Deva felt wrong. This body belonged to Kasia. Yet, here she was, trapped inside it. Although she had always wondered what it would be like to control their shared body, she would never have taken it from Kasia. Now the situation had flipped, and Deva didn't know how to make it right.
"Deva, please, you have to help me." Kasia's desperate voice filled her mind. "I don't want to be stuck like this forever."
"I'll make this right, Kasia. I'll make him fix this," Deva responded. Her heart ached for Kasia, who had been so fiercely loyal to her despite their complicated existence.
Amdis stepped closer, his eyes filled with longing and desperation. Before Deva could react, he leaned in to kiss her. Her hand moved instinctively, slapping him hard across the face. The sound echoed through the room.
"What do you think you're doing?" Deva snapped, her anger boiling over. She could feel her attraction to him, and she knew that Amdis was her mate, but she wasn't going to let the mate bond distract her. Deva refused to be bound by her instincts. She would fight this until the situation was resolved.
"Deva, I... I was just trying to give you back your body," Amdis stammered, rubbing his reddening cheek. A mixture of hurt and confusion clouded his eyes.
"First of all, this is not my body!" Deva exclaimed. "And secondly, I no longer have a body."
Amdis's expression transformed from one of confusion to shock, his brows knitting together in concern. "What are you saying?"
Deva took a deep breath, her voice trembling with emotion as she tried to remain composed. "I know it sounds insane, but I believe I died. I don't remember how or when, but I know I'm no longer alive. And somehow, my soul is now intertwined with Kasia's. That drug you gave us could have ended both of our lives."
Amdis let out a string of curses, his frustration evident in the contortion of his features. "I had no idea. I swear, Deva, I only wanted to help."
"Help me? You've done anything but!" Deva retorted. "You can start off by giving me the antidote."
"Then, I will not be able to communicate with you, and I won't be able to fix this," Amdis explained. He expected Deva to be pleased to see him, but it seemed that everything he did was only making her angrier. Did Kasia influence this, or was she genuinely angry with him?
"You can't fix this, Amdis. There's only one thing you can do now: return Kasia to Alpha King Ethan."
Amdis's eyes narrowed, and he clenched his fists. "Don't you dare speak his name again," he growled. "You know of our history."
"Our history?" Deva shook her head. "What don't you understand? I don't remember much of my past life, Amdis. I barely remember you."
This revelation seemed to trouble him even more. He stared at her with a mixture of disbelief and sadness before saying, "Regardless, I am not going to give Kasia back until I free you of her, and I will make you remember me; remember what we were to each other."
"Free me?" Deva's anger flared once more. "This isn't your decision to make! You're being selfish."
"Isn't it?" Amdis challenged, his voice strained. "I saved what was mine. You belong to me, Deva."
For a moment, Kasia fought against Deva fiercely enough to gain control. Her hazel eyes bore into Amdis as she spat out, "The word you're actually looking for is 'kidnapped.' You kidnapped us. You made me choose between my friends' lives and being taken prisoner by you. You don't care about Deva. You…"
"Enough!" Amdis shouted, his face contorting with rage and anguish. "I did this for our own good! Can't you see that? You can't live like this- trapped within another person's body!"
Deva wrested control back from Kasia, her heart pounding in the borrowed chest. She tried to breathe evenly, but the emotions roiling inside her made it difficult.
"Whether or not this is right, it's not up to you to decide our fate," Deva said, her voice cold and resolute. "You need to figure out what happened to me and why it happened, rather than trying to bring back my memories!"
"You just have to spend more time with me in your home," Amdis responded.
"That won't change the fact that this body does not belong to me," Deva countered.
"It is not fair to you," Amdis argued.
"It is also unfair to Kasia. Am I supposed to screw her over?" Deva argued.
"She is a hunter," Amdis said flatly.
"Really? Are you really going to say that?" Deva asked in disbelief.
"You hated hunters perhaps more than I did, Deva. How could you be so merciful to her?" Amdis asked.
"Because she was taken advantage of by them too, and even if she didn't try to rectify her past crimes, I still wouldn't agree to stealing her life away," Deva replied.
She let out an exasperated sigh, her frustration evident in the crease of her brow. She walked away from Amdis to sit back down on the bed and spoke with a sense of urgency, her words laced with warning. "Do you think our problems will end once you've extracted me from Kasia's body?" Think again. Alpha King Ethan will not let this go unpunished. You have to accept that this body belongs to Kasia, and Kasia is Alpha King Ethan's mate." She paused, letting the weight of her words sink in before continuing, "He will come for us, Amdis. And when he does, it won't be pretty."
As if on cue, there was a knock on the door, and a servant entered, his eyes downcast. "My lord," he said, somewhat nervously. "Alpha King Ethan is calling for you."
Amdis's jaw clenched, his nostrils flaring as he fought to control his emotions. Dismissing the servant with a wave of his hand, he instructed, "Tell him I'll take a message."
"My apologies, my Lord," the servant said, hesitating slightly before continuing, "but Alpha Ethan is here to speak with you in person."
Amdis's eyes widen in surprise, but he quickly masked his shock with a steely expression. "Very well. Show him in."