Chapter 2: To forget

Those tantalizing gazes that met hers. Flaming red eyes that seem scintillating while it lasts long more than a minute. With this guy’s beanie sitting on top of his head, he looks so innocent yet a dangerous tease. Playing the lollipop’s tip on his mouth, he smirks. 

“Sinak baw sik-a ay maila.”

          Denise just stood dumbfounded, tightly gripping the bottle of red wine she snatched away from Rocco a while ago. She couldn’t believe she would meet her mate face to face unexpectedly. 

“N-Nice to see you,” she awkwardly muttered and step back with a forced smile on her face. She was about to turn around when the man suddenly pulled her closer. Making Denise crash into his broad chest. 

“Why are you turning away, darling?”

His brawny voice is enchanting her!

Back to her senses, Denise pushed herself away from the guy with all force. The brain is higher than the heart, it simply means think before you let yourself get fooled by a crook called love.

“I have built walls around me for years to stop this stupid thing called ‘mates’. I didn’t expect this to happen any sooner than I expected,” Denise boldly stood up. Hiding the nervousness in her system. ‘I never thought this would be harder than climbing a greasy bamboo pole,’ she spoke inside her head.

“Are you trying to push me away?” he blankly stares at her. Those teasing looks and piercing eyes. He’s trying to use illusion to control her!

In another blink of an eye, Denise found herself in a snowy forest. In front of her was a large dark wolf with its eyes glowing crimson red. Standing in a wide plain entirely covered in white snow, trees surrounding the battlefield.

‘This guy really challenges me into a battle.’

Shifting to its wolf form, Denise arrogantly shakes off her bluish fur getting ready to attack. Gnashing teeth and sharp claws eager to bleed every flesh that she would reach. The two wolves encircled with their eyes darted on each other. 

The black wolf growled, communicating with her. Whoever is defeated first will be the slave between the two of them. Denise’s mate demands her to not hold back, which in turn she will actually do. No romance, plain duel. 

Under the moon’s brightest, two wolves were facing each other over the white snow, surrounded by conifers. This is a perfect place for the combat, you wouldn’t expect mates to challenge each other rather than spending the night walking under the night sky full of romances and affection. Denise started her first attack, targeting her opponent's neck with her claws. 

But the guy was that fast to tilt his neck sideward, causing only a scratch on him. Performing only defense on every Denise’s attack, causing her to growl annoyingly. ‘Why would he even challenge me when he’s just blocking my attack?’

With a grin on his face, he continued teasing his mate. Sudden attack but he doesn't complete. Playing a game between him and his mate. Silent smiles every time he caught Denise’s irritated growl.

‘‘Come on, why wouldn’t you attack?’’  she murmured. Opening their mate link.

She got no reply but just a sexy laugh. In a fraction of a second, the black wolf was suddenly on top of her wearing his signature grin. In response, she harshly swats his face with her claws out of frustration. Changing their position, Denise was now on top with both of her arms firmly clutching the cold ground. 

Showing off her gritting teeth, she arrogantly met the guy’s seducing eyes breaking from his illusion.

“I might as well suggest the sorcerer to strengthen her control over this place, her spells and enchants perhaps,” she simply said and starts walking away from him. 

By the exit, she saw another man standing out there. Wearing an ornament by his left ear, with a simple glance on it, she knew it was from the Laxon superiors. With a speed of sonic, she ran the distance from the exit to where her black Kawasaki was patiently standing. 

The sound of the roaring engine filled the night, making faces towards those men in blue jackets chasing after her. Going straight on the curvy road, she glides smoothly before increasing her speed. Behind her were three big bikes with two persons loaded on each. The driver and the other person are at their backs, holding on to a gun with silver bullets.

Seems like competing in a drag race, Denise swiftly danced with her black mamba, as what she named her big bike, avoiding the bullets aiming at her. But she is not seraphic to dodge every single bullet. There were seven of them who managed to injure Denise, with silver that literally burns her skin. Despite those wounds and bleeding, she still manages to stay in control. 

“Give up the emblem, you bastard!” one of the men yelled, firing a bullet at the same time. It was Rocco, just by the voice full of revulsion towards her.

He sees her as his contender, challenging his ability during the academy years. She always surpasses him on every task that their instructor would give them, which Sarjao also couldn’t accept. Making her every training harder than it is to be.

Increasing twice the speed, she managed to overpass them, with the grazing bullets still after her. Making the night a wild one. Denise changed direction, now heading to the rough terrain across the forest. 

A will-o-wisp suddenly appeared, glowing bluish in the cozy woods. Attracting her attention, she followed the trail leading her to the heart of the jungle. There stood a stone statue of a maiden grasping onto a bird’s neck, a dead dove. 

Out of curiosity, she got off the motorcycle and walked straight to the strange statue. It was carved out of fine limestone, with no flaws as she lets her fingers run through the sculpture. ‘How could the white wolf’s statue be here?’

This statue was in Otrus’ book, a maiden holding on tightly to a dove’s neck symbolizing the first female Alpha. She who grants peace by force will choke the dove to death.

“White satin stained with blood as flowers dropped their last petals. Flame, flame, flame… thy rose shall turn to ashes,” different voices echoed out of nowhere, chanting of the forest’s melodious whisper. 

“Clash of one’s affirmation, a river of red will flow. Spread across the dry land longing for answers.”

Unable to take it, Denise dared to walk while curiously staring at the strange lady who popped out of the said sculptor. Possessing a great beauty, her long black hair was just like the darkest of the nights simply clipped on the sides and adorned with several tiny pearls that sparkle resembling the stars above.

Covered with blue garments that flow like the waves of the oceans do. Her barefoot touch the green grass leveling her head on the statue laid on the ground. She smiles at Denise. “Options that will make you choose the best. One’s a solution for the next, for this I say, the expected will not come. Seek the answers, and you will get more than you ask.”

Ghastly winds blew the dead leaves off the ground. The mysterious woman once again floated in the air, letting out the white wolf’s emblem from her chest.

It appears that the emblem in the Academy she stole was just a replica of the real one.

The strange woman cut off Denise’s wrist without any warning and crashed the emblem into pieces before sprinkling it on Denise’s wrist before she could even react.

“Your mate and the connection will vanish as the ashes will be dusted away by the wind. Remember nothing about this by the second you blink. You shall still meet him, but at a different angle, never be the same feeling it should be.”

The winds suddenly stopped, with the statue bursting into grains like a bubble popped. As Denise opened her eyes and blinked, she wondered how the heck she gets in there. Irritated, she marched to her motorcycle where she caught a man wearing a beanie standing beside her black mamba. 

“It was you again, are you still interested in me?” Denise joked as she walks closer to him. 

The lollipop was still in his mouth, blankly staring at her. She noticed how the guy murmured, questioning her as if she had done a very bad thing to him. Recalling what happened between them just a while ago.

“Mind if I join you?” a guy popped up out of nowhere.

After walking away from Rocco, she sat near the counter. “Two flaming margaritas,” she ordered. Facing the guy beside her, she offered the empty stool beside her before she answered the man, “Sure.”

“Natalie,” she offered her hand, introducing herself with a fake name. 

“An obvious lie cannot fool me, Laxon’s runaway student.”

Denise raised her lips in humiliation, “Oh, I see. I might as well suggest the sorcerer to strengthen her control over this place, her spells and enchants perhaps. Cheers?” she raised her glass tossing it on the guy’s Daiquiri. “You are?”

“Ymir,” he replied sparingly. Making Denise chuckle, “You think I’d fall for your lies? But never mind, I don’t care whoever you are anyway.”

“Really?” the guy let out his teasing smile. “Then better concerning who I am.”

             Her forehead furrowed at what the man had said. Besides the truth that she didn’t understand what he says, it seemed to mean something she should know. As her head turned towards the man beside her, hers met those tantalizing eyes of his, growling in possessiveness and dominance.

             Denise shook her head realizing there was nothing wrong she did to this man for him to follow her here. She was about to step closer but her wounds suddenly were exposed causing her to feel pain from her bleeding cuts and injuries she got running away from Rocco and his pets.