IVORY: The age of Gloarian

Chapter 4

    The first thing Eliana had noticed about Eiva, was that although she was a woman of true beauty, she was not the woman she was quite expecting. With short brown hair matching her striking brown eyes, Eiva stood with an elegant stance, ready to be introduced to the woman whose mate she was unconsciously stealing. Nevertheless, Eliana approached her with professionalism, putting behind her the issues of her past. She refused to look at Eiva through a negative lens for she was nothing but an innocent lady who had been entrapped into a love triangle by a thick headed Alpha. 

    ‘Eiva, nice to meet you my name is Eliana Genova, welcome to my community’ she spoke with a tone that had surprised Eiva, for she hadn’t expected this leader to sound as executive as she looked. Eiva shook her hand lightly, a shy smile on her face as she did so’

    ‘I would like to thank you for agreeing to let me stay Miss Genova, we truly appreciate your help’ she commented out of good will, placing a hand on Razaar’s arm as she did so, having not the faintest clue what she was really doing. For Razaar this had been the opportunity he had been looking for: the opportunity to make his mate jealous, and get a reaction out of her. He had hoped that at some point before his departure back to his pack she would leak any bit of information about how she felt or what she wanted. For Eliana, however, this was not a concern, for this brave woman knew what she was getting herself into when she agreed to the Alpha’s terms and conditions. She was very much aware of how determined he was not to be with her, and so she would let it be, making him regret it in a way that was completely involuntary and unconscious. After all, Eliana knew that the best form of revenge was success and happiness, and that was something she didn’t intend on giving up, especially not for someone who had taken that happiness away from her at a certain time in her youth. 

    Eliana mirrored Eiva when she returned the smile, seeing the true innocence in a woman that had been caged into a sinful scenario. ‘Of course, please feel at home. I believe I have not been introduced to your Beta and Omega. Eliana Genova, nice to meet you’ She carried on, focusing her attention on the two attractive men that lurked behind their Luna, or Luna to their knowledge. It was an act that completely took Razaar by surprise as she extended her hand to embrace first the dark skinned ones of the attractive Beta. Enzo Berne extended his hand forward to meet Eilana’s and shook her hand without a glimpse of emotion in his eyes and zero  words on his mouth. He simply nodded in respect, and waited for the leader to move her introductions onto the next party. 

    Unlike Enzo, Demillo Marconte, Razaar’s third and Omega, had by now taken in every inch of Eliana, and was most certainly interested in what he saw. As her hand reached him, he flipped his moves by grasping her hand in his and bringing it up to his mouth to place a firm kiss on her knuckles. ‘Lovely to meet you Miss Genova, we appreciate you letting us stay. My name is Demillo Marconte I’m the Omega. This is Enzo Berne, the Beta’ He clarified, staggering everyone around, including the tiny assistant. By now Razaar had clenched his fist so tight he was sure he would be leaving a bright scar on his palm, but he knew that making a move at that moment would open the door to suspicions that he would not be able to close in the future. He remained silent as Eliana smiled at his third’s action. 

    ‘It’s a pleasure’ she started, pulling her gaze away from the dreamy and extremely good looking Omega. Before she continued, she had managed to peek a glance at the great Alpha that at that very moment, did not look so great. This drew a smirk at her face as she continued. ‘I will get someone to get the guest cottage ready for your Luna and Omega, in the meantime would you like to stay for lunch?’ she questioned politely, hoping to the flame that he would reject the offer and leave. 

    As fate would have it, Razaar, a man that was so determined to get this over with, suddenly had the urge to spend just a little bit more time near his true mate, and so he accepted the offer equally as courteously, sharing a glance with his mate that confused the poor girl more than she wanted to be. Why was he staying? His job here was done wasn’t it? Was he deliberately trying to drive the woman to the edge? What did he want? 

    Eliana plastered a fake smile on her face as she gave instructions to her assistant before walking out of her office down to the little cottage she called her home, where her lunch had already been prepared by her long lasting, dear maid Dennis. As the door opened to her cottage, Dennis stopped herself from speaking as she scanned the number of visitors stepping in, and silently resumed her work, adding a few extra plates to the table. 

    ‘Good morning Dennis, is everything alright?’ asked Eliana, walking slowly towards the growing woman. Her dear friend smiled as she looked at the child she had seen grow since the beginning of time. 

    ‘Of course, I’ll bring in the food in just a minute, everything is ready in the dining room’ she added with pride, watching as Eliana and the strangers disappeared into the dining room next door. She was an old woman, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t noticed the darkness and power radiating off of the Alpha that had rejected Eliana. She also hadn’t failed to notice the hand he placed on the small of Eiva’s back, or the continuous stares that Demillo had been giving Eliana. But she knew that sooner or later Eliana would tell her the full story herself, so for the time being she returned to the dining room with the food she had so gracefully prepared, and served the important people before departing from the room. 

    ‘You have a lovely home Miss Genova’ Eiva had added, being as compassionate and tender as ever. It was a quality that after just a few minutes of knowing the girl, had started to bother Eliana. Why was she being so nice? And why did it look so genuine? For someone who had grown up a complete wreck, Eliana wondered how Eiva constantly put up with the regal manners and feathering tones. There was no strength in the voice of that woman, and she hoped, that in the time of her stay, she would manage to teach Eiva a thing or two about power and intimidation.

    ‘You are too kind’ said Eliana, feeling a certain unease in her constant gentle behaviour. Just as she opened her mouth to continue, a knock on the door startled them all. ‘Come in’ she directed, causing the door to open slightly as the shaking assistant walked in, refusing to meet anyone’s gaze but Eliana’s. 

    ‘Sorry Miss, I have the contract you asked for’ he stated, holding a stack of papers in his hand. Eliana smiled and accepted them gratefully as he took his leave, turning back to the Alpha she was desperate to get rid of. 

    ‘I believe this is for you Alpha’ she stated before the bunch carried on with their meal. 

    It seemed like an eternity later that Razaar decided it was time for him to take his leave. He most certainly didn’t want to, but he knew that staying longer would not only raise suspicion but perhaps change his perception on what he planned to do with the situation regarding his true mate. He knew that as long as Balthazar existed, there was no way he wanted anyone he cared about involved, especially not his mate. 

    He decided to test his limits further as he placed a long lasting kiss on the lips of his proclaimed mate right in front of the eyes of his one true mate. To his surprise when his eyes rose from his ruse, he visualised as in the distance his Omega had taken that moment to approach Eliana and had divulged into conversation with her. The woman laughed as she engaged in conversation with the third in command, causing Razaar’s plan to backfire on him with a fury of lightning. 

    He approached the two with half a mind to rip his Omega’s head open, but settled by nodding at his mate one last time “Once again thank you for accepting this deal, I will be in touch.’ He concluded, regret taking over as he remembered that the flirting third command got to stay with the woman he so desperately wished to get to know. 

    ‘Good luck with your battles, Alpha’ she threw at him, knowing full well the nerve she had struck within him.

    It was with those words that Razaar departed from her pack, running with rage coming off of him like steam. How dare his Omega flirt with his mate? How dare she not run back to him, beg for him? But most of all, how dare he reject her in the first place? At this point Razaar had accepted his fate and ran with his head held low, in shame, guilt and anger. Knowing he would have to spend the rest of his life without the beauty with brains he had just encountered bothered him. But what annoyed him the most was knowing that not only would he be without his mate, but he would have to spend the rest of his life with Eiva, a woman he loved as a dear friend, but a woman that he would have to deceive her whole life. As if he hadn’t disobeyed the commands of the flame enough times, the big, bad Alpha felt a tinge of fear for once in his life, at the mere thought of his fate when the flame would decide to make him pay for his actions. 

    He wondered what would go down in the next months between Eliana and Eiva. Was she really accepting of his proclaimed mate or would she turn the tables right after his departure? A part of him hoped that she would hold some form of jealousy inside her, especially with her presence around at all times, but another part of him knew the strong woman she was by the power she emanated to him. He cursed himself one last time before he arrived his pack, noticing his Beta skid right next to him a moment later. The two shifted back and proceeded to return to the office, where they would spend the rest of the evening planning for Razaar’s master plan to execute Balthazar Tin. 

    Eliana showed Demillo and Eiva the cottage where they would be staying for the next few months with anticipation at the excitement the Omega caused within her. She felt like a teenage girl around him, blushing and laughing in a foreign manner. It was an experience that had somewhat been taken away from her in her youth, being the daughter of a leader and having a male as a best friend. Now she was just a single woman thriving off the attention she received, and Demillo’s attention was one she definitely wished to keep on her side. 

    Eiva excused herself to her chamber before the third followed the leader out of the cottage. 

    ‘I was wondering if you could show me around a little?’ he asked, with obvious intentions to woo the leader over. He smiled at the beautiful woman in front of him that he so madly crushed on as she agreed to show him around. 

    They walked around the community grounds, walking past every store, food establishment and library before they arrived at the entrance of the most sacred Galon temple in all of Gloarian. Eliana’s face stiffened as she looked ahead of her, unsure of what to do next. It was an expression that didn’t go unnoticed by the admiring Omega, and so he turned to her to get a hold of her concerns. 

    ‘Is everything alright?’ he questioned with genuine concern in his tone. She forced a nod, allowing him to enter the sacred place before she took her own hesitant steps inside. 

    It had been seven years since she had entered any Galon temple, let alone the most sacred one, for after the incidents of her past she was incapable of facing the flame. But at that moment, with Demillo by her side, Eliana pushed aside her ego, not wanting to give away the secrets of her past, and faced the light of the flame that she had avoided for a year too many. 

    The door closed behind them, and for the first time in a very long time, Eliana paid attention to the immense beauty that surrounded her. The temple was a depiction of the light at the end of the tunnel, as the pair walked through the dark, empty passageway that was solely illuminated by the light of the flame. The Galoness sat behind the flame, ready to do her job. She pulled a fleck of fire from the flame as we advanced towards her. 

    ‘Eliana, it has been a while since your previous visit, the flame has been anxious to reach you child’ said the Galoness, targeting an avoidant woman that now had no escape. The bold leader approached the Galoness, taking the fleck of fire in her hands as a sign of acceptance before it dissolved right into her skin. For years she had avoided this communication with the flame. For years she blocked out the words of the flame for she knew life would be easier to live without the interference of something that would surely attempt to take her anger away from her. But anger was Eliana’s right, or so she believed after everything she had overcome at her early ages. 

    Her eyes closed as the images the flame granted had penetrated her mind. It took her inner eyes a second to adjust before she saw it: herself. It was a still picture of herself, a picture that to any other person would have seemed like a simple portrait of a woman who was getting older. But Eliana knew there was something else to the picture. She definitely saw herself, but she also saw beyond herself. She couldn’t quite put a finger on it, but she knew that there was a message within the image. Then again, that was the game the flame played. Displaying an image that would lead them solving the riddle, and learn the life lessons the flame wished them to learn. So what was Eliana supposed to see in herself, or better yet, learn from herself? Confused, she opened her eyes, facing the reality of her present, choosing to put the image behind her and revisit it at a later date. 

    The two exited the Galon, walking in silence before Demillo chose to break the ice. ‘The Galoness said you hadn’t been for a while? Why’s that? I hope you don’t mind me asking.’ His caring attitude certainly brought guilt in Eliana’s mind, and that very guilt perhaps was the only thing that allowed the girl to slightly open up to someone other than her best friends after a very long time. 

    ‘My mate rejected me, my parents were murdered not too long after, I guess I just had a slight grudge against my own fate’ responded an honest Eliana. Her response had taken Demillo by surprise as his eyes widened at her words.

    ‘He rejected you? Why? Why on earth would someone go against the flame?’ he questioned, causing Eliana to release a tiny laugh, mainly at the irony of the situation. How she wished she could reveal to her new friend that it was his Alpha that committed the oh so sinful act that everyone gasped about. 

    ‘It doesn’t matter anymore, it was years ago, I’m in a better place now.’ She retorted, facing the young man ‘have you found your mate?’ she asked, successfully pulling his smile off his face. 

    He had avoided thinking about the subject as he knew the moment he did, the very fascination he felt for the woman beside him would disappear, and so it did and guilt suddenly consumed Demillo. ‘I have not, no’ he illuminated, his tone  taking a sudden turn. Eliana had felt no shame in bringing up the topic as despite enjoying the attention she knew full well she didn’t want the caring guy to suffer what she had seven years ago. 

    Till then, the two walked back to the cottage, where Eliana dropped the humble man off and returned to her chambers for the night. 

    At the cottage Demillo had remembered his interactions with the leader of the hybrids, he remembered the mention of the rejection, and fascinated by the subject, he decided to ask his most trusted Luna about the matter. 

    ‘Luna, have you ever heard of anyone rejecting their mate?’ he simply asked, taking the gentlewoman aback by his question.

    ‘Why would anyone on Zaleon do that?’ she had gasped, feeling utterly disgusted by such an act. 

    ‘I know someone who has, I just wonder what happens to those who go against the flame?’ he seeked, attempting to understand the scenario his friend was in. 

    ‘I’ve never heard of such a thing in my life before, but if that were to ever happen I wouldn’t count on the happy ending of the sinful person’ she commented, completely unaware that she was, in fact, referring to her significant other. 

    The two had decided to put an end to that conversation before the guilt of such an act consumed them entirely. 

    Eiva stepped out of the cottage Eliana had so graciously provided them with, and walked around to the cottage she had taken her lunch in, hoping to squeeze in a quick word with Eliana before nightfall. She had remembered her Luna duties and decided to carry them on in a territory that didn’t require her to do so. But the woman upheld her title, as if afraid that it would be taken away from her any minute, afraid that any minute she would be thrown into a world all alone. 

    Eliana peeked through the door before allowing the woman into her home and into the living room. 

    ‘I just wanted to come by and see if there was anything you would like me to help with in the coming days. I most certainly don’t want to be a burden on you so if there’s anything, absolutely anything I can do to help, please let me know. I’ll join the ladies in the kitchen in the pack house, anything you need’ She relayed, a hint of nervousness in her voice at the intimidation she yet felt in the presence of this strong, female leader. 

    ‘Don’t worry, we don’t have a massive pack house of any kind. Everyone around here just works on their own living, a bit similar to the human world. I am, however, paying a few schools a visit tomorrow as a monthly to check in to ensure everything is running smoothly, I would certainly enjoy the company if you would like to join me’ she offered, creating a wide smile to form on Eiva’s face. If there was one thing Eiva loved more than life itself, it was children. It was a shame she wouldn’t be able to have any of her own as her one true mate had passed away with the only seeds that would grow in her belly, but Razaar had assured her that the adoption of any orphan was an option available to them. Just like the rest of her decisions, she had smiled and nodded her head, accepting whatever came her way without a second question. However deep down she knew the loss of her child was something she would never get over. So it was due to that that the gentle woman found herself shaking her head up and down in excitement, much like a child. 

    ‘Of course! I absolutely adore children, I would love to come’ she responded. Of course she loves children was the only thought in Eliana’s mind as she opened passage for Eiva to exit her cottage and return to her own. She had figured that the proclaimed mate of her true mate would be a fan of children, but for some odd reason it was something that caused deep discomfort within Eliana. Perhaps it was because she knew she wouldn’t be able to have children of her own with her mate now that he had rejected her. But she refused to acknowledge these thoughts, and went to bed putting aside the foregin feelings that attempted to open a box she had kept shut for the past seven years of her life. The only question was: how long was that box going to remain closed before Eliana will find herself forced to face the demons of her past?