"No. Don't. Please don't kill her. She will not reveal your secret. Please let her go." I plead with him to let my mate live.

I am bound to the wall. My hands are cuffed and so are my feet. I try to get loose. Pull and tug at them but all my attempts prove futile.

My mate lies on the floor of the room, glaring at him. She looks at him with disgust. He moves forward and kicks her stomach, sending her flying across the room to the wall on my left.

My mate groans and spits out blood from her mouth before she glares at him.

"Do you think they are idiots? They will find out about your DeepFake video."

He lets out maniacal laughter, holding his stomach and tears spill out from his eyes. He keeps laughing for one more minute before his laughter fades and a sinister grin forms on his face.

"They won't find out because they won't have the time to figure it out. It's already too late. They have already convened and are making diplomatic discussions as we speak."

Her eyes widen at his words before defiance drains out of her eyes and she looks at me in defeat. I see an accusal in her eyes.

But then her eyes fill with love. She mouths the words, I love you.

My heart fills with joy before sorrow overcomes me and tears form in my eyes. It is almost like she is trying to say goodbye. This is the first time she has professed her love to me.

My mind fills with memories of that day while my heart is full of remorse.

Flashback starts...

I chase her through out her house. She stands behind a table and laughs in delight. Her whole face is lit.

The sun rays coming through the window illuminate her black hair. Some strands almost look like they are brown instead of the black that I know they are.

I growl at her playfully and clench my muscles before leaping into the air up and above the table so that I am standing in front of her. She shrieks and runs but I catch her from behind, looping my hands around her waist and jump so that we are near the wall, away from the window.

I don't want to be burned by the sunlight.

She tries to escape my hold but I only tighten it further and start tickling her. More laughter escapes her lips as she bends at the waist and tries to run again.

"Just say it!" I tell her, grinning widely.

I really want to hear her say those words. It has been just a few days since she accepted our bond. It took a lot of wooing on my part.

"No! I will not say it." She says in between laughs.

I tickle her more and she shrieks.

"Say it," I insist.

She shakes her head and turns around in my arms before looping her hands around my neck.

"Never."

Mischief is evident in her eyes as she gives me a broad grin. I roll my eyes at her.

She sighs as her shoulders drop and says, "Ok."

My eyes light up. Finally, I will hear her saying those words. I have been waiting to hear her say those words.

"I will say it when I die!" She shouts and then steps on my left toe harshly.

When I hear the words die from her mouth, my entire world stops for a moment before my hold on her loosens.

Taking advantage of my distraction, she escapes my hold and only then do I realize that my toe now throbs in pain.

She stands a few feet away from me, smiling at me, but I just look at her with pain in my eyes. I can't live without her.

All my family is dead. All because of them. She is the only one left. The only one who cares for me. I had another friend but I don't have friends anymore. She is everything now. She is my best friend. My Family. My love. My soulmate. The light of my life.

"Never say that. You are my world. You are the only family I have left."

Her smile fades at my words and she starts walking towards me, her expression now serious.

She brings her hand up to my cheek caressing it and says, " I will never leave you. We will be together even in our death."

Flashback ends...

She was right. I am responsible for all of this. But how could I have known?

He walks towards her calmly, the sound of his footsteps echoing in the room. The only other sounds in the room are the sounds of all of his men breathing.

They stand there in the right corner of the room. Their hawklike eyes keep track of every moment in the room.

We are outnumbered and overpowered as well. He reaches her and crouches to her level. He stretches his hand and grips her chin, forcing her to look at him.

She snarls at him but he just chuckles. "You won't be alive to see their death or the war for that matter."

In a flash, his arms reach out and twist her head and just like that, she is dead.

"No!!!" I pull at my chains, wanting to stop her from dying. But it has already been too late. She is dead.

Pain is all I feel. It is overwhelming. I suck in a breath as I feel our bond breaking. My whole life shutters in a moment and the light of my life has left.

He calmly raises up from his crouch and straightens his suit's lapels before dusting his hands off. Like it was some dirt he touched.

I let out a vicious growl at him before tugging on the chains with all of my strength once more. I want to kill this bastard. Rage spreads throughout my body. My soul yearns for vengeance.

"You will get over her. Just chose a chosen mate." He casually says this as if it is not a big deal to lose the light of your life.

He walks towards the couch and sits on it, with his ankle crossed over his other knee like he is a king. But I know better. Everyone was interchangeable in his eyes. Just as you would replace things that are no longer useful.

The power he now holds is stained with blood and dirt. He has backstabbed me. I thought of him as a father figure.

I wish I knew it before. Things would have turned out another way. Now the entire supernatural realm is on the brink of war. Sides are being chosen and I am the catalyst.

I am the snitch. Regret. That is what I feel. If only there was a way. I could help them. If I could reverse time and warn my younger self of the lies he spewed.

My whole life is a lie. They must have found out about him earlier than me. And he must have caught onto them. That is why they were dead.

And, being the idiot that I am, I blamed the wrong person, when in reality, I had a snake wrapped around me, slowly crushing me to death. It was so slow that I didn't even realize that I was being killed.

I have to alert them. Let them know. That he doesn't have any actual leverage against them. He was keeping an eye on them. The entire video was a deep fake.

The secret would not be revealed. They just need to prove that it is a deep fake, which any AI engineer can spot. They just need to look for the right things.

After which they could prove that it is all a lie and that the supernaturals pose no threat to the humans.

How I wish I could be in her arms. The love of my life. Her lifeless eyes stare at me. But they were not lifeless a few moments before.

She was alive. She was more brave than I ever was. She was right too.

Her corpse still lies a few feet away from me. I wish to touch her once. Feel her skin for one last time. I won't get to hear her laugh. Her jokes. Her anger. Anything.

My rage now turns into grief as I stare at her. Tears fill my eyes and a sob escapes my lips. My heart cries for her. However, the sound of laughter fills the room. He is enjoying the show. Watching me as if I am a character in the TV show.

Suddenly, he stands up and in a flash, he is in front of me. He throws a punch to my face and I feel my nose break as I grunt in pain.

"Take him to the dungeons and imprison him. Break him till he agrees to do our bidding." He barks at the men standing at the corner of the room.

He glances at me for one more moment before going through the door, leaving me behind. His descendant looks at me with pity in his eyes before shooting a glare in the direction he went.

His shoulders drop in defeat as he mouths the word sorry before following his ancestor through the door.

The boy is in a gilded prison. Beautiful from the outside but at the end of the day it is a prison.

The men walk towards me and remove the links to that bind me to the wall.

Only they don't release me. They just disconnect the chains from the wall but still hold onto the chains. One tall, burly man gathers the chains connected to my cuffs and pulls. I fall to the ground on my knees.

I look up at him and snarl but he just tugs at my chains once again. He wants me to walk. This time I do as he says and get up to start walking.

I don't resist. There is no use in resisting. I have to wait for my chance and try to escape.

After that, I hope I get to them in time. I want to honor my dead mate. She wanted good for everyone. She warned me. Tried to make me understand but I didn't.

The men drag me towards the same door and into the hallway. If only I listened to her. I would have avoided this. I keep staring at the lifeless body of my mate and my moments with her replay in my mind.

She lit up the whole room. We met in an unusual place. At a graveyard. I had come there for the cremation of my brother, while she came there to pay a visit to her parents grave.

The sound of sobs had pulled me towards her and after taking one breath of her intoxicating scent, there was no doubt in my mind, that she was my mate.

When she realized I was her mate, she growled at me. Her face was flushed with anger but there was a defiant upturn of her chin. She was defying the moon goddess. The fate.

But I didn't let her go. I found out about her. I followed her and wooed her. Finally, she agreed to be with me but with a condition. That I should let go of my shrewd ways. I have to leave my vengeance behind.

I made a false promise to her and in this moment, I realize that my false promise is the cause behind her death. She was right all along. She always said that she didn't trust my uncle but I didn't listen to her.

A wall comes between me and her body and only then do I realize that I was being dragged by a few men. Men that I thought were my friends. But they were only his minions.

I have to be patient. Wait for the right opportunity before I try to escape. I have to get to them before the war starts. I don't have much time. But I have to try. I can not let my mate's death go in vain.

She fought hard till the last breath. I would honor her death. I will prove myself worthy of her in order to proudly meet her in the afterlife.

I will stop this war and that shall be my salvation.

I know it is something strange!! You must have observed that this chapter is one. I gave a lot of thought and then i realized that my first chapter didn't have any hooks that would pique the interest of  a reader. So I thought why not add a hook.

I had also seriously contemplated taking down the book but then decided against it.

This chapter has no impact on the other chapters. You will maybe start connecting the dots only after 40 or 50 chapters are over so no change in the story in the story line