~Cory~ I can’t believe Zahara is here, standing in front of me. I have thought about her so much over the past two years. I have had dreams of her. I don’t know what it is about her. It’s probably the fact that she was the only one to take the time to talk to me and get to know me. It has been so long since anyone took an interest in me; since anyone ignored the consequences and spoke to me. It made a major impact on me and I didn’t want to let it go. Most of my recovery was spend with Zahara on my mind. I take in the sight before me. Zahara doesn’t seem to have much on her face, letting her natural beauty shine through. I like that she still keeps the braids in her hair because it is a good look for her. This time she is wearing red and that seems to make her skin glow. Her light blue dress is hugging all of her curves and I’m loving the sight. I slowly stand up and take a step towards Zahara and she takes a step towards me. “Hey Zahara. You are the
~Zahara~ I enjoy the sparks that are erupting on my fingers, but the look in Cory’s eyes is not what I expected. His eyes went from excited, to scared, and now sad. I can’t imagine what it could be that would make him feel so many emotions. Cory, gently, removes my hand from his face and looks away. I’m starting to get a bit nervous since his behavior is changing so drastically. Cory stands up and faces the fountain with his back facing me. “Maybe you shouldn’t have told me we were mates. We could have, definitely, remained friends.” Why wouldn’t he not want to know that we were mates? What is wrong with me that he wouldn’t want what the Goddess has blessed him with? Cory turns and faces me. “I don’t want to ruin your future. You are an Alpha and you need a mate that has strength. I wish that were me, but it isn’t.” Cory drops his head and I can feel Aria getting restless in my head. “There is only one thing I can give you.” Cory looks in my eyes. “I, Cory Willi
~Laslo~ I knew I should have never given into Nikki, but she was always available for me at any time. She has always liked me and I will admit that I freely took advantage of that. Why wouldn’t I? I’m young and single. Being the future Alpha and not having a mate leaves me open to do as I please with whomever I like. Now that I’m Alpha, there are a few women who would love nothing more than to be named my Luna and Nikki is at the top of that list. I have never encouraged her, but you can argue that I didn’t really discourage her either. I will not tolerate anyone treating my chosen in such a manner. She is meant to rule with me and be worshiped by all. Nikki is looking at me with fear in her eyes and she should be scared. It will take nothing for Nero and I to end her life simply because of how she treated Zahara, but I acknowledge that now would not be a good time for that. “You need to make yourself disappear. I don’t want to see you for the rest of the day a
~Zahara~ I knew he would try something, but Laslo as my chosen? I would never and that would be the same even if my fated had died. That brings my thoughts back to Cory. I tried, in vain, to search for him while we were on the tour. I didn’t want to make it obvious, especially after Laslo’s offer, but I wanted to find him. Unfortunately I didn’t catch sight of him anymore. The meeting next week doesn’t help me either because he doesn’t seem to be in a leadership position. That means that I will not be able to see him on my territory. I have to figure out a way to get to Cory and pick up where we left off. Well, not pick back up at the rejection that is. “Penny for your thoughts?” “Why couldn’t I find him, Lennox? I find my mate and then he disappears.” Lennox is sitting next to me and I can feel his eyes on me. “We will figure out how to get to him, I promise. It will become my priority.” I sigh and reach out for Lennox’s hand. I give it a squeeze and
~Laslo~ I head past the packhouse to the row of houses along the East border. I see the light on at the home I’m going to and a silhouette of a woman out front. I take my time walking toward the house, replaying the last few hours. *Start of Flashback* I let Nero take over and we are bounding through the woods. I’m running into branches and trees, but I don’t care. I’m trying to shake off the anger that is consuming me. How dare she not take me up on my offer. How many Alpha’s would extend such an offer anyway? We would both benefit and we can combine the packs. We make it out to an open field where we plop down. Our head is laying on our front paws and I’m willing us to calm down. I hear twigs crack behind me and I wonder who would be bold enough to walk up on me. I turn quickly and growl at the person walking up to me. “Al…..Alpha?!” The voice is shaky and low. I take a good look at who it is and my mood does not improve. I growl again, causing Ni
~Zahara~ We have been running for a while now, through the brush and the trees. I can’t remember ever being this fast before. Aria and I just knew that we had to get to Cory as soon as we could. I can feel his vitality getting weaker by the minute. I try to push my worry out so I can focus on getting where I need to be. I can feel Lennox behind me the entire run and I’m grateful to have such a great friend and Beta. We run out of our territory and into the neutral territory that borders it. I continue to follow my connection to Cory and I can faintly detect his scent in the air. As I run, the scent gets stronger and stronger. I can smell his scent mixed with the metallic scent of blood. Someone hurt Cory and that riles Aria up in a way I have never experienced. Mate is dying. No, Aria. We won’t let him die. We will get to him and we will save him. Aria grunts in response and pushes us further so we can get to him as fast as possible. I see a lump on the groun
The next few days were torture to say the least. Cory’s surgery was successful, but he lost so much blood that he needed a transfusion. Since I am his mate, it is best that the blood comes from me. We are halves of the same soul and because of that, I have the ability to be everything that he needs. He is the same for me so if I ever get into a bad situation, he will be able to help me. Once we find our mates, we are complete. The problem is that Cory is now in a coma. He is not responding to any outside stimuli, but all of his vital signs are strong. The doctor says that Cory will be out for a while, at least until he decides to wake up. His body will take a while to heal since he is wolfless. My blood, ordinarly, would have a major impact on his healing, but since he has no wolf, it may not work the same. I have to believe that my Alpha blood, along with the mate bond, will be more than enough to bring Cory through this. I have been with him everyday, spending most of my t
~Cory~ Sunlight shining on me and the scent of roses in the air. I stretch out and open my eyes. I’m greeted with darkness. Everything around me is black, black and a dank smell. I close my eyes again, willing the sunlight and rose scent to descend upon me, but it doesn’t happen. I open my eyes and stare up. At least, I think I’m staring up. No matter where I look, everything looks the same; black. I replay the last few moments of my life and I remember the pain and the fear. I’m not sure what I did to end up like this, but this is where I am. I replay the blows that my body received and the pain is so real. I look up to the face in front of me, the one who did this to me, but I can’t seem to make out any features. I swear I know who did this to me, but their identity eludes me right now. Well, I guess I have eternity to remember. Besides, what will remembering do for me? My memories switch over to Zahara, my mate. I never believed that I would get a