Chapter 10

THE ESSENCE OF A KINDRED###

ZIONs POV...

Upon opening my eyes, my pulse skips and my breath catches as the darkness I was lost in swiftly dissipates and Miyas' gorgeous face fills me with a profound sense of serenity along with the gentle caressing of her hands upon my face.

"Bonetta," [Fated one.] I whisper with a trapped sigh.

While the last ounce of rage that still clings to me like filth begins to subside, the atmosphere in the cabin becomes decreasingly hostile. Things quickly took a left turn the moment Nova entered the cabin, but that was to be expected, it is the Kindred way.

It is who we are as warriors.

We are feral beasts beneath our thick flesh, possessive, animalistic and driven to rule.

It is why we are the most feared species in the galaxy.

A female Kindred will go to considerable measures to protect the honour of her male Kindred when he has been challenged. Similarly to how a male will give his life to protect his female. The sole disadvantage of a female mated Kindred is that when her mate dies, she will die soon after. Her immortality can only be sustained by the essence of the male Kindred she is mated to.

But, if for some unforeseen reason that a mated Kindred female dies, her mate is condemned to walk through the galaxy alone as he harbours the emotions of grief, anguish, misery and depression. His emotions swirling through his head will be like an act of war against his heart.

Making his very existence unbearable to endure.

I watch as Miya sucks in a sharp breath, her shoulders sagging as she quickly licks her lips before they begin to move. But I can not hear her as the continuous rhythm of my beating hearts continues to thrum in my ears, drowning out her sweet voice.

I shift my gaze to where Sylvan and Nova are kneeling with their heads bowing, "Rise." I breathe out, hating that they are forced physically and mentally to kneel before me.

Miya removes her gentle touch from my face and she turns around to face them with me, and the second Nova rises to her full height, Miya runs towards her and wraps her tiny arms around Novas' waist.

Nova flinches with alarm, a shocked expression staining her beautiful features, "Are you okay, did we hurt you?" She asks Miya with great concern lacing her words.

Miya shakes her head, "No, I am fine. But you, are you okay. I mean he..." She glares at Sylvan with undilated disgrace, "he, bit you like a fucking animal."

Nova chuckles, patting Miya on the head then looks down at her new friend with her eyes crinkling at the sides. "I'm okay, you don't have to fear him."

"No, you're not. He bit you, I saw it with my own eyes."

An irritated growl departs from Sylvans' lips and a warning growl escapes past mine.

"Remember when I told you that there is only one way that a male can dominate his female?" He asks with annoyance at the prospect of being judged and sentenced for doing something that only comes naturally to us.

"If I had known that you were intending to fucking bite her I would have-"

"It is the Kindred way and it doesn't hurt, Miya." Nova cuts her off as she begins to explain our way of life. "When Sylvan bit me, he released his essence into my bloodstream causing my muscles to go lax."

"But you were crying on the bed," Miya raises her voice with uncertainty. "Nova, you are under no compulsion to lie to me or to defend him. It's considered abuse where I come from, something we females have been subjected to frequently."

With a frustrating grumble, "Our essence is similar to a narcotic. It reacts in a variety of ways, whether sexually, by granting you perpetual life, by having a sedative effect or primarily for mating. If anything, Nova was sobbing because she suddenly realised her actions could have condemned her to death if she wasn't my sibling." I inform Miya and she erratically begins to shake her head with tears pooling in her eyes.

Novas' brows knit together, "You still fear that you will die by a Kindreds' hand or become a sex slave even though I have assured you that we wish for peace with the hopes of saving our species. You however remain unconvinced." I can hear a great deal of disappointment and hurt that twine together in Novas' fragile voice.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what to say," Miya says softly as her gaze darts around the cabin. "I am here against my own will and if this is how you normally act, I..." She closes her mouth and begins to nibble on the corner of her lower lip.

My jaw clenches as her words do not settle well with me. I hate that my mate sees us as a potential threat rather than an opportunity to carry on her bloodline.

Her legacy.

"I need to take my leave and speak with Jaja, "I proclaim knowing that if I stay, I will do something I will regret by requesting Nova to use her gift on Miya and influence her views, assumptions, and phobias about us.

I stop when I reach Sylvans' side, "Do you require my assistance with your healing?"

"It is you who needs to go and lick his wounds, brother of my mate," He chuckles with his chest puffing out. "I got you good..." He mutters, rubbing the side of his jaw with a large smile spreading across his butt-ugly face.

"Keep it up and I will have Nova mated to another Kindred by the time we reach Mahji," I say sarcastically.

"You wouldn't?" Sylvan snarls as he reaches behind his head, and rests his hand against the large sword that clings to his back.

"Try me." I hiss.

"I'm coming with you," Miya hums.

"No, it isn't safe for you to wander through the corridors unmated. You need to remain here." I order thickly as I twist my neck to peer down at her.

Folding her arms across her chest, "I refuse to stay here." She says defiantly.

"And why is that, bonetta?" [Fated One?]

"Be-because this is your cabin and I refuse to share it wi-with you!" She stammers, licking her lips as her eyes travel over my hard rigid body.

My lips curl into a thin, hungry, smirk as my eyes survey the tiny human before me, "Tell me, little one. What scares you the most. Your insecurities or the desire fueled hunger that clings to you like a second layer of skin for me to claim you?" I purr, leaning down as I brush my lips against the hard shell of her ear and I inhale the scent of her heated skin, "Because your arousal that floods the cabin every time you look at me, tells me something entirely different," I growl with infatuation as a soft moan escapes past her parting lips.

"I.. I..."