IVORY: The age of Gloarian

Chapter 16

    Not telling Eiva the truth had been by far one of the hardest things that Razaar had done, right after rejecting his true mate. Though he didn’t regret his decisions after the weak smile of Eiva had returned to her face as usual. The couple had returned to their chambers not long after, spending yet another night mating and embracing the comfort of each other’s arms. A comfort that would soon be stripped off them as daylight would approach and engulf the great Alpha of Gloarian in a war he had no choice but to win. 

    He had shaken himself up, showered in cold water, and walked around with a bare torso as he spoke his final goodbye before he departed from his proclaimed mate to search for his true mate. The woman had glared at him after a series of false revelations to Eiva, and refused to speak a word of lie of her own to the tender woman. Eliana had remained silent for the duration of their explanation in the office the previous night, and had paced her office for hours after their retirement from her personal space. The night that followed was one of stress and sleeplessness, as she strategized every way in which she could be ready for any potential attacks Balthazar could send while simultaneously wondering how deep the damage would be once Eiva figured out the truth that Razaar had yet to reveal to her. While she was glad that she wouldn’t have to lie anymore, she questioned whether the revelation would be a turning point for the couple or the great Alpha would remain with the woman he had chosen over her. 

    The Hybrid leader had eventually found herself falling asleep with her head on the office table, unable to cope with consciousness anymore. As desperate as she was to keep herself alert and ready for the unknown events of the future, soon enough poor Eliana gave into her deepest desire and evaporated into slumber. It was an unfortunate time for the leader as the path of fate had disagreed with her decision to sleep that night, and in her moment of vulnerability, had decided to send in the beast himself to begin the master plan the flame had for the pair. 

    Eliana barely had time to react as she found herself knocking out a mere second after her eyes had fluttered open due to the impact of the cloth that had vigorously been smacked against her face, disabling her from yelling at all. The liquid content on the cloth had quickly shown results as the brave leader fell limp into the arms of the enemy, and Balthazar smirked as he threw the girl on his shoulders, and disappeared off the territory completely unnoticed. Of course, he had left a neatly folded scroll on Eliana’s table for Razaar to find, and had, for once, written with immaculate penmanship so the great Alpha would understand clearly the terms and conditions of the release of his mate. 

    Chaining the woman that would most possibly be the source of his greatest victory yet, Balthazar found himself smirking as he walked up to his office, where his Beta sat waiting, simpering as per usual. 

    ‘Ready to take on the Werewolves?’ he questioned as he witnessed Balthazar take a seat in front of him. 

    ‘Most certainly’ he snarled, knowing full well the extent that he was willing to go just to obtain the Werewolf pack. It had been unheard of to conquer a pack of creatures unlike your own, though Balthazar didn’t care about the creatures that were under his control, his only wish was to hold power over them all. As much as he had wished to mate the woman he had chained, his thirst for Razaar’s lifeless corpse had been enough to keep him at bay. 

    Sitting on his throne that had mainly been built of destruction and bodies, the man found himself waiting, staring into nothing as he waited for the great Alpha of Gloarian to receive his letter and come dashing to save his mate, and essentially, to his death. He had instructed his men to take Razaar straight to the cell upon his arrival, as his evil plans had obviously included for Razaar to watch his made die right in front of his eyes before he would then slowly be tortured to death. The mere thought shook Balthazar to the core with pleasure, and he smiled at the thought of burying his head in Razaar’s blood to quite literally taste his victory. 

    By then the unconscious Eliana had managed to peel her heavy eyelids open as she adapted to the dark room around her. After a moment of thinking she had been blind, the Hybrid leader accepted that she was, in fact, in a dull room, chained to a wall, no doubt by Balthazar Tin. She cursed herself for being stupid enough to have fallen asleep at the brink of a war, and attempted in no way to yell for help, or force herself out of her chains. The leader was smart enough to know that her efforts would be futile, and the only person that could save her now, whether she liked it or not, would be Razaar. Due to that, she simply huffed as she let herself hang from the chains, knowing that from that moment onwards, she was as involved in this fight as her mate was, despite not wanting to be. 

    It had come as a relief to her that Eiva was not the target anymore, but deep down wished she would have never accepted the deal Razaar had presented to her in the first place, for none of the current events would have been happening. As a monthly routine the woman found herself mentally cursing the flame for having led her down a path of battles and challenges and yet again questioned the controller of her life why she couldn’t have had a normal life. Even if that meant being an ordinary member of her community rather than the leader, Eliana would have certainly taken that life over the one she currently had. 

    At Hybrid territory, Razaar had been lost with confusion as his mate didn’t answer her door, and it didn’t take a minute for the Alpha to start getting worried. Forcing the door of her cottage open, he barged in, frantically searching around the small area before confirming that his mate had not been to her house in some time. Not bothering to close the door behind him, he raced back out, speeding towards her office to ensure she was safe. At the absence of her presence, the panicked Alpha found himself making his way outside, where he watched the tiny assistant walk in, his usual formal work attire clinging to him. The stunned individual backed into the wall as the intimidating Alpha approached him with a grown on his mouth. 

    ‘Where is Eliana?’ he asked, causing the poor assistant to almost urinate in his trousers. 

    ‘I don’t know Alpha, she normally comes in when she wants. Sometimes she just sleeps in her office if there is a lot of work to do’ he stuttered, trembling at the sight of Razaar. The Alpha said nothing as he turned around and once again, staggered into the small office room. The normality of everything hada almost caused him to exit the workplace, however it didn’t take long for the bright red string around the scroll to speak out to the man, who carefully approached and rolled the letter open. 

Razaar, 

You didn’t really think, after learning that Eliana is your mate last night, that  I was going to let her go did you? You fool, you forget who I am. If you thought you were going to win this war before, you’re most certainly mistaken my friend. 

Either you hand over your title and pack and surrender before me, or you can watch your mate die in front of your eyes. The choice is entirely up to you. 

Hurry up though, I’m getting quite tempted to mate with her and who knows just much control I have.

Time’s ticking. 

Your best friend,

Balthazar Tin

    A thunderous growl emanated through the mouth of the Alpha, one that shook the ground of Hybrid territory, and had people flying in from all directions. 

    Eiva had identified the noise and matched it to her proclaimed mate before rushing out of the cottage despite the orders that had forbade her strictly from doing so. Her entrance into the office had not helped Razaar as the last thing he wished right now was to have to break the fragile girl’s heart as unveiled the truth to her. Unfortunately he wasn’t given a choice as due to his lack of answer towards her, she grabbed the letter directly off his hands and within seconds, found herself tearing up immensely. It most certainly had not helped ease the anger of the Alpha, yet he knew a little explanation was well overdue before he could storm out to rescue the mate he was stupid enough to let go of. 

    ‘Eiva’ he began, watching the frail woman back away as he approached her. 

    ‘You lied to me?’ tears had now commenced streaming down her eyes as the woman’s vision blurred by the water stached in them. ‘You told me that you hadn’t found your mate, and to think, all this time, I’ve been on her territory, right in front of her for days! You played me! Why?!’ she exclaimed, unable to keep herself under control.

    For once the fragile flower had shifted into a character more demanding, more enraged, and for the second time in life, she felt her heart break at the various facts that came crashing down on her all at once 

    ‘It’s not like that Eiva, I promise you’ her expression of disbelief said everything, causing Razaar to continue ‘I rejected Eliana 7 years ago at Grontica, I am not with her, I am with you’ he completed, his response nowhere near satisfactory for his proclaimed mate. 

    ‘You think that makes it better? Why would you reject her? And why take me? Additionally, none of this makes up for the lies you’ve been feeding me. I trusted you, I poured my heart out to you after my mate died, I trusted myself to be with you for what? For you to throw me under the wrath of the flame for something I was unaware of?’ she raged, finding herself pacing around the little office space. The Alpha had been growing impatient at the duration of their conversation and wished nothing more than to abandon the pointless conversation to save his mate from the perilous situation she had been forced into. 

    ‘Eiva, I promise you it wasn’t my intention to hurt you or put you on the flame’s radar, that’s why I didn’t tell you, I didn’t want you to be guilty about anything-’

    ‘And you think that’s supposed to make me feel better now?’ she interrupted, her tears halting for a minute as she embraced the wrath that for so long had consumed her subconscious mind. 

    ‘Look, I had no intention of you finding out so clearly I didn’t plan for you to get hurt’ he carried on, helping himself in no way. ‘I rejected her seven years ago Eiva, I didn’t want a mate. I took you in because I thought you were perfect, and I stand by it, I’m not accepting Eliana as my mate, I want you’ he completed, attempting to appeal to her. His words had almost no effect on the woman who continued to glare at the man that for so long had deceived her and mistreated her.

    ‘Razaar, don’t you get it? I can’t be with you, I can’t let you reject your mate and leave her for me. She’s done so much for me despite knowing that you chose her over me. How could you be so cruel to someone that is meant for you? I wasn’t living with the guilt before but I certainly am now’ she barely whispered as her tears resumed their journey down her face. 

    The poor woman had been through enough trauma in her life, and most certainly had not expected herself to face a similar heartbreak once again in her life. She felt like a fool, having been so oblivious, and no doubt, suspicious of the things that might have gone down between the mates. She thought back to all the scenarios of tension between the two and wondered just how much self control it must have taken for both not to jump on each other and submit to each other. Everything started making sense as she thought of the longing looks, the heated tension, and especially of the defensive words of Razaar at Eliana’s house when the topic of her rejection had emerged. She had since prepared herself for the moment when her fiance’s mate would show up, and how she would walk away from his life and deal with her pain, but to know that her kindness had only gotten her a stabbing in the back hurt her more than her original thoughts would have hurt her. To make things worse, she thought of the woman who in such a short time had become a great friend and supporter of Eiva, and felt her heart fill up with guilt at having done so much in front of Eliana that perhaps she shouldn’t have. She knew the pain of the loss of a mate, but she didn’t dare imagine the pain that Eliana must have gone through at the rejection, only to have her mate show up to her territory seven years later and rub it in her face that he had chosen someone else over her. It had not even been her act to begin with yet at that moment Eiva carried the pain of two members as she stumbled back on to the chair behind her, holding her chest as she did so. 

    She had completely ignored the presence of her proclaimed mate as she thought of what Eliana must think of her, and the shame that followed, had the woman blanking out from her surroundings entirely. In that moment, she wished nothing more than to be in the arms of her parents, cuddled and protected from the trauma of her childhood that followed her downward spiral. The woman had trusted her best friend, yet he hurt her, deceived her. She cursed the flame for taking away her mate, yet now she had no words to describe how spiteful she felt and how much resentment she carried for the flame. To take away her mate after such a short  time had been one thing, to then give her hope and a nice future only to stomp on that image with guilt and shame was a complete other way to break the woman that was already partially broken on the inside. 

    Razaar found himself aching at the sight ahead of him, though he knew he had limited time before Balthazar decided to harm the woman who actually was his. He bent down to where the poor woman was breathing deeply, and collected her hand into his, observing as her eyes met his in confusion. 

    ‘Eiva, I need you to calm down ok? Take a deep breath and just look into my eyes’ he instructed, doing so himself to guide the woman to calamity. As she complied, he noticed her eyes returning to their normal size, her remaining hand dropping from her chest on top of his. She blinked, not uttering a word and unable to meet the gaze of the man she called mate. ‘Eiva, I know you hate me right now, and you want your closure, and I promise to give it to you. I promise to give you a proper explanation and sort this out with you the way you deserve. For now I need you to believe that I never had any intention of hurting you and I wasn’t just using you as a trophy mate. I need you for one last time to trust me ok? But I can’t do that right now, because whether I am with her or not, Eliana is in danger, and I’m the only one that can save her. So I need you to be patient and wait for me to return her to safety before we can blissfully have this conversation alright? Can you do that for me?’ he explained slowly, looking into the depths of her eyes to grab her attention. The woman guilted more over the fact that she was not stealing Eliana’s mate and delaying him from rescuing her, and nodded frantically to allow him to loosen his grip on her and get up from his crouched position. He placed a firm kiss on her forehead that she didn’t bother rejecting before he dashed to where the tiny assistant sat, trembling yet oblivious of the disappearance of his leader. 

    ‘You leader has been taken. I need you to get me all the warriors from my pack that are already here and the top Hybrid guards into the office. I also need you to send out word to my Beta that Eliana has been taken and to stand by in case they need to march into battle, can you do that?’ requested the Alpha in a tone that the tiny assistant just couldn’t refuse. He nodded in panic and rushed to comply with his tasks. 

    In less than 5 minutes, all the requested members piled into the cramped office, bowing their heads to the Alpha and Luna. Amongst them, was Armelia, who emerged at the front to figure out what exactly had happened. 

    ‘The assistant said that Eliana’s missing? What happened to her? Who took her?’ she interrogated, desperate to find out the truth. Razaar thought of his words carefully as he knew the truth would come to shock everyone besides Eiva in the room.

    ‘Balthazar has taken her’ he informed, not wanting to go further despite knowing he would have to. 

    ‘Why? Why would he be after Eliana? Wouldn’t it make more sense to go after Eiva if she’s your mate?’ commented Armelia, hinting her awareness of knowledge of Eliana and Razaar being mates. The clueless Alpha, however, hadn’t realised as he found himself facing the crowd to reveal the truth. 

    ‘What I’m about to tell you, is going to shock you all. But I need you all to keep your calm as our main focus right now is to retrieve Eliana and bring her back to safety alright?’ he began, watching faces nod up and down with curiosity. ‘Eliana is my true mate, and Balthazar figured that out yesterday at his ball, that’s why he’s taken her. He wants me to surrender my pack and my title to him in exchange for Eliana’s release’ he completed, ready for the splashback of rage from her community members. Armelia was the first to respond as she glared at the Alpha she had resented for so long.

    ‘You gave it away to Balthazar?’ she questioned in disbelief ‘so not only do you have the nerve to show up and disrespect her seven years later by asking for protection for your proclaimed mate, but now you’ve put her in harm's way for your pathetic revenge?’ spat Armelia, increasing the amount of amazement in the room. 

    ‘You knew?’ was the only thing that the Alpha had responded with before he shook off the vulnerability and focused on the mission. ‘Look, I get it, you hate me. Though right now is not the time to discuss my actions or whatever has happened, right now our priority, as I mentioned, is to save Eliana’ he stated, watching the loathe remain in her eyes. 

    ‘Great, so here is the plan, you’re going to surrender your everything and save my best friend or find yourself starting a war with the Hybrids too’ she retorted, evidently annoying Razaar. 

    ‘I don’t care what has happened, don’t forget who you’re talking to. I am an Alpha and you will respect me. Consider yourself lucky to be my mate’s best friend or I would’ve ended you’ he whispered getting closer to her ‘And the plan, as I was about to say, is the following: I will go into Lycan territory, and surrender, my pack is ready to launch into war, but by the time they do that I would have rescued Eliana. I know for a fact that he plans on killing her either way and he’s going to make me watch. So the chances are, he’ll either put me in the cell he’s put her in, or in a cell nearby. Either way I’ve trained to escape chains and cells, so it won’t take me long to set her free, and by that time, my pack will have begun the attack. Now, I need you to tell me: can you keep your best guards on stand by incase we need back up in the fight?’