The Alpha's Blind Fate
Chapter 78: The Win-Win Game

Chapter 78: The Win-Win Game

ZINA

So maybe Seraph had a point. Although it had less to do with desire and more to do with the fact that Daemon NorthSteed looked like such a man.

The kind whose presence could not be easily shaken off.

Add that with the bond that eagerly tugged between both of them, Zina would have been a goner if she were any other woman.

But she wasn’t any other woman.

"Love?" She managed to say through the fog in her brain as Daemon’s teeth grazed her ear in a manner that caused stars to explode in her visions like a thousand pelt of snow. "Don’t you think love is a bit too much considering you’re the reason why Zoric Sofyr took me captive?" She quizzed.

Daemon drew back, his body still glued to hers. Zina didn’t push him away because as far as she was concerned, she had a point to prove to him.

The point that mate bond or not, Zina too could hold her own ground. For she could see it in his stormy dark eyes that threatened to swallow her whole that he was a man that thrived on the art of control and expert manipulation.

So there they were, their breaths mingling together and their eyes and body glued to each other. It was as if each was daring the other to know the first one who would break and keel over the fog of desire that hovered over them.

"Surely you’re not angry about that?" He said, his eyes staring carelessly at her in a way that sucked at her soul. Then his hand reached out, gently caressing her cheeks. "All is fair in love and war. After all, look at you now. Because of that one move you’re with a wolf, with a sight, and now you’re with a mate too."

Zina’s breath stuttered harshly as she felt like she was drowning in Daemon’s own personal hell created for her. Would she truly be able to handle this man? His tactical deviousness? His manipulative control? His eyes that swallowed her whole? His lips curved like they had all the knowledge of the world while Zina knew nothing?

Zina had survived her ordeals alright, but the details of such survival was foggy even to her. She could remember clearly being strangled by Xalea Borne, she could remember being choked by him, and she could remember his terrifying hybrid claws descending for her and her blood spilling like a fountain as death claimed her.

But now, not only was she still alive, but her sight that she never had was restored; she now had a wolf, and a second chance at mate.

There was a whole story she was missing out on. And even if Daemon knew the details of such a story, he didn’t exactly look forthcoming to spill it all.

"What do you want?" Zina asked him, for that was the only question that made any sense to ask. If he was going through circles talking about love and hate, then he had to want something.

Zina leaned up slightly till their face was mere inches away.

"Do you want to take my life as I promised you six years ago? If that is the case I am afraid I am not exactly willing to give you my life anymore."

Daemon stared at her saying nothing. His unabashed stare went from her eyes and lingered on her lips for too long a time, and Zina was horrified that perhaps he wanted to kiss her. His stormy eyes were clouded as if debating something sinister, but finally, he stood straighter.

Zina coughed, clearing her throat uncomfortably as she stood abruptly too, now standing across him.

Surprisingly, he said in a low tone devoid of any particular emotion. "Why claim your life when I can claim the whole of you instead?"

Confusing words. Surely he was spewing nonsense to distract her.

But then, Zina realised she had been distracted from one thing she should never have forgotten. The vision from her younger self.

Beware of the first man your eyes shall meet when the flake falls from your eyes....

"Do you know how to play chess?" He quickly said just as Zina was trying to fully process the sense of foreboding that crowded her brain.

It seemed the entire universe was warning her against the very man standing before her, and yet, the same universe made them mates; a fate that would inextricably entwine them together to the point where they couldn’t untangle themselves.

"No." She answered his question.

He smiled cynically, "I shall teach you then."

And then he was leading her to another table. Although it was no ordinary table, and judging by the pieces on it, Zina figured it was the infamous Wolf Chess that aristocrats werewolves played to fulfil their leisurely desires.

The pieces were already on motion. Zina, who knew nothing of their roles and position, squinted hard, staring at the game. Why did it fill her with a sense of dread?

Daemon picked up a piece. "I assume you do not know anything about the pieces and their positions. But it doesn’t really matter for the game you and I will now play is a most simple one."

Zina looked at him suspiciously. "And what game would that be?"

"Let’s call it the win-win game. You say what you want, I say what I want. Then together, we will fulfil both our desires."

Zina swallowed. It didn’t sound bad a proposal, but she was still suspicious of him, rightfully so.

"There is no way I am playing a game with you without understanding the pieces no matter if it’s a simple one or not." Zina demanded, hands on her waist to convey that she was not budging down with her request.

Daemon smiled shrewdly. "Fair enough."

Then he began to rearrange the black pieces on his own side by first raising them up to explain to her their role and keeping it back on the board at its original position.

"This is the Alpha... and this is the Luna that stands by his side. They occupy the front centre flanked by the warriors."

Zina followed suit with his arrangement, placing her white pieces where they should be as he did with his own black pieces.

"This is the Aberrant, she is always stationed at the back close to the supreme shifter."

Zina made to pick her Aberrant piece but paused midair. Unlike Daemon’s Aberrant that was unmoved even when the game was in motion, her own piece was not staying by the Supreme Shifter’s side as Daemon explained it always should. Instead, it had been moved a step further into the danger zone where anyone could destroy her.

Zina finally picked it up, her heart strangely squeezing tightly in her chest. "Why is it not at its place?" She asked, her stare zoning in at the lone figure of the piece.

Daemon raised an eyebrow. "The first thing you must understand about the wolf chess is that every piece is under the control of the player. If the player wishes, he can sacrifice any piece he so pleases."

Without waiting for her response, Daemon moved the black Aberrant piece on his side two step forward while Zina still clutched onto hers, truly feeling that she was a part of Daemon’s twisted game.

"Now let’s start with what you want." He said.

The flap of the tent opened at the same time, and a bloody body was dragged in by Yaren NorthSteed without care as the body bumped against the ground. Zina stared between Yaren and Daemon, confused, as the body was harshly dropped on the floor.

The face of the bloodied man was exposed, and even though it was mangled, Zina recognized who it was just as a scream threatened to tear out of her throat... but she swallowed down the scream with great difficulty.

Before her was the South Heralder who went missing from his job of spying on the man that had spied on Seraph’s conversation with the tales man.