AKIRA'S POV
I was alive.
Where was I?
I inhaled deeply, trying to figure out if I could place the scent.
My heart started thumping hard and I quickly opened my eyes only to be welcomed by the harsh light. I squinted, taking in my environment. King-sized bed, royalty bedroom, and a fresh and woodsy scent.
I gasped. I was back home.
Back to Ares. I tried to regulate my breathing and concentrate on the variety of emotions going through me.
Most of them were from Ares. They ranged from anger to disappointment and then sadness.
Where was he?
My hands quickly flew to my bump only to be met with a flat surface. And pain.
Suddenly everything began rushing into my memory like a damn flood.
How I ran away from Ares, Alpha Pierson, the rogues, my powers, Elizabeth.
I gasped. Elizabeth!
I remembered how Serena and Salvatore killed Elizabeth and how Serena made me grant my powers to her.
Where were they?
How did I get here?
I tried to control my breathing but it refused to cooperate. The tears were unstoppable, streams of tears flowed faster than my heartbeat. And I wasn't aware that someone had joined me in the room until a maid stood in front of me.
"This is for you, Luna." Her voice trembled as she spoke and her hands were shaky as she placed the tray of food on the drawer beside me.
"Take it back," I demanded. A solemn tear fell down my cheek; my body looked calm compared to how tangled my mind was. My voice sounded calm compared to how catastrophic my mind was.
The maid looked at me; shaken. "B-But the Alpha demanded that this –"
I swiped my hands over the surface of the drawer and the sound of expensive China shattering on the floor filled the air. "I said to fucking take it back!"
I was raging. He had no right, no right to demand that I eat. Not after what I went through because of his actions.
The air around me felt tight. I placed my hands on my throat, trying to get air past it. Trying to breathe. "Get out!" I screamed out at the frozen maid. "Just go!"
Her trembling form quickly bent to pick up the shards of the broken plates and tray before dashing out of the room.
Once the door shut close, I let out a blood-curling scream and my bottom lip quivered as my hands shook with anger.
It was all his fault. It was his fucking fault that our baby was gone.
My body wracked with an onslaught of sobs and tears and I couldn't even register the pain in my abdomen as I curled into a ball.
I heard him before I heard the door slide open. And I didn't blame my traitorous heart when she began to pound as he joined me on the bed and curled up behind me. I also didn't blame my traitorous body when it warmed up in his presence.
Even I missed him.
"It's all your fault." I whimpered, covering my mouth with my hands to prevent the snots and sobs from escaping.
His hands moved to my abdomen and flinched until his rubs turned soothing, making my muscles relax. "Everything is going to be okay."
His voice made me realise how much I missed him. How much I had ached to hear his voice just once.
"It's not!" I whispered harshly. "Everything is not going to be okay, Ares. Our baby is gone. Our little one is gone. It didn't deserve this, Ares. We both didn't deserve this."
"I know. I'm sorry." He apologized.
But his apology wasn't going to change things. His apology wasn't going to bring Elizabeth and our unborn child back. His apology wasn't just going to un-alive them.
I shuffled away from him before turning to look him dead in the eyes. "Your stupid rule ruined every fucking thing for me. I was attacked by rogues and an old friend of yours suddenly decided that I would pay for the sins that you fucking committed, Ares. Why? Why does everyone think that I need to pay for your sins?! Why?!"
Angry tears were streaming out and my whole body was boiling with rage.
I watched as he swallowed and for the first time ever, the big-bad Ares was nervous– and dare I say, ashamed. "I'll take care of it, I promise, Akira."
That was it. The boiling rage tipped over and I got scrambled away from the bed. My pounding head spun from the abruptness of my movements and my legs and knees almost gave out but I hurriedly moved to the door.
Because I needed to get away from him. I needed to leave this damn house.
I tried to open the door but it was locked. I turned to face Ares who was already standing behind me.
"Open the door," I demanded. My voice was devoid of any emotion. I was angry, hurt, tired, disappointed and so fucking tired of everyone and everything.
Ares shook his head. "You need to rest, Akira. You just woke up from a three weeks coma. I need you to rest."
"No!" I snapped. "I don't need to rest. What I need to do is get the hell out of here!"
Ares doesn't respond instead he walked toward me slowly, cautiously, almost as if he was scared I was going to do something drastic. Once he was directly in front of me, he wrapped his arms around me, engulfing me in a tight– and much-needed embrace.
"Elizabeth... our baby... They're both gone... All because of your mistake, Ares. Why?" I was whispering to myself now but I knew he was listening. He knew every flicker of emotion running through me.
"Why can't you just let me go?" I whimpered, my vision was blurred by tears and behind the blurriness, the only thing I could see was his black dress shirt.
"I can't." He breathed out.
And I sobbed harder. I gave up and wrapped my hands around him. It was so hard fighting against my feelings. One moment I wanted to flee, the next moment I was wrapping my arms around him, sobbing my whole heart out.
What was wrong with me?
"Nothing." His whisper was firm. "There's nothing wrong with you. You're completely fine, baby."
"Then let me go. If you say that I'm not broken then let me go, Ares." I looked at him, his grey eyes were filled with so many emotions that I couldn't point out but one was more prominent sadness. Ares was sad. "Two broken people can't fix each other, Ares. If I'm not broken then let me go and find someone else."
"I can't just let you go, Akira. I don't think I can ever live without you. You're everything to me and I'm going to rectify all of my mistakes soon, baby. I just need you to get better for me. I need you to trust me. I need you to stand by me." His voice was raw. Ares was speaking to me in the rawest way possible.
But I couldn't just forget about everything. I couldn't just bury the memories I had with Elizabeth and our baby under the ground just like that. I couldn't just forgive him for not telling me about Lenora just like that.
Which was why I said this, "But you did. You have lived without me for thousands of years before, Ares. So what difference is it going to make this time around? Can't you see that I am of no use here?" I whispered brokenly, I couldn't even recognize my voice. "These people can't stand me, Ares. They won't accept me for who I am. They won't ever see the good in me. They will only see me for what I am; human. Nothing will ever change, Ares. Let me go back. I beg of you..."
"They will. They don't know how much of an amazing, strong and courageous woman you are, Akira. But they will. I just need you to..." He seemed lost. He also didn't know what to say or do.
I wiped my tears with my hands and stared at him pensively. "You need me to what?"
"I just need you to stand by me. Remember when you said it was going to be you and I against the world? I need you now, Akira. I love you." His voice was low and the words flew out of his mouth without any resistance.
My heart stilled but I could still listen to the pounding in my ears. It was loud and it went on continuously.
"You love me," I stated. It took me a while to register what he just said but even after I made meaning of his words it still didn't change how I felt about things now. "And do you feel like our love would change anything? People want me dead, Ares. It doesn't matter if you love me now. It would have mattered... months ago, maybe. But I don't know how we're going to do this now."
Ares stared down at me. "Do you love me?" He asked. His usual hard and authoritative voice was nowhere to be found. It was all soft and whisper-like. Almost as if he thought hard about his words before voicing them out.
I gave him an incredulous look. "Do I love you?" I spat. "I've always loved you, Ares. And God help me, I still do but I have always been no one to you. And you have always made that clear to me and everyone else in this damn pack."
I knew our mindlink was back and he knew everything I was thinking of, so when his eyes widened as I thought about the day the Elders visited him, I knew he knew why I ran away in the first place.
"You weren't meant to listen in on that conversation, Akira." He released me to rub a hand over his face.
"Clearly." I scoffed.
"That was meant to get the Elders to back off, Akira. Those people are dangerous and they were planning to take you out of the picture themselves. That was why I said what I said." He stepped closer to me again, wrapping his hands around my waist. "I had to do everything to protect you at all cost and I failed to do so."
Fresh tears clouded my vision. "No," I sniffled. "It was my fault. I jumped to conclusions and I didn't care to ask you about it instead my fight or flight instincts kicked in and I opted to run away instead of staying back with you. It will always be us against the world. But –"
Ares placed his finger over my lips, hushing me instantly. "No buts. We both made mistakes and it's a good thing that we're owning up to them."
He then proceeded to move us to the bed, imitating the position we had earlier on.
"I want to talk about it." I suddenly spoke up. I knew he wanted to know all about my experience and I wanted to share.
"Are you sure?" He asked hesitantly.
I nodded. And then I said everything. From how I had asked for certain tricks from Eve to block our mind link and make his scent on me unnoticeable, to Alpha Pierson and how I was almost caught in my lies, to how I was attacked by rogues during my second escape. I watched his face for any surprise when I mentioned my powers but I got none. I then told him about how I was saved by Elizabeth and that got his attention.
"Elizabeth?" He asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.
"Yeah..." I nodded slowly. "She took me in and helped with my powers. She showed me how to control and manipulate them to my will. She was murdered by Salvatore and Serena."
"Elizabeth was the witch who my late parents were on their way to find before they were attacked and killed," Ares whispered.
Woah...
"I didn't know that," I said, searching his eyes for any hatred towards her. I got none. "But...I thought you had to crossover to where the humans reside before you get to the witch?"
Ares nodded. "You do."
Does that mean... I was in the city with Elizabeth all that time? But how?
"I was literally in the city with her...I could've just gone to Nana." I didn't miss the hurt that flashed across Ares's face. "Why did Elizabeth keep that away from me?" I mumbled, confused.
"How did you find me then?" I asked Ares.
"Right on the border of the pack." His eyes turned hard. "I was halfway across the country when I was called that your body was found on the borders, right next to an unconscious Salvatore."
"Salvatore?" I gasped. "How is that possible?"
Ares shook his head. "I don't know." He huffed. "When you mentioned Elizabeth, I immediately thought she was the one who had brought you back to me. But now..."
"But no, it can't be. Because Elizabeth is dead." I stated.
"There's more to this that meets the eye and I'm going to find out what it is."
"What about Serena and Salvatore?" I asked. It was on the tip of my tongue and I knew now was the only time I had to ask. "What are you going to do to them?"
"In the dungeon." Came his gruff response. "I'm going to torture them before ridding them of their misery."
He stared at me, waiting for me to object but I gave him nothing but a nod. I had nothing left to say. They knew what they did and they deserved it.
"I want you to tell me about Lenora." I finally said after seconds of staring at him.
Ares didn't flinch at the mention of her name like I assumed he would. Instead, he looked like he was expecting the topic to come up anytime soon.
He pulled me closer to him, placing his chin right on my head. I waited patiently as he breathed in and out.
"What do you know?" He suddenly asked.
"Everything." And it wasn't a lie. I knew everything from what Salvatore and Serena told me but I wanted to hear it from the horse's mouth.
Ares chuckled. "And what do you want to know?"
It was my turn to regulate my breathing. "The truth."
And the truth he told me.