404 THIS WILL NEVER BE EASY

Both of them knew that they couldn’t stop finding Chaos’ shattered souls, to be able to suppress the darkness inside of him, as it would also give him strength.

Therefore, instead of preventing himself from using his own power, it would make more sense if Chaos himself became stronger in order to overpower himself.

“This will not end like this. We will survive this,” Chaos promised against her hair, as he hugged her tightly and kissed her temple.

This was the strongest feeling that he felt for her, strong enough for him to want to be with her, regardless of the consequences he had to face.

It was strong enough for him to not care about anything else but her.

It was her and always would be her, since the very beginning.

His very existence was always for her...

On the other hand, Zuri didn’t say anything. She buried her face in his chest, as she felt his strong arms wrap around her body. This gave her a sense of safety, something that she would never feel from anyone else.

She closed her eyes, trying to remember this feeling and engrave it deeply in her mind, so she would never forget this. To give her strength when Chaos forgot about her, when he finally lost himself.

.....

She would remember this.

She would remember this for both of them.

“There is one of your shattered souls in this village,” Zuri said in a quiet voice. She gritted her teeth, as she hugged him even tighter.

This was it.

This was the end of it.

Living in this village for the last few weeks felt like a dream, a dream that she didn’t want to end, something that she would keep in the back of her head, something that she would long for when she faced reality, because this memory would give her solace.

The feeling of serenity that she probably would never feel again.

At the very least, there was one time in their lives, where they lived like normal people, as if they didn’t have that kind of past...

Zuri would cherish this moment and feeling.

“We need to see it,” Chaos said.

“Hm,” Zuri mumbled. She was conflicted, yet she stilled her heart, because she knew this was what she signed up for.

=========================

“She is inside,” Zuri said in a small voice. She didn’t want to see Chaos in the eyes. Both of them were now in front of the small store. The same store where Zuri bought her dress and got her necklace. “I will stay here,” she said again.

However, before Chaos could go inside, someone walked out of the store and greeted Zuri with a bright smile on her face.

“Ah! I know it is you!” She clapped her hands happily to see Zuri there. “I know it is you because no one has this beautiful hair except you around here.” The old lady then looked at Chaos before she leaned in to whisper to her. “Is this your man? He is not bad.”

Not bad, that was an understatement, Chaos could easily win any competition if the point was based on appearance.

“Come inside, I have a new dress, I think it will suit you well,” the old lady was making things difficult for her right now.

This was why Zuri didn’t want to attach herself to someone else, because this kind of thing would really hurt her in the end.

“What are you doing standing there? Come here, I will show you the dress,” the old lady said joyfully, as she pulled Zuri into her small store. “I will braid your hair too like before, you look so pretty in that style.”

It was still early in the morning, thus the store was empty and would be for the next few hours.

Therefore, it would only be the three of them inside.

On the other hand, Chaos entered the store, as the old lady led them inside and flipped the sign, ‘open’ to ‘close’.

No one would come, at least not until they realized there was something off with this store...

Inside the store, the old lady took her time taking out the dress that she mentioned earlier and returned a while later with a purple dress in hand. She beamed happily to show the dress to Zuri.

During that time, Chaos had his eyes on her, but not even once she reciprocated his gaze, or even looked him in the eyes.

Zuri lowered her head, because she knew he would know what exactly she felt right now. Even so, Chaos already knew it...

“Look!” The old lady showed the dress to Zuri because she was so happy to show it to her and then laughed, as she thought the girl kept lowering her head because she was bashful, since her boyfriend was there with them. “You don’t need to be shy like that, come here, try this on, I am sure this will suit you. Oh, I wish Renee is still alive, she must be around your age...” she reminisced.

“Renee?” Zuri took the dress, the fabric was so heavy in her hand, but maybe it wasn’t because of the dress, but it was her feeling that felt so heavy.

“Yes, she is my granddaughter, she died ten years ago from illness,” the old lady’s voice softened when she talked about her dead granddaughter. She missed her and she treated Zuri as if she were her.

Zuri bit her lips, she didn’t want to say anything about it, as she could sense Chaos’ eyes were already on her.

“Oh, I am sorry, I don’t mean to tell you a sad story.” The old lady covered her mouth, she was so sweet and this wouldn’t be easy.

It would never be easy...

“I will try this,” she murmured.

“Right, I will do your hair once you are done,” the old lady said brightly, as she smiled without knowing what kind of fate that was waiting for her once Zuri was out of her sight.

However, Zuri didn’t say anything, or even turn back to look at her for one last time. Because she knew there was no good reason for her to do that.

For her, it almost felt like she lost Anne for the second time...

Anne’s death was a hurtful memory that stuck in her heart the most. Zuri had seen her uncle die before her eyes at the hands of Alpha Xerxes and countless others deaths after she became one of the best warriors in the pack.

But, those deaths didn’t affect her as much as it did with Anne’s, since she wasn’t emotionally attached to them. It was easy to watch people die before her eyes or take her enemies’ lives when you didn’t have that kind of emotional attachment.

However, with this old lady whose name she didn’t even know, she felt like she saw a glimpse of Anne in her.

“Do you want to go on a picnic at the meadow again?” the old lady asked Zuri before she entered the changing room. “I heard the tree is withered now. It is weird, since the tree is thriving all this time.”

Zuri didn’t say anything in response to that, as she entered the changing room and took off her shirt and pants, as slowly as possible, while listening to one sentence that Chaos said before everything went so silent.

“Can you show me that shirt?” That was what Chaos said, Zuri didn’t even listen to what reply that the old lady gave to him.

Because after that, everything was exceptionally silent. There was no way Zuri couldn’t hear anything, unless Chaos used his power to muffle any sounds. He didn’t want her to hear anything.

No one talked about this, but it was kind of a tacit understanding between the two of them.

historical

Zuri felt like it had been ages, until she finally finished putting on her dress and then walked out of the changing room.

She was wearing a white, knee length dress, with a V neck that accentuated her collarbones, while its sleeves were long enough to cover her hands.

The design of this white dress was simple, but surely Zuri managed to pull it off.

However, that was not the main focus for now because at this moment, all Zuri wanted was to get out of the store as soon as possible, especially when she saw Chaos standing alone outside, staring at her.

“You look beautiful,” Chaos said, as his gaze softened. His eyes were still dark, but not as dark as before.

“I want to see the tree,” Zuri said in a low voice, she didn’t respond to Chaos’ statement. She felt awful in this dress.

She knew that Chaos made it quick and as painless as possible, but it didn’t help ease her guilty conscience. Would it always be like this?

What about when Chaos took his soul from Nikolai or that boy... the young boy that Zuri thought would be her mate when he came of age, as the connection between them was already there...

Would she get away with this guilty feeling easily?

Zuri didn’t think about it deeply before, but the death of the old lady, surely, snapped something in her, as this new realization and feeling dawned on her.

“I heard the tree is withering, I want to see it,” Zuri said, as she lifted her head to look at Chaos.

“Okay,” Chaos replied simply and then took her hand, as they walked out of the store.

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*Read my new book: KISSED BY THE DARK ALPHA*

Alpha Micah Donovan’s second chance mate.