A Broken Promise.

He was her once in a lifetime.

Content Warning: Harmful Acts, Harsh Words, Mention of Blood, Explicit Sexual Intercourse.
Character: Zayne x Aya (You).
Words Count: 4,100 words.

Disclaimer: This AU is not related with any canon events between Zayne x MC. Purely written based on the writer’s idea.

—

It was raining hard, and it’s been hours since her working time ended. Zayne couldn’t reach Aya through her phone, it’s sending him to the edge. His numerous attempts to call her just seem to be useless. He kept on dialing her number, and a robotic voice greeted him at the end of the ringing calls that sent a wave of frustration coursing through his blood.

He grabbed his trench coat and his car keys, before rushing down to the basement of his penthouse. Aya was supposed to be there by 8 PM, but she went missing in action. Starting the engine of his Audi, Zayne immediately drove to the southern quarter of UNICORN’s base, where Alpha Team works.

The road was rather slippery, but he couldn’t care less. His speed was off limits. He was afraid that something bad might happen, as recently, there were countless attacks by wanderers around the base, where Aya resides to carry out her mission. He dialed Jenna’s number, and she picked up on the third ring.

“It’s past 10 PM. Got any urgent situation, Doc? Any wanderer’s attack nearby?”

Her voice echoed inside the car.

“I’m sorry for taking your time, Capt. I just want to clarify a thing, did you perhaps know where Aya is? I can’t reach her at this moment. She isn’t at home, yet.”

Jenna raised her eyebrow, “She told me that she was going to finish some stuff before heading home. She even mentioned that she was about to have a date with you, so she was excited to go home.”

Zayne clenched his teeth, his fingers were gripping the steering wheel like he was about to break it. He was anxious.

“Got it. Can you confirm that there is no overtime work at this moment?”

Jenna looked at her device, showing none of any urgent notifications.

“There is none, Doc. I’ll try to call the office to ask about her whereabouts. Are you heading there, now?”

“Yes. Please do give me an update. I’m about to arrive in two minutes.”

“Will do.”

“Thank you, Capt.”

Zayne ended the call as he entered the main gate of the southern base. He scanned his ID, before he parked his car near the main entrance of the building. The doctor grabbed an umbrella from the back seat before opening the car’s door. With a quick flick of his wrist, he opened the umbrella, its canopy unfurling like a blooming flower, accompanying his walk towards the main entrance.

As he reached the main entrance, the pitter-patter faded into silence. Zayne folded his umbrella before placing it on a rack near the door. Once again, he scanned his ID to grant his access to enter the building. He walked straight to the lift, and pressed the number ‘18’ as soon as he was inside.

Nibbling his lips, Zayne could not control himself. He was sincerely hoping that Aya would be here, drowning in her work, forgot to pick up his calls, or she fell asleep because she was too tired, as it happened once before that Zayne had to carry her in his back and drove her home. Drove her to their home.

The soft chime sound of the lift shove Zayne back into reality. He strode to Alpha Team’s room with his long legs. His eyes were scanning each of the empty rooms on the 18th floor. The lights were mostly out, only a few of them still shining through the aisle.

Zayne was about to reach Alpha Team’s room when he heard a man’s voice. He slowed down his pace, frowning. Parted by the thick glasses, he could see a silver haired man, standing in front of a couch in the corner of Alpha Team’s room, bending his body down, with his back turned against him. And, a pair of a woman’s legs in between that man’s legs. He froze.

“Do you still need him? I’m already here. I’m coming back to your side.”

“Xav…”

Zayne swore to himself that he acknowledged that voice, more than his own. Clenching his fist, he stood still outside the room. And that man, Xavier, Zayne knew too well what kind of past did that man and Aya shared.

“Will you forgive me and give me a second chance? I just realised that I- I love you, Aya. I think long and hard, but these two years, I finally realised, I could never love anyone but you.”

Zayne wished he could see Aya’s face while that man was asking her the question. Right, it was Aya. Beneath another man’s body. Hearing that man’s confession. The man that once was her universe.

“What’s the point, now? I’m going to get married soon. You left me for two years, joining the most dangerous mission without my acknowledgement. Do I even matter for you, Xav? Do you even love me?”

One of Xavier’s hands reached out to Aya’s face, lifting up her chin.

“Would you believe me if I’m doing that for you? Caleb’s murderer, I was searching for his whereabouts. That mission was the only way to reach them. I can’t bear to let you know,” Xavier sighed.

Zayne held his breath the moment Caleb was mentioned. Half of him wanted to run into Xavier and punch him right in his face, but he was trying to regain his self control instead.

“Caleb’s murderer…? Did you really find them, though?”

Xavier shook his head slowly, “I couldn’t find them, yet. But I promise that I will.”

“And leaving me all alone again?”

There was a painful silence that enveloped the air. And before Zayne even realised, Xavier had already leaned closer to Aya’s countenance. He did not have to second guess what that man was doing. His whole body was paralyzed. And when he hoped that the worst would never happen, he witnessed Aya clinging her hands around Xavier’s neck, pulling him closer.

That was it.

That was his limit.

He unclenched his fist, his fingers moving in a little motion. The snowflakes were swirling around his palm, before crafting a dagger-shaped ice. A majestic one with jasmine carved on its handle. Single-handedly, he lifted up the dagger before throwing it to Xavier’s defenseless figure.

The glasses of Alpha Team’s room shattered into pieces as the dagger pierced, and made its way to Xavier’s back. It was too fast, even faster than the light, the moment Xavier realised what was happening. An icy dagger was stabbed on his back.

The knight groaned, his body fell into Aya’s lap. Blood started to drip from the frozen blade. Aya screamed. She looked at Xavier in terror as his breath started to get heavy. Her body trembled, and fear clouded her eyes as she saw Zayne walk towards her, stepping into the already shattered glass like he was walking on a flowery path.

“I told you not to touch what belongs to me.”

Zayne uttered those words while keeping his gaze at Aya. Even though the sentence wasn’t directed at her. His orbs then caught Aya’s broken phone, fell on the floor. Obviously, it was not because of his doing, breaking UNICORN’s base glass partition, since none of its shattered pieces were seen around the device.

“What were you doing, that you got your phone broken, Aya? Were you having that much fun now that Xavier is back?”

There was no emotion drawn on his face. Instead, Zayne pulled the dagger on Xavier’s back, and pulled the tall figure before shoving him into the floor. He walked to Xavier, one of his legs treaded on Xavier’s chest. Zayne clenched his jaw, while looking down at his fiancee’s colleague.

He couldn’t describe his own feelings. It was way too suffocating for him even just to breathe. His wedding was only two weeks away, and the moment he thought that his life was about to be completed, Xavier was back. And Aya, whom at least he thought would never get closer to him ever again, even returned his kisses.

“I shall kill you for touching my soon to be bride, shall I not?”

“You…” Xavier tried to inhale the air, “should ask her. Will she choose you this time?”

Zayne pressed Xavier’s chest beneath his feet. He really wanted to break that man’s ribs, but, once again, he held back.

“Zayne, stop. Forgive me. Please, stop,” Aya started to cry.

“Forgive, ha. Was I not enough, Aya? Was everything I did not enough?”

Aya begged, “No, that’s not the case, Zayne. Please. Can we talk over it?”

She stood up, trying to held Zayne’s hand. It was as cold as she expected it to be. He was hurting himself whenever he had to use his evol. She could see how those blueprints of snowflakes were still engraved on some parts of his skin.

“This time, you’re lucky that the dagger didn’t pierce right into your heart, Xavier. Let’s go home, Aya.”

Zayne pulled his feet, throwing his half-melted dagger to Xavier’s figure, before heading to the parking lot. While Aya followed him in silence, with her tears still dripping from the corner of her eyes after muttering the word ‘sorry’ to Xavier. She did not even dare to say a word to Zayne. Their trip home felt so long that Aya decided to press the window button down. It was too much for her.

“Was I truly not enough for you, Aya?”

Aya nibbled her lips. She did not dare to look at Zayne’s face. She knew he was trying so hard in keeping his composure, not even showing the emotions he was feeling. But that was what scared her the most. She would rather see him getting mad, shout at her, or whatever it is.

“You are more than enough, Zizi.”

“That doesn’t seem convincing enough for me,” Zayne massaged his temple, “Was our two years mean nothing to you? Was your longing for him way bigger than your love for me that you returned his kisses?”

His words left Aya’s mind blank.

“I was carried away, I’m really sorry, Zayne. I didn’t mean to.”

“Carried away, Aya. That’s a great explanation. Thank you?”

Zayne unbuttoned his shirt, as he felt like the air that surrounded him was getting thinner. It was too much for him to consume.

“I know. I was at fault. I know I might not deserve your forgiveness. I know I might be hurting you more than I know. But even so, I would still like to ask for your mercy.”

“You know it’s hurting me, and you are doing it either way. Is the logic in the room with us, now? Do you even love me, Aya?”

Xavier was the one whom Aya loved. She had a crush on him for almost four years, and they were closer than ever that people started to presume that they were dating. None of them denied, or confirmed, which made the speculations go wild.

Until one day, Aya confessed, and Xavier turned her down. He said, they were nothing but colleagues. And he would never date his own teammate. He took a huge distance from Aya afterwards. He would never talk to her unless it was related to a mission.

Not long after, there was an accident at Aya’s house. An accident that made Aya lose both of her Grandma, and her brother: Caleb. Even when she was mourning, Xavier didn’t even bother to send his condolences, or come to the funeral. He went missing, for more than two years.

Zayne watched it all. He was there for her, for the whole time. He knew Aya ever since she was still a child, and he witnessed how she grew into such a brave, and reliable woman. He witnessed how she started to love someone, brokenhearted, and rebounded. He watched her being happy, sad, and angry. He was confident that he knew Aya more than herself.

He heard every single word that was coming from Aya’s mouth like he was hearing his favourite songs. Even when she was talking about another man. Zayne is always convinced that Aya was just his childhood crush, but his feelings grow stronger every time he hears her voice. Or he saw her smile. Or he inhaled the scent of her perfume.

He was trying to hide everything, since he respects his best friend more than anyone else. Until Xavier went missing. He tried to gather up his courage and tried to tell Aya about his long-hidden crush, at the cost of breaking his own friendship.

“I’ve been falling for you, for years. A decade, even. I know this might sound too sudden, but, may I be your boyfriend, Aya? I know you have someone in mind right now, but if you fancy trying loving me, I would be honoured. I will work the hardest to make you love me. I will make you the happiest woman on earth. I promise you.”

Zayne still remembers it all too well. His first ever love confession. He was practicing for sixty hours before saying those sentences to the love of his life. His so-called childhood crush that he still loves even when he was almost reaching the age of thirty.

“I am yours, Zayne. I promise you that I will learn to love you and make you the happiest man on earth, too.”

“We are about to get married, Zayne. Don’t complicate things for us.”

Zayne gripped the steering wheel, once again, as if he would break it in any minute. He was at his limit. All those anger, disappointment, and other negative emotions were clouding his mind.

“Fine. Let’s not complicate things. If that’s the way you’d like to resolve things. I’ll deal with it in my own way. And your task, is to handle it properly.”

The doctor was trying his best to hold back his tears as he kept on driving. Without waiting for Aya’s reply, he pressed the pedal, speeding up down the avenue, rushing home. Their home. Even though he was unsure if he would still be able to call her home after that.

—

Aya’s whimpering could be heard through the room. It echoed as she was constantly repeating the same word. She was crying, in pleasure. Although bruises were seen in some parts of her body. The bruises from slapping, nibbling, sucking, and everything else.

“You have no idea about how I want to break Xavier’s neck for trying to touch what’s mine,” Zayne growled, “I should have aimed the vital part of his body so he would die right at that moment, don’t you think so?”

Aya could feel her inner side pulsating as she heard those words, though she had no idea why she would get excited over his act of possessiveness.

“You’re being r-rough. It’s too much, Zayne,” Aya stuttered.

Zayne’s fingers were trailing down, caressing her lady part, adding the pleasure into her frame.

“Zayne, please. I need release.”

She was dying from overstimulation. Aya could no longer feel her body, but the pleasure that was rushing down her spine.

“Beg me more.”

Aya’s whole body was shaking. She was wailing, begging for him to let her release.

“Zayne, please, I can’t take it anymore!”

“Fuck. Keep pleading like that. Was I not enough to please you, Princess, that you let another man touch you, mhm?” he spanked her buttocks.

He even lost count of how many times he did that. He was angry, that it made him want to do her, harder than before.

“No, Zayne. Forgive me, please. Please? I’m begging you.”

Zayne won’t listen. He kept on pounding her, hard and rough, as he was venting out his anger. The thoughts of Xavier touching his woman would never leave his mind, and it cut him deeper than he realised. It haunted him, as he wanted to erase Xavier from Aya’s life, completely.

The man whom she once loved. The man who always owns a little piece of her heart. It took Zayne more than a decade to win Aya’s heart, and without Xavier’s presence, at that. He thought his battle had finally ended, but it seemed like he would never win against her past.

Another slap into her buttocks.

He held her tight, fondling her breast while being such a beast for keep pounding himself inside her, relentlessly. He left another mark on the back of Aya’s neck, as he breathlessly whispered into her ear.

“I’ll remind you for the last time, about whom you belong to.”

He bit her shoulder, as he could feel his release was getting nearer. He could feel Aya’s body getting weaker in his arms, as her juice was spurting while he was still thrusting his length inside her.

“ZAYNEE!”

Aya’s body convulsed. She arched her back. The fact that Zayne would not stop moving his hips is riding her mind crazy. She could feel his throbbing shaft, rubbed against her overly-sensitive part. The hunter clawed her fingers on Zayne’s arms.

“Stay still, Little One. Fuck. I’m on my end. Here, take it all.”

With the last thrust, he spurt his seed deep inside her. He embraced his body, pulling her close to his lap that her back was resting against his chest. The doctor kept fondling Aya’s breasts, as it was his favourite part of her body. He showered her with the most gentle kisses, and left three other marks on her back. Marking his territory.

“Zayne,” Aya called him.

Zayne hummed, before pulling a blanket and wrapping it around their bodies. He kept on holding Aya’s frame as he led her to lie on the bed, not letting his woman go. Leaning his head against Aya’s shoulder, Zayne closed his eyes.

“Don’t say anything,” Zayne mumbled.

“No. You have to hear this. You don’t have to see me. Just listen, okay?” Aya caressed Zayne’s hair.

She was looking at herself through the mirror. She could see how both of his arms were circling around her body, like securing her from any harm. She was a mess. She didn’t know how to handle herself. She didn’t know how to love. She didn’t know that she deserves so much love from a man like him. Zayne was beyond what she could imagine.

Maybe, he was also her once in a lifetime.

He taught her a lot. He never made her feel lonely, not even a second. Even when she wasn’t sure if she could love him back then, he would patiently wait for her. He would never get mad when she never said ‘I love you too’ the moment he said ‘I love you’ to her. He would never make her cry. And if he even did, it was only because of the unbearable pleasure that she had to handle when they became one. He made her the happiest woman ever.

“I put you through a lot, aren’t I? I rubbed salt against your bleeding wound.”

Zayne listened in silence. He knew he was going through a rough path just to keep Aya by his side. And now that his biggest fear is coming back, confessing his feelings to her, he felt like he could burn down the whole universe so no one could own her but him. He admitted that he had an unhealthy level of possessiveness, and he had been hiding it deep, deep inside his soul. That side of him, is something he would never let Aya know. He didn’t want her to feel caged.

“It’s okay to hurt me. Didn’t you promise to learn to love me?”

Zayne’s voice cracked. Every word that he uttered felt like a blade, wounding his ghost.

“But it’s not okay for me, Zayne,” Aya swallowed hard, “I know this will hurt you even more. But, after gathering my thoughts… What happened today made me realise something. I still love Xavier. I think, a huge part of me still does.”

Aya could feel his grip loosened. Zayne was holding his breath. He was preparing himself for the worst, but he could still feel his breath was stuck on his throat.

“Strange enough, I still want to marry you, Zayne. But I know that I would be too selfish for wanting someone as great as you by my side while I let someone else own my heart. I would be too greedy. I don’t want to lie to you. I’m truly sorry.”

Aya started to cry. It’s not like she wasn’t trying to love him. She did, with all her might. At some points, she felt like she fell for him. But to some extent, her thoughts would wander to Xavier. She imagined how it would feel to be loved by him. And later on, she started to see Xavier in her future, instead of Zayne. And the acme was when Xavier came back to UNICORN’s base recently, confronting her with all the love confessions. He stole her heart again. For once, she felt more alive than before.

“I know. That’s why, I told you, it would be the last time for me to remind you that I own you, Aya. I am well aware about where things are going, so, rest assured. I’m letting you go. I don’t want to force you to do something you’re not fond of. It’s okay to break me, as long as you are alive.”

Zayne kissed her back, trying to comfort her. He tried to inhale her scent. The scent never failed to calm him, though it seemed to not be working. Truth be told, he was truly disappointed. Anger grew inside him, but he didn’t have the courage to cry. He was way too tired to deal with everything. His mind was tangled.

“I’m sorry, Zayne. I’m sorry. You can curse me, erase me from your life, anything. I would never blame you. I was way too harsh.”

“The only thing I can do for you is to love you, Aya. Even if you hurt me, I would still love you. Now, sleep. Have a rest. I’m holding you close. You’re the safest in my arms.”

Zayne’s words comforted Aya, wrapping around her like a warm embrace in the cold of the night. She closed her eyes, feeling the weight of his affection grounding her. Despite the doubts and fears that plagued her mind, she found a moment of peace in his voice. Sounded pathetic, while she was the one who hurted him, she was also the one who would seek comfort from him.

“I love you, Aya. I always do. It’s always been you.”

That was the last sentence from Zayne that Aya remembered before she surrendered to the dreamland. She didn’t remember how she ended up falling asleep in Zayne’s embrace. As she fully regained her consciousness, she scanned around the bedroom, only to find the empty space beside her.

“Zayne?” Aya called.

“Zayne, where are you?”

She could hear nothing. The lady felt uneasy, but she tried to brush it off. Aya’s gaze fell into the nightstand, as she found something placed on top of it. A handwritten letter. She immediately unfolded the paper, reading words by words in silence. Tears were dropping down her cheeks, and she started to bawl, calling for the doctor’s name, which she knew, would never come back to her, even when she cried a million times more.

It was the end for her.
The end of her universe.

—

Dearest, Darling, My Universe.

Aya. You live up to your name. You became the brightest colour of my life. And I hope, you will always be that person.

I’m sorry that I have to leave earlier. I couldn’t bear to see your face when you are awake. It was way too painful for me. But I love seeing your sleeping face. You were the most beautiful, Milady.

If you wonder, I wrote this before the dawn breaks. I just placed my ring onto your finger, right above your own. It will be my last gift for you. I hope you will remember me, or one of our good memories, even for a second.

I would like to ask for an apology, that I kissed your lips twice while you were sleeping. I wished the night would never end so I won’t need to leave, but the sun won’t listen to me. Hence, here I am, preparing to part with you. Breaking my own promise to make you the happiest woman on earth.

Please be happy, Aya.

That way, I can leave in peace, to a place where you can never reach me.

Infinitely Yours,
Zayne.

—

[ written by arcticbydawn. ]