Chapter 3 - Nyx

I’m so caught up in my discovery of where the Red One, Roweena, and Iona all that I completely forgot to be nervous about driving.  Brandon and Zak have been very patient in teaching me how to drive over the past few months, but this isn’t something that I feel very comfortable doing yet, especially by myself in a new place.

Somehow, there is no one on the road.  I don’t know how I got so lucky.  But, that wasn’t the top thing on my let’s worry about this list.  Go figure.

Other than knowing that Ios is a party island along the Greek coastline, I have no idea why in the world Loviatar would keep the Riding Hoods there.  Or why she would even want anything to do with them.  Compared to the gods and goddesses of this world, the Riding Hoods are nothing.  Oh, they want to be.  They really want to be something.  And had things worked out for them in making me the strongest witch of all time, we might have had enough power to get into the room.  But we would never have gotten a seat at the table.  I don’t understand what the purpose of them taking the remaining three Riding Hoods would be.

Those are all of the things that are floating through my head as I drive down the main thoroughfare from Bella’s house to the conference center.

I break hard and fast, the breaks screaming to a halt.  I don’t really park, just stop in front of the door and run inside the building.  I sprint inside.  Once I get inside, there's only one set of double doors, so that's where I go.

There has to be nearly 100 people in the room between all the alphas, lunas, and their mates, along with the leaders of the supernatural community.  But the first person that I really see is Kayla.  My adopted mother.  The only mother that I’ve ever really known.  It’s her that I tell.

“I know where they are!  I know exactly where they are!”  I scream.

Kayla gives me a confused look, not sure what I mean.  I’m about to explain when there is the sound of a low, loud growl off to my left.  When I turn, I see the most beautiful male that I’ve seen in my entire life.  I mean, I haven’t seen all that many men, given how I was raised.  But this male?  Holy shit.  He’s extremely sexy.

I know he’s a wolf, based on the fact that his extremely dark blue irises have completely swallowed both of his eyes.  It should scare me, given the combat that I’ve seen and the way that I was raised.  But somehow, it only serves to make him more attractive.  He’s tall, brunette, well built, with a cleft chin and a strong jaw.  And those eyes!  I can’t get over how sexy they are.  I just want to fall right into them.

It’s the next thing that he says that breaks the spell.  “Mate!”

Fuck no.  No, no, no, no, no!  That’s not what I want.  I’ve barely been out in the real world.  I feel like I’m a little kid in comparison to some of these she-wolves and witches.  I can’t have a mate!  I’ve never gone on a date or had my first kiss.  And now I’m expected to be with someone for the rest of my life?  No fucking way!  Not doing it.

And it’s creepy as fuck.  Some random goddess that I know nothing about, that I don’t even worship, picks the person that I’m going to be with for the rest of my life?  How the fuck does that even work?  And why should I let someone choose that for me?

I’ve had someone choose every aspect of my life for my entire life.  I’m not letting someone else choose who I’m going to be with now that I have my life to myself.

I only dimly hear Devin say something about this not being good.  And then, in a blink of an eye and that amazing werewolf speed that they have, Zak, Brandon, and Kayla are between me and sexy wolf boy.  I hadn’t noticed that he had lunged at me, a mixed of anger and desire warring on his face.  Like he wants me and hates me all at the same time.

But why?  I’ve never met him before.  I have no idea who he is.  How can he hate me already?  And why do I care?

“Nathan!  Back off!” Brandon growls out at him.  Zak holds him back, pushing against his chest with both hands, and Kayla stands in front of me, keeping me behind her back.

“Is she the Riding Hood?” he screams.  “The goddess mated me to a fucking Riding Hood?”

The annoyance.  The anger.  The…hate that fills those words.  How is it that what he feels about me can affect me so much?  I know that I don’t feel the way that he feels about me.  I don’t really feel the matebond.  But there is still a…pull?  A need to be with him.  A desire for him to want me.  To get to know him.  So that hate that he feels for me?  It hurts.

So, I give it right back to him.  With all the ridicule I can pull together in the middle of this pain, I say,  “Down boy.  I’m a witch of Hecate.  Not a Riding Hood.  And this mate thing?  I don’t want this either.”  

“What’s your name?” Nathan growls out at me from over Zak’s shoulder.

With my full chest, I say, “Nyx Laurent.”

“I, Nathan Lee Swift of the Moon Goddess pack, reject you, Nyx Laurent, as my mate,” he says.  

There’s a slight pain in my chest, but other than that…meh.  It's more wounded pride.  Embarrassment.  And anger.

“Cool.  Whatever.  I accept your rejection,” I say, rolling my eyes and moving to the table where Devin is standing.  This sucks and whatever, but there are more important things that we need to do right now.  

The fact that I’ve accepted his rejection seems to bother him, though.  My head snaps back to look at him as a pained howl erupts from him and he topples to the floor.  Huh.  Guess that hurt.

“Tomas!  Jai!  Help him out of the room.  We’ll catch you up later.”  Devin is pissed.  Hecate, I hope that he’s not mad at me.  I mean, I know that I interrupted and shit, but I hope that he’s not mad that I came in.  I’ve got important information to give him.

While I’m in my head and worried about that, two males carry out my ex-mate and two other, older wolves come up to me.  The she-wolf looks exactly like Nathan.  Has to be his mother.  Well, shit.  Freedom was fun, but I might be about to get my heart ripped out.  

Strangely enough, Kayla backs down.  Guess maybe they won’t hurt me?

The she-wolf grabs my hand in hers, tears in her eyes.  “I’m so sorry about Nathan.  I didn’t think…I’m just sorry.”

Well, that’s a bit embarrassing, isn’t it?  To have your mother apologize for you.  At least, I’m embarrassed, not sure what to say.  So, I just nod and simply say, “It’s ok.”

“It’s not, but thank you for saying that,” the male says before guiding the she-wolf out the door.

As soon as the doors close behind them, Kayla, Zak, and Brandon all turn towards me.

“Are you ok?”

“He’s lucky I didn’t bitch slap him!”

“Who the fuck does he think he is?”

Their questions come after me fast and furious and it’s almost too much for me to have to process.  I hold my hands up to stop them from talking, raising my voice.  “Guys!  Guys!  I’m good.  I know that it hurts you guys when there is a rejection, but I’m not a wolf.  I’m good.  Anyway, I know where the remaining Riding Hoods are.  They’re on the Greek island of Ios.”

There is a moment of complete and utter silence around the room and then there is a cacophony of sound everywhere.  The only thing that stops it is Devin’s shrill, loud whistle.

“Stop talking, everyone!  Except you, Nyx.  Explain.” 

So, in the sudden silence, I explain how I went into the astral plane and got advice from a witch in London, a friend of mine who had no idea who I am or where I am.  That took a bit of convincing to get them to be ok with the fact that I was talking to someone they don't know.  But once I verified who she was, the coven that she belonged to, and that she was indeed a practitioner under the Mother, they calmed down a bit.

Anyway, I described the scrying method that I used and told them how I had found the Red One and the other two Riding Hoods.

“Can we replicate your findings?” Bhakti asks me, ever the scientist.

“Of course.  Any witch that knows the ritual can.  All they need is some of my blood and a mental image of who they are looking for.  Doesn’t even have to be a picture representation, just a basic understanding of who you’re looking for.  With that and a little bit of time and focus, any witch will be able to find her,” I respond.

“What do you need?” Devin asks.  After I tell him, he stares off into space for a few seconds and I know that he’s mindlinking someone.  

Within minutes, a she-wolf that I don’t recognize, but that smells vaguely like the soap that my ex-mate had, comes in with all of the things that I’ll need in order to complete a scrying.  She’s accompanied by Allegra, the Priestess of Nora’s Crone coven.  

“Thank you, Grey,” Devin says.  

The she-wolf nods to him.  Then she looks at me, her eyes full of pity.  Grey looks like she wants to say something, but instead, she shakes her head and walks away.

Before I have the chance to ask what just happened, Devin says, “I need you to give Allegra some of your blood.  She’ll redo the scrying to make sure that it’s right and we’ll go from there.”