The Heir of Moon-Fire

Chapter 46

A/N: as promised, a chapter!
*insert grand flourish* I hope you enjoy 😉.

Ladon's POV

Elentiya growled at me lowly as she hovered in front of me. She shook her head slightly, and turned, trying to go around me. I merely winged sideways to continue blocking her path. She bared her teeth at me as she emitted another growl.

When I still didn't move out of her way, she glared at me before shooting upwards. I nearly snorted with laughter at her victorious smile as she evened out... only for it to disappear when I flew in front of her.

My arms were crossed in front of my chest as she roared in frustration. My expression hardened as I glared back at her. "ENOUGH!"

She back-winged slightly, blinking several times at my sudden outburst.

"We need to talk, Elentiya. So we're both going to land and chat like civil adults."

She looked away. Of course, she's going to refuse. What was I thinking? She didn't want to talk. Despite that, she nodded, letting herself glide in a downwards spiral to the ground. Staring after her, I rubbed my head before dropping to the ground as well.

She continued to look away from me as she shifted in a flash of golden light. "What do you want?" she demanded.

"You're the one who said we would talk later, Elentiya. Well, it's later, and now we're going to talk." I was fed up with being ignored even if I didn't believe that I deserved her. The least she could do was talk to me.

"That's what this is about!" She dragged a hand through her hair. "You don't care anymore. That's the end of it! Now, I'm going to do what I came here for."

She shoved past me, stalking to the edge of the clearing before I called out to her. "I'm not the one who refused to be in the same room as my mate for a month." Her whole body stiffened. "I'm not the one who walked away from my mate. And I'm not the one who is walking away from my mate again."

I had hardly finished my last sentence before her hands pinned me against a tree. "Fuck. You."

She stepped away again as I fell to the ground, groaning with pain. She stood in front of me. Her chin raised high as tears streamed down her face.

"Elentiya-" I groaned as I pushed myself to my feet.

"Don't. You. Dare."

"Pl-"

Her hard gaze made me stop mid-sentence. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Like hell, I don't! You're-"

"You. Don't. Know. What. You're. Saying," she repeated harshly. "So do us both a favour, and. Shut. Up."

I swallowed thickly at that.

"You don't get it," she stated quietly. "You don't understand." Her eyes shone with tears as her chin quivered. Her powerful demeanour, all but gone.

"I know what he did to you."

She shook her head. "No. You don't."

"When we were... at the cottage, Cal mentioned something-"

Her body went rigid. "The only one who understands is my brother. You. Don't."

"But-"

"No! You don't! You don't know what it's like to watch the person you care for more than the world itself disappear in front of you. You don't know how hard it is to make a promise to said person and be forced to keep it even if it leads to their capture. You don't know the pain you feel while knowing that your brother is being tortured. And beaten. And ripped open. That you know exactly the pain he is going through. You don't know- You don't know anything about me."

No fire remained in the depths of her sad eyes as I walked forward until only an inch of space remained between us. "Maybe not. Maybe I have no idea what any of those things are like. But. I. Know. You."

Her breath billowed against my face. "You're wrong."

"No." Our eyes were locked as I deliberately leaned in. She closed her eyes just as I paused. "I'm not," I whispered, connecting our lips in a slow kiss.

I found myself closing my own eyes as she kissed back. Her lips were warm and soft as her scent blocked all of my senses. Hot tears fell from her cheeks onto mine. Her hands travelled up my back, wrapping around my neck while mine circled her waist.

When we both pulled back, I stood there with my eyes closed for a minute, trying to think again. Elentiya stood in front of me, equally stunned as she watched me with those beautiful eyes. She lifted a hand so that it grazed against my cheek gently.

"I- I'm sorry. For pushing you away," she murmured.

"I-" Her hand moved into my hair, sending all coherent thoughts out the window. She stared at my face, a wide-eyed look of wonder flitting onto her face as she stroked my hair.

"Can..." She dropped her hand, looking away from me. "Can we try this again?" She flinched at the last word.

A smirk crossed my lips with a lifted eyebrow. "Try what again?"

She bit her lip. "Can you- tell me it again?"

My smirk fell, leaving me gaping at her. "Wait... what?" I demanded as I shook off my stupor. "You- you want me to-"

She winced again but nodded.

I stared at her. "Okay. Umm... Elentiya... I- I umm..." I kicked the dirt beneath me as I tensed up. "You're my mate."

A small smile crept onto her face as she looked at me shyly from beneath lowered lashes. "I- I like the sound of that." Despite knowing that she would say something along those lines, I felt relief crash through me as my heart fluttered. Both of us were flushed as we avoided eye contact.

"Please tell me this means, we'll head back..." I asked her, breaking the long silence between us.

She bit her lip. "I-"

"Elentiya, please. I- I don't want you getting hurt. Not after everything just happened anyway."

She tilted her head, making it hard to fight back the smile trying to make its way onto my face at her cuteness. She smiled lopsidedly. "Fine. Have it your way. I'll have to leave killing those bastards for another day."

I sighed, rubbing my face with my hands. "Thank the Cauldron."

"C'mon, we should head back... Luna is waiting for us."

A dangerous smile crept onto her face as she backed away with a glint of amusement in her eyes. I watched her curiously as she stopped at the edge of the clearing. She blew me a kiss before shouting, "See you there, loser!" With that, she ran straight past me, leaping into the air with a mighty flap of her wings, sending me to the ground.

'Oh, it's on!' I thought as I pushed myself into the air.

A/N

Again, sorry for not publishing last week. I'm not going to make excuses, but I'm going to keep doing my best to publish my chapters on time. I want to thank all of you for your patience, it is very much appreciated. And also, thank you for reading this far! I know that I've said this before... But it really does mean the world to me when I see how much you are all enjoying this!

Luna (August 9), 216

Elentiya & Cal (May 1), 201

Lyria (September 9), 186

Malatyr (March 20), 170

Emily (July 15), 169

Sam (February 27), 74

Connall (December 2), 72

Ladon (September 13), 20