Chapter 104: A Heart Broken
Melissa’s POV
Pain.
Every single remnant of who I was was destroyed by an unending, intense anguish that ripped through my body like fire. I tried to persevere, to recall my name, my goal, anything at all, but the darkness persisted. It clawed, it said quietly, it devoured.
Kane’s voice was distant and soft, but I could hear it.
“Hey, Melissa! Fight it! Please!
I wanted to respond to him. I wanted to let him know I remained. But I was unable to move my lips. I no longer owned my body.
As the darkness whirled around us, Darius loomed above me, his black robes flowing. He watched with pleasure as the last part of the ceremony started.
He said, “She’s almost ready.”
No.
I wasn’t prepared.
This was not what I wanted.
But I was deceived by my body. Deeper and deeper, the blackness wormed its way into my veins and my very being.
My chest resonated with a hollow thrum. My heart, which had been warm, started to cool.
With eyes that were filled with utter desire, Kane struggled against the constraints that kept him in place. “Listen to me, Melissa! Keep him from winning! You’re more resilient than this!
Darius looked at him, chuckling. “Alpha, it’s too late. I now own her.
With his teeth showing, Kane hissed. “She does!”
However, I was unable to reply.
I didn’t even know Melissa Cade was still alive.
The ceremony rushed to its conclusion.
Then everything became black.
“Now!”
As Lydia and Zephyr began their assault, Lydia’s piercing voice echoed through the temple. Zephyr’s power surged, sending a burst of silver light toward Darius, and the air crackled with electricity.
The dark monarch, however, hardly batted an eye.
He flicked his wrist, shattering the light against an imperceptible wall. With a groan, he turned to face them as if they were swarming insects.
“How foreseeable.”
Lydia didn’t think twice. Her sword sliced through the air toward Darius’s neck as she ran like lightning.
She was caught by the wrist and slammed onto the stone floor by a tendril of darkness that swung out at the last second.
Another tendril twisted around Zephyr’s neck, shutting off his power before he could utter another rage-filled yell.
With his strength blazing like a hurricane, Darius grinned down at them. “Did you truly believe you could prevent me?”
Struggling against the darkness, Lydia gasped. “We won’t allow you to take her.”
Darius lowered himself, his face uncannily serene. “You’re not correct. You cannot save her.
He raised his hand.-
And as Melissa moved forward, the temple trembled.
As I left the altar, my body felt both light and heavy. No longer alien or uncomfortable, the shadows coiled around my fingertips. They belonged to me.
Now that he was up, Kane hesitated to approach me, his eyes wide.
Melissa? His tone faltered.
I turned to face him, but for some reason, I felt as if I was looking at him through someone else’s eyes.
Darius had a smooth, authoritative voice. Tell me, queen. Are you prepared to assume your position as king?
There was silence in my heart.
I no longer felt the warmth that came with looking at Kane.
Erased were the memories, the love, and the suffering of my past.
The only thing left was the energy pulsing through my body.
I grinned, but it seemed like a stranger’s smile. “Yes.”
Kane’s face became white. Melissa …?
I swivelled to face him, my eyes meeting his.
I said quietly. Empty.
“Now, you mean nothing to me.”
The shrine was enveloped in silence.
Kane’s expression was inscrutable, and his body was tight as he remained still.
“No,” he said. I heard his voice, which was no more than a breath.
There was a spark, something stirring within me, but it was feeble and dim. It made no difference. I had decided.
With a touch on my shoulder as to a monarch claiming his queen, Darius moved to stand next to me. “You see, Alpha? She has accepted her fate.
Kane’s whole body shook as he balled his fists. Take a peek at me, Melissa. Take a peek at me. Tell me you have no feelings.
I looked him in the eyes.
And I had no feelings.
No warmth. No desire. No discomfort.
Kane’s blue eyes were seeking me frantically, and his breathing was laboured. “Elissa…”
He stepped forward.
When Darius raised his hand, Kane was knocked backwards by a burst of black energy. With a painful thud, he fell to the stone floor.
Lydia gave a start. “Kane!”
Darius laughed. “Enough of this. The ceremony needs to start.
I didn’t hesitate to turn away from Kane.
He coughed and fought to get up, but I didn’t look.
When he called my name one last time, I didn’t recoil at the agony in his voice.
For now, Kane meant nothing to me.