ARTHUR & MILA That night, Mila opened up the portal in their chamber and Arthur went through it while Mila waited eagerly. As it was midnight, it was difficult for Arthur to get into the walls without getting noticed. But somehow he managed to do it using Bash’s skills to jump really high. “What are you doing here, sire?” a man, unknown to Arthur, opened the door to Rah’s house. He was very lean and simple man. He had a foggy look in his eyes but the moment he recognized Arthur, the sleep disappeared. Arthur appreciated how he didn’t fidget or stammer due to his presence. “I am here for Rah,” Arthur announced. The man looked concerned, so Arthur added, “he is not in trouble, you can be sure of it.” The man nodded, stepped aside to let Arthur step in the house, and went to wake Rah up. Arthur heard the man shake Rah awake, who initially didn’t budge. But when the man said ‘your sire is here,’ Arthur heard a lot of shuffling. It seemed like Rah had fallen off the bed. “Sire?” Ra
ARTHUR Arthur bade farewell to Rah, and came back through the portal that Mila had kept open. “Took you long,” Mila smiled as she saw Arthur come back safely to her. “You had me worried for a while!” “Worried, why?” Arthur asked seriously. “It is midnight, who knows what lurks in the shadows in the middle of the night,” Mila smiled again. “Red wolves, perhaps?” Arthur muttered with raised eyebrows. He was curious before why Bash saw a red wolf in Mila’s head, but now he knew it was Mila’s wolf that Bash had seen. Mila’s wolf, a part of her being that she had been hiding since day one of their meeting. She knew how desperately Arthur wanted to know if she too was a wolf, for Bash’s sake, but she had hidden it, and why? Just because of a color? A color, the story behind which was a myth and superstition now? Mila’s smile disappeared suddenly at these words. The color drained from her face and she looked miserable. Arthur waited, hoping she would confess, but – “Red wolf?” Mila
MILA It felt to Mila that Arthur had not just slapped her, but he had slapped her repeatedly over the course of the conversation. Yes, he didn’t know that it was her, Mila, who was the red wolf, but still! How could he be so narrow-minded? How could he believe that Grace was an incarnation of devil himself? That Grace was the deadliest, most dangerous and darkest of all beings? “But he didn’t know about us,” Grace spoke. “If only you would tell him!” But how could Mila tell Arthur, especially now when she knew what he felt for red wolf? Yes, there were a lot of superstitions linked to her wolf, and he was right, every superstition has a base, has a reason, but how could he believe that so bluntly? In so many days, weeks, together, he never hinted he had a problem with old superstitions? “Bash saw me, Mila,” Grace admitted. “He was drawn to me, and I to him. Only I knew how I had controlled myself.” Mila shook her head at this. What was Arthur thinking, Mila needed to know. But
MILA As Mila lay beside Arthur, her heart pounded indecently. She could still feel him inside her head. Had their minds linked? “I don’t know,” Arthur panted beside her. He too was out of breath. “But whatever it was, it was incredible. If superficial sex is like this with you, I wonder what actual sex would be!” “He means ‘magical’ sex,” Grace guffawed in Mila’s head and Arthur’s head jerked in her direction. “What was that?” Arthur demanded. “Well, it was not superficial, it was ‘magical’,” Mila replied audibly, trying to mask Grace’s voice. Arthur stared at her with narrowed eyes and Mila knew what he was wondering. She could hear his thoughts loud and clear. Arthur closed his eyes and stopped thinking abruptly. Mila too stared at the roof and relaxed her breathing. As she deeply inhaled and exhaled, it felt like something was slipping out of her grip. As she controlled her emotions, as she detached herself from the moments she had been intimate with Arthur, the connection
ARTHURArthur knew this already. He knew all this already. He knew that Mila was a wolf, how else their minds would link. He also knew that Mila’s wolf, Grace, was a red wolf. He had been trying to get her to confess for the whole night. But then why, why oh why, was he shocked?He stared at her hand in disbelief, a part of him, mostly led by Bash, wanted to get ahead and touch her wolf’s side, but another part of him, that could hear his father’s dire warnings and that caretaker’s threats about how Sharpe clan wolves devour other Alpha’s sons whole, was not letting him step closer to her.A loud rap on the door brought them both to their senses.Mila shook her hand and it was back to her human self in front of Arthur’s eyes. He was impressed. He could never do partial transformation before. His father could, but he was the Alpha. And as far as he knew, only true alpha of the clan could do this. This power came with the spark that raised the normal wolf above all others.Still wonderi
ARTHUR & MILA Arthur and Mila stared at each for a long moment, where both minds had a lot of things running through. Arthur was worried about his people. Sharpe clan, though a legend, had been the deadliest of all clans. The monstrous acts that the alpha of Sharpe clan had committed in his time were legendary. It was because of him that werewolf population was limited in present time… How could he make a Sharpe woman his queen? Mila was worried about her future with Arthur. The look Arthur wore on his face said enough to Mila that she just crossed her legs and sat up straight. Her fears were real, and it didn’t matter what Arthur had promised her, what assurances he had given her with respect to his love, but Mila could see his faith dwindling. She could see fear in his eyes. She could see that now Arthur didn’t just look at her as his mate, but as the descendant of a devil housed clan! “Mila, I think –” Arthur started but Mila just shook her head. They both were naked, they both
MILA Mila stared at the spot where she had pushed Arthur moments ago. Arthur, her mate, her love, her source of happiness. She didn’t know if their parting happened on the right moment or not. What if they have had sex properly and then he had left her? What if she was pregnant with his child? At least then she would have had someone to call her own? But then the sting of betrayal would have been worst, like it was for her mother. But proper sex and mating would have allowed her to show her skin to the world. She could live properly. She could breathe freely without fearing that she was enchanting others! But then she would have heard all the thoughts that must be racing in Arthur’s mind. How must he be feeling? Angry? Hatred? Scared? Would she be able to hear such emotions? No, she could not. Especially not his hatred, it would have devastated her. She didn’t know for how long she sat in the water, staring at the same spot, but a loud knock on the bathroom chambers brought her back
ARTHUR Arthur stood rooted on the spot where the portal had just closed. And it was not only Mila who had vanished from front of his eyes, but she had also vanished from his senses. Suddenly, like in an instant, Arthur stopped feeling her presence and it felt like someone had stabbed him in his chest. A deep, impenetrable hollowness was engulfing him, like there was a massive hole in his heart, which could never be filled. Arthur’s eyes welled as he kept on staring at the spot. He swayed on his feet, and found a bed. A very uncomfortable bed upon which he had kissed Mila fully once. He suddenly realized he was in Mila’s hut. He had forgotten about it. “Mila,” Arthur called, “are you here, Mila?” he asked. But he knew it was all in vain. If Mila was even remotely closer, he would have sensed her. Arthur tried to reach out to Bash, but it was as if Bash had turned his back to him. Bash was furious. And he was right. Bash had not rejected his mate, it was Arthur who had made this de