Icarus had been avoiding Anaya, taking refuge on the floor above hers in a desperate attempt to escape the emotional entanglement that threatened to consume him. His behavior cut through her, but she believed that giving him space was the right thing to do.

Well, no more.

After five days of unbearable silence, she decided that she at least deserved the chance to explain herself. Or maybe she just needed to see him and hear his voice to calm her anxious heart. She knew it was her fault for keeping secrets, but she had been searching for the right moment, which never came and here they were.

She hesitated for what felt like an eternity before finally mustering the courage to knock on his door. The sound echoed like a thunderbolt in the quiet hallway, but there was no response from him. She twisted the handle left and right, hoping the noise would drag him toward her out of sheer annoyance. She was ready to bear his anger but she couldn't afford the silent treatment a minute longer. "Come on, Icarus." To her surprise, the door creaked open, letting her enter the room.

Darkness greeted her along with an eerie stillness, instilling her with discomfort. She reached for the light switch. As the room flooded with light, her heart plummeted to her stomach.

There, lying on the floor, was Icarus. She knelt beside him and shook his shoulders, but he remained motionless and cold.

"No, no, no," she cried out, tears streaming down her face. She clung to him, hoping for any sign of life in his still form. "Please don't leave me."

Her mind went haywire, replaying every moment they had spent together, every laugh, every smile, every touch. She couldn't imagine never experiencing those again.

She caressed his face, his features so familiar and yet so foreign.

"What are you doing?"

She jolted out of her grief-stricken daze and turned around, blinking through the curtain of tears that clouded her vision. A disheveled Icarus stood by the door, his eyes tracing her with deep concern. She opened and closed her mouth, unable to find the words to explain what just happened, before standing up and flinging her arms around him.

"You...I thought..." She couldn't stop the sobs that broke through her, both from fear and relief, making her almost incoherent.

He wrapped her in his embrace, holding her close to him. He could feel her shaking against him, still reeling from the shock of her hallucination. "Shh, I'm here," he whispered in a reassuring voice, running his fingers through her hair. She buried her face in his chest and closed her eyes. His touch made her feel alive like being cocooned in a warm blanket on a wintery night, driving away the chill that had been creeping up her spine.

She pulled away and wiped her cheeks with the back of her hands. "Can you please let me explain?"

He nodded and settled on the bed, giving her his undivided attention.

"The Star Goddess, Asteria, is the supreme Goddess of the star realm. Her disciples are divided into two fractions—Asters and Astras. The Asters remained in the celestial sphere, devoted to serving the Goddess while the Astras descended to the Earth, known to humans as fallen stars. I'm an Astra. For generations, my kingdom has offered protection to humans and fulfilled their wishes."

"Why did you not tell me before?" His shock was evident in the way he looked at her as he absorbed the unexpected information about her origin.

"I suffer from an illness. I couldn't remember anything about my past until recently."

"What illness? Is that why you hallucinate?"

"Yeah, it's a long story," she replied with a hint of melancholy in her voice.

"Do you want to keep it a secret?"

It wasn't his intention she knew, but the question filled her with guilt. She stared out the window at the starry expanse and let out a sigh. "The Astra King and Queen of the Astravarian Kingdom are my parents. The brother of the Astra king grew power-hungry, craving more than the mere duty of guarding the humans for his entire life, so he began to cultivate demonic energy to turn into a demon God."

"What happened?"

"He made a mistake," she continued, her voice barely audible above the howl of the tempestuous wind. She closed the windows and took a seat beside him on the bed, drawing comfort from his calming presence. "He opened a seal that contained an age-old venomous serpent. It summoned and controlled legions of other creatures, turning our beautiful kingdom into a toxic wasteland. Its venom drained our powers and spread an incurable disease among us. We prayed to the Star Goddess. She heard our call for help and destroyed the serpent, but she overexerted herself, and her spiritual veins were damaged. She couldn't heal the wounded and mend the broken. We were left to fend for ourselves, and only a few of us survived."

She paused to take a deep breath as pain gripped her heart with its vicious clutches. The memories of the serpent's rampage still haunted her, the panic and desperation of those dark times palpable even after all these years.

"It's okay if you want to stop." He took her hands in his, rubbing soothing circles on her palm. It was then he realized how much he had missed being with her.

She shook her head, her voice trembling as she spoke. "I don't want any secrets between us. I have never wanted to keep anything from you, but I also didn't know how to say it."

He squeezed her hands and offered a small smile.

"We lost so much during that time — our home, our families, our way of life. But worst of all, we lost our connection with the Star Goddess. We were unable to collect stardust and harness its power. We had to flee to another land. After a thousand years of research, we finally managed to create a potion to keep us alive, but we won't be the same if we don't obtain the cure. My brothers have already found Viola Makranica, Wheelerensis, Euphorbia Neriifolia, and Abroma Augusta from different parts of the world, but the key ingredient to bind all the herbs together is Ambrosia, the gold-laced blood running through your veins. I should be sick, but unknowingly, you have been keeping my illness at bay."

As he processed her words, his mind reeled, struggling to comprehend the magnitude of her betrayal. "So, it was all a plan. You came here for my blood?" His voice was low, the anger simmering just beneath the surface.

"You kidnapped me from the street, remember?"

"Are you going to say that wasn't part of your plan?"

Anaya's response was hesitant, each word weighing heavily on her tongue. "My kingdom had intel that the Midnight Street bar is run by a royal werewolf, so I stayed in the orphanage to keep a close eye on Immanuel. I had planned to make him fall in love with me to enter the Imperial Royale pack and kill the beast for its blood. But I got sick. When I met you, I was a homeless girl with nowhere to go. You know I would never—"

"To kill the beast?" he interrupted her sharply. "Isn't the beast immortal?"

Anaya's lips sealed shut, her mistake dawning on her.

"Tell me," he demanded, his eyes boring into hers with an intensity that made her lower her gaze.

"It is." She swallowed hard. "I didn't know that until I arrived here."

His eyes narrowed as he watched her closely. "The truth, Anaya."

"Only the mate can kill the beast. My mother knows we are mates, so she gave me this task," she confessed, the words like knives twisting in her gut. "She is also the one who caused the attacks on the pack members during our coronation and destroyed the cottage."

A heavy silence settled between them before he asked, "Is this why you want to leave?"

Nodding, she pleaded for a chance to escape the cruel fate that awaited them. "You and the pack will be safe if I stay away from you. Do you understand me now? Will you let me go?"

He considered her request before finally offering his own, his voice calm and resolute. "Take what you need."

"What?"

"You came here to kill the beast. Do it tonight." He knew he couldn't bring back those he'd lost, but he could at least protect the others. And if it meant sacrificing himself for them, then so be it.

A/N
Anaya's origin and the world she comes from are created by me exclusively for this story, which is why your attempts to guess were unsuccessful. :P The kingdom name is also randomly made up without any specific meaning behind it. More will be explored in books 2 and 3 of the series. Let me know your thoughts and any suggestions you may have to make it even more immersive. Thank you for reading! x