-HIM-

"You could have simply rejecter her instead of calling me here for this petty business," She spoke very casually as if she wasn't talking to the King of Lycans in the first place. I was already pissed on her and she seemed to be playing every card to cross me.

The dam of my patience snapped and I ended up growling at her, shaking the ground beneath her feet. This seemed to have finally reminded her who I really was and the seriousness of the conversation we were having. I saw her slightly step back and heard her heart raced in her chest for a moment.

She'd finally realized the trouble she'd gotten herself into. There were very faint stains of fear on her face and it deeply satisfied me and my lycan to have strung the right chord in her. I slightly leaned back in my throne but never looked away from her. I never broke eye contact.

"I don't like to repeat myself, Inanna. Do what I said," I spoke with more authority this time. My heavy and deep voice was laced with dominance and power which could be even felt in one's bones and the fact that my voice boomed in the empty court only added to the effect.

Although the goddess seemed to have some determination in herself as well. She continued to hold my gaze, even though her chin wasn't as high as it was before.

"What if I don't?" She asked me grimly. I didn't miss the edge in her voice and the look on her face that suggested that she was trying to test me. It fed my rage even more. The tension in the courtroom air was at its all-time high. If anything, her question made the tips of my lips curl up into an evil smile.

"A lot of gods and goddesses have gone missing lately. Your name might end up on the list next," I suggested very calmly and casually but at the same time, maintain the cynical undertone in my voice. I knew she heard and felt it all. It was written all over her face.

"Are you trying to intimidate me.... Ezekiel?" She had the audacity to call me by my name. She looked at me now, with her head tilted at a side, waiting for my response.

"Do you feel threatened, Inanna?" I asked her pointedly. Keeping my calm but at the same time looking at her very heatedly. I was sure that she was aware of the tension in the air as well. I thought I saw her shiver before she spoke, "I don't think you understand how this works, Ezeyle,"

"I don't care," I admitted but she didn't seem to care because she went on to explain anyway.

"Once two people are paired, the bond cannot be removed,"

"Don't give me that bullshit, Inanna. I know all the things you could do," I gritted at her but she shook her head. "Nothing could change it,"

"I don't believe you. You've added your name to my enemies list by doing this and you know how I am with women and the people I dislike?" I spoke very calmly and I saw more hints of fear in her eyes that were put there by my words.

"Are you threatening me again, Ezekiel?" She inquired again but I left her question hanging in the air. That same smirk dances on my lips instead.

"Why? Are you scared? ... Inanna?" I asked her again. This time, I saw her take a deep breath as if she was slowly starting to get overwhelmed. I was now starting to have the upper hand. The effects of my power and dominance were finally appearing on her surface and if anything, it made me and my lycan more satisfied.

"I told you, this cannot be undone...." She trailed off and closed her eyes shut for a moment, "but there's a way out."

"And what's that?"

"Reject her," She told me, making me growl at her again. There was no way I was going to reject that she-wolf. I wasn't going to do it no matter what and my lycan was against it as well. The two of us didn't ask for it and the two of us didn't deserve it.

She put us into this situation without even asking us in the first place if we wanted a mate or not. I was using every drop of patience left inside me to not attack the goddess in front of me. I already had enough reasons to be pissed at her and this was making me madder every passing second.

"Why? Are you scared now? Ezekiel?" She questioned me back. The ground below her feet shook again with my growl again. I now stood up tall, looking down at her while power oozed off my body. This time, she lowered her gaze.

"You never paired lycans and all of a sudden, you've given me a mate who's a she-wolf. I know there is a reason behind it, Inanna and once I find it out, I'll get rid of you. I also know that there are others who're assisting you in this. No one would be spared. Mark my words," I growled.

"We'll see," She spoke before thick clouds of smoke curled around her and swallowed her completely until I was again the only breathing person left in the room. I stood there staring at the place she'd been standing just a few moments ago.

There were going to be more was than I was anticipating.

~

-HER-

"What's wrong with you, Celeste?" Regulus asked me as we trained in the morning as usual. It had been more than a week now since Ezekiel left. I was still shaken to the core by everything that had happened between the two of us.

"You'd been acting unlike yourself ever since Pax went missing. Is everything alright?" He asked me for the hundredth time that week.

"I'm alright, Regulus," I lied to him the hundredth time, "It's just that I'm feeling very unmotivated," This wasn't a lie at all. I was in fact feeling very unmotivated for a long time now.

My life had fallen into this same predictable cycle that was slowly eating me. I wanted to escape it. I wanted a distraction but what Ezekiel gave me was devastation.

I was still trying to find out what I was being punished for? Was it because when I was six, I sneaked into my dad's office and stole a cigar? Or was it because I switched mom's tea with a hair color changing potion when she'd scolded me once for playing outside even after dark?

I simply couldn't find the answer to this question. Or maybe... just maybe... I was paired with him just because of being born? As stupid as it sounded, I knew there were possibilities of it being very true.

Just thinking about the latter sent a shiver down my spine.

"I don't like how you've become in the past few days," Regulus complained as we practiced some punches.

"How have I become?" I couldn't help but ask him.

"You not that bubbly and chirpy as you used to be," He frowned.

"I'm just tired of doing the same thing again and again. I just need a break," I told him with a sigh. I wasn't lying at all this time. I needed an escape badly.

He fell silent all of a sudden before a smile crept on his lips.

"Ezekiel has invited us to the Mid Winter festival next month. It would be so fun," He told me but I shook my head and told him instead, "Women aren't allowed to go there,"

At this, the sly smile grew on his lips, "Well, we are the rebels, aren't we?"

His words had a smile creeping on my lips instantly.

-

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