just the perfect candidate to tame this brute,"

"I feel very bad for her," Lyra couldn't help but comment. "We're just sacrificing that sweet little girl into this... she doesn't deserve this,"

"Lyra," Inanna straightened up and looked at the beautiful woman, "If you want to make a Queen out of that she-wolf, this is what she has to go through. It is only under extreme pressure heat and pressure does a piece of coal turns into a diamond. If she is to lead Thastonia beside Ezekiel, she has to have a thick skin otherwise she'd be eaten alive here,"

Lyra sighed because Inanna was right, very right. But she couldn't help but feel bad for that young little thing at the same time. It was just the beginning.

"So what do you think we do for now?" Lyra asked.

"Give the she-wolf time to grow up, some more years, precisely. Take her under your wing when she comes here. Teach her your ways,"

"Do you think Ezekiel would leave her alone now after all of this?" Lyra asked, nodding to Eros' arrows sticking out of Ezekiel's back. Only the four of them were able to see them.

"Well, he must suffer equal parts as our girl, don't you think? It would be very unfair otherwise," Aphrodite smirked as she nodded at Eros. He pointed another arrow at Ezekiel before shooting it. The three of them watched with their mouths gaping as the arrow left Eros' bow and pierced through Ezekiel's heart. Ezekiel straightened up for a moment and clutched his chest.

"No," The four of them heard Ezekiel grumble. Even though his voice was just a whisper, the guilt was clearly audible in it. It was so intense, they swore they felt the thick stone walls shiver.

"Wait! Why would you do that?" Lyra jumped. Eros smirked and spoke, "There's a saying..." He trailed off. "The distance makes the heart grow fonder," Aphrodite completed his sentence with a huge grin on her face. Inanna clapped as soon as she understood their plan but Lyra shook her head in disapproval.

"Ezekiel isn't that simple. These things don't apply to him," Lyra commented.

"Oh, we'll find that out soon," Aphrodite smirked, "Let's check on her now,"

"Oh, you're leaving already?" Lyra jumped.

"Of course,"

"Wait! I want you to give this to Celeste," Lyra spoke before she took a small compact box out of her blouse. Eros eyed her a bit too curiously, making Inanna roll her eyes.

"What is this?" Aphrodite asked as she took the object from Lyra and inspected it. It was a very beautiful compact mirror.

"Just give it to her and tell her to look into it whenever she feels bad about herself," Lyra explained and Aphrodite nodded. The four of them took a last look at Ezekiel who was still standing there, looking confused and lost.

~

In a small part of the Western wing of the castle in Zaeris, a portal opened out of nowhere and the dark she-wolf fell out of it. She landed on the floor on her behind. She instantly hissed in pain as a stinging pain climbed up her hip but she got tears in her eyes due to the pain in her heart.

Because you're ugly.

His words rang in her ears, sending a shiver down her spine before the disgust finally settled inside of her. She couldn't believe what he had said but it had done the damage anyway. She raised her hands and looked at them.

Was she really ugly?

She got up and raced to her bedroom before standing in front of the mirror and staring at the reflection. Her snow leopard, Pax was already rubbing himself, against her legs because he was finally happy to see her but Celeste was just too much consumed by Ezekiel's words that she didn't notice her beloved pet at that moment.

All she could do was stare at the dark she-wolf with grey eyes and platinum blond hair staring back at her from the mirror reflection. The more she looked at herself, the more tears streamed down her face.

Maybe, Ezekiel was right, she thought to herself. I'm in fact ugly! I don't have the doe-like eyes, I don't have a soft round facer and I am as tall and lean as a man. I am very ugly! I am nothing compared to those beautiful women he has in his harem...I'm just no-

She was interrupted by a crackling sound right outside her bedroom. This made her snap out of her daze. She quickly wiped her tears and threw her cloak over her body to hide it before she finally stepped out of her bedroom. She was bewildered for a second because there was no one outside her bedroom. She looked down the long hallways and found nothing was emptiness.

Just when she was about to shut the door and go back inside her bedroom, she heard something. They were footsteps that were coming from the entrance of the wing. This made her straighten up. Realization finally dawned upon her that she was finally back into Zaeris where people were looking for her!

She was in trouble!

She swallowed hard before heading towards the entrance of her wing. She found no one there but something on the floor caught her eyes when Pax jumped at it. She was quick to step before her leopard and snatch the item off the floor before Pax could destroy it. Her eyebrows came together as she examined the parchment. It was wrapped around something. She slowly opened the parchment to find a beautiful small compact mirror inside it.

She was about to get rid of the parchment but she soon noticed a note on it. It read-

When in doubt, open and close it thrice and look into it.

-L

P.S. He's a dick. Save your tears.

If anything, the small note on the parchment pushed her further into bewilderment. She was left staring at the note and the mirror for a second longer.

Who sent it and what does it mean? She wondered to herself.

She snapped out of her trance when she heard someone fiddling with the door of her wing. The door swung open as she pocketed the mirror and the note.

Her eyes locked with a pair of silver ones and before she could react properly, he was right in front of her, pinning her to the wall. The air around them crackled as the tension instantly shot up.

"Where were you, Celeste?" Regulus asked her heatedly. Rage, worry and so many other emotions were simmering in his eyes. Regulus was usually the calmest but seeing him like that made her shiver.

She was in very serious trouble!

"Answer me, Celeste! Where were you all this time!" He gritted. His voice sounded so hard, dark, and demanding that it had her heart threatening to dig its way out of her chest. She had never seen Regulus act like this before.

His intense silver eyes pierced through her flesh and stared at her naked soul.

"Regulus... I was lost, please," She sobbed. She wasn't able to hold herself anymore. All her emotions were now welling out of her in form of the tears streaming down her face.

This softened Regulus's eyes as he looked down at her with emotions she couldn't name. He stepped back but his arms were soon around her, pulling me into a warm hug. This broke her into more tears and she instantly hugged him back.

She buried her face in the crook of his neck and sobbed. Regulus remained silent for a while and didn't say anything to her. He rubbed her back gently to comfort her but it hardly helped.

There was nothing that could comfort her from the pain that her mate had caused her.

_

Do you think Ezekiel was saying the truth? 

Do you think the gods are enjoying this more than they should?

What do you think of Regulus and why did he react like that?

Comment!

Vote. Share. Follow me

Read up to chapter 36 on Patreon. The link is in my bio.

Also available on Patreon: Mr. Night, Stefaan, The Gentleman's Trial, Exclusive books (LEVEL 2)

Read the next chapter on Inkitt for free. 

Instagram: authorritz

thanks for reading <3