ZARAMANNI (BOOK ONE)
PART ONE: CHAPTER NINE

There were days when Zaramanni found herself dreaming about death. Such dreams scared her more than a horror movie would.

On such dreadful nights, her heart would pick a race, her soul would feel detached from her body, and unconsciously, she always fought to feel attached to the physical realm.

That was the same dilemma she was facing at that moment. She had felt death lurking around her in the form of a deadly yet unseen beast.

And, to survive that situation, she closed her eyes and waited for the worst.

But, if the worst was as peaceful as what she was feeling at that point, Zaramanni felt that she could open her eyes and finally know her fate.

But, first, she tried to check her living state. Zaramanni felt one of her toes twitch inside the confinement of her shoes, then, her hands felt heavy and desperate to be moved.

She was indeed alive.

Zaramanni finally opened her eyes.

A sharp draw of her breath ensued as dark, unforgiving eyes peered into her soul. Her feet made to scram as she was indeed startled, but a slap on her forehead brought her back to a state of realization and... slight pain.

An angry pout on her lips as she rubbed the part that the King had just slapped, she looked up at the man whose hair had grown a few inches over the night.

Zaramanni’s eyes traveled down his body and she noticed that his tattered trousers had been converted into shorts with uneven ends and his boots looked a bit cleaner.

Then, Zara let out a sigh as it finally occurred to her that he did not leave her as she had thought.

But, what was that thing that growled into her ears the previous night? She asked herself as though a response would be given.

Studying the King’s face keenly, Zaramanni soon concluded that he probably didn’t know that something deadly almost happened the previous night.

“Will you get up and stop being lazy? We have a long way ahead,” his harsh voice propelled Zara out of her many thoughts.

But, she still had the intention to question him. So, as he stood upright and adjusted the loose belt around his waist- the belt, Zara guessed was meant to hold his weapon- her eyes followed him and she got up as well.

“Did you see it too?” she asked, caution in her voice as though the strange creature would suddenly appear.

“See what?” His thick brows were knitted as he faced her.

“There was something behind me when I woke up in the dead of the night. You were gone as well.”

The King said nothing.

“Did you see it?”

“Listen...” The man sighed after a slight smack of his lips which were showing signs of his need for a serious bath. Zara took a look at her hands, she needed a good wash as well.

“Zaramanni,” she eagerly replied, helping him with her name in case he had forgotten.

“I don’t care about your name.” Zara rolled her eyes, she couldn’t help herself. “But, listen to me, this land has a way of feeding you your fears. Whatever you saw or felt yesterday wasn’t real. That’s just Amarxona playing with your mind. And, I never left your side yesterday.”

“Really?” Zara tilted her head to the side as she pondered his words.

The presence she felt behind her seemed extremely real, she thought.

“Get up. I found a place where we can have a quick bath.”

That statement brought Zaramanni to her feet faster than news of Ezeman’s approach would. She felt inconvenienced at the thought of going days without having a decent bath.

But, really, what was a decent bath?

To someone on the run, such things could be considered foreign and mostly unnecessary.

Zara scoffed, her shoulders giving a light shrug. She was beginning to sound like a wanted fugitive.

As Zaramanni hurriedly grabbed her bag from the ground before the King could decide that he’s had enough of her tardiness and abandons her, she noticed something behind the tree.

Curiosity racing the entirety of her mind, she reached for this strange entity and rubbed its smoothness against her palm.

It felt like fur, animal fur no doubt.

Her head quickly pictured the scary moment and she could imagine that the unseen creature stood right where that fur had been dropped.

Standing straighter, Zara tightly held the discovery in her hand.

Then she became certain.

The King’s talk about what’s real or not was bullshit in that situation. The little mane in her hold was tangible, it was evidence that what happened the night before was not Amarxona trying to feed her fears.

It was something else, something dangerous. Something that could have killed her.

Certainly, she needed to keep an eye out for any strange occurrence. But, for the main time, she had to make sure Ezeman and his boss don’t get to nab her and the King.

So, the tall girl dropped the fur into her bag, tied her long hair into a messy ponytail, and ran after the King who was way ahead.

~

Grunting as he climbed onto the high rock that hid a large river from plain sight, King Darren questioned his existence.

Right from The Big Tear, things went awry for him. His main intention for stepping into the land of Amarxona was crushed. Neither was he able to do anything worthwhile within the Kingdom of the fairies.

Rather, he was made worthless. His position as king was trashed and he became a mere prisoner to Amarxona.

“Oh my.”

His ears caught the heavy panting of the girl behind him. His sorrow-filled eyes flashed in her direction and he wondered if the goddess was teasing him… or perhaps, punishing him.

“How did you climb this…? Wow!” her subtly thick yet feminine voice exclaimed as she landed her uniquely tinted eyes on the scenery ahead. “It looks so pretty,” she said, giving him a quick smile before her sight traveled back to the scenery.

King Darren sighed. Why did the girl that saved him have to look so much like the she-wolf he was in love with? Why did she look like his queen, Laura?

The only thing that differed the girl beside him from his wife was her hair and slimmer stature.

Laura’s hair was a mix of black and purple, she also had eyes that were a shade lighter than the girl’s, but he could still see the resemblance.

It was uncanny.

And it made no sense.

Laura, his Luna had her wolf, and she grew up in the best part of Zenrada before she got married to him. And, she had no sister as far as he knew.

But, the girl standing beside him...

He watched her as she got off the high ground and ran toward the large, crystal-like river, her excitement growing. She had her hands in the air as her legs swiftly rushed in the direction of the water body.

... that girl was one of a kind, no doubt.

She said she was human. That could be true.

But he would be a fool to deny the fact that she was something else.

Something more than a human.

He had to be careful around her, he admonished himself.

Yes, he had to be very careful.

The hands King Darren had on his waist fell to his sides as he proceeded to join the girl on the low grounds that had smaller rocks decorating the river bank at several, irregular intervals.

After a quick look at the clear sky which he hoped wasn’t exposing their location to the people after them, Alpha Darren joined the girl at the feet of the river, the sandiness of the land making his boots feel useless.

He watched as she rested the strange sack she always kept to her chest on the ground. Then, she reached for the end of her torn, blood-decorated gown and took it off.

The side view of her breasts stared at him as he kept observing the girl.

He slowly blinked as she let down her coloured hair and tossed the gown onto the bag.

“What are you looking at?” She screamed her question, kicking sand with her bare foot in his direction as she crossed her arms over her chest. “You are supposed to turn! You shouldn’t look at a -”

“What there’s to see?” The king replied, bluntness in his voice. With no intention of looking elsewhere, he took off his shoes, then his shirt, and a gasp followed his action.

“Wow,” was all she said with an excited face. But the girl confused him when that expression turned to a scowl fully directed at him. “Are you trying to be a perv? Are you going to watch me take a bath? Or, wait...” She let out a chuckle filled with disbelief. “Do you want to take a bath with me?”

“Why would I want to take a bath with such a rude girl?” he retorted, eyeing her sternly.

“Then, turn!” she hollered, her eyes bulged with the type of fury that managed to look gentle.

King Darren who was trying to retain as much strength as possible stopped himself from strongly rebuking her unbelievable way of talking.

And... What, in the goddess’s name, did perv mean? He wondered but he soon forgot about that as he felt a twitch in his right hand.

His fingers curled intensely, his palm felt hot and scratchy, it was almost like something was trying to get out of the suffocating cage that was his hand.

With a firm lock of his jaws, the side of his eyes wrinkled as he kept the pain within him, and hid the feeling till it disappeared. Once it left, he grazed the affected hand with the fingers on his left hand and while he delved into the peace he was feeling, King Darren knew he could not ignore it anymore.

Something about him was changing.

“Oh, this feels nice.” The feminine, relaxed voice around Darren jolted him out of his concerned thoughts.

He stole a glance in her direction and saw that she was already washing her legs. He knew he had to hurry as well.

Alpha Darren took steps closer to the river and soon arched his back, splashing the chill liquid over his face. His chest soon received a quick wash and as he rubbed the water in to take care of a reasonable amount of dirt, his ears caught a faint sound.

The next minute, it became clearer. It was the unmistakable sound of horses and for some reason, he could distinguish a person’s voice despite the racing commotion.

′Search everywhere,′ King Darren heard the masculine voice say. ′They can’t have gone far.′

“Shit!” he cursed. Without wasting time, he had his shoes in one hand, and the girl’s wrist in the other. He didn’t know the condition of the person he was running with and he didn’t care.

They were about to be caught and he wasn’t going to let the goddamn fairies take him as a prisoner again.

So, Darren made them run towards a little cave opening he had discovered when he took a walk at dawn.

Panting hard, the girl clung to his chest as they both squeezed each other into the small opening. With all his senses alert, he carefully listened for the voices.

“Why are we hiding?” the girl asked, whispering.

“We…” Darren looked right into her eyes as he turned his head. She was so close to him, and he could feel her wet, naked chest press against his. The warmth he got from their glued bodies made his head turn a bit.

The inquisitive look in her eyes made her look like an innocent being and for some reason, he felt drawn to that.

His lips parted slightly as he swallowed hard. Darren soon realized that his hands were on her waist and he could feel how tiny they were.

“Mr. King?” The way her thick, white coloured brows quirked gently as she talked didn’t escape him.

At that moment, all Alpha Darren could sense was her and as he looked into her bright eyes more and more, he kept feeling a pull at his chest… a pull he could not fight.

“Mr. King?” he heard her call again and it suddenly occurred to him that she was nothing like Laura.

A closer look was all it took.

She might resemble his Luna, but, they were not the same.

But, what was the thing he was feeling? He questioned his craziness.

King Darren heard the loud gulp he took before he replied to her with a coarse, uncertain voice, “I heard horses and a voice.”

“Ezeman?” She looked worried instantly and more alert than him as he gave a curt nod.

He still couldn’t take his eyes off her, his hands on her waist wished to remain for a longer time.

But why?

It was all just insane to him.

“I…”

“Running away? You know you can’t do that,” a deep voice interrupted him from the dark innards of the cave.

And, as his chest wore heaviness, King Darren couldn’t help but feel that he had failed again.

He couldn’t help but think the fairies had used one of their tricks and caught up with them.