(Amaia)

Alnitak almost springs out of bed in panic as if I am being snatched away from him. His hands reach out to catch me again.

"It’s alright, big boy. I am just going to sit in the window seat and talk to Min." I lovingly pat his arm and he stupidly blinks at us both. His eyes are slightly red from being woken like that.

Leaning down I kiss his cheek and whisper, "Go to sleep, I am not going anywhere."

This calms him down and he closes his eyes again. Picking up the sheet near his feet, I cover him with it. Then I grab my shirt and put it on.

Turning around, I find Mintaka has already moved to the window seat and is staring outside. His silhouette appears sharp but sad as if he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Quietly I walk over to him and sit down, facing him. I scramble my legs up so I can cross them and place my hands in my lap.

Mintaka slowly turns his face and his eyes land on my hair. His mouth partially opens, and his eyes widen.

"There is a red streak in your hair, Amaia. I am pretty sure it wasn’t there before."

Confusion mars my features.

Reaching over, he plucks a streak of my hair and brings it in front so I can see it under the moonlight.

"Wow! How did this happen?" Right where the silvery streak in my hair is, now another one has turned red.

Could it be because of Alnitak?

"Maybe, it’s because Alnitak recognised you as his mate, it left a mark or something," Mintaka thinks aloud.

I rub the carmine-shaded hair between my fingers and wonder if the colour will be carried when my appearance changes to my real one.

"I have never seen or heard this happening to anyone?" Maybe it’s a Fae thing. I should delve deep into the books Alnilam has given me to find this answer, too.

"Me too. You are unique," he answers with a smile and my eyes lift to find his sad ones.

The bond is jammed with his emotions, sadness, guilt, sorrow, and regrets...

"What is it? Why are you remorseful?" I ask, letting go of the mystery red hair.

"You can feel the bond. Isn’t it?" He painfully smiles and I just watch him with tight lips. He knows now.

"I keep hurting people, Amaia. Without even wanting to. First, I hurt Kacir for so long, and now, you. Last night..."

I extend my hand and catch his right one. Bringing it closer to mine, I place it in my lap and squeeze.

"Stop blaming yourself so much. Recovering from the loss of a mate is not easy. I understand." I want to say that ’You didn’t know’, but that will lead to the admission that he is my mate, and those words won’t come out of my mouth.

He lowers his head, hiding away his pain and agony from me.

"I am sorry. I have been so harsh to you. You don’t deserve me as your mate. You deserve Ali. I don’t know why the Moon goddess will stick someone like me with you."

My heart cracks like a mirror being hit by an object. I clutch his fallen face with both my hands and gently press it.

"Stop trashing yourself and let me help you heal."

His hands come and rest on mine.

"You don’t understand, Amaia. The dark part of me is different from Ali’s. After Kayla, I lost control of him because my wolf disappeared. He used to balance him, keep him in check. But my grief made me weak and I can’t control it anymore..."

His burdens I feel deep in the pit of my gut and somehow I understand why he has been sleeping around.

Maybe it’s time for me to connect with that darkness inside him.

"Bring him forward. Let me meet him," I request calmly.

Mintaka stops breathing and goes still. A fear descends in his eyes.

"No, I can’t. I will lose control again, and he might end up hurting you or worse, go to someone else for sexual gratification. Sometimes I get trapped under his influence," he anxiously explains but I am not afraid.

If Erebus can listen to me and love me, so can Mintaka’s other self.

"You won’t. Trust me. I brought you back before, I will do it again." An encouraging smile spread on my lips, and I compelled him to take this step.

"Wake up, Ali, if he gets too much..." Mintaka agonisingly says, and I give him one quick nod.

Mintaka sits still for a while and then he closes his eyes.

I keep holding his handsome face as it begins to transform and my heart somersaults in my chest.

I have expected him to look exactly like Erebus but he is quite different in the most erotic way.

His skin is a beautiful, deep black of a starless sky lined with swirls of melted sapphire. Two horns protrude like polished obsidian from his head in an elegant arc. Bluish veins which seem to glisten, run through them.

Shimmering tattoos, like hieroglyphs pulse with a soft light across his chest and arms. But it is his eyes that bring out his nature. Two shards of glacial ice, shining with an inner, frigid fire.

A smile, he offers me, both like a promise and a threat. It plays on his shining black lips. He is a paradox of allure and ruin, like a beautiful poison. Every line of him is like a deadly temptation, calling me to him.

Mesmerised and hypnotised, I watch him extend his extremely long and lithe fingers—sharp nails decorate them. His pointer slowly traces my cheek with it.

"Amaia!" His voice is a bare whisper of seduction, brushing along my skin like a gust of wintry wind.

"...Hey!" My voice comes out choked. I can’t stop staring at him and at his hypnotic beauty and dark bluish black hair.

"We finally met. Let me taste your honey, I can imagine how sweet it will be," he shamelessly murmurs, in that dark voice of his.