Lifeless

Empty

That's how he was feeling at that moment…

Terrence denied... No, he refuses to believe that he had imprinted on Daemon, or well, the fact that their wolves did it on their own.

"It's unbelievable..." he still mumbled to himself with an uneasy feeling inside.

However, that wasn't important anymore... The fact that he and Daemon had an undeniable and unbreakable link now was true and that would never change, furthermore, Terrence was more curious about how he was able to leave the castle without no one's knowledge.

The only thing he could recall was Daemon's painful voice asking for help, and it was difficult to ignore. In his memory, Terrence felt the need to run toward him and help Daemon but he doesn't remember actually doing it.

And all after that… disappeared.

There was a big hollow in his mind that keeps annoying him, maybe he knows there was something very important there, something that happened between them and could explain why or how they imprinted on each other, nevertheless, the more he tried to remember the more blurry his memory was.

During the next few hours, he tries not to think about that but it was impossible… Terrence unconsciously keeps sinking into the darkest corners of his memory, unfortunately, he didn't find an answer to his questions, which makes him even madder... his mind started to cloud with anger and resentment.

"It's all your fault…"

He repeated to himself with the name of Daemon in mind, Terrence was so angry that he had even asked Leva to give him a more detailed description of the man who from his point of view, had ruined his life.

…

Killian was quite worried about Terrence thanks to the bad expression that he had on his face when he and Leva explained what could happen between them worries him. Even though they didn't have a long friendship they consider each other a good a friend.

The next day after Killian finished his morning work he went to see Terrence, however, when he arrived he only saw Leva standing outside the room with a sad expression, she turned to him, and when they make eye contact the girl only negatively shakes his head to inform him that Terrence wasn't well yet.

He had locked himself in the room since the previous day and wouldn't even let her in.

"Still the same, Lev?" Killian asked seeing the worried face of the young woman.

They had spent so many days together that they already felt comfortable even calling each other nicknames.

"Not very well Lian… he hasn't opened the curtains or left the bed... and he hasn't even touched the food since last night…"

They both sighed in that defeated mood.

"What's wrong?"

Orsen's voice coming out of nowhere had startled both of them who jumped a little while they yelled loudly but that caused the blond to narrow his eyes suspiciously.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Orsen asked them extremely confused about their behavior.

"Don't scare us like that young master Orsen…" complain Leva surprised by the sudden visit of the guy.

"Our hearts almost fell out, Master..." Killian also felt his heart beating like crazy.

The blond frowned his eyebrows when he heard him be so formal with him... Despite having scolded him so much before for the way he address him, Killian always continued to call him by his name even if there were or not people around... but since Terrence had appeared, Orsen felt that Killian was more and more distant from him...

Orsen clench his fist and without saying anything, he just left completely annoyed, leaving Killian and Leva rather confused.

Sunset came faster than they imagine, the sun was saying goodbye, and one more day had passed without any trace of Prince Daemon.

However, since he was still in the Berserker stage it was understandable but with the arrival of the night on the 6th day, a surprise came with the moon.

While Killian was moping the flood at the entrance of the castle he managed to see in the distance the figure of a big wolf covered in mud and dried blood approaching the castle with a taciturn and unsteady gait.

From that distance everyone could see that the wolf was remarkably exhausted, Killian figured out that he could be the prince, Killian immediately thought that Daemon might have some injuries and that he would be about to faint due to his clumsy walk, it was well-known that all dominant alphas in their last day of heat always look for the place where they felt safest to rest.

Lifeless

That was the last phase of Daemon's heat.

The moment when the energy spent in the two previous stages is completely drained from their bodies almost as if their lives were taken away.

Daemon feel the same emptiness as Terrence, he was tired, dejected, and sad... Simply without life... although contrary to Terrence, the beautiful amethyst eyes of Daemon were lost and gloomy, he looks like his soul had been completely drained, only leaving an empty shell.

As soon as the wolf was a few steps from the entrance of the castle, it stopped and collapsed on the ground, leaving a big thud heard while his body was changing into human form again.

Killian wanted to get closer as quickly as possible but it could be dangerous... he waited just a little longer and but when he noticed Daemon's fragile state, Killian ran up to him.

"Prince Daemon…are you alright?" he tried to wake him waiting for an answer but nothing happens.

After calling him a couple of times without receiving any response, Killian sighed, he knew that the only possibility to move him was to carry him, but fortunately, he wouldn't be attacked by him. Killian was grateful that Orsen had not been the one who found the naked body of the prince because even for him who was an alpha, the prince was quite attractive.

In a quick and agile movement, he accommodated Daemon's body on his back and tried to get up as quickly as possible so as not to feel the dead weight of the other's body.

Taking him inside the castle was an odyssey, Killian felt that he had never exercised as much in his life as at that moment, but between pushing and pulling throughout the halls Killian managed to take him to a new room since for obvious reasons he was not going to leave him in the one he had destroyed when he escaped.

Unfortunately, Killian could only get to a room that was a little closer to the central corridors. At first, he didn't give it much importance since Terrence hadn't left his room since the previous day so Killian imagine that he wouldn't go near that place.

As soon as he entered the room, he took Daemon to the bathroom to help him take a shower, because the prince stank like the thousand demons of the abyss of fire, that was what Killian was thinking and that was being nice... But of course, after spending almost a week running in the forest and killing who knows how many animals it was understandable to have such a stench.

Besides that, he would probably have some repercussions for having spilled blood in the kingdom.

Killian had to change the water three times and when he finally noticed the other's pale skin again and his white hair shining clean, he took him out of the tub to dry his body and finally put some comfortable clothes on him, a two-piece of cotton pajamas, so that he wouldn't sweat too much and without further ado, Killian laid him down on the bed panting with an expression of annoyance and exhaustion.

Carrying a dominant alpha in that state was like carrying ten dead animals and it was definitely exhausting...

He stood by the bed in silence looking at him carefully... Killian wasn't sure why but Daemon looked extremely wasted.

He leave the room in complete silence and went to the kitchen to get some food for Daemon, although he doubted that after killing so many animals he would have any appetite, however; nobody knows if he ate them or just gutted them to satisfy his desire to bite an omega.

…

On another side of the castle in that dark room, Terrence was sleeping or at least trying to do that, however; everything seemed useless.

After what Killian and Leva had told him about the imprint, he had spent the rest of the time locked in his room, firstly because his heat apparently had not finished yet, and although the heat of an omega was different from the alphas, it was the first time Terrence had experienced it and it was normal that it was somehow irregular and strange.

The other reason why he hadn't let anyone into his room or even eaten was because he was depressed, he felt like garbage and didn't understand what the hell was wrong with him.

He remember that he had decided to be with Daemon but a few words from Blausen had broken his determination.

Nevertheless, when he kissed the man he supposedly was in love his mind was filled with thoughts of Daemon, he felt disgusted with himself and wondered if it was possible that he liked both of them, of course, that only made him feel worse.

Terrence was convinced that he has strong feelings for Blausen because his heart pounded like crazy just hearing his voice, or when he recognize his footsteps approaching him his face feels very hot and he got nervous at all times, the mere thinking about him made Terrence's body shake but the kiss they shared was undoubtedly…

Disgusting…

Terrence got up however he covered himself with the duvet making a big ball, leaving a small hole to see the exterior. Perhaps he felt guilty or morally tied to Daemon who had fought with Blausen and asked for his hand... Daemon had also defended him when the guy at the dinner tried to accuse him of bringing bad luck with his curse...

"Ah… why can't you get out of my mind…"

Terrence was talking to himself with teary eyes, even when he was trying to forget everything Daemon pop up in his mind, and made him want to cry. When he feel better the memory when Daemon slightly touching his lips flashed through his mind and made him explode in shame.

Although Daemon had also kissed him or well, actually it was a slight touch more than a complete kiss, Terrence felt very different than when he kissed Blausen.

"Why are you remembering that? Did you go crazy already, Terrence?" He scolded himself, with his face completely red.

Everything was all so confusing to him but he had a bigger problem at the moment... Blausen told him that he was going to propose to him... but if he had imprinted on Daemon even if they get married the three of them will suffer...

The long silence was beak out when Leva knocked on the door and with a worried voice, she talked to him.

"Young master… please open the door, you can't skip breakfast again."

"…." Terrence gritted his teeth before sighing a little. "I know..." he whispered to himself and get up from the bed to unlock the door and quickly jump back to the bed.

When she heard the sound of the door being unlocked, Leva smiled from the other side and entered the room to leave the tray of food on the table, she wanted to talk to him but Leva knew better than anyone that when her young master was sad he wouldn't talk to anyone.

"Please eat before it gets cold, I prepare your favorite"

She smiled at him and made a soft bow towards him after leaving the room, Terrence was left alone feeling the need to cry when he heard Leva's words. He notice that Leva was really the only one who knows him the best… whenever he was in a bad mood she never forces him to talk but she still cares about him…

He was about to stop her to hug her, but in that matter of seconds when the door was slightly open, the aroma of peppermint filled his room and Terrence immediately recognized it.

He couldn't make any movement because he was in shock… he felt an immense desire to go looking for that aroma right away but he resist the urge and wait for Leva to walk a bit away from his room, when her smell fade away Terrenceget up and runs in search of that delicious aroma that this time seemed more intense.

TERRENCE

At that moment I had a bunch of conflicting emotions that made me feel truly insane.

I suddenly started getting mad, my mind was tainted with negative thoughts, but at the same time, I wanted to hug Demon tightly and sniff him…

I hated that scent... but at the same time, I liked it...

My steps became faster and faster until I reached that door... I hadn't even noticed that I have left behind my cane to walk, I didn't even care about falling somewhere or hitting a wall... I just wanted to see him again.

When I realized that thought I suddenly stopped completely in shock.

"What's wrong with me?..." I asked out loud outside the door, I don't know why... But I thought someone was gonna answer me...

I really wanted to hear the answer but, no one replied to my question.

…

Neither Terrence nor Daemon knew that the demon's blood that person used on Terrence not only damage the omega's vision again it also distorted the feelings of both. Terrence was putting all the blame on Daemon while Daemon was resentful towards Terrence.

Each second was a torment, Terrence was thinking that if Daemon hadn't appeared in his life he could have married Blausen without any problem.

All the time he spent in front of the door immersed in thoughts feels like an eternity, however, it has passed only a few minutes. His shaking hand was looking for the latch and after he found it, he got enough courage to open the door and went inside to confront Daemon.

A silly mistake; because the aroma inside that room was even more thick and heavy than Terrence had expected.

He felt his legs become weak as he walked into the room, Terrence started to feel strange, even though he was brave before he was about to run away from that smell, nevertheless, when he turned around he heard his name from Daemon.

"Terry…"

His whole body trembled when he heard that mature and sensual voice calling him with that diminutive. Only his mother and father had called him like that when he was "loved". Without knowing why, Terrence began to sweat nervously wondering if perhaps Daemon was awake.

At times like this, he hated being unable to see because he didn't know what was happening around him. Terrence stood still thinking that Daemon was going to speak to him, however, time passed and he didn't hear anything more from Daemon, except for a soft moan of pain.

When he heard that Terrence's heart began to squeeze. He could feel Daemon's pain inside him... the scent surrounding him made him understand the sadness of the alpha... no, he wasn't only sad... Daemon was devastated...

Thanks to the short distance between Terrence and Daemon, the link of the imprint made him able to travel into Daemon's mind and saw his memories... more precisely the memory that Daemon was repeating in his mind.

The moment Terrence and Blausen were kissing but when Terrence saw those memories from Daemon's perspective realized they were in front of his room when they kissed...

His hands immediately covered his lips to avoid a sound from the shock, Terrence felt the pain of that betrayal as if he had lived it.

His feet unconsciously reached the bed where Daemon was lying, and with one of his hands, he patted around him until he could touch his face. When his hand reached his skin, he notice the low temperature of Daemon, he was extremely cold...

Despise his previous anger Terrence got extremely worried, for some reason, it seems as if Daemon was going to die and Terrence didn't want to let him die like that... He was going to look for a blanket to cover him, but when he was about to leave Terrence felt something wet touching his hand and at the same time a small tear leaves one of his eyes.

Terrence was crying not because he wanted to cry but because Daemon was crying too. They were sharing the feelings but that was extremely painful for Terrence... He wondered how Daemon had endured all of that inside him for the last few days.

Terrence stood in shock, he didn't want to believe it but now it was obvious that they were linked to each other.

Terrence bites his lips angrily but then he felt how Daemon took refuge in the hand that was caressing his cheek, he starts to cry… even though he couldn't see the albino rubbing himself in his hand he can imagine it

"Don't abandon me…Terry"

Just those few words made Terrence completely forget his irrational rampage of anger...

Both of them started crying endlessly...

Terrence came back to his sense, and reflect on his absurd thoughts... how could he blames Daemon? He had fallen in love with him just the same as he had with Blausen... it wasn't something to blame him for.

Terrence didn't want to leave him however, he couldn't keep giving him false hope…

"This is the last thing I can do for you…"

Terrence whispered on Daemon's forehead before leaving a kiss on that spot.

Terrence was conscious he couldn't be with him knowing that Blausen was still in his heart and obviously, he also couldn't be with Blausen...Terrence was determined to find out more about the imprint, maybe there could be a way to undo it, if not... there was only one thing left he could do...

Bury his feelings for Blausen ... Forever

• • • • ❁ • • • •

After a few hours, Daemon finally woke up and although he was extremely exhausted, uncomfortable, and completely confused his body was no longer cold, he was slightly warm as if he had been in contact with someone which was strange since only his mate could share his body's warmth.

Daemon barely opened his eyes just a little because the light annoyed him and he still saw everything very blurry. He felt a strong pain run through his head, but he couldn't move a finger to ease the hassle. He sighed defeat trying not to move as much as possible so as not to feel the pain in his body.

Little by little he was recovering clarity in his vision and realized where he was, Daemon relieved his tension even though he wondered how he had come back to the castle, he didn't care.

He stared at the ceiling confused, there was a hole in his memory... At first, Daemon thought it had been thanks to his stubborn wolf that had taken control over his body aggressively though it hadn't been entirely because of that.

He had a horrible nightmare where Terrence was leaving with Blausen, showing his back to him and leaving him behind but for some reason before he left, Terrence had turned to him and approached him only to caress his cheek.

Although the idea of Terrence going to Blausen was something he had already predicted to happen, he did not expect it to hurt so much... even for a nightmare, it was unbearable.

The end of his dream was not so bad, and although it seemed more like a farewell, he still felt calm.

He closed his eyes again until he smelled a familiar scent in the environment, a slight smell of Jazmine… it was Terrence's aroma... he opened his eyes again in surprise, wondering if that… wasn't a dream at all…

Had Terrence really gone looking for him?... he remembered his dream again and blushed immediately completely ashamed.

"Wasn't it a dream?"

…

Terrence arrived at his room panting with strong pain in his lower abdomen, he wanted to puke from the disgust or that is what he thought.

When he lay next to the alpha and hugged him to pass his warmness to him Terrence felt the urge to kiss him… Daemon's pheromones were calm but strong, the more he smell him his body temperature rise, and his entire body got goosebumps as a result of his excitement.

He never thought his pheromones would affect him so much… Terrence convince himself that since he had never smelled such strong pheromones he was weak to them, and also the link between them makes him more sensible.

At first, Terrence tried to wait for him to wake up so he could apologize to him but the more he inhaled Daemon's pheromones his mind became messier, and he practically dragged himself out of the room when he felt a tickle stranger in his womb.

He didn't know how he was able to get back to his room, but that didn't matter... when Terrence was finally alone, the cold in the room forced him to realize how hard he was, his body was heating up, and the chills returned while his breathing was in a mess.

Leva, who was going to bring clean clothes to Terrence, felt the aroma of his master out of control and without hesitation ran into the room to assist him, while on the other side, Killian was entering Daemon's room and got surprised to see the prince also losing control, Killian immediately tries to calm him down and makes him forget the idea to get up and go looking for Terrence because Daemon was forcing his tired and hurt muscles.

However, Daemon didn't pay attention to his warning.

The strong smell of both of them reached Orsen, who leave the castle to dispose of the rubbish.

When Orsen raise his head he realized how Daemon's and Terrence's pheromones were flooding throughout the castle as if they were looking for each other, it was something that had never happened in the time he had been guarding that castle.

He thought it wasn't something important but when the walls of the castle started to crack he was shocked.

Orsen wasn't prepared for something like that but as if someone had whispered the answer to him, the blond guy ran towards a tower of the castle from where he took an ancient scepter, made of pure gold with some magical runes on it and with a big and beautiful sapphire at the top.

He respectfully asked the ancestors for permission to use it and went down with it to the tree that had been dry. With a quick glance, he located a cross-shaped mark on the floor and inserted the scepter there.

A long time ago they were together but since the kingdom began to drought the last king took off the scepter to protect the remains of magic it had.

As soon as the scepter was inserted, a click was heard and it began to sink a little before it began to shine. The sapphire on the scepter was a magic stone very powerful.

When the scepter stop going down the gems started to glow brightly and soon after that the magic was pouring outside this, it looked like a heart beating as the magic was expanding.

The light increased as the size of the waves and after a few seconds, it had finally expanded to such a degree that it began to create a barrier around the castle.

When the barrier joined in a half circle, it began to spread throughout the forest, it covered the empty houses of the ghost domain until it reached the border of the kingdom where it stopped.

With the barrier fully set, the magic made Daemon and Terrence calm down, their scents disappeared and the cracks in the walls fixed themselves.

Daemon forgets the idea to see Terrence, and instead, he let Killian help him eat the soup and remembered how hungry he was, after he finishes it Daemon falls into a deep sleep.

On Terrence's side, he felt a soft and fresh breeze with the scent of Jazmine hugging him that helped him lower his body temperature in seconds and he also ended up falling asleep.

Orsen feels relieved when the magic work and also got surprised to see the gems still glowing. He let out a sigh and was grateful to his ancestors to help him.

At that moment he was very happy for not being an obedient student to his master.

If he had followed blindly the one who had prepared him to take care of the castle and hadn't read the royal family's books with the instructions on how to use the scepter in case of emergencies like the one they had experienced a moment ago they would have experienced a big crisis.

The breeze that started to blow inside the kingdom seemed strange, it brought them a strange warmth, and at the same time, it was trying to tell them that something else was coming.

As the hours passed by and the night fell again... the last day of Daemon's heat came to an end...

To be continued….