The star crossed lovers

V

Davina's body screamed in agony as she dragged herself across the scorched ground, her skin and flesh charred, clinging to her bones like the remnants of a once-proud warrior fallen from grace. Every step was torture, the searing pain racing through her veins like liquid fire. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed onto the jagged stones, her blood staining the earth beneath her, but she fought to rise again. Her fingers clawed at the ground as she forced herself up, each breath a battle against the suffocating heat and the screams of the damned that echoed through the abyss.

She stumbled forward, her vision blurred by tears of pain, her muscles trembling, her skin blistering. Her body was a canvas of suffering—burns so deep that the bones beneath glistened under the dying light. The air was thick with the scent of sulfur and death, the cries of tortured souls fading into a distant, maddening hum.

With a final, broken gasp, Davina crumpled to the ground, her legs giving way. The guard, looming ahead like a sentinel of despair, watched as she crawled, her will crumbling with each agonizing step. Her body gave a sickening thud as she hit the ground again, so close, yet so far from the end. Her body was soaked in blood, her mind teetering on the edge of oblivion.

From the far shadows, a pair of blood-red eyes gleamed, lurking in the darkness, watching her torment unfold. The silence that fell around them was suffocating, a void that swallowed even the screams of the damned. The air grew colder, more oppressive, as if the very atmosphere was recoiling from the presence of something ancient and malevolent.

Lucifer stepped forward, emerging from the darkness with a grace that belied the horror of the world around him. His crimson eyes locked onto Davina's broken form, and for the first time in eons, he felt something unfamiliar clawing at his chest. Pain? Grief? No, it was deeper. It was her—this mere wolf had stirred something in him, something he thought long dead.

He had seen countless souls perish, witnessed the destruction of entire worlds, and yet this... this insignificant creature made his demons tremble. His throne was forged from the bones of those who had defied him, who had failed him. Why, then, did her suffering matter? Why did her blood on the ground feel like a wound carved into his own flesh?

Lucifer's expression was torn, a mixture of rage and sorrow, though he couldn't fathom why. He knelt beside her lifeless body, his cold fingers grazing her burning skin. Instantly, her wounds began to heal, but the sight of her scorched flesh gnawed at him. He inhaled deeply, his voice a low, pained whisper.

 "This will be the last time, little wolf. The last time I defy the laws of nature for you."

He cradled her body in his arms, her head resting against his chest, her heartbeat slow and faint, yet it pulsed in perfect harmony with his own. His heart, cold and distant for centuries, beat in sync with hers as though they shared the same life force, the same fate. He walked through the inferno for her, his aura growing darker with every step, a living shadow that consumed everything in its path. The end was near, a place so devoid of light that even he felt its emptiness in his bones.

At the threshold, Lucifer paused, laying Davina gently on the ground. He studied her face, his fingers brushing the last strand of hair from her forehead. She was still unconscious, still on the brink of death. He lingered for just a moment longer, his gaze lingering on her too-soft features, then vanished into the darkness without another word.

The silence that followed was suffocating. Minutes passed, each one an eternity, before Davina's chest rose in a shuddering breath. Her eyes snapped open, black as the void, devoid of life, empty as a soul lost to the abyss. She was no longer Davina. She was something else now—an empty vessel, a shell haunted by the darkness that had claimed her.

Three Weeks Later

The days had passed like an endless nightmare, one where time itself refused to move. Davina wandered through the barren, desolate landscape, her body weak, her spirit broken. The endless sky stretched above her, mocking her with its cruel, unyielding expanse. She hadn't eaten in days, hadn't slept. The only thing that drove her forward was the burning need to find him—Lucifer, the one who had saved her, the one who had left her to rot in this wasteland.

Her wolf, Daeliah, was growing weaker with each passing day, her voice barely a whisper in Davina's mind. "Wasn't this what you wanted?" Daeliah's voice was frail, a shadow of the powerful force she once was.

Davina couldn't remember how she had survived the hellfire, how she had crawled through the burning pits of torment to end up in this forgotten land. The memories were blurred, like fragments of a dream slipping away before she could grasp them. All she knew was that Daeliah was dying, and it was her fault. Her selfishness had led them here, and now her wolf would pay the price.

She stumbled through the woods, the trees closing in around her, their shadows long and menacing. The air here was different, calmer, but it did little to soothe the burning inside her. Her mind was a storm of guilt, grief, and rage. She needed to find Lucifer—he was the only one who could save Daeliah. There was no going back to Alexander or Ethan, not until she fixed this.

Her eyes scanned the forest, and a chill ran down her spine as she recognized the trees. They were familiar, too familiar. Her heart raced, her body trembling as the realization sank in. She was in Alexander's territory.

For a moment, she stood frozen, fear and guilt warring inside her. Her wolf growled, urging her to stop, to turn back. "Don't," Daeliah whispered, her voice barely audible, but Davina pushed forward, ignoring the desperate pleas of her wolf.

The pack's territory was filled with decorations, flowers woven into beautiful arrangements. A celebration. Her heart twisted as she hid in the shadows, watching the pack members laugh and smile, their joy a bitter reminder of everything she had lost.

Her eyes fell on a child, one she hadn't seen in what felt like a lifetime. And then, as if fate itself was mocking her, she saw him.

Alexander.

Her breath caught in her throat, her body growing cold. He had changed. He looked stronger, more distant. But something was wrong. She couldn't smell him—couldn't sense his presence the way she once could.

Her legs moved on their own, taking her closer to him, but they stopped abruptly when she saw the girl beside him. She was beautiful, ethereal, her aura regal, almost royal. The girl's arm was wrapped around Alexander's, and Davina's heart shattered into a thousand pieces.

The whispers around her were deafening, each one driving a dagger deeper into her soul.

"They're perfect together." "Luna is so beautiful." "The alpha and his future Luna..."

Davina's entire world collapsed. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think. Her wolf raged inside her, the darkness threatening to consume them both. She wanted to tear them apart, to destroy everything, but before she could unleash the storm inside her, strong hands grabbed her, dragging her back into the forest.

And once again, the darkness swallowed her whole.