Aries

Chapter 9

My heart still trembled from the encounter we had with the Northern Tribe. Had I let my pack down? I had spoken nothing convincing for the Zayin to let go of us and by Alioth's smirk, I knew she had something to do with our release. If this was the case, how can I call myself an Alpha? Where was my voice?

Now running in the neutral grasslands, I still could not help but keep replaying what happened in the past few hours.

Lost in my monologue, I did not notice the star who had stopped running. I ran into her and stumbled back. Rhaze who had stopped beside the star gave me a questioning stare for which I shrugged. Miguel subtly nodded. Perhaps, Alioth might have said something to him.

Turning, the star said, "Step back. I need to summon."

Rhaze rose an eyebrow. "Who?"

Sizing my sister, Alioth finally gave in. "Saiph. My fiance."

Miguel cleared his throat. "Not to be nosy, but you have been here for a thousand six hundred years. You think that guy is still engaged to you?"

Alioth snorted. "It may be a millennium to you, beings of Earth. But to us, it can the time to just bat an eyelid or live an entire lifetime. We can control time, Miguel. Time is not an abstract thing to us. It is very well moving and living. And as for Saiph breaking our engagement, I can feel it. If he breaks it or keeps it, I can feel it. It can be explained like a mark to you. While your mark is physical, and all can see it, ours is spiritual. Souls mark."

At her words, my sister gaped at her while Miguel just pouted. "Not fair!"

I blinked. "That sounds solid. Like you can't break from the other half."

Alioth then laughed warmly. "It... Is quite complicated. Soul-Bound is what we call a mate bond. While you can choose with whom you Bond, sometimes the bond just snaps into place and suddenly you are seeing your Soul-Bound. While Soul-Bounds are a very serious business, we stars do take partners and you can bear children with them. These partner bonds can be snapped anytime."

At this, I was pretty sure that my jaws were hanging. Closing my mouth, I turned away.

"My mother is an example," Alioth said, gazing at the starlight sky wistfully. "She was my father's consort for more than a million years. She had me and my sister, Dubhe and my brother, Mizar. When she came down to earth with Luna, she saw a vampire and fell in love with him, breaking the bond she had with my father. She claimed he was her Soul-Bound. She gave up on immortality and stayed with that vampire until she was brutally killed. My father, on the other hand, took another partner and had a daughter with her, Megrez. So it really doesn't matter to us."

Rhaze frowned. "Your father never fell in depression or sadness when your mother left?"

Alioth smiled. "For just three years. But as I said, it passed like three hours for us. When birth is rare and death even rarer, we have so many of us. Seven billion humans, that's all. One billion of Moon's creation. We? We are literally everywhere in the universe. I have no idea how many of us are there. Once someone tried to count our population, she is yet to be seen."

"No love?" Rhaze whispered.

Alioth's eyes left her home and fell on my sister. "Between Soul-Bounds, there exists love so phenomenal that would make you think that the universe is nothing before it. While the one between partners is strong enough. Even if we take a partner for just a few hours, we love them like no other. We know what love means more than any of you. Not many break their bond as you are thinking. Out of a million, perhaps, just a few thousands break it. Many are content with their chosen partner for the rest of their lives. So much so that, when one fades away, the other follows no matter the time."