Fate or Fluke?

Never in a thousand years, did Reed ever think that he would first feel his mate bond with another species. While he tried to digest what just happened, he heard the wolves around him cheered as Yeri made her ascend back onto the rocks. Her bikini stuck to her skin, her long hair was dripping wet as she climbed the big rock towards Reed.

"I see you've managed to escaped the house." Yeri sarcastically commented on Reed's escape.

"I am not aware that I was a fugitive." Reed replied, looking away from her, trying his best to hide this weird feeling that consumed him from the inside.

"You're not, just a very expensive prisoner that I have to look after, unfortunately." she retorted as she sat down on the rock next to him, watching the other young wolves taking turn cliff diving.

"I told you before, I don't need a baby sitter."

"It's only a temporary arrangement until your wound completely healed and you've got your full strength back. You couldn't even win a fight against a she-wolf." Yeri taunted him with a little smirk.

"I promise you, princess, I can win you in a fight right now." Reed's competitive spirit refused to back down.

Being challenged to a fight had always excited him. Fighting was his favourite thing to do, other than courting female vamps to warm his bed.

"Then dive." Yeri turned to look at Reed in the eyes, challenging him.

Reed unbuttoned his shirt and stood up, his white bandage was visible on his shoulder. Killian and Damon looked at each other, unsure if Reed was in a good condition to dive.

"Mate, maybe back off this time. You just woke up from your two days coma." Killian whispered into his ear, but Reed did not budge.

"I have never backed out from a challenge, have I?" Reed flashed a mischievous grin at his friends and took a long stride towards the cliff's edge.

A moment later, amidst the loud cheer, Reed propelled himself upwards, the momentum helped him to tumble and performed some mid-air acrobatic stunt that captivated the audience, before splashing into the lake. Yeri's eyes followed his every move, she was strangely drawn to him, despite her strong determination to make his stay a living hell in Norfolk. 

"He's good." Lilo commented, while Yeri scoffed. "He's not that good."

Lilo chuckled, "Come on sis, admit it, you're attracted to him."

"What a load of crap, Lilo. You know better." Yeri snapped at her to hide her true feelings, that she caught herself staring at Reed.

"Hehe, you couldn't look away, could you?" Lilo purposely nudged her in the ribs, making her flinch. Killian overheard their conversation and he winked at Lilo, to which she replied with a sweet smile. 

"Well, at least don't try to get with K. I've got my eyes on that one." she whispered before flipping her hair at Yeri, smacking her on the face and walking away with Killian. Yeri shook her head in annoyance.

Lizzy and Damon stood on the edge, getting ready to jump when a school of bats suddenly buzzed through the woods in panic. AWOOOOO! Every wolves present heard the warning howl from the patrol team in the distance. Yeri switched on her mind-link and heard Rocco's voice calling for all wolves to leave the Irvine Falls as a few rogue vampires had been sighted near the woods.

"Reed!"

Reed just got back ashore after his jump, when he heard Yeri's voice echoing among the rocks. His senses tingled as he felt uneasy. Yeri transformed into her wolf in an instant, leaping off the cliff towards Reed and growl at him, pointing at her back with her snout. Reed understood and climbed on top of her, holding onto her silky back fur. Yeri broke through the woods, her long stride picked up the pace as she smelled the rogues coming from the west. Reed spoke with Killian and Damon through telepathy to make sure they were safe, while Lilo and Lizzy tried to fight the escaping rogues.

"Yeri, take him to the safe house. Stay there for a couple nights till we catch these bastards."

Chief Han's voice penetrated Yeri's mind as she made a sharp turn to the east, evading the group of rogues. Reed heard the increasingly loud rustles of the leaves, as the trees around them blurred due to Yeri's fast pace. Another rogue managed to catch up to them, wielding a longsword.

"Silver!"

Yeri skidded into a halt as another rogue appeared in front of them with a bow and silver arrows. Almost as if they could communicate non-verbally, Reed jumped off Yeri's back and landed a flying kick on the sword wielding vampire. Yeri slashed the archer's face with her sharp claw, made him retreat in pain, but he still tried to shoot his arrow, which missed Yeri by a hair. From the shadow, another vampire lurched forward and climbed on top of Yeri, holding on to her hair and suddenly dug their fangs into her back. Searing pain spread across her body, Yeri shrieked as the vampire venom entered her bloodstream, weakening her wolf form. Reed quickly leaped forward and snatched the vampire by the ponytail, slamming the rogue on the ground hard before grabbing the missed arrow and stabbing it right into its chest. Both of them escaped from the rest of the rogues and Reed climbed back over Yeri, examining the bite wound on her left back. The rouge had left a gaping hole on Yeri's back, blood kept gushing out with every step she took, but it did not stop her from running. She was determined to keep Reed safe and the only way to do that was to get to the safe house.

As they ran further away from Norfolk, the terrain got steeper with hills and slopes. By then, creatures of the dawn had started to wake up, signalling the imminent sunrise. Suddenly, Yeri transformed back into her human form, all naked and vulnerable with an open wound just over her left shoulder, near her shoulder blade. She crashed onto the ground, whimpering from the pain. Reed quickly wrapped her in his arms, pulling her back onto her feet and half-dragged her to run away from the clearing. In the distance, they saw a little hut, along with a mini ranch at the back of it. In front of it was a low fence, with ferns growing the lengths of it.

"Come on, Yeri, we're almost there." Reed grunted as he struggled to get Yeri up.

"Go... Reed, run to the hut. The sun is about to come out." said Yeri in a weak voice.

Her face pale, her lips dry and cracked. She was holding onto so much pain and losing so much blood from that one bite. Reed mustered up his strength and carried Yeri in his arms.

"I'll get us there, just stay with me Yeri.... don't fall asleep."

Reed pushed every ounce of his fatigued muscles to get to the hut. Just in time for the first ray of sunlight, he stepped onto the porch of the hut, narrowly missing the sunrays on his skin. He kicked the door open and scanned the room quickly, making sure that they were alone before placing Yeri's shivering body on the bed and covering her with blankets.

"Stay with me, Yeri, please, don't close your eyes." Reed pleaded as he could see her coming in and out of consciousness. Reed desperately tried to reach Damon and Killian but nobody replied to his telepathy. He started gathering fire wood and ignited the fireplace, warming the room. He then went to the back of the hut, where there was a little well and scooped some water to boil. Yeri was covered in cold sweat, she writhed in pain as she repositioned herself to avoid placing her wound flat on the bed. She gripped the bed sheet tightly, biting her lip to alleviate the pain but the wound kept throbbing. She could hear her sister calling her faintly, and she managed to reply through the mind-link before losing consciousness.

Reed came back with a bowl of hot water, using a piece of rag, he started cleaning Yeri's wound delicately. She groaned in pain, Reed had to hold her down so he could clean her wound properly and stop the bleeding. A few hours later, he sensed someone was coming, as he peeked through the keyhole to the hut. Reed assumed his fighting stance, but as soon as he saw who they were, he breathed a sigh of relief. He swung the door open, greeting the guests with a tone of urgency.

"What took you so long?" he barked at them - Killian, Damon, Lilo and Lizzy who reached the hut, barely looking alive. Both the vampires had blisters on their face, sunburnt as they escaped on wolves' backs. Lilo and Lizzy looked haggard, dried blood stained their bodies.

"Sister!" Lilo rushed to the bedside, finding her sister in a vulnerable state.

"What happened to her?"

"Rogue bite. On her shoulder." Reed pointed at the poorly bandaged wound on her back.

"The vampire venom weakened her powers, she almost did not make it here."

Damon slumped onto the floor next to the fireplace, with Lizzy who tried to cool the blisters on his face with a fresh bowl of cool water from the well. Killian stood watch at the door, ensuring they would not be ambushed at this place.

"I've sent SOS through the mind-link, Grandma will be here soon. Meanwhile I gotta find the herbs she wanted me to get, so she can make the antidote. Please keep an eye out for my sister till I get back."

Lilo stepped out of the hut, Killian grabbed her arm, "Be careful." he said.

"Keep your eyes open." Lilo smiled and nodded at him, pulling her arm away and took off.

Reed threw a knitted blanket over Killian's shoulder, covering him from the heat of UV radiation from the sunlight as he insisted on staying at the door, watching their surroundings like a hawk.

"I seriously think whoever wants you dead, really... like... really really want you dead." Killian looked over at Reed in gratitude, resting his hands on the handle of an axe that he found in the hut.

"Yeah, me too. It might have to do with my 30th birthday and the fact that my father wanted to bring the coronation forward." Reed scowled. "What I don't get is, most of the tribes are in good terms with Allegra, except for the Zenons. I just can't picture Zenons having a rogue army this big, this vicious."

"Me neither." Damon joined in, all rugged up while Lizzy tended to Yeri. "I noticed this earlier - most of the rogues carry similar looking tattoo, like a snake around a torch."

Reed pondered for a moment, "That's not the emblem of Zenon." he scrunched up his nose, tracking an incoming scent, "Someone's coming."

As soon as they looked towards the northern end of the clearing, they saw an old wolf, looking rather frail. Its dusty brown coat looked slightly unkempt, grey hair covered its snout and forehead. Fifty yards before the hut, it transformed into its human form - an older gentleman who carried this mysterious aura. Despite his wrinkled skin and frail appearance, his muscles were well defined and his messy brown hair had some grey streaks jutting out here and there. Killian hissed, but Reed put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from launching an attack.

"Looks like you kids found the safe house." the man spoke. His voice was deep, calm and unwavering.

"I don't bite." he chuckled as he stepped closer. Lizzy peeked her head from behind Damon and gasped in surprise.

"Sir Varkey!" she greeted him, which earned his smile of approval.

Sir Varkey was once a great commander in the Northern Pack Army. Upon his retirement from active duty, he assumed the combat trainer position for many years, before deciding to leave the pack and live in solitude, just outside of Norfolk. Not many knew of his whereabouts, regarding his home as the last resort - a safe house for the wolves to go to.

"The Oracle warned me of incoming guests, didn't expect to see you kids here." Sir Varkey walked over to the right side of the hut, taking out a pile of dried corn to feed the chickens in the coop.

"Sir Varkey, Yeri..." Reed opened his mouth to speak, and suddenly they heard stomping coming from the south. The Oracle appeared into sight, her wolf form looked almost identical with Sir Varkey, but her fur was caramel brown. 

"Help is on its way." Sir Varkey patted Reed on the back and winked at him knowingly, rendering him speechless. The elder wolves seemed to have realised something that nobody else had. As soon as Grandma (the Oracle) returned to her human form, in her hands were multiple vials of potions to help Yeri get rid of the vampire venom. 

"Lizzy, get these to boil, keep stirring and don't let it burn." Grandma started assigning tasks to them. "Damon, grab more fire wood from the storage, there's an undercover passage just to the right of the house. Killian, can you cut these root vegetables into tiny cubes please?"

They obediently followed her instructions, moving around swiftly while Sir Varkey sterilised a steel knife in the fire.

"Reed, please hold Yeri steady and no matter what, don't let go of her. It's gonna be painful." Grandma gestured at Reed, to which he complied. He knelt on the ground, next to the bed and wrapped his arms around Yeri, whose body temperature kept decreasing. Her teeth clattered as she shivered, feeling pain in her veins from the vampire venom.

Lilo barged into the hut ten minutes later, with a bunch of rare flowers from the plains. Grandma grabbed them and ground them together, making a paste. Sir Varkey walked over steadily with a blazing knife on his right hand.

"Hold her still, it's not pleasant." he said, as Reed tightened his grip on Yeri.

"I'm...fine, just... let  me..." Yeri stuttered but Reed ignored her completely as he felt her body jolted under his grip, as soon as the hot knife touched her wound. Yeri screamed in pain, but Reed slid his forearm into her mouth and Yeri dug her teeth into his flesh, trying to fight the pain. Reed gritted his teeth as his forearm started to bleed from Yeri's strong bite. Grandma quickly mixed the herbs together into the cauldron, stirred it a few times before scooping a small amount and dipping the grounded root paste. She plastered it all over Yeri's wound, hoping the healing properties of the herbs would help neutralise the toxin. She then placed some leaves over the wound to hold the paste in and tied it up with fabrics. Yeri loosened her bite and her body stopped convulsing. She looked at Reed's bleeding arm apologetically, her eyes full of tears from agony. 

"Sorry." she mouthed at Reed and he shook his head slightly, "It's okay."

Reed repositioned Yeri again so she could get comfortable. All the tough exterior that she usually put up melted away in the moment of weakness. She looked very fragile and Reed felt the urge to stay close to her, just to watch her sleep. She may not be the most beautiful female he has ever seen, but she was beautiful in her own way - powerful and strong.

"Come on kids, leave them to rest. I have set up another camp in the warehouse at the back, we need to rest. It's been a long night." Sir Varkey herd the group out of the little hut, towards the back warehouse. Killian squeezed Reed's shoulder as reassurance, then they left.

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Midday. 

Everyone seemed so exhausted that they were still in deep sleep. Reed opened his eyes and took in the bright light from the open curtain next to the kitchen. He squinted, the warmth of the sun sizzled against his skin and as he grumbled and cussed, stumbling over things to get to the window, another figure pulled the curtain close, bringing darkness back in the hut. Reed rested his left arm on one of the corner of the bed frame, while his right rubbed his sleepy eyes roughly. When he opened his eyes again, Yeri's face was right there in front of him, send him stumbling backwards from shock.

"Fuck, you scared the wits outta me."

Yeri giggled, her voice soft and weak but the colour has returned to her face.

"Thank you for saving me." she sincerely thanked Reed, maintaining eye contact with his blue eyes.

"And sorry for hurting your arm." she touched the bandage on Reed's left arm lightly.

"Oh.." Reed was at loss for words, he did not think to see this different side of Yeri that early.

"Where's everybody?"

"In the shed. The warehouse. They wanted us to use this hut." Reed sauntered over to the kitchen counter and pulled out some bread that Grandma left for Yeri. "You should eat, you need your strength back."

"I'm not hungry, but are you?" she scanned Reed from top to bottom, realising how red his eyes were and dark circles formed under them. "You haven't fed since yesterday."

"I'll be fine." Reed forced a smile, though his stomach grumbled in protest and his throat was parched.

"Stay here. Give me five minutes."

"No wait! Yeri!"

Yeri slipped out of the house and disappeared behind the chicken coop. Reed paced back and forth inside the house, not knowing what to do. A moment later, Yeri returned with a glass of thick red liquid.

"What did you do?" Reed's eyes widen and the metallic stench of blood tickled his nose.

"Sheep's blood, not as good as pig's blood, I heard but I hope it's good enough." she reached her hand out to Reed, offering him the glass which Reed gladly took and chugged in one go.

"It's only been less than a week, but we both almost died, twice." Yeri sighed.

"Sorry, i brought the chaos to your town." Reed stood next to her, watching her boil a pot of tea.

"No, it was my decision to take you home after the attack at the lounge."

"What made you do that?" Reed was curious. Werewolves and vampires had never been in good terms for a long time, until today. Yeri kept her mouth shut, although Reed could feel her  eyes darted around nervously.

"Look, our kinds don't exactly get along in the past, so what made you decide that you would risk your life for a vampire? You could've just walked away and left us for dead in the lounge." Reed leaned his body forward, trying to see Yeri's expression.

She stopped stirring her pot of tea, placed the spoon on the table and sighed.

"You won't believe me if I tell you, it has never happened before in the past, not that I know of, at least." Yeri returned his stare.

Reed held his breath as their eyes met and that spark flew between them.

"I smelled you." Yeri mumbled softly, "I felt it as soon as I saw you. It's impossible, but it did happen back then. At first I did not know why I felt what I felt."

Yeri took a deep breath before muttering her next sentence,

"It was the mate bond."