Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King

Chapter 119: 0119

Lorelei POV

"Your pasts are pulling you both back," Nala’s voice echoed loudly, colder than before.

A violent shiver raced down my spine as the atmosphere around us became suffocatingly heavy.

"I sense a terrible storm approaching," she murmured.

The instant those words left her lips, a deafening gale exploded through the darkness.

The freezing wind slammed into me with such force that I immediately lost my footing, nearly being swept into the endless void. I desperately clutched my cream scarf against my chest while shielding my face from the relentless blast.

"Nala! Stop this!" I screamed over the roar of the storm, desperately wanting her to end the illusion.

But when I looked at her, she wasn’t looking at me.

She stood perfectly still, like a statue carved from stone, her gaze fixed on the empty darkness before us.

Her golden eyes were wide open, glowing with a terrifying brilliance that pierced through the void. Thick black mist swirled violently around her body as her long braids whipped wildly in the raging wind.

Her lips continued to move.

Over and over, she chanted the same word.

"Vekhara... Vekhara... Vekhara..."

I didn’t know what the word meant, but something deep inside me screamed that it wasn’t good.

Panic seized my chest.

For some reason, I was even more terrified now than when those snakes had hissed fiercely in my face.

"Nala! Snap out of it!" I shouted, forcing myself against the brutal wind as I tried to reach her.

But every step I took was met with an invisible force that shoved me backward.

The chanting only grew louder.

Her voice echoed through the darkness until it sounded less like one person and more like a chorus of countless voices speaking in unison.

Then I noticed a thin stream of dark red blood slowly trickling from her nose, running over her lips before disappearing down her chin.

My heart lurched.

This was too much.

Something was terribly wrong.

I couldn’t let this continue.

Summoning every ounce of strength left in my exhausted body, I lowered my head against the raging wind, planted my feet, and hurled myself toward her with everything I had.

With a desperate lunge, I reached out and grabbed her hand.

The instant my fingers wrapped around her cold wrist, Nala suddenly sucked in a sharp, ragged breath, like someone who had been drowning and had finally broken through the surface for air.

In the blink of an eye, the howling storm, the endless darkness, and the terrifying illusions disappeared.

The warm lights of her guest room flickered back to life.

I stumbled forward, my feet landing on the soft carpet beneath us.

We were standing right in front of her vanity.

The two revealing dresses still rested neatly on the armchair, as though we had never left the room at all.

"Are you okay?" I asked, my voice trembling as I struggled to steady my shaking legs.

"I am well. Why would I not be?" she replied casually.

Then I gasped, and my eyes widened as I noticed the dark red blood still trickling from her nose, running slowly over her upper lip.

"You’re bleeding," I said, frantically scanning the lavish room for something she could use to clean herself.

Nala simply wiped away the first trail of blood with the back of her hand before casually strolling over to the vanity and taking a seat.

By then, I had spotted a box of tissues on the table.

I quickly pulled out a handful and hurried over, holding them out to her.

She accepted them without a word, gently dabbing at her nose before rolling one into a small plug and placing it inside her nostril to stop the bleeding.

Once I was sure the bleeding had finally stopped, I tried to calm the frantic pounding in my chest.

"That thing you showed me..." I began, my voice still unsteady from everything I had just witnessed. "What did it mean?"

Nala tilted her head slightly as she studied her reflection in the mirror.

"What is there to misunderstand?" she replied. "I only allowed you to witness your heart from another place."

I shook my head immediately.

"Not that," I said, taking a cautious step closer. "I mean the other part. The one with the storm. You were chanting, and then..."

My voice slowly faded as, through the mirror, I watched Nala’s perfectly sculpted brows draw together in genuine confusion.

"You don’t remember, do you?" I whispered.

At that, she let out a soft, weary sigh.

"Ah... then it would seem the trance took hold of me once more," she replied.

"A trance?" I repeated under my breath, the word sending an even deeper chill through my body.

"It comes when it wishes. I do not summon it," she replied, resting her temple against her palm. "No wonder my spirit feels emptied already."

Her head fell back against the headrest, and she slowly closed her eyes.

But I couldn’t let it go.

What I had seen...

What I had felt...

It was all still burned into my mind.

"So what did it mean?" I pressed, unable to keep the desperation from my voice. "You kept chanting something. Then you said a terrible storm was coming. You..."

"Don’t," Nala cut me off before I could finish.

Her voice wasn’t playful anymore.

It wasn’t lazy either.

It was cold and completely stern.

She opened her eyes and fixed me with a serious look unlike any expression I had seen on her face before.

"Whatever passed my lips... whatever your eyes witnessed while the ether carried me... leave it with the ether," she said quietly.

"The burden of prophecy is not meant for my ears. If you return even one fragment of what was shown to you to me, the cost may be greater than either of us wishes to pay. Besides... what Fate has carved has already taken root. No hand uncarves such things. Forget it."

But my heart refused to settle.

An unfamiliar sense of dread slowly crept over me, wrapping itself around my chest until I could barely breathe.

Before I could gather the courage to ask another question, a thunderous pounding shook the heavy bedroom door.

A split second later, a furious voice echoed through the room.

"Open up!"