Death's Serenity (Sequel to Luna's Revenge)

Burning Hearts

"I don't..." Ophelia murmured, "I don't understand. I thought that Brannion had been destroyed entirely." She stared at the palace all around her which seemed to be in pristine shape.

Ezra nodded his head, "yes, it had been. But then I needed a place to stay in this realm so I fixed this palace up a little." He said with a shrug, "no one except us is here on the entire island. Even to werewolves, this place does not exist anymore."

Ophelia was surprised out of her mind listening to him. His words insinuated that he lived in another world and this was only a temporary stronghold. And she was willing to bet that his true home wasn't in Sorin either.

That was when she realized something and that made her entire face turn red in colour as she deflected her gaze from his.

He noticed this and furrowed his brows in confusion. "What happened?" He asked in a tender voice.

She sighed, shaking her head, "I just realized that I don't even know your name." She said sheepishly.

He chuckled, the sound of it was enough to spread a wildfire in her veins as she stared at him for a moment too long. The kink in his wavy curls which fell on his pale forehead, his deep eyes, darker than the colours of solid lava, his think lips and the carefree smile and his cheekbones which made her want to trace his skin with her fingertips.

She didn't know what she was feeling, she didn't know why she felt like she couldn't breathe in his presence; all she truly knew was that he had her smitten from the first time that she had laid eyes on him.

"Ezra." He answered, bringing her out of her thoughts, "my name is Ezra."

"Ezra." She spoke up, testing out his name on her tongue.

He had to clench his hand around the marble of the balcony railing to control himself from showing the exact emotions that she had elicited from him by just speaking his name. He felt something come alive in his dead, cold heart. He had never thought of the sound of his name before but from her lips, it sounded like a ballad.

He was unsure about how he was supposed to go on, without revealing the true nature of their bond to her. He knew that she would start to feel it too. The reason that he found out about her being his mate sooner was because the mate bonds between Faes were a lot stronger than the mate bonds between werewolves. But she wasn't stupid and the power in her veins was divine. He knew that she would find out soon enough.

He only hoped that she wouldn't be too horrified and wouldn't reject him, considering how dangerous and drastic that would be for him.

Ophelia opened her mouth to speak but instead, a wave of dizziness hit her head as she clutched the banister and lowered her head, hoping to let it pass.

Ezra was instantly stepping closer to her, easing his hand across her waist as he leaned down to look at her. She was so much smaller than him, reaching till just the centre of his chest, fitting perfectly against him.

"Hey, what is it?" He asked in a gentle coax, examining her back to check if any of her injuries had started to bleed again. He had healed her the best he could, but there were still jarred scars and gashes that he had to patch up medically, hoping for them to heal.

Ophelia ignored the feel of his hands on her body for a few moments as she took support from him, placing her palms on his chest before scrunching her eyes shut for a few moments.

"I just..." She mumbled, her words slurring a little because of the dizziness, "I feel so weak—" and before she could say more, she collapsed in his arms.

"f**k!" He hissed, instantly bending down to pick her up and cradle her against himself in a bridal lift.

He looked down at her and his brows were furrowed with worry as he saw the paleness of her skin and the beads of sweat on her forehead.

"What the hell did they do to you, love?" He whispered to himself while watching her before he sighed and carried her back to her room.

He carefully laid her back down on the bed and after ensuring that she wouldn't catch cold, he made his way out of her room to prepare something for her to eat.

♚♚♚

Ophelia found herself standing at the edge of a cliff, watching the waves crashing against the jagged and sharp rocks far below her.

She blink a few times to adjust to her surroundings, unable to remember how she got here in the first place.

The more she stared down from the edge of the cliff, she saw the waters becoming much darker until they turned into a murky black colour and she couldn't see anything underneath the level. She raised her eyes and found the skies turning red, not because of a setting sun, but as if the gods were bleeding and their blood was painting the horizon in a deep crimson colour.

She turned around, examining her surroundings but all she could see was barren land stretching on for as far as she could see behind her and in front of her, there was a faint line in the distance where the blackened ocean seemed to meet with the red sky.

She couldn't make any sense of her surroundings. She couldn't make herself move, nor could she open her mouth to scream.

And as her panic rose to higher lengths, her enhanced hearing caught up on whispers in the wind. These whispers turned louder, increasing until they began to turn into a loud soprano of mind numbing and intoxicating voices.

Ophelia felt a sharp headache appear in her temples as the voices turned into a song, a mournful baritone of endless shrill and pleasing voices. The more she listened, the more dazed she felt, almost as if she was stuck in a trance. The songs became louder but she couldn't understand the words, only the melody. She felt drunk on it.

So much so that she didn't realize when someone came up behind her until she found hands on her shoulders.

She instantly tensed and looked back to find Jenna grinning maniacally at her, "hello, sister, I'm so happy to kill you again!"

And listening to that, Ophelia's eyes widened but she couldn't do anything when Jenna pushed her forward with all of her strength and Ophelia's feet slipped and she fell face first into the sharpened rocks below.

A scream rippled through Ophelia's lips as she sat up straight, clutching the duvet in her fists as her breathing increased and all she could replay in her head was the feeling of falling to her death. The songs she heard from those voices played in her mind, along with Jenna's sinister laugh and Justin's blue eyes travelled in her thoughts.

Hands were clutching at her shoulders in an instant but she struggled against them, feeling that Jenna was still holding her. Her tears sprang free from her eyes as her headache increased in magnitude.

"Ophelia, listen to me!"

She heard someone say from somewhere in front of her but she couldn't listen to anything other than the strange songs in their melancholic voices.

Flashes of memories from the deaths of her parents haunted her, followed by all the things she had done and all the blood she had shed. Everything became overwhelming, her hearing became too sensitive but she couldn't stop hearing those voices and whispers.

"Ophelia, listen to me!" Ezra spoke again, sitting closer in front of her as he tried once again to hold her by her shoulders but she only thrashed around in his grip, clearly hyperventilating.

He was in his thoughts about her when he had heard her scream coming from her room which was just down the hall. And the moment he had burst in through the doors of her room he had found her breathing deeply with a horrified look on her face and she didn't respond to him when he had tried to call her by her name.

Seeing her in such a state, unable to understand what was causing her distress, Ezra found only one alternative that he could use to pull her out of it.

Knowing that she would hate him for this, he grabbed her face and slammed his lips on hers.

Ophelia was still deep in her memories, unable to feel anything other than the blaring songs that were making her head blast.

But then she was caught off guard when she felt a set of lips covering her own and she froze.

She didn't react at all for a few seconds, feeling the lips applying pressure on hers and then, she began to respond.

Her eyes closed on their own accord and she felt the volume of the voices lowering inside her head and Jenna's face disappeared from her visions, so did Justin's, and once that happened, all she felt after that was....fire.

Her entire skin was lit up by flames as her body burned underneath the grip of strong and muscular arms. All she could feel was the demanding presence of his lips on hers, eliciting nothing but a raw desire from somewhere deep within her body.

Ezra couldn't help but move his hands to the back of her neck and her waist, pulling her closer to himself as he kissed her deeper. He knew that he had started this as a means to bring her out of her panic attack but he was intoxicated the moment her lips had begun moving rapidly with his own.

She moaned deeply when he took her lower lip between his teeth, gaining a throaty growl from him as he pulled her closer, pressing their chests together as she climbed up on his lap unknowingly.

Their bodies folded into each other like two pieces fitting together perfectly in a puzzled world. Her hands traveled to the back of his head as she buried her fingers into his luscious raven locks and his grip on the side of her neck tightened while their bodies were pressed together heatedly.

Ezra knew this was wrong. He knew she was his mate but that didn't mean he had the right to kiss her randomly without her consent. He knew he had to stop.

With a lot of effort, he tore his lips from hers, pulling his face back, earning a complaining moan from Ophelia as she opened her eyes to look at him— breathless and yearning, similar to what he was feeling at the moment.

But seeing his face made her realize what she had done and her blue eyes widened with incredulity as she looked down at their entangled bodies— him sitting on her bed with her in his lap and his arm around her neck and her waist while her fingers between his soft obsidian hair.

Her skin began heating up once again, but this time due to embarrassment as she hurriedly climbed off of his lap and put some distance between their bodies until her back was pressing against the metal headboard.

Flustered, she stared at him with wide eyes while Ezra rubbed the back of his neck knowing that he had probably scared her away for good.

"Uhm..." He mumbled, clearing his throat since his voice came out too raspy, "I'm sorry about...uh....kissing you like that," he stated with a regretful voice, trying his hardest to meet her gaze, "I, uh....I heard you scream and you were.... hyperventilating when I came in here and I tried to bring you out of it but nothing worked."

"So you kissed me?" She asked sharply, raising her eyebrow, staring at him pointedly. Her heart was thundering in her ribs, struggling to jump out and she didn't want to make it too obvious that she was in fact, wishing to kiss him again.

Ezra took her reply as a sign of her being offended as he pursed his lips together and looked away, unaware that her crystal blue eyes were only on his lips.

"I'm truly sorry, I—"

"Thank you." She stated before he could apologize any further. She remembered the things she had seen in her nightmare and what she had heard after waking up and how horrible the panic attack had been.

He blinked in surprise.

She gave him a tentative smile, "I mean it. Thank you. For helping me." She said softly.

"So, you're not upset?" He asked, a small smirk forming on his lips already.

She rolled her eyes and looked away, chuckling and blushing before she shook her head. "The only option aside from what you did, would have been slapping me and I don't think my ego could handle that at the moment." She jested.

He chuckled along with her before his eyes turned serious, "do you wish to talk about what you were feeling?" He asked out of concern.

She stared at him for a few long moments before shaking her head, visibly flinching at the idea. "I'd rather not." She grumbled.

Ezra nodded his head in understanding as he stood up, hiking up the already folded sleeves of his shirt further before he reached out to offer her his hand.

"Come on then," he said with a neutral expression.

She stared at him and his hand with a questioning expression, "where?" She asked.

He smiled, "to get you something to eat. You need to build your strength back, I believe."

Those words reminded her of how hungry she was and her stomach rumbled in response as her neck reddened and she nodded her head sheepishly when she saw him chuckling at the sound.

Hiding her embarrassment, she rolled her eyes before taking his hand in hers.

Even that act caused sparks to run down both their spines but they ignored whatever their bodies were feeling and the God of Death led his mate into the kitchen of his palace.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello, babies!! I hope that you all are having a good time. I love you all so much. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Please comment your views because that means the world to me and I would love it.

With Love, Devu.