[The Ashkarath Forest — The Sacred Pond — Midnight]
The forest was impossibly silent; only the gentle murmur of flowing water disturbed the ancient sanctuary. Beneath the endless silver moon, the sacred pond shimmered like a mirror, reflecting the heavens upon its tranquil surface.
Moonlight filtered through the swaying willow branches, bathing the sleeping Alpha in a soft silver glow. For the first time in an entire year... Kael looked at peace; the faint lines that had remained between his brows through countless sleepless nights had finally disappeared.
His breathing was slow, steady, and unburdened. Almost unconsciously, he shifted closer, seeking warmth even in his sleep. His head rested against Lytharion’s chest, while one hand remained loosely curled around the dark fabric of his robe.
Lytharion lowered his gaze; his expression remained as unreadable as ever, cold and distant. Yet his eyes lingered upon the mark hidden beneath Kael’s robes. Then to the graceful curve of his neck, where pale skin glowed beneath the moonlight.
Silence stretched between them.
A gentle breeze drifted across the pond, and with it came pheromones, the fragrance of towering pine forests after the first rain.
It lingered quietly in the night air; it was Kael’s pheromones, which he released unconsciously in the safety of deep sleep.
Lytharion’s golden eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Pine, so this is your scent..."
It was unlike anything he had encountered in thousands of years; most Alphas carried fierce, overpowering fragrances that demanded dominance.
Kael’s did not; his scent was as calm and steady as an evergreen forest standing against winter. There was strength within it yet also an unexpected tranquility. For reasons Lytharion could not explain, he found himself unwilling to look away and leaned closer.
The faint fragrance became clearer and richer. It surrounded Kael like an invisible embrace. Lytharion closed his eyes for the briefest moment.
"Such a rare scent."
Kael stirred faintly in his sleep; a quiet breath escaped his lips as he nestled a little closer, the scent deepening with the movement.
Lytharion remained still. For a deity who had stood untouched by desire, temptation, or attachment for centuries, he found this strangely distracting; his fingers hovered near Kael’s shoulder before slowly settling against the fabric of his robe.
He should have stepped away.
He knew that. Instead, he remained exactly where he was, listening to the calm rhythm of Kael’s heartbeat, breathing in the quiet fragrance that reminded him of endless pine forests beneath fresh snowfall.
An unfamiliar feeling settled deep within Lytharion’s chest; he had no name for it. It was neither hunger nor wrath nor the endless emptiness that had accompanied him for thousands of years.
It was instinct, a bond that had finally been acknowledged beneath the sacred lunar moon.
His gaze lingered upon Kael’s sleeping face before slowly drifting to those soft lips. His thumb gently brushed across them, almost absentmindedly.
"Is this because I acknowledged you? Why...do you seem so irresistibly alluring?"
Silence answered him.
Lytharion leaned closer until his lips hovered beside Kael’s neck; the intoxicating scent of pine and winter forests wrapped around him once again. He could no longer resist.
His tongue lightly traced the side of Kael’s neck—LICK!!!!
And Kael’s entire body shivered, his lashes trembled, and then slowly his amber eyes opened. Now there was no suffocating nightmare, no headache, and no nightmares, only the gentle sound of flowing water and the moon hanging peacefully above the Sacred Pond...
Everything before him was blurred. Gradually the world returned to focus, and he saw the shimmering pond, the silver moonlight, and the towering trees.
"Am...I having another nightmare?"
He instinctively pushed himself upright, only to realize his palm was resting against something warm, firm, and squeezy.
His brows furrowed as he looked down; he saw the bare chest.
Silence.
His eyes widened when his gaze slowly traveled upward straight into a pair of eyes watching him with unsettling amusement.
Lytharion.
Kael froze, and the Dark Deity tilted his head ever so slightly as his voice carried a dangerous calm. "Enjoying yourself? You’ve been squeezing my chest rather shamelessly... my Queen."
"...!!"
Kael immediately jerked his hand away.
"I-I wasn’t—"
He hurriedly tried to stand before he could take even a single step, and Lytharion’s hand seized his wrist, firm, cold, and unyielding.
"Agh..."
Pain shot through his arm. Kael frowned as he realized this wasn’t a nightmare.
"Shadow King..." His breathing became uneven. "What...what are you doing here—"
"Enough," Lytharion interrupted him without raising his voice. "Control your pheromones before I lose my control."
Kael blinked.
"...What?"
Lytharion slowly pulled him forward, and before Kael could reach him, he was effortlessly drawn into Lytharion’s embrace. One powerful arm settled around his waist, holding him in place, and both his legs spread around him as he sat on Lytharion’s lap.
Kael instinctively pushed against his shoulder. "Let me go, what kind of behavior—"
Lytharion ignored him completely as he lowered his face to Kael’s neck and sniffed again. He murmured against his skin.
"That scent, you’re releasing it without restraint, tempting me towards you."
Kael stiffened. "I don’t even know what you’re talking about."
"Oh? Then tell me...why does every breath you take tempt me to forget my own restraint?"
Kael’s heartbeat quickened. "That’s ridiculous; if...if this is a nightmare, I would like to wake up."
"A nightmare, is it?"
Lytharion’s hand slid to the middle of Kael’s back, not possessively, but with enough strength that escape became impossible as his fingers tightened ever so slightly.
"You mortals truly know nothing. You want to wake up from this nightmare, right? Then let me wake you up; since your scent is already seducing me enough, I will show you what a nightmare looks like."
Kael’s eyes widened as his cheeks became red and his body trembled with the immense pressure of lytharion. "What kind of absurd?"
Seeing Kael tremble, Lytharion smirked. "The fearless Alpha who stood before armies and offered his own life without hesitation..."
His gaze swept over Kael’s trembling shoulders.
"...is now unsettled because I’m standing too close."
Kael clenched his jaw. "I am not afraid of you."
"No?"
Lytharion leaned even closer until only a breath separated them. "Then why won’t you meet my eyes?"
Kael instinctively looked away, and a low chuckle escaped from Lytharion. "So proud and so stubborn, exactly as I remembered."
Kael glanced down at Lytharion, his eyes filled with agony. "I never changed, and neither did my feelings for you. You are nothing but a monster in my life. A nightmare, from which I could never wake up, even if I tried to."
The smile vanished. In an instant Lytharion’s hand moved to Kael’s throat, not enough to truly harm him but enough to remind him who possessed the greater strength.
Kael’s breath caught. "Cough..."
The Dark Deity’s eyes glowed beneath the moonlight as his voice was terrifyingly calm. "Nightmares disappear when you awaken. Reality...doesn’t."
He released him just as suddenly. Kael stumbled backward, coughing as he steadied himself against a nearby stone; his breathing was uneven as Lytharion stood and watched him silently. Moonlight draped over the Dark Deity like a living shadow.
His gaze never left his mate he just acknowledged.
"Just like you’ve never forgotten that I am a nightmare in your life, I...never forgot how your empire slaughtered my kids, and yet after your father’s begging, tonight...I acknowledged our bond beneath the lunar moon."
He leaned very close to him, like a monster. "And now there is no undoing it."
He held Kael’s wrist again, yanking him forward, and his hands reached towards his waist, holding him forcefully and hurting him. "You may continue calling yourself an Alpha and you may continue pretending your life still belongs to you."
A faint, dangerously beautiful smile curved Lytharion’s lips.
"But destiny has already made its decision. You no longer walk this mortal world alone."
His hand remained firmly around Kael’s waist, an unbreakable restraint disguised as an embrace.
"...because from this night onwards you will walk beside me, my queen."
Kael could only stare in shock, disbelief, and confusion. They crashed together inside him until he could scarcely breathe; his hands instinctively pushed against Lytharion’s chest, trying to free himself, but it was like trying to move a mountain, but he did not budge even an inch as his grip remained immovable.
"Let me go." Kael’s voice shook. "You’ve already taken everything. You abandoned me, you cursed me, and you’ve haunted every night of my life. What more do you want from me? Am I not even allowed to die anymore?"
Silence lingered between them.
Lytharion smirked. "No.You are not."
Kael froze as Lytharion’s gaze remained unwavering. "Your life ceased to belong to you the moment your father knelt before me; he begged, and you must not know the curse can never be erased. It will merely find another vessel."
"What...do you mean?"
Lytharion’s voice carried the quiet certainty of an immortal. "If you choose death, the curse shall abandon you, and it will return to your father."
Kael’s face lost every trace of color as his lips trembled. "No..."
"So remain alive, bear every burden, endure every nightmare, and accept every wound because every breath you continue to take...is another breath your father is allowed to keep."
The world around Kael fell silent; tears gathered in his eyes despite every desperate attempt to hold them back.
"Why? Why are you doing this?"
Lytharion’s smile disappeared; his chest tightened as he saw tears in Kael’s eyes, and yet his voice was still cold.
"You offered yourself. You chose sacrifice; did you truly believe...that a sacrifice made before a god would demand only a small price?"
Kael lowered his head; his shoulders trembled because he had believed his suffering would end with him. Instead, it had become a chain wrapped around the people he loved.
Lytharion slowly lifted a hand; his fingers rested against Kael’s back through the thin black fabric before sliding upward with deliberate slowness and quiet possession. Kael instinctively shivered.
"You may remain the heir of the Red Clan." His hand came to rest between Kael’s shoulder blades. "But none of those titles stand above the bond forged tonight before me...they hold no meaning."
Kael’s breathing hitched. Lytharion tilted his chin upward until their eyes met once more.
"From this night onward...you will stand beside the throne of the Dark Realm, and you will bear my name, and I...shall bear the responsibility of protecting what is mine."
The words carried no affection, no warmth, only absolute authority. The kind spoken by a deity whose decrees could not be challenged.
"You’re now the queen of the darkness, and being my queen, you will bear everything: the curse, the cure...everything."
Kael’s fingers slowly curled into trembling fists; those words were not a confession, nor were they a proposal; they were a sentence. A royal decree issued by an immortal. An invisible chain had been fastened around his neck the moment Lytharion acknowledged their bond beneath the lunar moon.
And the only one who possessed the key...was the Dark Deity standing before him.
Above them, the moon watched in silence as though it had become the sole witness...to the beginning of a fate neither heaven nor earth could ever undo.