I love her. I do. But the desire to hunt her is intrinsic. It’s part of who I am as an Alpha.
Yet there’s something about Serapina that I… I don’t want to see disappear.
She’s—
“There’s beauty in stillness,” she says, distracting me from my thoughts. “Like this…” She walks up to the wall and traces a design etched into the icelike glass. “This crystallized snowflake is forever frozen in perfect lines.”
Serapina sounds awed as she admires the unnoteworthy pattern while clutching the fire lily with her opposite hand.
She’s not like Persephone at all.Persephone hated the cold. Despised snow. “Everything is dead,” she would whisper sadly. It would break my heart and make me wish I could control the seasons.
Alas, I couldn’t.
So we would venture to warmer climates instead.
Oftentimes to visit her mother, Demeter.
“And this,” Serapina whispers, her attention going to a nearby vase holding a frozen bouquet of petalless stems. “It’s like you crystallized life right before death.”
She looks at me, a puzzled expression on her face.
“Is that meant to be a dark concept?” she asks. “Torturing a flower in its final moments? Or maybe it signifies rebirth?”
I stare at her, fascinated by how her mind has crafted such intriguing spins on what was meant to be a simple display of lifeless flowers.
“Everything here is frigid… like death,” I reply. “That’s the purpose.”
She frowns. “But even ice is alive.” She looks down at her lily. “Flowers and plants are not the only symbols of vitality. Sometimes it’s in an artistic depiction. Or simply in an activity you enjoy.” She shrugs. “However, I will say I hope the bedroom has a warm comforter, or I’m going to freeze in this igloo.”
A startled laugh escapes me. “I’ll manifest you a chest of the finest blankets. Whatever you want.”
Which effectively kills the moment for me.
Because there’s only onewantshe’s voiced. Well,twowants.MalikiandMorpheus.
Fuck.
I can’t fault her desire. I’m the monster in her tale.
But I can turn this around. I have to.
She’s still my mate. Just… just reincarnated.
It makes me wonder if all the other Omegas are in different forms now, too. If Demeter somehow stole their souls and put them in new forms.
Human and otherwise.
It’s a mystery I long to solve. No, I don’tlongto solve it; Ineedto solve it. Because I have no idea what’s going to happen when Serapina goes into heat. Will her Omega soul truly take over? Will Persephone wake up?
Or is this Persephone’s permanent existence?
A true rebirth.
The notion stirs a myriad of emotions inside me, ones Idon’t want to identify. Because some of them feel like a betrayal to my mate.
However, a hypothetical question whispers through my mind. I try to push it away, not wanting to hear it, but it’s too loud to ignore.Is it cheating to fall for a new version of my mate, especially when she’s nothing like the Omega I’ve loved for so long?
It’s… it’s a conundrum.
