Smoke and Mirrors (Smoke and Mirrors Series Book 1)

by S. N. Nair

  Rose’s eyes were marvelled by her people, they represented love and the compassion she had for all that carried life. Sapphire’s however, burned with hatred and revenge.

  It was true that a person’s memories in a past life can change who they become in the next, that was what happened to Rose. She remembered the feeling of being defenceless and helpless as that monster did terrible things to her before she died and that resulted in Sapphire, a harsh warrior who made sure that she would never ever need to rely on others to save her.

  Rose was a healer, Sapphire is a warrior.

  I was there when their souls were entwined, predestining them to meet as what happened to the souls of all my children, ensuring that they would never be lonely in this world and that there would always be at least one who they could lean on to.

  I hoped that this would make it easier for them to find each other, to embrace the love that they once had for each other… never could I ever imagine that this would be the result. I hoped that I would have seen the strongest bond between mates ever possible, but instead, I witnessed a bloodbath. I hoped that by telling them of their past they would see that they were meant for each other and could find it in their hearts to love one another like they did in the past.

  There might be a small chance that Damien would wake up and love Sapphire but that would not work if Sapphire did not reciprocate and that was something I knew she would never do. I looked into her eyes and saw no room for love for this man, she wanted him dead and nothing more. She would have rather remained dead than spend another second by his side. Only her passion for revenge steered her to return to the world of the living.

  The Rose I knew was a mild creature that never held a blade in her life, she would not watch fights in arenas, claiming it to be too brutal and inhumane, but Sapphire… she would probably jump in and join the fight. Rose begged her husband to spare the life of prisoners, even though they were guilty of the crimes they were accused of. She refused the gifts of furs and hides from nobles, preferring live animals to care for. Sapphire was raised and moulded to torture, her power was contained so that it would serve those in power while assuring them that she would not be a threat to them. She cared for the innocent, but was merciless against the guilty. Maybe it was my fault that I made her a Lycan Legacy, she might have been softer if she had just been a normal wolf.

  I had watched Sapphire since her birth, I saw the amount of pain her birth caused, the division it caused. I saw her grow up under ridicule for challenging the males for her father’s position as Head Warrior Commander. I saw her drive as she woke up early every morning to train, I felt her pride when she stood up in front of her pack to receive the honour… I felt her pain when she stood by the graves of her mentor believing herself responsible. It was her belief that her determination was the reason that she ended up where she was, it was something that she took pride in and today… I took that away from her. I hurt her in the worst way imaginable, stripped her of all she held dear. Like a mother, I did what I thought was best for her, what would make her life of misery worth it and yet, I fed that misery and she is suffering more than every.

  I knew that it was cruel of me to tell her to forgive that monster who slaughtered her family, but what choice did I have, she would never be able to find somebody who would love her like a mate was supposed to. All my children from the moment they were born were destined to meet a certain someone and if Sapphire did not accept Damien, she would be alone forever.

  All I had tried to do was help and after meeting Sapphire, I realised I was wrong. I could not ask her to right the wrong I had made, to ruin what could be of her life... for me, for my guilt. I decided that from now, they were the masters of their own fate. I had given them the choice, it was now their turn to choose their path, from now on I would only give them small visions of their lives from before.

  *Please Damien and Sapphire, remember who you are.*

  Chapter Fifteen: Haunted

  Sapphire Nightborne

  I shrieked as I pried his hands off my face. How dare he touch me after all he did. I jumped off the cold metal table I was on and rushed to back myself against the nearest wall, the healers had a look of horror on their face. I realised that they were backing away from me and I could not blame them, with my bloodied clothes, wild eyes, and dishevelled hair, I probably looked like a rabid animal... the fact that I just returned from the dead might have been a factor as well. I looked at the display of surgical instruments beside the table I was on and growled at Damien. Why could he not just leave me alone? Did I irk him so much when I was alive that he had to disturb my body when I was dead?

  “Was killing me not enough for you? Did you cut up my body in hopes of what, hanging it somewhere as a trophy?”

  He held his hands up and spoke to me slowly as one would when trying to calm a scared animal.

  “Sapphire, I was trying to save you, I…”

  “Stop lying to me! Why would you want me to live, what brought on this sudden change?”

  I was tired of all the lies, for once I wanted a straight answer. He raised one of his eyebrows and gave me an answer that rendered me speechless.

  “You are my mate.”

  He said this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and it almost made me laugh, I wanted to scream at him but felt a sharp pinch in my arm, I looked down to see a small dart sticking out of my arm. I ripped it out but felt whatever it was coated in start to take effect, the world around was swaying and swirling. I tried to walk but only managed a few steps before the world around me turned black.

  *I was so nervous; my hands were sweating as my servants prepared me for the main event. I had looked around the palace earlier and marvelled at its beauty, gold and black fabric curled at the pillars with flowers covering every inch they could.*

  *It was my husband’s birthday and it customary that the Queen danced for him. I was so scared, there were nobles present at his birthday. They never approved of my marriage to Xander, today’s performance could change the way they thought of me, or cement what they already believed.*

  *I wore a gold piece of embroidered cloth that just covered my breasts, leaving most of my midriff bare, a long golden sheer skirt hung on my hips and covered my legs, this might have been comforting if not for the fact that it had two slits on either side that almost ran up the whole length of my leg. My every movement would be made known due to the tiny silver discs that were stitched to the waistline of my skirt. I had golden bangles on my arm and there was a string of sapphires running from the bottom of my top to the top of my skirt.*

  *"You ready, Your Highness?"*

  *One of the dancers shook me out of my mental panic. She was dressed in the same type of clothing but with pants and her clothing was black in colour, the other of our kingdom’s royal colours.*

  *"Yes, I am."*

  *My heart was pounding as I said that, no I was not ready, not ready to most probably make a fool of myself to the whole court. The dancer must have sensed my nervousness as she slowly took my hand.*

  *“Your Highness, I am sure you will do fine, His Majesty would love anything you do for him, just remember, let the music do the work for you.”*

  *I gave her hand an appreciative squeeze before taking a deep breath and walking out.*

  *We walked out into the Main Hall where functions and parties are held. It was a huge room with great tall pillars and a big circular fire pit in the ground. Most of the time the room was lit by the many chandeliers that hung from the ceiling but today, the room was only lit by some candles on the wall and the fire pit which bathed the room in an orange glow, I noticed that many nobles from across the kingdom made the journey to celebrate my husband's birthday.*

  *Many of them were good-looking but only one man caught my eye. My beloved was currently sat down on a throne facing the fire pit, he had one hand under his chin as he watched us walk out, he easily outstripped any of the other men in terms of looks with his jet-black hair and piercin
g grey eyes.*

  *We took our places around the fire pit with me directly in front of him, I shivered in disgust as I felt the lustful gazes directed towards us from the other men in the room, my eyes sought my King’s and I felt more confident from the soft smile he sent my way. The drum beats started to fall and I moved my hips from side to side following the beats of the drum, I ran my hands through my hair as I lost myself to the music, I drew my hands above my head as I danced, I felt the eyes of the other men following our movements but I only kept eye contact with one man.*

  *The drums sped up and our movements followed the beat. We rotated our bodies, extended our legs and ran our hands up them.*

  *It seemed forever had past when the drums finally ceased, my chest heaved as small pants left lips, silence took over the music before a loud round of applause filled the hall, I let out a grin as my King beckoned me to come towards him, he pulled me onto his lap and giving me a small kiss on my cheek.*

  *“Thank you for the dance, my love."*

  *"You are most welcome, my darling.”*

  I jolted awake, stretching before shivering in disgust. What in the world did I just dreamt of? I shook my head, hoping to rid myself of that nightmare. If this was the Moon Goddess’s way of trying to get me to fall in love with Damien and forgive him by showing my past memories she had another thing coming, I was not that easy to persuade. There was no doubt that the man in the dream loved whoever I was, it was clear in the gentleness of his touch and voice… very unlike Damien. The shy nature if the queen was foreign to me, if you didn’t exude confidence, people would eat you alive. Damien and I were very different people than Xander and Rose, it was time the goddesses understood that.

  I surveyed my surroundings, I was in a large Victorian-style room and was now sitting on a large four-pillared bed which was draped in black satin sheets. Thoughts of that dream still filled my head before I decided that there were more pressing issues at hand, I needed to find out whose bed I was on. I lowered my head and sniffed the pillows, the scent that registered in my mind caused me to growl and rip the pillow apart. Feathers flying everywhere before softly landing on the bed like snow.

  I was in Damien's room. The pillows were innocent, but it was still a cathartic release, imagining that the pillows were him. My claws would replicate the pillow’s fate unto him the moment I have a chance.

  I was about to bolt out of the room, after I finished murdering the pillows, and find a way to escape. My mind was already racing to come up with possible scenarios and solutions… Damien would have probably left at most ten guards outside the room who I could probably talk to.

  I rushed to the door and was about to grip the handle when a sudden sharp pain in my lower abdomen caused me to keel over, a wave of heat seemed to envelop my body as I let out a groan. Of all the times it could happen why now, I cursed and swore as I bolted the doorI could not risk Damien entering the room, my eyes searched the room before falling onto the metal frame of the bed. Taking a deep breath, I walked over to break it off the structure. I slid the rod through the handle and used my strength to bend the rod into an X, praying that it wouldn’t snap… luckily, it did not. I bit my lip before dragging Damien’s huge closet in front of it, I could never be too careful. I took deep breaths as the pain intensified; sometimes I really hated being a girl. Curses left my lips again as I heard footsteps outside the door before the banging ensued.

  "Sapphire, open this door right now!"

  I decided not to reward him with a response as I limped towards the en-suite bathroom, the banging got even louder, the poor door. Normally an Alpha would have easily broken down the door. However, since that happened so often, many of us lined our doors with silver, everything else I did was a precaution.

  "This is my room!"

  I rolled my eyes and continued to let the bathtub fill up with ice-cold water, I have not heard that since I locked Lia out of her room when we were kids.

  "Well, you should have thought of that before putting me in here!”

  I replied to him in a sing-song voice before testing the water temperature, not cold enough.

  “You need me more than I need you in there, Sapphire.”

  Men, sometimes it gets into their head and they think they are the solution to all women’s problems, if we needed males every time we went into heat the werewolf population would have tripled by now.

  “What makes you think I would let you touch me after all the things you did to me!”

  I would have continued if not for the wave of heat that hit me causing me to double over, it was called heat for a reason, stupid werewolf hormones.

  I looked around and sighed in relief when I finally saw what I had been looking for, I dragged myself to the table where a bottle of wine was sitting in a bucket of ice. I threw the bottle to the ground, ignoring the sound of it meeting the ground. I struggled to walk to the bathtub before emptying the entire contents of the ice tray into the already cold water.

  I hummed to myself, listening to the banging of the door and the numerous apologises spewing out of Damien’s mouth, as I stripped out of my dirt and bloodied clothing. He should not waste his breath, what was the point of apologising now, he knew the damage he had done. A simple ‘I am sorry’ barely scratched the surface of what he should be doing… well, he probably should not put any effort into apologising, after all, it was not as if I was going to forgive him, the scars ran too deep for me to.

  A small shiver ran down my spine as I sank into the icy depths of the bathtub, a small contented sigh left my lips as I felt the cool sensation from the water spread through my body, cooling the heat that was in its place before.

  I grimaced at the water which had now turned light brown due to the dried blood and dirt that had caked my body, but I shook that thought off as I enjoyed the pleasant sensation the water left on my skin, I deserved this, time to myself as I contemplated what to do next.

  My eyes started to close before the banging of the door broke me out of my peaceful reverie, I glared at the door, it was hard for me to get the relaxation that I deserved if he keeps on interrupting my peace with his banging and apologies, I wanted to scream and him but restrained myself. Remember Sapphire, all good things come to those who wait.

  Chapter Sixteen: Warrior’s Return

  Sapphire Nightborne

  I wandered through the hallways, it was eerie just how empty they were, no guards patrolling, nothing. The walls were decorated with wolfskins and judging by the sheer size of the wolfskin, they weren’t your usual run-of-the-mill wolves.

  I walked through the hallways trying to find an exit or a window I could escape from, there were many windows yes, but they were barred with silver… what a wonderful environment to grow up in, no wonder Damien became such a nutcase. I was walking through the largest hallway yet when something caught my eye and made me stop, it was a huge painting of Damien’s family.

  Damien was an exact carbon copy of his father, but the most unnerving thing to me was the eyes of Damien’s parents. His father’s were as cold as ice while his mother’s were as dead as the leaves in winter and to me, it was like seeing into the future, my future if I were to accept Damien as my mate.

  I remembered Roland Black very well, even as a child, his icy gaze left a deep impression on me.

  *“Lia, hurry up!”*

  *I had just seen the large entourage cross our pack borders when I was in the forest training. There were at least twenty wolves running around the Black Lake which was a tell-tale sign that someone important was coming. I could not wait to see who it was.*

  *I turned my head to shout at Lia to speed up before I ran into a tree and fell on my arse. I turned to see who had placed a tree on the path when my eyes met a pair of legs, they continued to wander up to see a mountain of a man staring down at me.*

  *“Are you lost, little one?”*

  *His tone made me want to curl up in a ball and hide. His face would have been considered handsome if it weren’t for the
large scar that cut across his entire face. His men formed a circle around me with Lia looking on terrified.*

  *“I asked you a …”*

  *“Alpha Roland, I thought we gave you the proper directions to the stronghold.”

  *My shoulders sagged with relief as my father came into view with his generals. Alpha Roland’s men parted, and I ran to hide behind my father who placed an arm around me protectively.*

  *“Your territory is so large, Xavier. You cannot possibly blame someone for losing their way.”*

  *“My men will guide you to the stronghold where Alpha Edan is waiting for you.”*

  *By this time Lia had run to our father as well and hid with me behind him. I watched as Alpha Roland and his men turned heel with my father’s generals.*

  *“Your daughters are beautiful, Xavier. You should not just let them run in the forest by themselves, you never know what might happen to them.”*