Her Rejection's Revenge

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: THE JILTED LOVER

Over the next few days, my revenge was all I could think of as we prepared for war under the surveillance of Everett Becker. The man was good – he was a trained warrior with perfect skills needed to slay down anyone who approached him.

Ajax was not pleased with the appearance of Everett Becker in our lives, and we had many quarrels over him. Miriam and I were on the same side, Miriam because she knew and trusted the guy, me because I had the hidden agenda of getting my much-awaited retribution, and I knew Ajax could feel my growing excitement.

“What’s with you?” he asked grumpily one day when I smiled freely to one of Everett’s men who was training me to outrun a heavier opponent. I’ve never produced a smile since I joined the camp, so I understood Ajax’s question.

Pretense was still my forte, my bulwark against any emotional attack. So I shrugged noncommittally. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

He hissed impatiently. “Don’t play dumb with me, Zee. I know quite well that you understand my words.” His eyes roamed over my face like he was trying to guess what made me so happy. I blanked my expression intentionally, switching the emotion off and blocking him out.

If I expected a reaction, he didn’t give me any. Instead, he got a little closer – too close for my comfort, and my heart picked up speed. “You should smile more often,” he breathed down my cheek, sending shivers down my arm. “It makes you look even more beautiful.”

I swallowed the hard lump down my throat and forced myself to take a step back. His breath was nothing like Braxton had been – his had a very naturally neutral scent, while my ex-boyfriend had always smelled of mint. Why do I compare every man I meet with Braxton?

Sighing, I crawled back into my shell now that the magical moment between us was broken. “Thank you,” I responded stoically to his compliment.

When I made an effort to turn my back to him, he stopped me by grabbing both my arms in a tight grasp. The action brought me close to him. I reacted immediately as I it was exactly the same tactic Braxton would use to force me for a kiss. I opened my mouth to scream but he must have seen something in my eyes for he released me instantaneously.

“Sorry. I’m sorry,” he reiterated by raising his hand to show me that he meant no harm. “Did I hurt you?” I shook my head, belatedly realizing that I was trembling.

“I’m sorry to have destroyed the look of happiness from your face. That wasn’t what I wanted,” he said in a thick voice, and he cleared his throat to dissolve the emotional connotation.

“What do you want?” I asked finally, hugging myself right where he’d grabbed me, rubbing the place softly to provide myself with some comfort. I was on the verge of vomiting the contents of my stomach as memories assailed me. I had never responded to Braxton’s s****l attempts positively, so he’d used force most of the times for me to fall in line.

Since he’d been the only lover I’d known, I’d managed to convince myself that it was a normal relationship. Especially when my mother pretended not to hear when I told her about my problems. What I hadn’t envisaged was the emotional damage it would create over the years.

His thumb moved towards my face, but it fell back when I flinched. “I want to see you happy.” Then, the right corner of his lips lifted slightly in a slanting motion, and it was so sad that my heart constricted in reaction. “No, that’s not even true. I want to be the one who makes you happy,” he corrected himself ruefully.

I returned his smile with one of my own. “You do make me happy Ajax. As happy as I can be.” I grimaced in a self-deprecatory manner.

He shrugged. “I can’t help feeling jealous that something else is making you glow. What is it? Have you found a way to avenge yourself yet?”

His perceptibility should not have surprised, yet I was taken aback at how well he understood me. “Well, you did say that it was your only reason for living. I am waiting for the moment when you no longer need revenge. When it’s no longer your priority.”

“Oh, Ajax,” I sighed defeatedly. “Please don’t wait for me. Don’t waste your life for someone like me. I am not even sure that I will be ready ever.”

“It’s okay,” he replied gently, his turquoise eyes flashing with an intense feeling. “I don’t expect anything from you. So, tell me. How did you manage the impossible?”

With great difficulty, I allowed him the luxury to change the sensitive subject and related to him my encounter with Everett Becker. Ajax frowned in displeasure, not liking the fact that I was endangering my life to save a stranger. I ignored his advice, asking him to follow us if he had any misgivings.

In return to withdrawing information from Miriam, the latter had insisted to be present during the rescue, so I was saddled with both of my friends on our journey to the Mountains of Larcombe. It wasn’t far from the dragons’ territories which meant that very few werewolves had ventured in that direction.

We were traveling in a plane, and from all we could see from the window was large expanse of mountains where not may people visited. There was no sign of civilization or the slightest droplet of water, which meant that we had to stock the plane with our own supplies.

“This is the Dragon’s Lair,” Everett Becker pointed to us, and both Miriam and I peeped obligingly, although it was no different from the previous sceneries that we’d witnessed.

“Is this where…?” Miriam asked with her voice breaking at the end of the question. Curious, I turned to Everett with a quizzical expression which said that I didn’t comprehend Miriam’s unfinished query.

“Yes, this is where the Price Aerys and our army attacked.”

With a horrified realization, I figured that this was the place where Miriam’s brother had been murdered, and I squeezed her arms to offer support. She didn’t respond to my touch, and we remained close together until we reached our destination only a few minutes later.

“This area is pretty close to the Dragon’s Lair,” I muttered gruffly to Everett who dropped to my side as we marched towards the mountains. “What if the other dragons hear about our invasion and decide to attack?” We were quite a small army, and I pursed mu lips in worry.

“This is all I’ve got, Zelda. After I was left alone, these are the only people whom I can really trust. You need to succeed otherwise; the Uncle Vince will be the only powerful werewolf remaining.”

Wow, no pressure, I told myself sarcastically. “Alright,” I said more to myself than to anyone. “Do or die.”

While we climbed the rough edges, I wondered how I had become so strategically important to the war between werewolves and dragons. For the first time in my life, I began suspecting that maybe Joseph and Georgia Settlemire weren’t my true parents. Hadn’t I always felt something missing in my childhood? What if it was because they had never loved me because I wasn’t their child? How could Zendaya resemble me so much in that case?

With all that question plaguing me, I didn’t see the dark shadow hovering over my head until it was too late. Lost in my thoughts, I had taken an advance over the others and had reached the top of the mountain where one yellow horizontal slits eye stared back at me.

I gasped in fear at the dangerous glint I could perceive in those depths. This was not the harmless and funny Rhianna. No, this was a fierce dragon who was protecting his territories from unwanted trespassers.

Panic gripped me, and this time I thought it would be better if I communicated with the dragon first. Just in case, I didn’t get the chance and was reduced to ashes. So far, I could only see one eye as I hung on the edge of the mountain, my legs trembling so much that I could not take any step further.

With my hand, I signaled the others to stay put and took a deep breath. Hello, drakon. I am Zelda Settlemire. I come in peace.

There was absolutely no reaction from him as he continued to stare at me with open animosity. One single step and he would blow my whole existence off. Could he hear me, or was he trying to scare me off?

With enormous courage, I lifted another foot up in a small step not wanting to climb over in an abrupt gesture. The breath stuck at the base of my throat at the view in front of me. It was a black dragon, even bigger than Rhianna had been, and with a hostile expression.

I could not hear anything from him. It was not working. There was no way we could move from there without him frying our brains out. Smoke started to come off his nose, and I swallowed hard, feeling sure that he was about to spit fire at me.

I am here for Lady Kensington, I tried again desperately. I got the information that she is under your captivity. If this is incorrect, I apologize profusely, and we will be on our way back.

Again no response, and this time I felt sure that I was going to die. As a coward, I had imagined my death several times in the past, and none of the scenarios had been as glorious as this one. I mean, dying in the hands of such a beautiful dragon was with the journey, wasn’t it? Wasn’t it?

I closed my eyes in the act of sending a small prayer of thanks. Moon Goddess, I thank you for giving me the death of a warrior in the hands of such a gorgeous creature.

You think I’m gorgeous?

I nearly peed my pants as one hand slipped from the edge as shock rocketed through me. Holy sh*t! Did he just talk to me? I straightened my body - as well as I could in my hanging position and grabbed the flat surface to upheave my body on the ground. The dragon didn’t react when I sat on my fours facing him. It was a picture to cherish as his enormous body towered mine more than five times.

I could feel him until the tip of my braid – it was an inexplicable sensation. So I allowed it to flow inside me. It provided me with the calm I was desperately seeking. Of course you’re gorgeous. You’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.

I was answering carefully, not sure why he was asking that kind of question. The fact that a dragon had insecurities was laughable.

Then, why doesn’t she think so? Why is she afraid of me?

My heart plummeted in my chest as I struggled to grasp the meaning behind his question. Who? I asked filled with trepidation.

The one you came here for. Lady Kensington.

My heart literally stopped beating. He was practically admitting that he knew Lady Kensington. I was almost afraid to ask the next question. But I had to. Although Miriam had said that it wasn’t my duty to protect the people, I could not leave a terrified girl in the captivity of a dragon. Not if I could help her.

Do you have her here with you?

Yes. I have been keeping her here for a long time in the hope that she will eventually fall in love with me. But… He looked at me with a pitiful expression. There was no trace of the fierce creature that I had seen moments earlier. This was a jilted lover suffering from heartache.

I think I have come to the conclusion that she will never love me.