Chapter 178 - The Choice Of Destiny

In the flash of a second, grabbing her arm tight, Czar teleported both of them before she could even oppose. As she blinked her eyes, both of them were standing on a desolate, giant road with a thick dark forest on both sides. A dim white light post was illuminating some parts of the road and both of them stood below the light, facing opposite to each other. The area seemed quite scary with the hooting sound of owls and crickets filling up the entire place. 

"Wh-What is this? Where are we?" Horrified by the spooky atmosphere around them, Eva shoved her arm away from him shrieking aloud. She was swirling her gaze desperately around them, looking very palpitated. 

He stood quiet for a few seconds and took a small sigh out fixing his gaze over her. "Eva...calm down a bit."

"Why are we standing amidst this shady place? Wh-What do you intend to do?" She reciprocated her anticipation in a shrilling tone.

"What?"

"Mr. Czar I have been already betrayed too many times!! Don't you dare try something ridiculous with me again--"

"Zeus is here." Before she could even wrap up her words, an ice-cold voice interrupted her hoarsely with a stiff look in his dark eyes as he glanced towards the right side, inside the thick forest. 

"Wh-What?" Startled at his unexpected answer, Eva seemed to choke her breath in, standing numb for a few seconds. "What d-did you say?"

"Zeus is here, inside the forest." Slowly he raised his arm and pointed his index finger towards the right side of the darker woods holding a stiff expression on his face.

Eva swirled her eyes in disbelief and glanced in the direction keeping her anticipated silence. She was squirming in angst and mumbled in a crooked voice, "is this...true? Is he here? Wh-What is he doing here in this thick woods?"

"You know...Eva, werewolves have been always above the humans compared to strength, loyalty, and other facts... But the deities...they always consider humans as superior to every beast kingdom... Do you know why?" Lowering his arm down, he asked looking back at her. 

"Huh?" She scrunched her brows resembling as if she was unable to process his query. 

"Because...only humans...get to choose their own destiny. Creatures like us have to walk on the path the divinities choose for us but...only humans are able to choose the path themselves..." He walked a step closer to her, mumbling with an intense stare deep down in her eyes. "I knew it from the beginning...that you won't let me erase your cherished memories. But still, I wanted to be a little selfish...keeping you along with me for a bit of time..." 

"If...If you knew it already, why did you play dumb with me? Why did you have to take me on a date? Wh-What the hell is happening? You are confusing me, Mr. Czar!" Fretting her face, she grumbled out her remark, breathing heavily. 

"I wanted to spend a happy day with you...even if it's just for the last time..." He wondered with a sad smile on his face, averting his gaze down. Taking a huff of air in, he whispered to her, "if I didn't keep you along with me, how would I have brought you here?

"So...tell me! Why is Zeus here in this dark place?" Her voice sounded very impertinent as if she was on the edge of her patience. 

"He is enduring his curse." Making a displeased frown grimace, he mumbled it out. 

"What? Curse?"

"When a true blood alpha is stabbed with wolfsbane, on every red lunar eclipse, his body will be deformed with the incision of painful burnt scars growing all over him. The pain is so cruel that...two of our early alphas have failed to endure it and breathed their last...

Zeus had almost died after getting stabbed with it...so, the aftereffects would be perhaps worse over him than he imagined... He must be in a critical state right now." He explained in a surly tone, with his eyes looking much concerned. 

"What..." Hearing his harsh revelation, her breathing suffocated for a few seconds with a sharp throbbing pain churning her insides. Clenching her chest, she gasped heavily while answering him in a teary expression, "he...he jumped before me to...save my life and...got stabbed with it... So...it means...it's all happening because...of me! I am the reason behind his misery today! He is...facing it...all alone just because of me!!"

"He wouldn't allow anyone of us to go near him... But...still...I wanted to bring you here to decide your own choice... I know, he must have wanted to keep all these as a secret from you. So...I will let you choose. Either...you can run away from this path or--"

"Run away?" She screamed out impatiently aloud while intervening in his sentence hoarsely. "How could you think I will run away today? I...I was so selfish and ignorant all this time! I ran away from him without fighting my own trauma when he was there just for my sake! Yet...today...he is battling for his life just all because of me! Fuck...I...I don't even deserve his kindness! 

But...not today...I am not going to leave him here on the brink of death! I will...definitely bring him back!" All of a sudden, she turned back and tried to rush into the deep woods on the right side. But as soon as she was about to leave, Czar came forward and grabbed her arm from behind, intending to stop her.

"The situation is not that simple! There are many wild animals roaming inside the forest who can attack you at any moment! Besides... the scars from the curse are lethal and contagious! Even if...somehow...Zeus manages to save himself...if you get those scars, you won't be able to survive! Besides...the chance is zero of coming back alive if you...lost the way inside these woods!" His sonorous voice reverberated like an echo in that desolated place.

"I don't care about my fucking life anymore! I can't sit back still after knowing my beloved one is striving through such misery! It's all happening because of me! And...there's no point in living this life anyway if I lose Zeus...

So...don't stop me! Please!" Her eyes were shimmering in tears while her jowls quivered as she uttered those painful words. She was trying hard to hold back herself from breaking down and it was evident from her morose eloquence.

Gawking straight into her eyes for a moment, slowly, Czar let his grip loose over her arm. He tossed a small sad smile and lowered his eyes down before reciprocating, "I knew it from before that...I have to let you go... I was prepared for it. Go...

Go to your loved one... Go and find him..."

Hearing his sonorous voice, she didn't waste a single second and dashed into the woods, running aimlessly. Czar stood behind all numb, watching her disappearing from his sight with tearful eyes. His vision was turning all blur as he clenched his chest tight. His heart was wrecking down in the sharp pain of letting his beloved one go. Slowly, he knelt down on the ground and started weeping all alone covering his face.

..........

The woods were scarier and darker much more than he had described to her. After entering inside, all she could hear was the shrilling of owlets along with crickets which were further intensifying the dark night.

After running arduously for an anticipating moment, her feet halted as she was huffing quite harder. She looked around herself and mumbled on her own, "I...I can't see anything in this darkness! It's...too murky! I...I should turn on my phone!" Immediately as thought, she zipped open her handbag and tried to turn on her phone hoping for the flashlight. But her hopes all went into vain when she desperately tried to turn on the screen but it was all black. 

"Fuck! No!! How could I forget to charge it! Fuck! Fuck!!" Regretting her life decision, she stomped her feet hard on the ground trying to hold herself from wailing out.

Helplessly looking all around her in the dark, she wiped her teary eyes taking a deep huff of breath in. She tapped her chest a few times and screamed her lungs out desperately, 

ZEEEEUSSSSSSS!!! CAN YOOUU HEEEAAARRR MEEEE? ZEEEUSSS!! HELLLOOOO!!! ZEEUSSSS!!" 

Her screeching voice reverberated as a loud echo inside the thick woods which caused a thrilling vibration all around. No response came as the reciprocation of her screams. Her confidence shuddered inside and unable to suppress her palpitation, warm tears started rolling down her cheeks. 

"W...Where am I going to find him? Th...These woods look way deeper than I imagined!! All the directions look the same! Where am I going to find you, Zeus? Where are you...hic..." Sobbing in angst, she was looking all around turning her neck sidewise. 

All of a sudden, her teary vision witnessed something sparkling at the extreme right side of the woods which had a narrow small way directed deeper inside the forest. The bright white sparkle was illuminating the small area which immediately caught her attention while she was standing a bit far from it. As she started to observe minutely, she noticed that it was coming from a living object!

"Wh-What's...that?" Gulping her saliva, she marched a step closer to the shimmering figure fearfully.