Mediterranean Sea

Deep down in the depths

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Dawn is alive, Azura thought as he stared at the water above him, writing in pain.

With the dome, he had been hurled lower and lower, nub with all the claw marks on his body – his blood leaking and mixing in the surrounding coldness.

Almost dead.

She had said that he would succeed. She had assured that their plan would be foolproof. It was a sure-shot. How did it fail? His eyes were fixed in the darkness. That woman was like an evil with red eyes and black hair that streamed around her, as if refusing to settle. The day when she had come to meet him, rather had kidnapped him to meet her, he was scared—afraid of the evil in her eyes. Her lips were so red, it was as if she had just drunk blood from some live person. He had stood motionless, mind numb in shock.

The water around him was boiling moments ago but within minutes, it had become cold. He was about to die. He cursed Daryn. That Lykae had taken him by surprise. How could he survive a silver bullet? Those were specially crafted by humans to kill the werewolves. Only one bullet was enough to kill any werewolf, then why didn't Daryn die? In fact he came stronger than usual.

His limbs had spread out as he surrendered to the chill, the iciness of the sea. He couldn't move a finger. His fingers started becoming blue and his eyes were about to close. It was dark.

Suddenly, the dome cracked in two pieces and sunk further. A hand came below his waist and pulled him up. He knew who that was. Her hair touched his face like feathers. She swam up with him and pulled him onto the nearest land. His eyes were still heavy-lidded with pain and blood loss. As she stood above him with water dripping from her long red cloak, she looked even more beautiful. Her eyes were red as always and in the day, they flickered between black and red. She cast him a raw look and he knew that she was utterly disappointed by him, by his failure.

"I gave you a golden chance," she said, as she circled him. her claws were out to the maximum. "And yet you lost the opportunity."

How could he match the Lykae king? No one could match him. He was raw power and fury for his mate. Azura closed his eyes again and waited for her to kill him. But if that was the case, why did she save him. Her black hair was clung to her neck and back, as her fangs grew out. She hissed, "I am going to give you one more chance to kill her. If you don't, I will execute you personally."

"Don't…" he managed to whisper. "Kill me…"

She kneeled beside him. "You don't have a say in this matter the day you sold your soul to me."

Azura opened his eyes to stare at her in disbelief. "Please…" he gasped. "I do not wish to live… Release me from my agony…"

"Like I said, you don't have a say in this. I will turn you."

The blood loss and the injuries had made him extremely weak. His lips were quivering when he murmured, "I don't want this. This life has been burdensome. She will never belong to me… So kill me…"

She cackled, shaking her head. "No Azura, you will be turned."

"I have been turned into a werewolf, now I don't have the strength left to turn into anything else." He felt like a lab rat.

She slit her wrist with her claw, and then in a steely voice said, "Drink."

Azura tried to struggle with whatever strength he was left with, but he couldn't match her when he was in his strongest form, how could he do anything now? The blood dripped on his lips. He closed his lips tightly. But she pried his mouth open it by squeezing his jaw. Her blood entered his mouth and she closed his lips forcing him to drink it. She repeated this process twice more until he closed his eyes completely and everything went dark.

He woke up in a bed in his old country manor that was located south of Bainsburgh. This was his oldest property belonging to his parents from generations, abandoned and rarely visited. All the curtains were drawn. He didn't know whether it was day or night. He didn't know for how long he was into this place. All he knew was that he had been given a chance at life for the third time. And this time, his life wasn't his, it belonged to that woman – that being from hell. He closed his eyes again. He was turned into a vampire.

---

It was evening and Dawn was standing in the portico. Daryn had gone downstairs to his study. She glanced at the gardens of the manor. The mist was wreathing the mansion on all sides and then wandered off to River Lifye. Above the evening sky was a myriad of purple, blue, orange and red, segued in the most beautiful way that only Mother Nature knew.

The mansion and the river presented a beautiful vista and she took in a deep breath. She had been brought back to the place she belonged to. She touched her tummy and murmured, "We are safe darling." Now that she was there, she wanted to live to the fullest. There was no way she would go back to the office and she had full intentions of spending the rest of the time as vacation they had missed, so what if it was going to be in their mansion. She wanted to see the world around her with renewed enthusiasm. She was back from the worst. She inhaled fresh air and closed her eyes.

A voice from behind disturbed her. "Isn't this place lovely? The view from here is something that can't be paralleled."

Dawn turned her body sharply. Pia was standing there with a faint smile.

Shocked to see her, she bit her lip.

"You have become everyone's pet," said Pia. "All out here like you a lot."

"I am no one's pet," replied Dawn and looked away from her towards the river. She wanted to go down to meet Quetz, feeling too discomforted in Pia's presence.