Seven Unfortunate Lifetimes, All Thanks to a Single Moment of Impulse - Chapter 5

*Slow Burn Historical Fantasy Novel*

Elise had about to change into the dress that was lying on the corner of her bed when she heard a knock lightly calling from her door. Curious, she turned the door knob only to have a tall man towering in front of her.

“Master Ian!” She called.

Ian smiled with the usual mischievous smirk that he always used. His crimson eyes trailing a little over her room and spotted the black dress over her bed and shifted his eyes over to the woman in front of him. He stepped forward and spoke. “Where did you acquire that dress?”

“Mr. Harland gave it to me.” Elise replied and strained her neck to see Ian’s brows knitted in its elegance.

“Do you know why a man would love to give a woman a dress?” He gave the riddle that she always had to think twice before replying. But this time, she found no answer and instead shook her head. “I don’t know.”

His grin grew bewitching as though something had stirred deep inside the scarlet eyes that he had. He slowly slid his hand over the collar of her dress, sending a cold shiver that startled her for a moment due to its freezing temperature. After unbuttoning the first two buttons on her collar, he tilted his head down, whispering to her ears. “Because they want to be the one to undress the cloth.”

He paused and kissed her neck, turning the pale skin to red before retracting his move to fix his eyes on her and leisurely replied. “Unfortunately, you can’t wear the dress over there with this.” He chuckled and passed a box over to her hand. “And the fortunate news is I prepared a dress for you.”

Elise was a cursed little girl who could see ghosts. Her family hated her and threw her from one adoptive family to another. However, misfortune didn't act alone. When she was brought up by her aunt, she was sold as a slave. When she had thought she would become nothing but a sacrifice to the sorcerer, she was saved by a man whose identity was far different than a normal mythical being.

He called me his ruin. Then he made me one.Alpha Shiloh's rejection wasn’t just a scar—it was a betrayal. He left me shattered. Broken. And I had to rebuild myself in silence.I almost forgot the way his touch once burned like salvation.Now he’s back.Not to beg forgiveness. To bargain. A deadly mission, he says. He promises freedom.But then presence ignites my wolf into a frenzy. She thrashes, desperate to claim him again. But I remember the coldness in his eyes when he exiled me. The way the pack turned their backs as I crawled into the wilderness, half-dead and wholly broken. Hate simmers hotter than desire.Yet here I am, bargaining with the devil who shattered me. Every moment we share is a lie. He doesn’t know about the shadows I’ve fed, the truth I’ve buried.Or the child.One whisper of its existence, and the pack will paint the forest with my blood.But the closer we get to completing his mission, the harder it is to hide… from him, or from the part of me that still craves him.Freedom has a price.So does vengeance.And I’m not sure which will destroy me first.

In the city of Graheel, a small antique shop sits quietly mixed in with all the other shops. Its unassuming appearance is easily overlooked by many. However, this store and its owner has a terrible secret. A devil lives in that building. The owner of the store, John Li, an enigmatic figure whose origins and intentions are unknown. The desperate from around the world, often unknowingly, come to him in search of salvation.A red witch thinks the owner is an ancient creature, a white fox calls him a wizard of eld, a warrior believes him to be a spirit, and a holy woman declares him a god. This mysterious individual and his customers would stand at the center of a strange series of events. From the store owner John's perspective, he has no idea what's going on. He really was just an unlucky dude that got caught up in some crazy stuff.

Darkness. The ultimate ruler, the true One-Above-All. Everything starts from it, and everything returns to it eventually. People say that in your final moments, darkness seeps in your very existence, engulfs your whole being. They say it’s an incredibly relaxing feeling that takes you on your journey to your afterlife. They say that in the very darkness, the ‘nothingness’ your weary soul will finally be able to rest and relax. This brings up some very philosophical and existential questions. Do you even exist?

Follow the epic journey of Aiden, the last primal, a unique and ancient race as he finds his place in a strange, new world, filled with threats and violence.