ZARAMANNI (BOOK ONE)

Zaramanni failed to hide her smile when Zoey reached for her hand and held it securely.

Looking up at the sky to hide the flush on her face, Zara noticed how different daylight in Zenrada was from the nighttime.

It was bright and filled with chilly air.

And, as they walked down the road that led to the inner part of the Crown-Blood Pack city, Zara got to notice things she had never gotten a chance to see.

Well, since she barely got an opportunity to step out of the manor, how could she have seen more of the Crown-Blood pack?

Tearing her eyes off a huge tree which branched out in the midst of the numerous abandoned buildings on her right side, Zara stared at the sky once again, her eyes squinted.

Then, she asked Zoey, “Is that the sun? It is as bright as the one on Earth.”

“Hmm?” Zoey’s deep voice sounded confused. The duo shared a look and their feet continued to advance down the path that displayed high solitude. “What is the soo-rn?”

“The light in the sky…” Zaramanni was tempted to point at it, but she grew up learning that doing such was wrong. So, she kept her hand to herself.

“Oh.” He looked up as well, the growing sky illumination causing his newly cut hair to glisten. “That’s the moon. The moon looks different during the day. But at night, it displays its true self.”

“Oh. I guess there is a lot I am yet to learn about Zenrada,” Zara said, her small feet kicking a small stone that was in her way, her hand still wrapped by Zoey’s masculine touch.

After a sharp breath, she went back to observing the unfamiliarity of the city whose high-rise buildings were still a thing of wonder.

The similarity of that universe to Earth was one thing she wished to find definite answers to.

“Zoey?”

“Yes, my love?”

Hiding her smile once again, as she raked the man’s side view with her desirous gaze, Zara asked, “Where are we going? We have been walking for a while, and the manor is no longer in sight.”

“We are going somewhere special. You will love it.”

“Hmm,” Zara hummed in response and her eyes caught the sight of a building that had a wolf symbol huger than others.

“What is it like being a half-fairy?” Zoey suddenly asked, his question startling her greatly. Zaramanni had unfortunately forgotten about the night Zoey found out about her true identity which she had been trying so hard to reveal to him.

As her mind replayed the events of that night, she recalled the surprising twist of events where King Darren’s Red Thread was linked to hers when hers was already connected to Zoey’s.

Hurriedly shaking away that confusing scenario, Zara commenced her footsteps which she had unknowingly halted.

Lifting her head slowly, she saw that Zoey had stopped walking as well and his attention was on her.

Reaching for her other hand, he began to speak again. “If you don’t want to, you can…”

“No, it’s fine.” A sigh escaped Zara and she wrapped her arm around his sculptured arm which was always a great sight for her eyes. Soon, they began to walk, Zoey’s fingers tapping her hands which she circled securely around his biceps. “Being a half-fairy… hmm…”

Her eyes darted here and there for a second and she bit into her tongue. “It is still strange. It is very strange each time I realise that there is great power inside me. What makes it worse is the fact that I could have had excellent use of my powers back on Earth. If only I knew how strong I was, I would have trashed Gavin Rivers' face a long time ago. I would have considered skinning him alive as well. Anything to make him feel the pain I felt.”

Zoey’s brows were quirked as his eyes narrowed with caution. “Who is this Gavin Rivers?”

Zara’s eyes caught another tree that clouded the structures around it, its golden brown branches shielding them from the harshness of the growing illumination that came with the daylight.

Grateful that she chose suitable clothes that matched the weather, Zara answered Zoey’s question, saying, “Gavin Rivers is a part of my past I wish to forget. Anyway,” Zara quickly topped her last words before Zoey could comment on it, “being a half-fairy sounds cool, but it is scary.”

"Scary?”

“Do you know that the fairies used me as part of a ritual?”

“Lord Elias informed me. He also told me that Alpha Darren was a victim of the ritual,” Beta Zoey replied, the tone of his voice subtly showing how displeased he was about the connection Zaramanni and the Alpha King seemed to have.

“Exactly,” Zara responded. “Since the ritual was successful, it shows that I am indeed a half-fairy. And, my identity is more likely to be exposed to other kingdoms that may not be so friendly. These days, I keep looking behind me severally because I have this feeling that someone is close by, waiting to kill me just like the fairies tried to do when I first got here.”

“Wait?” Zoey halted his steps. “The fairies tried to end your life?”

With a forced smile in her eyes, Zara sighed and looked up at the tall man who wore a deep furrow on his forehead. “Yes. About three times.”

“How come I never knew about it?”

“Oh, come on,” Zara nudged him lightly, “I barely knew you back then.”

It didn’t seem like Zoey was ready to drop the talk. His right leg tapping against the ground impatiently, he eyed her, great worry tucked into his orbs.

Then he said, “Even though… I should have been aware of the terrible thing that almost happened in my manor. Anyway,” Zara was worried he was going to pursue the issue further, but when he pulled her closer for a hug, she thought otherwise, “I am glad you survived the attempts. Thank you for staying alive, my beautiful mate.”

“I have to stay alive if I am to go back to Earth. I can’t die in a world that is not mine.”

Zaramanni wrapped her hands around his sturdy waist and Zoey stroked her long hair slowly, saying, “Do you think this world is not yours? Does it ever occur to you that fate brought you to this realm? To Zenrada? Besides, as a half-fairy, you belong to this universe.”

“First,” her chin rested on his chest as she tilted her head to look at him, “I do not believe in fate that much. Second, I grew up as a human, Zoey. Unless there is something so grand about this place that will make me stay, I still want to go back home."

His reddish eyes became clouded with certain emotions, and Zoey halted the soothing pats he gave her hair.

“What about me? Is the bond we share not strong enough to make you stay here forever? Do you think so little of the mate bond we now share?”

Zaramanni’s brows twitched. It took her a few seconds to find a response. When she did find one, she noticed how disappointed the Beta looked, and the girl wondered if she misspoke greatly. “Zoey, I-”

“Beta Zoey, Marnin,” a voice from behind interrupted Zara.

“Marnin, Calistus,” Zoey replied to the man who was followed by a group of two men and a woman who were all dressed fashionably. “Have our people returned from Mount Hermos?”

“Yes, they have. They are whole now, and thanks to the return of the moon, their injuries will heal faster.”

“That’s good. Your homes are being taken care of, and in no time, things will be almost normal,” Zoey said to the man who nodded in agreement, his head constantly bowing until he and his company walked past Beta Zoey and Zaramanni.

As those people advanced in the opposite direction, Zara noticed the frequent glances they gave her. And she saw them when they began to murmur words as though sharing a secret.

Paying no heed to them, Zara faced Zoey who was adjusting the hooded lumber jacket he had on.

“Zoey, what does marnin mean?”

“It is a wolf greeting.”

“Oh.”

The he-wolf reached for her hand again. “Don’t think about saying that word to anyone else. They will lynch any non-wolf that utters Zenrada’s language.”

“That sounds scary.” Zara’s imagination got to work, and she could see a bloodied image of a person getting torn apart by the vicious fangs of the wolves.

Zara had seen such a scene before- when King Darren’s wolf made its first appearance and when it came to her rescue at the vampire orgy party.

“There,” Zoey said, his hand signalling at the next turn on their right.

Before they changed their direction, more people emerged from the ends of the tarred road. And, as they walked past, they greeted Beta Zoey.

“I didn’t think that I would be seeing a lot of people,” Zaramanni commented when they took a turn and began to tour the loose, sandy ground whose sides were decorated with medium-sized pebbles.

“The Alpha King has ordered everyone to go back to their respective packs. I am glad he did that, it was getting worrisome to have my people so far away from me. The attack made us lose so much, it would be sadder to lose more wolves.”

“Did someone close to you suffer greatly because of the attack?” Zara asked.

Their steps became intensified, leading them down the long, sandy road which was now surrounded by the distant appearance of trees of different sizes.

“Yes, my sister. She died before I could even reach her.” A clicking sound was followed by a loud sigh as the man’s eyes stayed trained on the clear and peaceful scenery in front of them. Before Zara could say anything, he continued, “I wasn’t close to her because she hated me greatly, but it hurts to think that I wasn’t able to do anything for her despite being her leader. A leader never leaves a member of his pack behind.”

“The fairies' attack caused a lot of distress, didn’t it?” Zara asked solemnly, hoping that she would have the ability to be cautious with the words she utters from there on.

“It did.” Their entwined hands began to swing. “It was a terrible day that I hate recalling. That day started as a fine day. The moon was bright, the streets were buzzing, and the entire kingdom would not stop talking about the coming celebration. All of a sudden the moon turned red, and the last howl we heard led to a series of bloodshed because the fairies and vampires attacked.”

“So, the fairies used their magic to turn the moon red?”

Zoey nodded. “That way, our wolves were caged because the source of their strength was cut off. They were unable to get out and fight. We were all in our weakest forms that day and even though we fought with all of our strength, we could not win the battle.”

“Everyone’s wolves must have felt trapped and scared.”

Zoey managed a light huff as his lips smeared into a sarcastic smile. “Numerous times, I have tried to find reasons that will justify what the fairies did to us. No matter what I thought, nothing made sense. But now that Lord Elias has revealed certain things to me, I finally understand why the fairies killed the people of Zenrada. And the reason makes me very angry.”

“I have also wondered why the fairies dragged me out of my life on Earth. But after a talk with Lord Elias, I understood that the fairies are looking for immense power that they can harness only if they have absolute control over the king’s wolf. Those creatures are heartless. They sound nothing like the fairies I grew up reading about in fairytales.”

“Zaramanni… that’s enough talk about the past.” Securing his hold on her slender hand, he said, with a huge grin, “We have arrived at our destination.”

“Wow,” that word dropped out of her mouth effortlessly and her pupils dilated with delight. The sight she had turned to look at was so magnificent, that she wished to take a picture of it to serve as an eternal memory of the scenery.

The peaceful body of water that overfilled a large area of the land was surrounded by trees that reminded her of the beach back home.

On a certain night, she ran away from home and ended up at the beach. Zara could still recall how the waves danced that night. The moon’s brightness soothed her pains as much as the rippling waves did.

At that moment, as she stood beside Zoey and watched the large river move gently, Zaramanni quickly deduced that there was something about rivers or oceans that made her feel great.

Zara continuously placed her attention on the clear surface of the vast pond, but she soon felt a great loss when Zoey pulled his hand away.

When she looked up at him with a pout of protest on her lips, Zoey asked, “Are you wearing anything under that sexy gown?”

“Uh… no?” Zara’s eyes narrowed.

“Good. I’ll be right back. I need to get us something to eat.”

Before she could utter one more word, Zoey winked and dashed out of her presence, leaving her to watch the calming river alone as the leaves of long trees danced gently.

Feeling at peace, Zaramanni decided to have her seat on a nearby rock whose smoothness attracted her. But before she could settle, quarreling sounds reached her ears.

At first, she wished to ignore the sounds, but when they turned to loud thuds, she rushed her steps toward the innards of the clustered trees behind her.

A few more steps and she found the source of the noise.

Three, tall and angry-looking men were pushing the tips of their hard boots into the body of another man who had folded himself on the ground while he fervently cried for mercy.

Zara's heart wrenched because the sight reminded her of the misfortune she faced in high school. She had no intention to walk away nor did she wish for the man on the ground to suffer more beating, so she rushed toward them, screaming, “Stop!”

For a second, the men paused and watched her run toward them. But their haunting gazes disregarded her presence and they went back to kicking the man, vile words escaping their lips.

“I said, stop it!” Zara commanded when she finally reached the gruesome scene that was now decorated with traces of blood.

The frown of concern on her face tried to hide when she glared at the men.

One with really long hair and strong-looking arms that were made heavily tattooed turned his attention to her, his eyes wearing the intention to scare her. A sinister voice followed when he asked, “Who is this fucking rat? How dare you stand in front of me?”

Zaramanni sighed, rolling her eyes almost immediately. “You shouldn’t be beating up another person like that. What if he dies?”

”You must have a death wish and I will…” Gagging sounds ended the man's stern words as the hand he lifted to strike Zaramanni was halted by her swift hold.

Without using much strength, Zara surprised herself by crushing the man’s carpal bones, crunchy sounds filling the air to that effect. Soon, the rest of his hand turned limp while she stood still and crushed his confidence.

As she watched the man’s face wear pain, Zaramanni's eyes traveled to the man who was being beaten and as she watched him struggle to get up while he tapped the dirty ground severally, she realized that he was without sight.

The fact that they ganged up and molested a blind person instantly angered Zara who glared at the other men, daring them to come get a taste of great pain.

She was ready to check what else her half-fairy powers could do when she stilled because something flashed in her mind.

A deep frown on her forehead, she recalled her uncanny meeting with the Dragon from the land of The Holies.

She finally remembered everything about that night.

The huge, scary appearance of the creature, the words that were spoken, the Dragon’s rudeness, the shocking news, and… the reminder that she was likely to forget her encounter with the Dragon.

‘War is coming to Zenrada,’ the dragon had said.

And, as Zaramanni tossed the heavy man aside to mourn the loss of his hand, that was all she played in her mind… The fact that war was coming to Zenrada.