Page 63 of Upon Shattered Bonds

Nina was refusing him. Her words were like torture. It was a bleeding wound against his soul, and Zeke was certain he’d never recover.

With his eyes clenched shut, he didn’t notice her hand coming up to the gently rest upon his stubbled cheek. Her soft skin smelled of jasmine. Tormented by her words, he inhaled the seductive aroma of her scent, cherishing it for potentially the last time.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be the mate you desired, Zeke. The one you deserved.”

Any control he’d retained broke. And for the first time in centuries, his eyes misted. A strangled sound rumbled in her chest as she watched the single tear roll down his cheek.

“I can’t love you, Zeke. I’m so sorry.”

Swallowing the sob that threatened to erupt, he clenched his jaw. He sucked in a ragged breath, and then, with every ounce of love he felt, he kissed her.

Ruthless, merciless, he kissed her with everything he had left. Once overflowing with passion toward her, the reservoir of his affection burst open, the emotion flooding out of him like so much water.

Her startled cry caught on her lips as he claimed them one last time, savoring the sweetness of her taste and the soft lines of her body against his. But the perfection of their union was destined for destruction, a ticking clock that hummed in the back of his mind every second he held her body against his.

It left him empty. Miserable. And so, so cold.

Without breaking their kiss to bid her one final goodbye, he teleported back to his home and into the misery that was soon to be his end.

***

It only took five words to carve his heart out and set it ablaze. Five words to turn him from a powerful sovereign to a crumbling mess of a man.

I can’t be your mate.

Melancholy, however, had never sat well with him, and it’d morphed into anger within hours. Rather than admit the hurt that’d run him through, he’d succumbed to the far deadlier emotion.

In its wake, destruction followed.

Eleven centuries of tribulation had soured his mood, and now, wrath was bleeding into his vision.

The Miura was the first victim. While his every intention in going to the garage had been to seek the comfort it provided, it’d rapidly devolved. At the first slight—the sandpaper removing too much paint—he’d picked up a wrench.

The windshield was first. Next, the hood and mirrors, with the doors quickly following. When the wrench no longer held its sway, he used his fists. By the time blood coated his knuckles, the Miura no longer resembled a car.

But he wasn’t done. Even his own home hadn’t been safe from his rage.

Glass shards were strewn about the floor, and his once-pristine home was now unrecognizable. Broken pieces of furniture, having served their use as an outlet for his rage, were thrown haphazardly together in a corner. Wooden legs and defaced chairs jutted out at sharp angles, and down feathers molted across the floorboards like freshly fallen snow.

Temporarily pacified on the heels of his violent outburst, Zeke sat sprawled against a wall. In his hand he held a bottle of vodka, the potent liquor drowning out a fraction of his sorrows.

Like for any Raeth, it was but a temporary high. It took less than five minutes for the drunkenness to wear off, and by then, he’d drowned himself again.

At least when he was intoxicated, he could attempt to forget the rejection that’d cut him so deeply. He was back to where he was wanted. Where he was needed. Here, his people appreciated him and didn’t have the ability to reject what he offered.

“Redecorating, cousin?”

A tribute to his inebriated haze, Zeke hadn’t even noticed his second enter his home. Shooting the man a malevolent glare, he bared his teeth.

“Get the hell out of my home, Tzuri.”

“And miss selecting all the throw pillows and accent colors?” Tzuriel’s lopsided grin was a chaffing sight. “Never. Besides, then I wouldn’t get to see you lose your head.”

The vodka bottle shattered on the wall behind Tzuriel’s head a split second later. Now, he growled audibly at the loss of the precious substance.

“Out. Now. Before I knock you out and hog tie you.”

“I doubt you could do anything of the sort right at the moment, Zeke.”

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