Smoke and Mirrors (Smoke and Mirrors Series Book 1)

by S. N. Nair

  It had been so easy at that time to recite it out with conviction and confidence, but now I realised what it truly meant. I was going to give my whole life away so that they could live theirs. They probably won’t even know that I made this sacrifice, they would probably think they were skilled enough to escape or lucky enough not to get caught.

  I was too absorbed in my thoughts that I had not realised a lacquered wooden box had been placed on the windowsill, my first instinct was to throw it back to where it came from when I saw that a note had been attached to it.

  *Dear Sapphire,*

  *I know that I could never begin to understand what you’re feeling now and I am terribly sorry that more pressure has to be piled onto you.*

  *Damien has requested that you wear our mother’s jewels, the same jewellery she wore to her binding ceremony. He would also like to remind you of the precious cargo you would lose if you defy him.*

  *He could not write this letter himself as he had ‘urgent affairs’ to attend to. I promise you, Sapphire, I will help you find a way to leave this hellhole.*

  *Sincerely,

  Chloe*

  The only sound in the room was that of paper crushing as I balled up the paper in one hand, I looked at it one last time before throwing it right out of the window. Even when Damien was not here, he still found ways to chip at my spirit.

  I carried the box to the dresser before opening it, the jewellery in it was infamous as was its previous owner. Valentina wore this the day she was forced to renounce her entire pack and family, she was in a room just like me, knowing that she was signing her life away to monster... for eternity.

  I always wondered how she felt, knowing the monster was waiting for her just a floor below. I expected my hands to shake as I fastened the first piece around my neck, but they did not. Not because I was resigned to my fate but because unlike Valentina, I was going to fight. I was going to fight back Everyday, and make Damien regret ever bonding himself to me. The first piece was a thin piece of fabric with a small onyx wolf as its pendant, this was a symbol of possession and ownership. Roland wanted the world to know of the trophy he had gained, and today his son wanted the same too.

  I reached into the box to pick up the next piece of jewellery when my hand brushed against an envelope. I picked up the white paper before turning it to see Chloe’s handwriting on the front.

  *This was all I could save. I am sorry Sapphire.*

  I ripped the envelope open before turning it upside down. Tears brimmed in my eyes as I saw the blue stone that fell into my hand. The gold chain might be new, but the stone was not. The tears began to fall as I stroked the stone with my finger. Pressing my lips to it, I reached the fabric around my neck. The sound of silk tearing Resonated through the room as I ripped off the collar and chucked it to the side of the room.

  My hands shook as I reached my hands around to clasp the necklace in place. I took in a deep breath as the pendant settled at its place at the base of my throat, a warm feeling seemed to spread across my entire body. I sighed as I opened my eyes and looked at the mirror in front of me.

  The girl now staring at me through the mirror was the total opposite of me, she had a soft glow surrounding her face that was framed by even softer curls, and she looked like a picture-perfect bride. What a lie. This was not my happy ever after, not the ending I thought I would have.

  The only thing that stood out was my sapphire necklace that clashed with the colour scheme of everything else, that brought a smile to my face. He can try all he wants but he will never be able to own me completely.

  *“Don’t cry my Queen, even the stars never fail to marvel at your beauty.”*

  I almost snapped my neck as I turned to look around the huge room looking for the source of that voice but no one was in the room now except me, great now I was hearing voices, first I lost my family then my future and now I was going to lose my mind. A knock on the door jarred me from my thoughts, a few guards called out to me to escort me to hell, I took one last look around the room before sighing. Let’s get this done and be done with it fast.

  Chapter Twenty-One: Soul-Bound

  Damien Black

  I could not hide the grin on my face as I strode back to my quarters after talking to my caged songbird. She actually believed me, actually truly believed me. I saw the hope that shone in her eyes, she actually believed that she could still save some of her pack. Such nobility, she was willing to give herself to me, something that she adamantly refused for the past few weeks and with just one minute with me, she sold herself. I knew that there would be a high chance she would snap up the bait the moment I dangled it in front of her eyes. The guilt she forced herself to feel would convince her that she would need to do whatever it took to right the wrong she made. She felt as though she had failed them before, but I had always assumed that it would take days or weeks for her to finally agree to my terms.

  Pack members avoided my gaze and moved out of the way as they saw the grin on my face, but I couldn't care less, finally, I would have her, something that was my right since I was born, she was going to be mine and no others. Sure, she would probably hate me when she found out the truth, but I am sure that after a few weeks of me breaking her in after the ceremony, she would just learn to live with the fact that Blackwater Pack was no more.

  Yes, it was true that my scouts did find some of her pack camping a few miles away from the Blackwater Pack’s Northern Border, but I never said they left them alive. They were loose ends that needed to be tied up anyway. It was easy to kill them as they were mostly the weak, injured and old that did not participate on the battlefield, so they were not much of a problem to my scouts. So if it was any consolation to her they died a quick and mostly painless death. So in actual fact, I did not lie to Sapphire, I just did not tell her the whole truth.

  Every night, my sleep was plagued with nightmares of a burning castle and a woman’s screams. It was fate that kept pushing Sapphire towards me, and now I shall finally honour her request. Sapphire would be mine, and mine alone. We will live as the King and Queen as we once were, ruling over the packs. I have learned that I needed to see the beauty in those nightmares. Besides the death and blood, I saw myself standing over a vast kingdom with lands that stretched beyond the eye could see and every inch belonged to me. Amidst the fires, I saw what really power looked like and I wanted what was once mine and will be mine again. With Sapphire, I will have the Alphas bending their knees and my lands will stretch further than did in the past. With her power, I will not fall like I did in the past.

  ************************************************************************************************

  The whole pack stood before me as we waited for Sapphire to arrive at the main hall where we were all gathered. The soft light from the full moon shone in through the skylight, bathing the altar where I stood in its silvery glow. A small sob from the rows of seats distracted me, I cringed as I looked at Karmen’s face. Her mangled face wet with tears as she tried to get my attention, I gestured for my men to take her away, she will not be allowed to ruin this moment for me.

  “Damien, please don’t do this! I am so sorry I failed you, but please don’t do this! I love—“

  It had been weeks since the fight, but she still was unable to heal properly. Her wounds were still open, barely healing, and her once beautiful features were now marred with five red lines across her face. One of her eyes forced shut, her lips twisted into a permanent snarl. She has also been unable to shift as Sapphire had grievously injured her wolf to the point where she could no longer heal like the rest of us. She was not a wolf anymore, she was no longer one of us. Her wounds and disability still did not stop her from trying to share my bed, but her efforts were futile as I could not bear to let someone like that share my bed.

  A hush fell over my pack as the guards in front of the large oaken doors slammed their ceremonial spears against the ground to signal that Sapphire had arrived. A groan could be heard as the large doors we
re pushed opened to reveal her, Sapphire Nightshade, a true vision in gold. Her copper skin glowed in the gold fabric that her body was wrapped in, her hair shimmered like silk as they cascaded down her shoulders. All in all, she truly looked like an angel that had descended from the heavens except for one thing that ruined the whole mirage.

  Her eyes.

  They looked as they did when she entered the arena, full of fire and ready to engage in battle, that was what this is to her, a battle that she had to go through to save lives just as she did before. They looked at me, not with the passion one would expect from a mate, but rather with hatred, pure cold hatred. It did not matter much to me at the moment, she would just have to learn to love me if she wanted her pack to ‘live’. I closed my eyes as she walked closer to me and when I opened them I saw her.

  *Her lovely fair hair was put up with soft curls framing her face, they complemented gold silk she was draped in. Her eyes completed the look, they shone with so much love, not towards them many men gazing at her, but to me. She looked down as she neared me, a shy smile graced her features as she walked up the steps to stand in front of the altar. I did not deserve her, I did not something so pure and loving. A blush stained her cheeks as took her hands as the priest started to read but I paid no attention, my attention was focused on something else, something that was much more important. After so long, Avarelia finally had a worthy Queen.*

  “Damien?”

  I looked down to see Sapphire staring at me, there was no shy smile on her features. She did not cast her gaze to the floor, instead, her lips were flattened in one straight line and she looked straight into my eyes without a hint of embarrassment or shyness. I was so proud of her, she was already behaving like the Queen I needed her to be. I gave a small shake of my head as I extended a hand towards her to help her onto the platform where the altar stood. She scoffed before knocking my hand away, lifting her skirts and proceeded to walk up the steps by herself.

  The elder who stood behind the altar cleared his throat before proceeding with the readings that had been said for hundreds of years.

  “Everyone today we are gathered today to witness the binding of our Great Alpha, Damien Black, and his mate, Sapphire Nightshade.”

  A scoff left her lips but the elder chose to ignore it and carried on.

  “Today under the light of the full moon and the eyes of the Moon Goddess.”

  Another scoff left Sapphire’s lips, her expression clearly displayed her annoyance as she scowled at the ceiling. Her lips moving, silently cursing the goddesses. She may hate them, but I owed them everything.

  “You will pledge your promises to each other as mates, making the vow to cherish, love and to be faithful to each other till death do you part.”

  “Undying love, my ass.”

  The elder grit his teeth before he gestured for me to start first.

  “Sapphire, I promise to love and cherish you till death do you part, I promise to never let you go and to never leave you alone.”

  “I wonder why you won’t let me go…oh right… I am your prisoner.”

  I chose to ignore her snarky remark before carrying on. Some pack members sniffled, some smiled, Sapphire yawned. The elder scowled before gesturing at her to continue.

  “I am not going to.”

  Gasps were heard. What did she just say? She rolled her eyes before turning to my pack.

  “Don’t act so surprised. You all know that I hate everything about your Alpha and would never go through with this unless there was a knife being hung above my head but unlike him, I am not going to make vows that I know I am not going to keep. We all know he doesn’t love me, he lusts for me. All of you on the other hand, want me as a trophy to benefit yourselves and I know as sure as hell that your Alpha is not going to faithful so why bother with all the theatrics, let’s get this over with and be done with it.”

  Stunned looks found their way to my members’ faces as they watched her brazen actions, without batting an eyelash, Sapphire gestured to the elder to quicken the pace of things and get to the important part. The elder met my eyes and I nodded for him to proceed. Sapphire would pay dearly for this humiliation, I grabbed her arm and whispered into her ear.

  “What do you think you are doing?”

  She smiled before caressing my cheek and tiptoeing to whisper in my ear.

  “You just told me I had to go through this accursed ceremony, you said nothing about enjoying it besides, what type of Alpha Female would I be to these people if I start lying to them right off the bat.”

  She smiled at me before turning to the elder.

  He took out a blade that had been used for ceremonies such as this one by my pack since its beginning, it had been made from black stone and mpingo. He passed it to Sapphire who slit her palm without even blinking before handing it to me, I took it from her quickly as she looked as though she wanted to use it as a weapon to stab me.

  I slit my own palm before holding it up in front of her, she did the same, both our blood stained the white silk below us as we clasped our hands together. Her eyes flashed gold before slowly turning back to their dark brown, I felt stronger and more powerful than ever, it was as if someone had given me a shot of adrenaline.

  My pack roared and howled for their Alpha and new Alpha Female, everyone seemed to be in a celebratory mood accept Sapphire who had tears streaming down her face, the clear streams turned black as they fell from her eyes. It seemed as though I was in a trance as I reached my bloody hand to wipe her tears before reaching to the back of her neck and pushing her lips onto mine, her lips were hard and unmoving as she pressed them together but it did not matter to me.

  She was mine once again.

  Chapter Twenty-Two: Gold and Red

  Sapphire Nightshade

  The dam that I had been trying to keep up for so long started to crack the moment I felt my strength ebb away. It was as if part of my soul was being ripped away from me, and knowing that it was all going to him, that was what broke me. All my life, people had used me for my power, made me their experiment, guard dog and freak, but at least they could never take it away from me. Half of it was gone now... forever, I will never get it back.

  The first tear broke through the dam before the rest follow suit, streaming freely in a single file down my face before collecting at the point of my chin and hitting the ground below. I have seen tears many a times during ceremonies like this, but those people were happy to be bounded forever, they were not filled with despair and dread. The taste of salt slowly spread on my tongue as some of their droplets pass through the cracks of my blood red lips. If the dam had a crack in it before, he fully destroyed it with his next action.

  He grabbed the back of my neck with great force before he crashed his lips against mine, he moved his lips while I remained as still as stone. It was not a sweet kiss, not a loving kiss, but a possessive kiss. He was declaring to everyone here in this room that I was his, that he owned me. This was my first kiss and he was the one who took it away from me, he took away the magic of it, the innocence of a first kiss. I always wanted it to be a fond memory I could look back on, he twisted it into a memory that I indeed would never forget, but would never stop trying to.

  “To our Alpha, the Conqueror!”

  The ugly roars and cheers of his pack filled the room, the triumphant looks on their faces did not go unnoticed by me, they were happy that their Alpha had humiliated the girl who defied them, who disgraced them.

  They ruined this ceremony, they robbed it of its sanctity. This ceremony was created to join two souls as one, to be a display of pure love and yet, they violated it and had the audacity to talk about tradition. This would have been a welcoming ceremony for the new addition to their family, not a display of petty revenge against a glorified war prisoner.

  I let Damien drag me off the altar and walk down the centre aisle, I turned away and winced as his pack showered us with rose petals. The soft brush of those petals against my skin might as well have been aci
d thrown on me as I shuddered away from those flowers. Roses, the symbol of love, for centuries they have been given to and fro between lovers, so special that a few of them could even rectify the most grievous mistakes committed.

  “I can’t believe he did it!”

  “Not so tough now, is she?”

  These whispers fell on my ears as loud as drums, they were a slap in my face and a blow to my pride. Here I was, the Great Head Warrior Commander of the Blackwater Pack, being led down the aisle like a common mare for a show, but what choice did I have. I wanted to wrench my hand away from his grip, curl up in a ball and cry my heart out, I was so humiliated.

  The whispers began to increase in volume as well as in numbers, mounting up and ready to engulf me. I wanted to tune each and every one of them out when one caught my attention.

  “How can we expect such a gullible female to lead us? Any Alpha Female worth her salt would have known that our Alpha lied.”