Earth Realm
Fifteen Years After
Theo Sagedeluna’s eyes popped open in, jerking upright on his bed in a tangled mess of sheets and flailing limbs. Quickly scanning the room, he searched for the familiar pair of lime green eyes.
“Shit,” he hissed out.
Even fifteen years later, they still haunted him. He couldn't get her out of his mind.
Back in the City Of Pearl in the Tempest Elysium, he had just come into the age of adulthood and the kingdom of Pearl spared no expense to celebrate his twentieth year of birth. A ball was thrown and his father had possibly ulterior motives for inviting all the most eligible ladies of the kingdoms to attempt to cement a match. He danced with ladies of all species, but none held his attention for long. His eyes kept trailing towards the vision dressed in a shimmery silver dress floating about her. That delicate ivory pearl necklace adorned her neck, creating meandering rivulets down her chest like a misty waterfall of dew drops. Devoid of her usual braids, her red hair worn in waves, cascading down her back.
He had never seen her look like that. Never soft, feminine… delicate. Deep down, he knew who she truly was. There was a fire that burned inside her and he had always preferred that fiery nature to a delicate one. He just hadn't expected his reaction to his best friend to ignite such a fire within him. Lust? Certainly. What man could deny she looked beautiful that night? As she danced with others, her dress floated about her fluid like water. Her timid smiles and eyes lit with joy as they pulled her close to them, wooing her with promises to adore her and take care of her.
Struck by the intensity of possessiveness that burned through him, she was his. He refused to let them whisk her away, because he knew who she was inside that display of delicate shell of femininity on display.
He just wanted her braids or unkempt hair. He wanted the wildness, the untamed, and unbridled nature spitting fire with that sharp tongue and dry, dark humor. Gumption. Maybe, if there was some semblance in her still, every other male vying for attention that night would stay away out of fear of being burned alive. He wanted to protect her from the men he knew would break her after the spell she placed upon them fell away. He wanted her to be her not some fragile flower to be plucked, uprooted, and cared for.
So when he formally asked for their first dance that night, he smirked when the mischievous fire lit in those green eyes and he knew what he wanted. He wanted to preserve her essence – her soul. He wanted to stoke that fire that burned within her in more ways than one and that truth should've brought fear. The revelation seemed to seep into him and settle naturally, instinctively, and comfortably like a worn but cozy blanket. It was then that he knew she had his heart since the beginning when she taught him how to skip stones that fateful day in the large fountains by the castle.
That revelation and decision was the only thing he remembered that night and he wondered if something happened. Maybe if he remembered, he would’ve been able to understand why she hadn’t come to him after what happened at her family’s cabin.
Shaking his head, he sighed, overwhelmed by the memories flooding through him. He missed her even after all these years and he wished she was still by his side... where she was always supposed to be.
“Caly,” he murmured, raking a hand through his locks.
Three years after her disappearance, his father had asked him to journey to the Earth Realm through the gateway given to them by the Keys and establish a safehold there to protect the humans from accidentally crossing over to the Tempest. His father had wanted and still wanted him to act as border control and weed out malicious doers. The gateway was within the Pearl kingdom, bordering the Elovaisus Forest in the Tempest Elysium. Here in the Earth Realm, the gateway was in the middle of the woods in back of their estate on their expansive territory somewhere in Ireland.
Theo had needed the distraction and he welcomed it. After those years of combing through the Tempest Elysium in attempt to find her, it had been time for him to show that he was indeed the son of the King Of The Lycans and Wolves. Upon arrival, he assumed a supreme position on the High Council Of The Immortals to regulate the laws of all nonhuman species upon the Earth Realm and was appointed the prestigious position of High Alpha of all the Lycan and wolf communities or what they like term as ‘pacts’ in the Earth Realm just like his father was the High Alpha in all of the elysiums.
It was a much needed distraction to help him in his waking life, but those green eyes continued to haunt his dreams. This latest dream he wondered if it was an actual memory. Her fiery red hair had curled around her face as she pulled him down the corridor to his bed chambers in the castle. The silvery gown she wore that night shimmered in the dim lighting emitted by the Elvish lanterns as it floated about her. Her laughter echoed, bouncing eerily off the walls. She kept glancing back at him. Her eyes sparkled with merriment.
There was pounding at his bedroom door. Theo groaned, feeling like his head was going to splinter into unimaginable pain. He shook his head again as if to dispel her from her thoughts.
“Theo!”
Life. This is life now, he grumbled as he forced himself out of bed. “I’m coming.”
“Theo! Open up!” The insistent pounding continued.
He growled, wrenching open the door. “Aiden, I said I was coming.”
The blond haired man flushed then shrugged sheepishly. “I didn’t hear you,” he admitted. Clearly, Theo said, mindlinking to Aiden. Aiden just rolled his eyes at him then crossed his arms before he continued defensively: “I happen to have important news, asshole.”
“I gathered. Why else would you bother me this early in the morning unless you have some sort of a death wish?”
Theo gave Aiden a pointed look before he turned to head back into his bedroom. He sat himself down at the loveseat at the end of his bed and eyed his friend warily. He waited for this seemingly important news as Aiden bounced inside.
He almost laughed aloud when his beta's voice popped in his head with a warning that Aiden or rather affectionately referred to ‘the little shit’ was on his way with important news. Quickly he told Amos, his beta, that the little shit was indeed here.
“Amos was alerted by Cayden that there have been rogues making a go at the gateway again,” Aiden finally announced.
Wide-eyed, Theo’s full attention was now piqued. “Did Cayden and his men capture them?”
“No, not yet. They made it off the grounds, but Cayden sent trackers after them as we speak. Royce’s pact was alerted and they are keeping an eye out for them if they cross over into their territory.”
“Good,” he said with a nod of his head. “Tell me when you receive word.”
Aiden nodded, knowing he was being dismissed. As if finally noticing that Theo was only wearing boxers, Aiden just smirked as he looked at the bedsheets. Theo quirked his eyebrow, waiting for the younger Lycan to make a stupid comment.
“You know, you wouldn’t be this wound tight if you just got laid once in awhile.”
Getting up, Theo rolled his eyes. “This isn't exactly the right time to discuss that.” He paused, shaking his head. “Nor is there ever time I actually want to discuss that.”
“I’m just saying,” he gasped. “It’ll do you a world of good.”
“Go!” he barked and pointed to the door, which only caused that younger Lycan to grin. “Leave, Aiden!”
Without another word, the younger left with a smirk. Theo released a sigh of relief. He knew today was going to be a long one and the last thing he needed was Aiden being… Aiden. Just like that Caly’s green eyes was once again pushed to the back of his mind as he walked over to his personal bathroom to get ready for the day. He begrudgingly wondered if Aiden has a point. It has been far too long since he had enjoyed a woman’s touch.