Chapter 430: The Forgotten Past - XXIV

[Trigger Warning: Content in this scene includes sensitive themes of abuse. Reader discretion is advised.]

[Music recommendation: Soundscape to Ardor - tybw version is a cover made by AxelAvix.]

Mates were a blessing from the universe, granted only to those fortunate enough to find one. Their bond was so powerful that even death could not keep them apart. But if someone tampered with it by forcing a mark onto one of the bonded pair, the connection would become corrupted, and the consequences would be fatal for them both.

That was exactly what Malakov had intended to do ever since he discovered that Hera was Gavriel’s mate.

A devious plan centred on one thing alone... corrupting their sacred bond.

By doing so, he would rid himself of Gavriel once and for all without ever having to draw a blade against him.

After all, that was the silent lesson he had learned from their father’s past mistake.

Raizel had formed fake bonds with other women before he ever bonded with Lilith. Yet the consequences had been the same, as fate punished them by slowly draining their lives away.

However, since Hera and Gavriel were already bonded, Malakov expected the deadly consequences to take effect far more quickly.

Malakov knew that the mating ritual performed on a full moon required both partners to become intimate and mark each other. But he had calculated the high possibility that Hera would refuse to mark him in return, even in her drugged state. So, to ensure the corruption took hold, he turned to the same forbidden spell Raizel had once used on his mistresses and marked Hera. That single action alone would be enough to set the corrupted cycle in motion.

Although Raizel had ordered the destruction of everything related to the forbidden ritual used to create a false bond, Malakov’s maternal uncle had secretly preserved the knowledge for future use. Eventually, he passed that forbidden knowledge to Malakov, leaving him free to use it as he saw fit.

Malakov’s plan was simple... have Gavriel marry Hera, let him successfully mark her to solidify their bond, and wait.

He waited while playing the part of a perfectly obedient prince. When the ideal opening presented itself on the night of the full moon, he would force his own mark upon her and corrupt their bond so that they would eventually die together, just like the King and the Queen.

With Hera becoming bound to him as well, Malakov would use their bond to control her and wield her incredible powers to do his bidding.

He knew Gavriel would be driven insane by another man marking his mate. Gavriel would view it as a betrayal, and Malakov would exploit his madness to have him sealed away on the seventh level of the Underworld until he eventually died there.

Malakov would have succeeded long ago by keeping Gavriel occupied with beasts breaching Tartarus. However, he had not expected Gavriel to take Hera along with him on every mission, which had repeatedly delayed his plans.

So he orchestrated chaos by using his brother Azrath as a distraction.

Vorra came as an additional blessing, harbouring her own deep resentment toward Hera. He made a blood bond with her, turning her into his loyal servant by falsely promising her Gavriel once he got rid of Hera, assuring her that she would take Hera’s place by Gavriel’s side.

Jealousy and envy were such beautiful things, and Malakov loved to use them to his full advantage and Vorra had not disappointed him one bit.

Coming back to the present, as he sank his fangs deeper into the soft skin of Hera’s neck and forced his false mate bond upon her, a wave of dark glee filled his entire being. It grew even sweeter when she screamed at the top of her lungs, her weak limbs thrashing in a desperate attempt to push him away.

He knew this was only the first step toward the beginning of his era, but his blood sang at the taste of her divine and potent life force. Even though he possessed no soul beast like devils, he felt his powers surging stronger with every drop he consumed. More than that, an unhinged desire to claim her completely began to drive Malakov insane.

Clamping her wrists in a bruising grip above her head, he used his other hand to violently tear her nightgown enough to expose her thighs and proceeded to force her knees apart to take her by brute force. The rich, intoxicating scent of roses radiating from her skin consumed his senses, driving him to drown in her completely.

However, in forcing another mate bond onto Hera, he had forgotten one crucial detail... when a mate bond was established, it made both mates much stronger.

The excruciating pain, raw fury, and absolute revulsion of being defiled by another monstrous man, especially while carrying her mate’s child, caused Hera’s body to flare a furious crimson before erupting into pure, blinding white light.

With his fangs still dug brutally into her neck, Malakov did not see the shift in her... until a colossal shockwave erupted from her entire form. The blast of powerful energy struck him like a battering ram, hurling his body across the vast chamber and slamming him violently into the wall.

The impact was so sudden that Malakov’s vision blurred for a second, and he felt his lips burn.

Groaning in pain and disorientation, he raised a shaky hand to his lips, only to realise that the skin around his mouth was burned and tender to the touch.

Shock coursed through his veins. Raising his blood-red eyes, he looked toward the woman who had been weak and helpless beneath him only seconds ago.

Hera was now levitating above the bed, emitting a blinding aura of white light.

Her eyes snapped open, blazing like hellfire. Despite the blood dripping profusely from the wound on her neck and staining her white nightgown, her eyes spat pure venom as her chest heaved.

"How. Dare. You." Hera’s low voice shook the very foundation of the room.

Her entire body trembling with the fury coursing through her veins, Hera raised her hand and spat, "I’ll kill you, bastard!"

Just then, the door burst open, and Vorra walked in.

She was shocked to see Hera in such a terrifying form.

Her gaze momentarily dropped to Hera’s bloodied neck before she stumbled backwards, raising a hand to her face in mock horror. "By the Devil! You betrayed His Highness!"

Malakov, who had been staring at Hera in sheer shock, suddenly smirked viciously upon noticing dark, black roots of corruption spreading rapidly across her throat.

"Will you really kill your mate, Hera?" he taunted, his voice dripping with malice. "Have you thought about what would happen to your unborn child?"

His words acted as an immediate catalyst.

Hera did not hesitate for a single heartbeat and hurled a colossal blast of pure white energy straight at Malakov’s chest.

But before the attack could reach him, he dissolved into black smoke and disappeared from the room.

The blast struck the wall behind him, blowing apart an entire section and leaving a gaping hole that revealed the storm-ravaged sky outside.

Vorra did not wait around either.

All her mock horror and bravado dissolved in an instant as she bolted into the corridor, desperate to save her own skin.

As the culprits vanished from Hera’s sight, the adrenaline that had fueled her powers vanished, and strength suddenly drained from her body. The strain was simply too much to bear, and she collapsed back onto the bed.

She curled inward with a sharp, searing agony lancing through her lower abdomen. A breathless groan escaped her lips as she clamped her hands over her stomach, while feeling the ragged skin of her neck burn as Malakov’s corrupted bond dug its venomous roots deeper into her soul.

Uncontrollable tears streamed down from her exhausted eyes as she felt it... her baby. Something was terribly wrong.

Slowly, she pulled her hand away, only for her gaze to drop to her horrific state. Her gown was torn open at the thighs, and her eyes widened in pure dread when she saw the blood trickling down.

"No... my baby!" Hera cried out in despair, wrapping her arms protectively around her stomach as she sobbed, "No, no, no... I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, my baby..."

She wept bitter tears for a life snuffed out before it could truly begin, a child meant to be the living proof of her love for Gavriel.

"Nooooo!" she screamed in agony at the thought that she never even got to share the good news with Gavriel. That he wouldn’t even get the joy of knowing he was going to be a father.

As Hera’s entire body trembled with unbridled sorrow, her eyes caught something else in the dark chamber.

Something large and fluffy lay motionless across the floor.