Chapter 250: Rival (18+)

Azura’s POV

Warning: This contains mature content; read at your own risk

I pushed the heavy oak door; it swung open with a low groan, and there she was.

Isadora froze mid-step, her hands loosening around the small velvet pouch she was holding. It hit the wooden floorboards with a dull thud, spilling small dried herbs across the rug.

For a long moment, she just stared at me. Her green eyes swept over my face, down to my boots, and right back up to my eyes as if checking to see if I was a ghost or a trick of the light.

I couldn’t help the small grin that pulled at the corner of my mouth.

"Missed me?"

That broke her out of her trance. She blinked rapidly, the sudden shock fading from her features only to be replaced by her usual guarded composure.

She folded her arms tight across her chest, leaning back slightly.

"No," she said, her voice completely flat.

"I didn’t. I just felt like I saw something annoying."

I rolled my eyes, letting out a soft sigh as I took a step into the room. Same old Isadora.

"So the rumor was true," she added, her eyes narrowing as she studied me more closely.

"Rumor?" I arched an eyebrow.

Isadora scoffed, shaking her head.

"Don’t act like you don’t know there are rumors about you going around the entire pack."

I shrugged, walking past her to lean against the edge of a heavy wooden table.

"Well, it doesn’t really interest me. So yeah. I don’t know what people are saying."

"How are you even back?" She turned her whole body toward me, her gaze intent.

"You’ve been dead for a while now. Everyone thought your body was just waiting to be buried."

"I wasn’t dead," I answered honestly, looking straight at her.

"I was just on a mission that made me look lifeless. But my heart never stopped. I wasn’t actually dead."

Isadora gave a dry, humorless laugh.

"You mean your soul left your body for a mission? Azura, that is literally the definition of death."

A sudden wave of déjà vu hit me hard. The same argument, phrased in almost the same dry tone. I had heard this before, hadn’t I? Axel had said it. Or maybe it was Silas.

The memories of the past few days felt so tangled together that I couldn’t quite remember which one of them had argued the point with me.

"Whatever," I muttered, waving my hand to brush the topic aside.

"How have you been?"

"I’ve been good," she replied, her tone softening just a fraction, though her posture remained rigid. "As always."

I looked at her face, reading the faint exhaustion around her eyes. I took a slow breath, choosing my next words carefully.

"Isadora... can we talk for a while?"

She frowned immediately, her eyebrows pulling together as her arms tightened across her stomach.

"Ten minutes."

****

We moved over to the small sitting area near the window, taking seats across from each other. The sun was starting to dip lower in the sky, casting long, golden shadows across the room.

"Have you felt him all this while?" I asked quietly, breaking the heavy silence between us. "This past month?"

She didn’t answer right away. She didn’t need to ask who "he" was. We both knew we were talking about the dark entity possessing her mate’s body.

Isadora looked down at her lap, her fingers tracing the seam of her trousers.

"A few times," she said, her voice laced with uncertainty.

"But I think it’s just me making up stuff because I want it to be real."

"Did you feel him recently?" I pressed gently. "Like... really recently?"

"The day the Alpha King came back..." She paused, her eyes flickering up to meet mine. "I think I felt him then. For a brief second, there was a spark. But at a certain point, it just vanished. Died out."

"He was here," I confirmed, nodding slowly. "You weren’t imagining it."

Isadora’s brow furrowed tightly.

"I heard that too around the corridors. Did you hurt him?"

I let out a long, heavy sigh, looking down at my hands.

"I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Knowing he’s trapped inside an innocent body... I just couldn’t bring myself to kill."

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, her eyes searching mine.

"Then how do you plan to defeat him? If you can’t attack him directly, what are we supposed to do?"

"I think we have to try the same method we tried with you," I said, thinking back to the dark magic that had bound her.

"It’s the only way to separate the monster from the vessel."

"Do you think that will work?" Isadora looked doubtful, her lips pressed into a thin line. "Do you really think he would do the same thing to himself that happened to me?"

"For sure he wouldn’t do it the same way he did to you," I said firmly.

"He’s smarter now. But we’ll figure things out. We’re going to get your mate back. And we’ll get Rhydor’s brother back, too."

Isadora froze. The skeptical expression on her face completely melted away, replaced by a sudden, blank confusion.

"Rhydor’s brother?"

"Yeah," I nodded, watching her reaction carefully. "Your mate is actually Rhydor’s younger brother."

She went still. It was as if all the air had been sucked out of her lungs. The color drained from her cheeks, and a deep, heavy shadow of shame crossed her features.

She looked away quickly, her jaw working as she swallowed hard, but not a single word came out of her mouth.

I watched her for a moment, the silence stretching long and uncomfortable between us.

"Do you still have feelings for him?" I asked, keeping my voice as soft and careful as possible.

Her head snapped back toward me, her eyes flashing with sudden heat.

"What are you saying?"

"Rhydor," I clarified gently, not backing down from her sharp gaze.

"Do you still have feelings for him?"

The anger drained out of her just as fast as it had flared up. She looked away again, staring out the window at the distant tree line. Her breathing was shallow.

"One thing I do know..." she began, her voice barely above a whisper.

"My feelings for him were never fake. Falling out of love isn’t easy, Azura. It doesn’t just happen overnight."

She paused, watching the leaves sway in the wind outside.

"But after knowing I had a mate..." she continued, her tone shifting into something softer, almost vulnerable.

"After feeling the mate bond for the first time... I found myself more occupied with my mate instead. Wanting to know what he was like. Wanting to know what it would feel like to finally be free and belong to someone who was meant just for me."

"So you don’t miss Rhydor?" I asked softly.

She turned her head back to look at me, her dark eyes completely honest now.

"That doesn’t mean I don’t miss him. Of course I miss him. He was my first love."

A small, sad smile touched her lips, lingering for just a second before fading away.

"I guess most things don’t turn out the way you plan them in life," she added, her voice carrying a quiet weight.

"But you’re lucky that I found my mate. If not, you wouldn’t be having him right now."

I couldn’t help the smirk that spread across my face.

"Hah. You wish."

A genuine chuckle escaped her throat, breaking the heavy tension lingering in the air, and I found myself laughing right along with her.

We were two women bound together by a mess of destiny, shared history, and complicated love. But as our laughter quieted down into a comfortable silence, the reality of what lay ahead settled back over the room.

We had a mate to save, a dark force to drive out, and a kingdom hanging in the balance. And time was running out faster than any of us realized.

*******

The wood of the table was cold against my stomach, but within seconds, the heat between us wiped all of that away.

My fingers dug hard into the edge, my knuckles turning white as Rhydor pressed me down.

The fabric of my gown was pulled up around my waist, exposing my bare hips to the cool air of the room right before he crowded close behind me.

Rhydor’s hands locked onto my hips with a firm, heavy grip, positioning me exactly where he wanted.

When he pushed into me, a long, shaky breath escaped my lips. The rhythm he set was deep and unhurried at first, deliberate strokes that made every inch count.

The room was silent save for the sound of our breathing and the wet slickness coating my inner thighs as he moved.

He pulled back until he was barely holding on inside me, only to drive deep again to the hilt.

The sudden impact shoved me forward against the table. I groaned, the sound raw and unfiltered.